Our aim at Athena is to give you your time back so you can spend it in the ways that matter most.

In each issue of our newsletter you’ll get unique delegation tips and leadership inspiration.

Spanx's Failure Advantage

Every night at dinner, Sara Blakely's father would ask his kids the same question:

"What did you fail at today?"

If they had nothing to report, he'd be disappointed.

This bizarre ritual shaped the founder who'd build Spanx into a billion-dollar empire. While other parents praised straight A's, Blakely's dad celebrated spectacular failures.

Missed the winning shot? High five.

Bombed the audition? Tell me everything.

When Blakely started Spanx, manufacturers laughed her out of their offices. Department stores hung up on her. She collected rejections for two years before anyone said yes.

Each "no" taught her something. The embarrassment that paralyzes others energized her.

At Spanx headquarters today, they host monthly "Oops Meetings". Employees share their biggest screw-ups.

Teams that recognize and learn failure outperform teams that fear it. When you no longer fear failure, you can take swings that change industries.

Great assistants filter, not forward

A common trap for leaders is assuming your assistant’s job is to surface everything that may require your attention. But the best assistants filter, not forward.

Take last week, for example.

One of our assistants at Athena received a vague meeting request from an enterprise client:

"We should connect sometime next week."

This is where most assistants take the communications at face value and make the mistake of scheduling the meeting. They would see:

Important client? Yes
Meeting request? Yes
Time sensitivity? Yes

Result: Immediate scheduling

A seasoned assistant, deeply attuned to their executive’s world and thought processes, would recognize the telltale signs of a non-urgent request:

• Overly polite, vague language

• No commitment to dates or agenda

• No real urgency

• Result: Let it sit—if it matters, they’ll follow up

This is the difference between filling your calendar and protecting your time.

False positives are costly.

Your assistant’s instinct to over-flag is normal self-preservation. They don’t want to miss something critical.

But in doing so, they’re wasting your time with meetings, emails, and requests that never needed your attention to begin with.

The solution is teaching your assistant to filter ruthlessly before anything reaches you.