Reflect, Evolve & Lead: Tara M. Sims on Redefining the Power of the Executive Assistant Profession

Tara M. Sims has spent more than two decades elevating what it means to lead from the administrative seat. As Regional Administrative Manager at a global real estate firm and the author of Evolved Assistant, she brings a deeply reflective, psychology-infused approach to the profession, one that encourages assistants to pause, think strategically, and step confidently into their influence. In this INSPIRE Series interview, Tara shares how the role has transformed, why thoughtful partnership matters more than ever, and what it truly means to reflect, evolve, and lead in today’s workplace.

Tara M. Sims | Regional Administrative Manager | Author, Evolved Assistant | Atlanta, USA | LinkedIn | Website

Tara M. Sims is a dynamic leader and accomplished Regional Administrative Manager at a leading global real estate management firm. As the author of the book, Evolved Assistant: Unlocking Success in a New Era for Administrative Professionals, Tara is recognized as an authority in administrative excellence. She has over two decades of experience supporting C-suite leaders and senior executives. Tara’s passion for elevating the role of administrative professionals is evident in her work, her writing, and her speaking engagements, where she inspires others to unlock their full potential and drive organizational success.

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Elizabeth Sutkowska: Tara, you’ve spent over two decades supporting C-suite leaders and now lead a regional administrative team at one of the world’s top real estate management firms. How did you first step into the administrative profession, and what inspired you to stay and evolve within it for so many years?

Tara M. Sims: I actually stepped into the administrative profession very unintentionally. My first assistant role was at a small regional bank, supporting an Executive Vice President of Retail. I didn’t walk into that job thinking it would become my career or my purpose. But once I got to work, I immediately knew I was where I was supposed to be. I loved the pace, the access, the influence behind the scenes, and the responsibility of being the person who made the execution happen. I also loved the trust it required. It was the first role where I felt like my natural strengths mattered.

What inspired me to stay was the impact I had in the role. I realized early that assistants see the full picture in a way most roles do not. We see the interconnectedness of the work, the people, the priorities, and the timing, and we understand how decisions impact the business long before they become visible to everyone else. Because of that vantage point, we’re able to influence outcomes at the earliest stage instead of reacting to them after they’re already decided. There is a level of power, stewardship, and leadership in this profession that most people underestimate, but assistants who are paying attention understand it very clearly.

Over the years, I stayed because the work evolved, and I evolved. The pandemic especially shifted everything. Traditional administrative work disappeared overnight. And yet, the strategic side of what we do became more valuable than ever. That moment told me this profession was transforming, and I wanted to be part of shaping where it goes.

Today, leading a team of assistants, I stay because I care deeply about building the next generation of administrative leaders. I want assistants to see themselves the way I do: powerful partners, strategic thinkers, operational leaders. This isn’t a stepping stone role unless you decide it is. It can be a career you grow in, expand in, and lead for decades if you’re willing to evolve with it.

Elizabeth: If you could share one insight about the Executive Assistant profession that you wish every leader and aspiring Executive Assistant truly understood, what would it be?

Tara: One insight I wish every leader and every aspiring Executive Assistant understood is this: this profession is not powered by task execution. It’s powered by a strategic partnership.

An assistant who only checks boxes will always hit a ceiling. But an assistant who understands the business, anticipates impact, and thinks three steps ahead becomes a force inside the organization. That’s the EA who drives clarity, protects time, simplifies complexity, and makes sure priorities are executed with precision, not chaos. That is where value gets created.

Executives need to start seeing their assistants as multipliers, not just a support person to delegate tasks to. A skilled EA can elevate a leader’s effectiveness, influence, and decision-making if they are trusted, included, and leveraged correctly. When an EA is positioned as an extension of the executive’s leadership philosophy, not their inbox cleaner, everything changes.

And aspiring assistants need to stop shrinking themselves to the level of what others believe this role is. If you want to evolve in this profession, you have to show that you can think beyond today’s list and operate with ownership. You have to speak up, connect patterns, propose solutions, and have the courage to take up space.

The EA profession is shifting quickly. AI, hybrid work, global business, and leaner teams have made strategic administrative leadership more necessary than ever. Organizations need assistants who can think critically, influence without positional authority, and solve problems upstream.

When both executives and assistants are involved, the partnership becomes powerful. And when the partnership becomes powerful, the business wins.

Elizabeth: Your book Evolved Assistant has become a powerful voice in redefining what success looks like for administrative professionals. What moment or realization sparked the idea to write it, and how did that process shape your own perspective on leadership and partnership?

Tara: The spark happened during the pandemic. Overnight, all the traditional things assistants were known for vanished. No travel coordination. No in-person meetings. No events. But I watched assistants all over the country quietly hold companies together through crisis, chaos, and constant change. And yet, no one was talking about the fact that the role itself had fundamentally shifted in real time. That was the moment I realized this profession needed a new conversation. We needed a new standard for what excellence actually looks like now.

Writing Evolved Assistant forced me to get honest about the identity of this profession and the limiting beliefs we’ve adopted over time. It made me look at my own journey differently. I had always been a strategic partner, long before anyone said it out loud or gave it a title. But so many assistants don’t see themselves that way because they’ve been conditioned to believe the role is simply task execution. The book became a way to disrupt that mindset and push the industry forward with language that reflects the real work we do.

It also shaped my perspective on leadership. I started to see that leadership for assistants isn’t upward only. It’s inward, outward, and across. The strongest assistants lead from where they are. They influence without demanding authority. They move the business through clarity, anticipation, and strong decision support. And the best executives understand that partnership is a shared responsibility, not a privilege reserved for certain leaders.

The book wasn’t written to elevate the role for the sake of validation, but because the modern workplace needs administrative leaders who operate with intention, strategy, confidence, and identity. Evolved Assistant is a reframing of the entire profession and an invitation for assistants to step into the power they’ve always had but may not have always claimed.

Elizabeth: You’ve built Evolved Assistant into a platform that champions growth, confidence, and empowerment for administrative professionals. What changes do you hope to see in how organizations invest in and collaborate with their administrative teams in the coming years?

Tara: I would like to see organizations take the administrative function seriously as a strategic lever, not a cost center. Too many assistants are underutilized because no one ever stops to ask what skills they have, what they are capable of, or where they can add value beyond task execution. Companies need to move beyond assuming they know what assistants can do and start engaging them directly in conversations about the business, priorities, and problem-solving. When assistants are invited in early, instead of being brought in after decisions are made, their impact is multiplied.

I also want to see real investment in development. Not conferences as a perk, but intentional skill-building, career pathways, rotational opportunities, and stretch assignments. Assistants are often asked to support the growth of executives, while no one invests in their growth. If organizations want better business outcomes, they need to invest in the function that quietly drives execution and operational alignment every single day.

Additionally, one of the biggest shifts that I often champion is for more companies to adopt a centralized administrative function. When there is a leader accountable for the administrative team, development standards, coaching, and advocacy at the enterprise level, the profession becomes visible, respected, and intentionally developed in a way that supports long-term growth and consistency across the entire business rather than relying on fragmented pockets of support.

The future of this profession relies on executives and organizations becoming willing to see assistants not as helpers, but as leaders within their own domain. And when this happens, they will unlock more capacity, more innovation, and more results than they even realize is sitting right in front of them.

Elizabeth: Looking back across your remarkable journey, from supporting top executives to mentoring and leading others, what’s the one moment that made you pause and think: “Yes, this is why I do what I do”?

Tara: I have had many moments like this throughout my career. The moments when I am coaching an assistant one-on-one, and I see them immediately apply what we discussed and elevate how they show up. The moments when I am speaking to large groups, and later someone reaches out to share how a message landed and created real change in how they think or operate. And the moments when I have been responsible for executing large-scale events and experiences that brought people together in meaningful ways and drove real impact. All of those reminded me why this work matters. But one moment stands out more recently.

Every time I complete a performance review for one of the assistants on my team, I always end the conversation by asking them to give me feedback. It matters to me as a leader to know that I am showing up in a way that supports their growth and development, not just checking boxes and evaluating performance.

A couple of years ago, two assistants shared with me that this was the first time in their careers they felt “seen” in the role. They told me that no one had ever taken the time to ask about their interests, goals, or abilities before. They shared that they had always been seen through the lens of what they could do for other people, instead of who they were professionally and what they wanted for themselves.

That moment hit me deeply. It reminded me that leadership in this profession is about building other assistants, elevating their identity, and helping them recognize the value they bring to an organization. Moments like that reinforce exactly why I do what I do.

Thank You!

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