books_for_administrative_assistants

18 Books Every Administrative Assistant and Executive Assistant Should Read

Office Dynamics has put together a list of books for administrative assistants and executive assistants that will help you with your professional development and personal life.

Because we had so many great choices we decided to make it a little easier for you to find what you are looking for by breaking the blog into two sections. The first half of the blog contains titles that are dedicated towards the administrative assistant and executive assistant while the second half of the blog contains titles that are general to career and business but very applicable to the administrative profession.

Training for Executive and Administrative Assistants

Joan’s Greatest Administrative Secrets Revealed by Joan Burge

In Joan’s 5th book for administrative assistants and executive assistants, the red-lipstick-wearing Rock Star, and pioneer of administrative excellence, exposes the game-changing truths and unwritten rules you need to know in order to maximize your potential. In an unapologetic, uncompromising, no-holds-barred style, Joan shares never before revealed career stories and life lessons in a tell-all book that will challenge your perspective and teach you how to master your craft and triumph in today’s business environment. What are you waiting for? The world is waiting for you.

This is Joan’s newest book for administrative assistants and is great for all levels.

Click here to purchase Joan’s Greatest Administrative Secrets Revealed.

Training for Executive and Administrative Assistants

Who Took My Pen…Again? By Joan Burge, Nancy Fraze, and Jasmine Freeman

Amazon Best Seller

This book is for executive assistants written by executive assistants! Overflowing with secrets, tips, and tools of the profession, this book is a ready resource created by those who “walk the walk and talk the talk” of the complex administrative professional role. They really “get it.”  Inspired by the Office Dynamics 18th Annual Conference for Administrative Excellence, themed The Path Forward: Adding Value Every Day, the authors drew on the attendees’ knowledge as well as their own years of experience to develop the content for this book.

Who Took My Pen … Again? offers practical, creative strategies for achieving success and building leadership attributes, compiled from the diverse experiences of high-achieving administrative professionals in a wide variety of businesses and industries, representing four generations of experienced and highly-seasoned executive assistants. It will change your life.

Click here to purchase Who Took My Pen…Again?

Training for Executive and Administrative Assistants

Become An Inner Circle Assistant by Joan Burge

Earn Inner Circle status, thrive in your profession, and be visible and recognized as a star performer. Joan Burge brings almost 35 years of experience in the administrative field to this groundbreaking book! The words Inner Circle conjure up visions of an exclusive group of people whose achievements are admired and rewarded. The Inner Circle Assistant title doesn’t show up on any organizational chart, but she’s the woman or, the man, of the hour. The people who support company movers and shakers have the opportunity to move into an Inner Circle, and this book outlines the steps to get there as well as thrive in the position. It is a book of strategy and workplace philosophy that will help administrative professionals become top performers in work and in their careers. This book for administrative and executive assistants is filled with road maps for success, scoring quizzes, real-life stories, and examples.

Click here to purchase Become An Inner Circle Assistant.

Training for Executive and Administrative Assistants

Underneath It All by Joan Burge

In this cutting-edge book, Joan Burge intimately shares with administrative professionals the bottom line to achieving success and maintaining your edge in a worthwhile career. Joan Burge gets to the core of what’s ‘Underneath It All’ when it comes to living a life of significance as an administrative professional and individual. In a chaotic world where everything seems urgent and important, Joan has learned through the difficult journey of helping her husband battle pancreatic cancer, what matters most. She intimately shares with administrative professionals the bottom line to achieving success and maintaining your edge in a worthwhile career. You’ll read why it’s essential to maintain your competitive advantage and how continual improvement makes it possible. You will explore key points with Joan that lead to success in the administrative profession, and you’re likely to wonder who switched on the lights.

Click here to purchase Underneath it All.

innovative_admin_julie_perrine

The Innovative Admin by Julie Perrine

If you want to be the admin every executive wants by their side, The Innovative ADMIN is for you! You’ll learn how to embrace innovative thinking that makes you invaluable to your boss, your co-workers and your company. The Innovative ADMIN empowers you to become the best you can be by enhancing your capacity for innovation! Innovation isn’t just for technology – it’s the key to your career future.

Click here to purchase The Innovative ADMIN.

become_a_procedures_pro_julie_perrine

Become A Procedures Pro: The Admin’s Guide to Developing Effective Office Systems and Procedures

Does taking time off lead to more stress than relaxation because you’re worried what will (or won’t) happen at the office while you’re gone? Are you looking for a way to demonstrate the skills and value you contribute to your organization and team? Do you want to be ready to act if your dream job suddenly becomes available? If the answer is “yes,” then you need to create your administrative procedures, and this book can help!

Click here to order Become A Procedures Pro: The Admin’s Guide to Developing Effective Office Systems and Procedures.

the_organized_admin

The Organized Admin by Julie Perrine

Are you struggling to create order in the disorganized chaos that is your workspace? Do you want more effective systems for keeping yourself and your executive organized? Do you want to better understand your unique organizing style?

If you answered “yes” to these questions, The Organized Admin is for you!

Click here to purchase The Organized Admin.

not_just_an_admin

Not “ An Admin!” by Peggy Vasquez

In this book, Peggy will empower you by sharing her knowledge and experience, entertain you with humor, and inspire you through passion. Peggy’s objective is to help administrative assistants feel valued and know their contribution makes a difference. It is her desire to eliminate the saying, “I’m just an admin.”

Click here to purchase Not “Just An Admin!”

the_proactive_professional_chrissy_scivicque

The Proactive Professional: How to Stop Playing Catch Up and Start Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life!) by Chrissy Scivicque

In business, the advice to “be proactive” is repeated like a sacred mantra. And yet, no one ever bothers to explain exactly what that means or how to do it…until now. 

The Proactive Professional reveals all the missing pieces of the proactivity puzzle and offers a step-by-step actionable framework for becoming proactive at work and in life. 

Click here to order The Proactive Professional: How to Stop Playing Catch Up and Start Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life!).

professional_development

Build Your Professional Development Plan Workbook – The Ultimate Career Planning Tool by Chrissy Scivicque

**Also includes bonus material: Build Your Professional Portfolio Guide**
Created by career coach, Chrissy Scivicque, this step-by-step guide helps you create and implement an effective, personalized professional development plan. This workbook offers detailed training on specific, proven techniques and strategies that will help you grow your professional skills and achieve your career goals. It includes comprehensive instruction on how to create and implement an effective career plan, along with tools, templates and resources so you’ll have everything you need to achieve the professional success you long for now and in the future. 

With this workbook, you won’t just LEARN IT, you’ll DO IT.

Click here to order Build Your Professional Development Plan Workbook – The Ultimate Career Planning Tool.


This is the second half of the blog that has books for administrative assistants and executive assistants but is a bit more generalized in consideration to professional and personal development. These titles come highly recommended from the Office Dynamics team.


The Founder and Force Multiplier

The Founder & Force Multiplier

Entrepreneur Adam Hergenrother & his Chief of Staff, Hallie Warner, take us behind the scenes of a $1B entrepreneurial organization to show you how to grow your business and career to epic proportions using the power of strategic partnership.

Get your copy here!

Word Trippers Writing Guide eBook

Word Trippers E-Book by Barbara McNichol

This easy-to-use word choice guide features almost 400 pesky pairings that commonly get confused. You’ll find answers to questions such as:

Do you use “fewer” or “less” when counting things?

When is “that” used instead of “which” in a sentence?

Can “famous” and “notorious” be interchanged?

Do “convince” and “persuade” mean the same thing?

With Word Trippers at your fingertips, you won’t embarrass yourself or confuse your readers. Don’t waste (or is it waist?) time wondering which word is right. Quickly choose the perfect word when it really matters!

Click here to order Word Trippers E-Book.

how_to_be_like_walt

How to be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life by Pat Williams and Jim Denney

While many recent biographies of Walt Disney have reveled in the negative, this book takes an honest but positive look at the man behind the myth. For the first time, the book pulls together all the various strands of Disney’s life into one straightforward, easy-to-read tale of imagination, perseverance, and optimism. Far from a preachy or oppressive tome, this book scrapes away the minutiae to capture the true magic of a brilliant maverick.

Click here to purchase How to be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life.

the_compound_effect_darren_hardy

The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy

No gimmicks. No Hyperbole. No Magic Bullet. The Compound Effect is a distillation of the fundamental principles that have guided the most phenomenal achievements in business, relationships, and beyond. This easy-to-use, step-by-step operating system allows you to multiply your success, chart your progress, and achieve any desire. If you’re serious about living an extraordinary life, use the power of The Compound Effect to create the success you want.

Click here to order The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy.

mentally_strong_women

13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don’t Do: Own Your Power, Channel Your Confidence, and Find Your Authentic Voice for a Life of Meaning and Joy by Amy Morin

Amy reveals that healthy, mentally tough women don’t insist on perfection; they don’t compare themselves to other people; they don’t see vulnerability as a weakness; they don’t let self-doubt stop them from reaching their goals. Wise, grounded, and essential, 13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don’t Do can help every woman flourish—and ultimately improve our society as well.

Click here to order 13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don’t Do.

disrupt_aging

Disrupt Aging: A Bold New Path to Living Your Best Life at Every Age by Jo Ann Jenkins

In Disrupt Aging, Jenkins focuses on three core areas–health, wealth, and self–to show us how to embrace opportunities and change the way we look at getting older. Here, she chronicles her own journey and that of others who are making their mark as disrupters to show readers how we can be active, healthy, and happy as we get older. Through this powerful and engaging narrative, she touches on all the important issues facing people 50+ today, from caregiving and mindful living to building age-friendly communities and making our money last.

Click here to order Disrupt Aging: A Bold New Path to Living Your Best Life at Every Age.

successful_women_speak_differently

Successful Women Speak Differently: 9 Habits That Build Confidence, Courage, and Influence by Valorie Burton

The most successful women are often not the most talented, the most gifted, or even the most experienced. What these women have is a knack for communicating that opens doors and gives them influence. 

Gleaning from powerful research, bestselling author and life strategist Valorie Burton unearths practical insights you can put to work in your life immediately.

Click here to order Successful Women Speak Differently: 9 Habits That Build Confidence, Courage, and Influence.

successful women_think_differently

Successful Women Think Differently: 9 Habits to Make You Happier, Healthier, and More Resilient

Popular author and professional certified coach Valorie Burton knows that successful women think differently. They make decisions differently. They set goals differently and bounce back from failure differently. Valorie is dedicated to help women create new thought processes that empower them to succeed in their relationships, finances, work, health, and spiritual life.

Click here to order Successful Women Think Differently: 9 Habits to Make You Happier, Healthier, and More Resilient.

Bonus Book

meeting_planning_guide

The Meeting Planning Process — A Guide to Planning Successful Meetings

The Meeting Planning Process — A Guide to Planning Successful Meetings” by Certified Meeting Professional, Mary Jo Wiseman, offers a common-sense approach to managing the meeting planning process based on the knowledge and experience she garnered over a 20+ year career as a corporate meeting and event coordinator.  The author’s systematic approach to project management helped her to get and stay focused on the task at hand while handling multiple details, projects, and deadlines throughout her career and she wants to share her knowledge with others. 

The Guide offers a practical overview of the entire planning process for meeting professionals at all levels and is especially beneficial for the novice planner and/or the administrative or executive assistant who is called upon to plan meetings over and beyond their normal day-to-day responsibilities.  It offers keen insights and valuable tips to help CREATE the perfect EXPERIENCE for their audience by staying true to the basic elements of the planning process.   It is intended to lead people through the proper steps and the sequence of tasks involved in planning a meeting such as: Establishing a Planning or Design Team; Developing an Overall Meeting Action Plan; Budgeting; Site Selection; Communications; Contract Review and more. 

The Guide also includes handy templates developed by the author:  a Meeting Timeline; Overall Meeting Action Plan; and Request for Proposal as well as descriptions and diagrams of possible room set-ups. 

Click here to get a hard copy of The Meeting Planning Process — A Guide to Planning Successful Meetings.

Click here to get a downloadable eBook copy of The Meeting Planning Process — A Guide to Planning Successful Meetings.

Looking for more books, ebooks, online training courses, and more? Visit our Administrative Success Store!

Please share this article with anyone that you may think it could help. If you have any books that you think should have made this list,  please post it in the comments below and tell us why you love that book so much!

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