Selling your executive on supporting your professional development is a skill . It's also known as the art of persuasion. While teaching, coaching, and consulting with thousands of assistants nationwide, I have found that they don't see they have to work at gaining support for training and development. They view it as a yes or no situation. "Yes, I'll get to go" or "My manager will say no." Instead, an assistant needs to view this as, "This is a great program. This will help me become a better assistant and a more valuable employee. How will I sell this to my executive?" You now have your subconscious working to come up with ideas on how to get a "yes" from your executive.

I also hear assistants say, "My executive will never approve this", so they never even present their case to their executive. It's all in positioning your thinking. You have to really believe that you are worth investing in and that you and your executive will both win big with this investment.

I'm providing this advice after being on both sides of the desk. For 20 years I was an assistant and I often had to persuade my executives to let me go to seminars. Since 1990, I've been on the other side of the desk and I now see things as other executives and business owners do. There has to be return on the investment made in an employee. Use the guidelines below to help you sell the seminar or conference to your executive.

Points to Consider:

1. You need to continually learn and grow. In today's competitive marketplace and  at the pace this profession is changing, if you do not continually enhance your skills, build new ones, and have a strategy for your career, you will get left in the dust.

2. Don't feel guilty about being out of the office to attend something that will make you better, faster, smarter, and sharper.

3. Get your executive to see the long-term payoff. Often executives think about the  number of days you will be out of the office. You need to help them see that while you may be gone three or four days, you will gain skills and knowledge that will take you, and them, into the future.

4. Executives travel all over the country. Why shouldn't you? Some assistants tell  me they can only attend seminars that take place in their city or state. That is not 21 st Century thinking. Assistants should be a business partner to their executive,  so start acting like a business partner and convince your manager why you should  be allowed to travel out of state.

5. I'm sure you receive lots of information on seminars, conferences, and workshops for administrative and executive assistants. You need to be selective. Some things  to consider are:

· Who is the speaker? What qualifies them to speak on the subjects covered?

· If they are going to speak on how to thrive in your profession, do they understand the administrative profession? Did they ever work for any length of time as an administrative office professional?

· What is the value of the program? In other words, what are you getting for your money? The quality of the materials? Any extra events such as a welcome dinner? What meals are included? Of course, the content should always be the most important but when you are comparing one seminar to another and can only attend one, you need to consider these other aspects.

· Is this a lecture or will you be actively involved in the learning process?

6. Don't give up . If you really believe this training will help you professionally or even just rejuvenate your enthusiasm about your career, realize it may take three or four attempts to convince your manager. You may have to try different ways or formats to persuade your executive and, remember, timing is important.

Principles of Persuasion:

1. Know exactly what you want to accomplish by attending the training or conference.

2. To be a good seller, consider the buyer's viewpoint. Try to put yourself in your executive's position. What key selling points would be important to your executive? How will your executive benefit from you attending training or a seminar?

3. Learn what motivates your executive. Is your executive motivated by ROI (return on investment), the skills you will develop, or you learning from an acclaimed expert in the field?

4. Keep in mind the format you will use to present your case. Try to gauge your receiver's communication style preference. Does your executive prefer  information short and to the point or does your executive like details?

5. List the specific topics that will be covered at the seminar or conference and how  they tie in to your job or future work.

6. Tie key learning points of the seminar or conference to your professional development plans for the year and goals of your department.

7. Show your executive how what you will learn will help you in specific areas of  your job. For example: Let's say one of the topics covered will be learning and understanding communication styles. Tell your executive you will use that information to be a better communicator by tapping into the receiver's style; build rapport with internal and external customers; and complement your executive's and his or her staff's communication styles.

8. If your executive does say no to the training or seminar, sincerely ask your executive why he or she believes this is not a good investment. You may be able  to counter that perception.

9. Offer options. Say, "Would you rather I attend the conference in May in California or the seminar in September in Atlanta?"

10. It always helps to let your executive know that you will share what you have learned with other assistants in your organization.

11. Emphasize the benefits of networking with peers and learning from others in the field.

12. Negotiate if necessary. Ask your executive to pay the registration and hotel and you'll pay your airfare. Or, you pay for your hotel stay and ask your executive to pay for registration and airfare. Be creative!

Most of the time assistants tell me they can't attend our programs because of budget cuts. Sometimes it really is a budget issue. Other times, it's just lack of knowing how to sell the program to the executive. Have the courage to go after what you want. That in itself is a learning experience.