EA/PA Leadership Summit Sydney 2026

Pre-Conference Workshop 1

Peak Leadership Performance: Biohacking for Feminine Leadership

9:00 AM – 12:30 PM

What You’ll Learn:

You’re sitting at the top table holding your own, because you deserve to be there but your operating system is unique. When supported adequately, this can become your edge. Discover the science-backed strategies that support high-performance leadership without sacrificing your wellbeing. This intensive workshop goes beyond traditional leadership development to explore how your biology, habits, and energy management directly impact your executive presence and decision-making capability.

You’ll explore:

• The biological foundations of sustainable performance - hormones, sleep architecture, and nutrition strategies that optimize cognitive function and resilience

• Evidence-based approaches to physical wellness that enhance mental clarity and strategic thinking

• The Chocolate Bar Life framework for balancing work, rest, and renewal in high-pressure

• Emotional regulation techniques for maintaining composure and clarity in critical moments

• Practical boundary-setting strategies that protect your energy without compromising your influence

What You’ll Walk Away With:

• A personalized performance blueprint tailored to your unique biological needs and leadership context

• Actionable biohacking strategies you can implement immediately to boost energy, focus, and resilience

• Tools for managing stress, optimising sleep, and maintaining peak cognitive function • Practical frameworks for redefining success on your terms while maintaining your competitive edge

• A renewed commitment to leadership that’s built on clarity, composure, and balance - not burnout

Pre-Conference Workshop 2

Communicate with confidence and get your voice heard

1:30 PM – 5:00 PM

No matter your role, it’s important that you speak your truth and learn how to communicate so that your voice is heard.

All too often we find ourselves leaving conversations frustrated that we haven’t been heard or understood clearly. There are times when we haven’t been able to find the space in a meeting to share our perspectives at all!

This half day masterclass will give you the opportunity to build your gravitas in all contexts, communicate with confidence and clarity, and make the practical mindset changes needed to remove roadblocks to expressing yourself.

You will Learn:

• Limit inner conflicts which might limit workplace performance

• Project more authority and communicate with gravity

• Master sustainable control of stress and stressors in the work environment

• Improve positive-attitude maintenance in challenging situations

• Assess and adjust personal leadership style quickly, accurately and privately
  

By the end of the workshop you will have:

• Uncovered what is in the way of you finding and expressing your voice with confidence and clarity

• Understood how to build capacity in your communication style and how to listen for and respond to other people’s styles of communication

• Built the confidence and know how to show up and have your voice heard

Conference Day One

09:00 Welcome to Country

09:05 Opening Remarks from Chair

Danielle Colley is an integrative life coach and founder of Your Good Life. She helps successful women in business who are dissatisfied with their lives and dealing with pressures from all angles, to reach their full potential by helping them clear the debris from their past, super charge their present and transition from where they are now to where they desire to be.

SESSION 1
9:20 AM: The Trusted Partner: What Executive-Level Influence Really Looks Like

Today’s EA is no longer just a gatekeeper or organiser. The most valuable assistants operate as trusted partners, shaping conversations, anticipating risk, and influencing decisions at the highest level. In this powerful session, we explore what real executive-level influence looks like in practice. You’ll learn how to think commercially, contribute strategically, and build the kind of trust that gives you a genuine seat at the table. Discover how to move from reactive support to proactive leadership, strengthen your executive relationship, and position yourself as indispensable in complex, high-stakes environments.

10:10 AM: Leadership Networking

10:30 AM: Morning Tea

Session 2: Executive Presence in High-Stakes Rooms
11:10 AM: Leading Before You Feel Ready 

When you step into senior leadership meetings, board environments, or high-pressure discussions, how you show up matters. Executive presence is not about title or hierarchy. It’s about credibility, composure and confidence under pressure. 

In this empowering session, discover how to communicate with clarity, manage strong personalities, and contribute meaningfully in rooms where decisions are made. Learn practical techniques to strengthen your voice, project authority without overstepping, and navigate complex dynamics with professionalism and calm. Walk away with the mindset and tools to ensure that when you are in the room, your presence adds value and commands respect.

SESSION 3
12:00 AM: The AI-Smart EA: Beyond Prompts and Productivity Hacks 

AI is transforming the workplace, but the real advantage lies not in knowing a few clever prompts, it lies in using these tools with judgement, responsibility and strategic intent. In this future-focused session, explore how to harness AI to elevate your impact while protecting the trust placed in you. Learn how to design smart workflows, safeguard confidential information, recognise cyber risks, and ensure your digital habits strengthen rather than expose your executive and organisation. Discover how to move beyond quick productivity wins and position yourself as a confident, cyberaware, AI- smart partner who leads with both innovation and integrity. 

12:50 PM Lunch

Session 4
2:20 PM: Thinking Like an Executive: From Decision Support to Strategic Career Growth

The most influential EAs do more than manage logistics. They shape decisions, clarify priorities and think commercially alongside their executive. In this powerful session, learn how to approach challenges with an executive mindset, frame options clearly, anticipate risk and present information in ways that drive confident decision-making. 

At the same time, explore how mastering decision support elevates your own career trajectory. Discover how to expand your scope, strengthen your strategic credibility and position yourself for greater responsibility, influence and progression. When you think like an executive, you don’t just support leadership, you become an essential part of it.

2:40 PM: From EA to Strategic Career Architect: Building Influence, Visibility and Opportunity

Career progression in today’s EA profession is rarely linear. It is shaped by resilience, visibility and the courage to step forward, even when the path is uncertain.

In this inspiring and highly relatable session shares her personal journey of navigating change, building credibility and creating opportunity within complex, high-pressure environments. Through lived experience, Linda will explore how mindset, self-belief and strategic action can accelerate your growth and open doors you may not have thought possible. Discover how to raise your professional profile, contribute beyond your role and position yourself as a valued, forward-thinking partner. This session will leave you feeling empowered, motivated and ready to take the next step in your career with confidence. 

3:30 PM Afternoon Tea

SESSION 5: Co – Located Celebrity KEYNOTE
3:30 PM:  The Confidence to Be Seen and Heard

Visibility is often one of the most uncomfortable parts of leadership, yet it is critical for influence and progression. Many leaders continue to deliver strong work while remaining under recognised.

This session explores how to step into visibility with confidence and purpose. Learn how to build presence, communicate your value, and position yourself for greater impact without feeling inauthentic.

You will leave with a clearer understanding of how to show up, be recognised, and lead with confidence in environments that demand both performance and presence.

4:30 PM: Closing Reflections and Insights to Action

4:40 PM: Close of Day one & Networking Drinks

Conference Day Two | 22nd October

9:00 AM: From Insight to Action – Key Take Aways from Day 1

Session 1
9:15 AM: Sustainable Success in High Pressure Roles

Executive support roles in the public sector often involve fast paced environments, high expectations and constant change. While the work can be rewarding, sustaining performance over time requires balance, resilience and self awareness.

In this inspiring session, Danielle explores how to maintain energy, focus and clarity while operating in demanding roles. Learn how to manage competing pressures, establish healthy boundaries, and sustain your effectiveness without burnout.

10:15 AM Morning Tea

SESSION 2
10:30 AM:  Brave Conversations: Managing Up Without Burning Bridges

In high-performing executive environments, avoiding difficult conversations can cost credibility, trust and results. The ability to speak up with confidence, clarity and professionalism is a defining skill of a trusted partner. In this empowering session, discover how to manage up effectively, push back with diplomacy, and navigate complex personalities without damaging relationships.

Learn practical communication strategies for handling unrealistic expectations, shifting priorities and high-pressure moments. Explore how thoughtful, courageous conversations strengthen your executive partnership and position you as a respected voice in the room. Because real influence is not about staying silent, it’s about knowing how and when to speak with impact.

SESSION 3: KEYNOTE
11:00 PM: Staying True When the Pressure is On

Leadership in high visibility environments comes with constant scrutiny, expectation, and pressure to perform. Whether in the public eye or within an organisation, the challenge is not just delivering results, but staying grounded in who you are while everything around you is shifting.

In this powerful keynote, Amy Shark reflects on her journey from uncertainty to global success, sharing what it really takes to back yourself when the stakes are high. From navigating rejection and criticism to finding her voice and owning it, Amy offers an honest perspective on confidence, vulnerability, and resilience.

This session will explore how to stay authentic under pressure, trust your instincts, and continue to step forward even when self doubt is present. Because leadership is not about having all the answers. It is about having the courage to keep showing up.

12:30 PM Lunch

SESSION 4
1:30 PM:  High-Performance Workflow in Complex Environments 

SESSION 5: The Power Partnership: Leading Without the Title and Shaping Culture from Within
2:30 PM: From Insights to Action: Bringing It All Together

The most effective EA–executive relationships are built on trust, clarity and shared purpose. But true partnership goes beyond task management. It requires leadership, influence and the ability to shape culture from wherever you sit. In this powerful session, explore what makes a high performing executive partnership thrive, from communication rhythms to aligned expectations and mutual trust.

Discover how to lead without formal authority, influence team dynamics and model the standards that strengthen organisational culture. Learn how to elevate your impact, deepen your executive relationship and position yourself not just as support, but as a trusted partner and cultural force within your organisation.

3:10 PM Afternoon Tea

2:30 PM: CLOSING KEYNOTE: Bringing it all together - From Insight to Action 

As the summit draws to a close, take a moment to reflect, reset and refocus. In this energising closing session, will guide you through the key insights of the past two days and help you turn inspiration into practical action. Identify your next steps, clarify your priorities and commit to the changes that will elevate your impact. Leave feeling focused, confident and ready to step forward as a trusted, capable and future-ready executive partner.

3:50 PM: Bringing it all together & Conference Close

Post-Conference Workshop

9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

The Practical Leadership Playbook: Leading with Clarity & Courage

Step into the next level of leadership.

This masterclass equips you with practical tools, advanced strategies and confidence to lead with clarity, courage, and impact.

You’ll walk away with a comprehensive toolkit—including proven templates, practical techniques and conversation guides—that you can immediately apply in your workplace and return to throughout your leadership journey.

“I wish I had done this workshop two years ago when I started as a manager”
 
What You’ll Learn:

Grounded in research and tested in practice, this masterclass will help you to:

• Strengthen self-awareness and emotional regulation: 
  Understand your personal leadership style, manage emotional responses and build lasting resilience.
• Set clear expectations for behaviour, performance, and working relationships: 
  Create a culture of accountability and psychological safety through clear boundaries and shared commitments.
• Provide advanced support to your team: 
  Recognise and respond to what your team members need to succeed and grow and manage in challenging times.
• Deliver feedback that drives performance and development: 
  Learn how to give confident, constructive feedback that supports good behaviour, addresses concerns early and
  strengthens your team.
• Navigate brave conversations with clarity and care
  Use the Correction Continuum to prepare for and engage in the conversations that matter—early, effectively and with integrity.

What You’ll Take Away:

Grounded in research and tested in practice, this masterclass will help you to:

• A practical leadership workbook packed with tools, templates, conversation scripts, and frameworks you can use for years to come.
  
  

“Every time I need to have a brave conversation, I go back to the templates and scripts. They give me the support and confidence I need to prepare well"

• A peer learning experience that connects you with like-minded leaders navigating similar challenges.
• The confidence and capability to immediately apply what you’ve learned in your leadership role.
  
  

“This is the most practical workshop I’ve ever attended.”