What leverage means
Operating leverage in executive work means the leadership team gets more useful output from the same attention. Public productivity data provides the macro frame, but the team level mechanism is coordination quality. [1][2]
Executive assistants and coordinators improve leverage by handling scheduling, documents, correspondence, records, information requests, and follow up systems. [3][4]
Where leverage is lost
Leverage is lost when leaders repeat context, chase owners, attend unnecessary meetings, or make decisions without recorded assumptions. Meeting overload research shows why unstructured calendars can consume management capacity. [5]
AI can increase potential leverage, but McKinsey notes that productivity gains depend on adoption and redeploying time. Executive support can help ensure freed time is used on higher value work. [6]
How to build the system
Build around recurring workflows: leadership meetings, inbox triage, travel, board prep, customer follow ups, and hiring loops. Name the support owner, input format, review cadence, and escalation rule for each one. [4]
The practical test is whether executives spend less time reconstructing what happened and more time deciding what should happen next. [1][5]
Sources
- Nonfarm Business Sector: Labor Productivity, Federal Reserve Economic Data.
- Productivity Statistics, OECD Data Explorer.
- Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants, O*NET OnLine.
- Dear Manager, You Are Holding Too Many Meetings, Harvard Business Review.
- The economic potential of generative AI, McKinsey Global Institute.
- Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
- Business Formation Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau.
- World Development Indicators, World Bank DataBank.
- ILOSTAT Labour Statistics, International Labour Organization.
- 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Report, Microsoft and LinkedIn.
- Creating helpful, reliable, people first content, Google Search Central.
- Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide, Google Search Central.
Apply the research
Use the finding to frame one question for your own team: which support work is currently invisible, and who should own the next step? A scoped consultation can turn that question into a practical role.
Turn the finding into a support scope.
Bring the workflow that feels hardest to see. We will help define the role, the evidence it should maintain, and the decisions that stay with leadership.
Talk through the role