Why Great Executive Assistants Filter, Not Just Forward

A common trap for executives is assuming your assistant’s job is to surface everything that may require your attention. But the best assistants filter ruthlessly.

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.

The problem: False positives are costly

Your assistant’s instinct to over-flag is normal. It’s 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.

Think about fraud detection, for example. Out of 10,000 transactions, maybe three are fraudulent. Even with a 99% accurate detection system, the bank might still flag 30 transactions as fraud alerts. Meaning: 90% of fraud alerts are false positives.

The same thing happens in your inbox:

• 100 emails arrive
• Three are truly important
• Your assistant flags 50 as "important"
• 47 false positives take your attention

How to train your assistant to filter better

Instead of just hoping your assistant will figure it out, train them to filter like you would.

1. Make “No” the default, not “Yes”

If your assistant assumes everything is important, they’ll flag too much. But the reality is, the few things that truly matter are often small, simple, and obvious in hindsight—not buried in endless “urgent” requests. Instead, tell them:

"Most things don’t need my attention. The key is recognizing what truly needs attention now."

Encourage them to ask:

• Is there a clear agenda?
• Is there a real reason it needs to happen now?
• If I ignored this, would there be consequences?

If the answer isn’t a clear yes, it shouldn’t make it to you.

2. Context and feedback

Most executives don’t realize they’re reinforcing false positives by responding to everything their assistant escalates.

If something wasn’t urgent, say so.

A simple, “I didn’t need to see this,” helps your assistant refine their judgment.

Conversely, if they miss something critical, don’t criticize them. Coach them. Explain exactly what signal they missed so they refine their filter over time.

Perhaps the best way to reduce false positives in the long run is to steep your assistant in as much context as possible.

Live-screen shares and talking out loud are great practices.

Similarly, assigning tasks in parallel and trading notes until your assistant’s output exceeds that of your own will also transfer context in a real-world setting.

3. Teach them to track false positives

Your assistant will improve more slowly unless they intentionally track when they over-escalate.

Have them keep a simple log:

• What they flagged as important
• Whether you actually needed it
• What signals they missed

Over time, patterns emerge—and they get better at knowing what matters and what doesn’t.

Criteria for filtering out false positives

Not all requests are created equal. Teach your assistant these specific filters for common communications.

For meeting requests:

• Does it involve a key client, investor, or team member with a clear agenda?
• Is there a deadline-driven deliverable tied to this meeting?
• Would postponing it by two weeks create a significant problem?

For emails:

• Does it contain a direct question only you can answer?
• Is it from your executive team, board, or top 5 clients?
• Does it relate to current company priorities or risks?
• Would ignoring it for 48 hours create a problem?

For phone calls:

• Is it from someone in your inner circle or immediate family?
• Did they text "urgent" before calling?
• Have they tried reaching you multiple times in succession?

One Athena client put it perfectly:

"If my assistant surfaces 20 things daily, I've hired a forwarder, not a filter."‍

Share these criteria with your assistant and adjust based on which ones actually protect your time effectively.

The trust equation for eliminating false positives

(Speed + Accuracy - False positives) × Pattern recognition = Trust

The goal isn’t just an assistant who works fast—it’s an assistant who thinks like you.

• Speed → They process information quickly without hesitation
• Accuracy → They understand your priorities deeply
• Minimizing false positives → They don’t surface things that don’t matter
• Pattern recognition → They get better over time, refining their filter

Final thought

Your assistant’s job isn’t to make sure you never miss anything.

Their job is to make sure your time is spent on what truly matters.

And sometimes, that means letting a polite Tuesday meeting request quietly fade away.