When Your Exec Doesn’t Grow, But You Do

What happens when the person you’re meant to support stays still, while you keep levelling up?

The Elephant in the Room

Let’s be honest: one of the unspoken truths of being an Executive Assistant is that your professional growth doesn’t always match your executive’s. Sometimes you’re both on the up together, climbing the mountain side-by-side. Other times… well, your exec has pitched a tent halfway up while you’re already eyeing the summit.

It’s an awkward situation. Your role exists to amplify and anticipate your executive — but what if you’ve outpaced them? What if they’re coasting, stagnating, or even actively resisting change, while you’re hungry for new challenges?

This tension is more common than people admit, and it’s one of the trickiest dynamics for ambitious assistants to navigate.

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Why This Happens

There are a few common scenarios where assistants start overtaking their executives:

• The Plateaued Leader: They’ve reached their comfort zone, maybe even the highest role they want. No more promotions, no more stretch assignments — they’re happy where they are.

• The Distracted Exec: Life priorities (family, health, outside projects) take centre stage, and career growth just isn’t their main focus.

• The Stuck-in-Old-Patterns Exec: Resistant to new tech, new ideas, new ways of working — while you’re exploring AI, rethinking systems, and connecting across functions.

• The “One and Done” Exec: They hired you when their world was chaos. Now that you’ve streamlined everything, they’ve relaxed — but you haven’t.

Notice something? None of these are “bad” people. They may still be brilliant at their job. But their growth trajectory isn’t yours.

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The Risks for You

If you’re in this situation, here’s what can creep in if you don’t handle it carefully:

1. Frustration & Resentment
   You start seeing opportunities everywhere — but your exec isn’t interested. That gap can gnaw at you.

2. Visibility Gap
   You may be ready for more senior projects, but if your exec isn’t pushing themselves, you’re not automatically pulled into those bigger conversations either.