1. Objective

This SOP governs the professional standards that apply to the EA role beyond specific technical skills: confidentiality, conflict of interest, professional boundaries, and ethical judgment. These are not policy items to comply with — they are values to internalize. Every skill, every tool, and every technique in this role only matters if the foundation beneath them is solid. That foundation is trust. And trust is built on these three pillars.

Where this SOP starts: Day one of any engagement and applies throughout — including after the engagement ends.
Where this SOP ends: Never — professional standards are not a training module you complete. They are how you operate.

Success looks like: Your executive trusts you without reservation. They share sensitive information, give you meaningful access, and rely on your judgment — because they have never had reason to doubt your discretion or your integrity. Your professional reputation is something you've earned and protected.

2. Your Role & Boundaries

2a. What you handle independently

• Maintaining absolute confidentiality on all information encountered in the role
• Identifying and disclosing conflicts of interest immediately when they arise
• Maintaining clear professional boundaries with your executive and external contacts
• Applying the ethical judgment framework when situations are ambiguous

2b. What requires executive approval before acting

• Sharing any business information with any external party
• Discussing the engagement in any public forum (even generally)
• Accepting any gift or benefit from a third party connected to your executive's work

2c. What you never do

• You never share information learned in this role with anyone — not colleagues, contacts, family, or social media — without explicit authorization
• You never use your access to your executive's contacts, systems, or information for any personal benefit
• You never work for competing clients without disclosing the relationship
• You never let a conflict of interest go undisclosed

3. The Confidentiality Standard (See also SOP-CEA-COMM-06)

The absolute rule: Nothing you learn in this role leaves this role without explicit authorization from your executive. No exceptions.

The simple test: If your executive would be uncomfortable knowing you shared something — don't share it. When in doubt, don't.

What this covers:
- Client names, details, and business situations
- Financial information — revenue, pricing, contracts, debt
- Business strategy — plans, pivots, partnerships, competitive positioning
- Personal matters your executive has shared with you
- Any internal conflict, dispute, or difficulty

After the engagement ends: Confidentiality obligations do not expire. You may not share information from the engagement after it concludes.

4. Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest arises when your personal interests or outside relationships could affect — or appear to affect — your professional judgment in your EA role.

Common examples:
- You have a personal relationship with a vendor your executive is evaluating
- You're working for multiple clients who compete with each other
- You're using your access to your executive's contacts to build your own business relationships
- You're receiving gifts or payments from a third party connected to your executive's work

The correct response: disclose immediately.

Tell your executive. Do not try to manage a conflict silently. Most executives appreciate transparency and will tell you how to proceed. A disclosed conflict can be managed. An undisclosed one, discovered later, permanently destroys trust.

How to disclose:

"I want to flag something that might be a conflict of interest. [Brief description.] I wanted to be upfront about it before proceeding — how would you like me to handle this?"

5. Professional Boundaries

Boundaries in this role exist to protect both you and your executive. The EA role — especially with a solo business owner — can blur lines between professional and personal. You know a great deal about their personal life, work through stressful periods with them, and often communicate informally.

Healthy boundaries:

Your availability has limits. You are not on call 24/7. Establish clear communication windows during onboarding and stick to them. If your executive reaches out outside those windows, respond at the start of your next availability window — not immediately every time.

Your executive's stress is not your personal burden. You can support them professionally without taking on their emotional wellbeing as your responsibility. Support them operationally — handle more, reduce friction — but don't absorb their anxiety into your own.

Friendliness is not friendship. You can have a warm, genuine professional relationship without crossing into personal territory that makes the relationship difficult to manage professionally.

If your executive begins oversharing: If your executive starts treating you more as a personal confidant than a professional partner — asking for personal advice, sharing details that feel like oversharing — it is appropriate and important to maintain a professional boundary. Do it warmly but directly:

"I really appreciate you trusting me with that. I want to make sure I'm most useful to you on the professional side — I'll focus my energy there."

6. The Ethical Judgment Framework

Occasionally you will encounter a situation where the right action is not obvious. Use this framework:

Step 1: Pause. Don't act immediately in ambiguous situations.

Step 2: Apply the two questions:
- "Would my executive want me to handle this this way?"
- "Would I be comfortable explaining what I did and why?"

Step 3: When in doubt, ask. "I want to handle this the right way — before I respond, should I check with you first?"

Step 4: Document your reasoning. When you make a judgment call in an ambiguous situation, make a brief note of what you decided and why.

No framework covers every situation. But practicing this thinking builds ethical judgment over time — it becomes more natural with each situation you work through.

7. Social Media and Public Representation

• Never post about your executive, their business, or their clients on social media without explicit written authorization
• Never reference specific client names, work you've done, or business outcomes publicly without permission — even in a positive context
• "I work with solo business owners on their operations" is acceptable. Naming the executive, the client, or the specific results is not — unless explicitly authorized.
• These rules apply during the engagement and after it ends.

8. When Things Get Ethically Ambiguous

These scenarios require careful judgment:

Scenario 1: A client asks you to confirm a figure from a contract you have access to, but you haven't been explicitly told you can share it.
→ Don't share. "Let me confirm with [Executive] that I can share that detail — I'll follow up shortly."

Scenario 2: A mutual contact asks you about your executive's business in casual conversation.
→ "You'd want to reach out to [Executive] directly — I'm not the right person to speak to about their work."

Scenario 3: Your executive asks you to handle something that feels ethically off but isn't clearly wrong.
→ Pause. Apply the framework. Ask: "I want to make sure I handle this correctly — could you walk me through the approach you have in mind?"

Scenario 4: You discover that information you shared turned out to be confidential.
→ Notify your executive immediately. "I shared [X] with [person] in the context of [situation] — I'm concerned this may have been confidential. I wanted to tell you right away."

9. Escalation Protocol

Escalate when:
- A situation feels ethically ambiguous and your framework isn't giving you a clear answer
- Someone is pressuring you to do something that conflicts with your professional standards
- You discover you've inadvertently shared confidential information

Escalation format:

Flagging this — want your guidance before I act:

[Brief description of the situation]

I'm not sure how to handle this in a way that's consistent with our standards.

My instinct is [X] — does that feel right to you?

10. Changelog