Pearls before …

In the world of an Adminstrative Professional, there are a multitude of levels that can be achieved. From the receptionist, whose demeanor sets the tone for employees and visitors as they enter the facility. To an actual executive level, where the Adminstrative Professional sets policy and procedures for the admins through out the organization. An entire spectrum lays between.

I only point out this breadth of range because of common comments I hear amongst my peers. “I have no way to advance.” or “Nobody takes me seriously because I’m an admin” or, my personal favorite, “I just can’t do what they are asking me to do because they haven’t trained me.”

Pardon me as I call bullshit on these whiners! I’m sorry to be blunt and rude, but enough! We who are admin are not brainless space holders who do nothing. If that is all you do? Get out now. You are doing your peers no service.

If you feel stifled, plenty of opportunities abound.  You just have to take them.

Today’s economic climate does not leave pearls strewn across the road for the lucky to find. Instead you have to be savvy. Take advantage of work assisted education. Look for grants and programs that might suit your circumstances.

Opportunities abound, no one will hand them to you on a silver platter.

Dress Code or How Not to Dress Like a Pop Tart

The summer has drawn to a close.  People have once more started covering their bodies with more layers of clothing in order to accommodate the wildly fluctuating temperatures of the fall.  HOWEVER…

That doesn’t mean that some people do not try to keep summer alive.  The sad, sad truth is that companies need to put forth some sort of dress codes. If only to educate the clueless.

This summer my eyes have been assaulted with cleavage baring tops on people where more fabric is a necessity not a fashion statement.  Skirts that with a stiff wind or an inappropriate bend the world would be privy to their privates.  More knarly, sparkly flip-flops that were stinky bio-hazards that did not belong in a corporate environment.  All of the above a direct violation of the company’s dress code.

People.  I am not the fashion police.  I’m sure that people look at me and say I could desperately use a make over.  But when I leave the house in the morning, I know that no fashion catastophe will happen.  All my bits and parts will stay properly covered and never see the light of day so that my co-workers will wish never had happened.

The advice of a good friend follows :   Folks – put a mirror in your foyer – one last look before you leave for work, doesn’t hurt.  If you have to question to yourself whether or not something is appropriate, it probably isn’t!

Hanging by a Thread

I’m hanging by a thread of sanity.  My status of miracle worker is being severely tested. 

Miracles, people!  I perform Miracles!  I don’t create the impossible.  I don’t make things appear out of nothing.  I don’t create matter out of nothing.

RESET Button

Have you ever had one of those days where you want to hit the RESET button?

Well, today was it.  Nothing particularly horrible happened, but nothing particularly right happened either.  At work I was juggling tons of balls in the air and inevitably one fell.  Not one that was work critical but was important to my boss. 

When you are an admin, there is a fine line between work and personal when you work at the executive level.  I try to keep everything in balance.  Most importantly, I try not to drop any balls.  But when you support a business unit president, vice president, assorted directors AND the various and sundry managers underneath them, life can get a little chaotic.

I really hate it when I miss a ball. It makes me feel miserable and crappy.  I do my best to shake it off and hit the RESET button the minute I walk out the door so that the next day is new.  But the hold over feels like an axe hanging over my neck.

Today I hit the RESET button.  Too bad I know that my RESET will only be good for me. My boss has a memory like an elephant.