At the Top - Now What?

For many Executive Assistants, the ultimate career milestone is supporting the CEO, President or Chairman, or stepping into a Chief of Staff role. It represents years of dedication, mastery of the craft, and the trust of leadership at the highest level. But once you arrive, an important question often lingers: what's next?

At this stage, some EAs feel a deep sense of contentment. They've reached the height of their profession, enjoy strong compensation, and find fulfillment in their work. Others, however, begin to feel the tension of being "stuck". The ladder has fewer rungs to climb, and the energy once poured into moving upward now meets a ceiling. What was once exciting can begin to feel like a plateau - safe, stable, but quietly limiting.

Annie Croner raised this on The Whole Assistant Podcast, asking: Are you looking for growth, for status, for fulfillment, or for more money? For some, the answer may be one or the other; and for some, it maybe all of them. We long to expand our skills, to be seen for our value, to find purpose in our contribution, and to be compensated in way that reflects our impact.

If you're an EA at the top, perhaps the real next step is less about climbing and more about widening your scope. Growth can mean stretching into projects beyond your title, influencing culture, mentoring others, or even carving out a new professional lane altogether - whether that fulfilment comes within your current company, or in another organization that offers the breadth and depth you yearn for.

Ultimately, it's about recognizing that while you may have reached the summit of one mountain, there are many more peaks - and valleys - waiting for you to explore.