171: Melba J. Duncan is the Founder and President of The Duncan Group Inc., a retained search and consulting firm. Since 1985, the firm has been advising CEOs and other corporate leaders regarding specialized senior management support resources. Ms. Duncan was Assistant to The Hon. Peter G. Peterson, Founder of The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Chairman Emeritus and Co-Founder of The Blackstone Group, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb Incorporated, and former Secretary of Commerce.

In her prior position, she was Assistant to Sanford C. Bernstein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., a New York Stock Exchange member firm, where she was elected Corporate Secretary and became a stockholder.

Ms. Duncan is an experienced public speaker. She has served as keynote speaker at the American Management Association’s Annual Conference for Executive Secretaries & Administrative Assistants. Ms. Duncan has served as chairperson for the Marcus Evans Executaries Forums, held in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Toronto, and Montreal. Ms. Duncan has delivered the keynote address to the EA&PA Congress Series in Sydney, Australia, and Adelaide, Australia, respectively and served as Keynote for the EA/PA Congress in Melbourne, Australia.

Ms. Duncan has served as Keynote and Conference Host for the Bermuda Chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals and has served as a presenter at the World Bank, Washington DC, responding to the topic “Shaping your future: Maintaining Your Competitiveness.”

Articles and Video:​

Indispensability and Legacy: Interview – Melba Duncan and Lucy Brazier OBE: https://lnkd.in/eQigh3iU

Harvard Business Review: The Secret Weapon of Great Leaders (HBR Video): https://hbr.org/2011/05/the-secret-weapon-of-great-lea

The Essential Assistant: Secretariado Master Class (São Paulo, Brazil) (Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCgs2yFxyyg

Harvard Business Review: What Executive Assistants Know About Managing Up: https://hbr.org/2014/12/what-executive-assistants-know-about-managing-up

Harvard Business Review: May 2011: The Case for Executive Assistants: http://hbr.org/2011/05/the-case-for-executive-assistants/ar/1

Books by Melba J. Duncan:

- Indispensability: Administrative Intelligence - The Importance of the Other AI (Centenary University Press, June 2025)

- EQ/IQ Developing Emotional Intelligence for Effective Executive Support (Open Hand Press, 2021)

- The New Executive Assistant: Advice for Succeeding as an Executive or Administrative Assistant (McGraw Hill, 1997)

- How To Succeed in Business As An Executive Assistant (Collier Books, 1990)

More about the podcast:

Diana on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-brandl/

Executive Office Insights Newsletter: https://the-socialista-projects.com/#newsletter

Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the-socialista-projects

Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3qBSDjTfYOG2x6qos7dKkS

Podcast auf Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-future-assistant/id1493106661