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.

Sales Professionals

Everyday, I am inundated with sales pitches for various widgets, dowickies, and thingamabobs that are guaranteed to save the company, better the work environment, cure the common cold, and even make gold out of paperclips.  Yes, the world is their oyster, if I’d only put them in contact with the right person in my organization.

No, I will not put you in contact with my boss. That’s why they pay me the big bucks! 

Please don’t think that I’m deaf if you are in a call center and you represent yourself as a director of sales of anything.  I’m not stupid.

A note to the sales professional.  Do your research.  Go to the web site, look around. I’m not going to do your job for you.

I get the best and the worst on my end of the telephone.  For every ten annoying calls, I get a gem that makes me grateful for those moments. 

But as to the rest?  Fie on them!  I liken them to an infestation of rodents that are invading my workspace. Over, under, and around they attack I must be ever vigilant.

Random Acts

Every once in awhile you find yourself the recipient of a random act of kindness, not for anything in particular just for doing your job. Yesterday, was a day for random acts of kindness for me. Both to give and receive.

To Give:

I received a frantic call from one of my fellow Admins in our New York office with an AP question. This was an arena I could find a solution to her problem, the people I needed were all around me. With help from my network, her issues were swiftly solved. I made sure to that my friend who spearheaded the fix, by emailing a quick ‘good job’ email to her boss. This is something I would do for anyone who has gone out of their way to help me. My friend said to me she was only doing her job, to me she moved a mountain. I had to make sure that her effort was acknowledged.

To Receive:

The same day, someone came to me looking for a typewriter. We have one on the floor, but it hasn’t been used since I started with the company. She had forms that had to be manually filled out. We plugged in the dinosaur and found out that the ribbon was dry as a bone. I looked at the form and realized that I could make an ADOBE form out of the form if we scan the document. Really, it was an easy fix. It took a few minutes to do and a few tweaks after that to perfect it. And Voila! No need for a typewriter. I was just doing my job.

This is what she sent my boss:

“Hi XXXX

Every once in a while, even though great people perform above the bar daily, someone really exceeds expectations, and I wanted you to know that XXXX “saved the day” for me. All I needed was a working typewriter to fill out a form for some of our XXXXXXX employees. She was right on it….looking to ease my burden of having to use a typewriter. She created a form with Adobe……something I didn’t even know was possible.

She is always great with requests and today she exceeded my expectations and helped with making the process more efficient….She saved the day!
And she taught me something!
We’re fortunate to have her.

Just wanted to let you know…..”

It’s moments like this that make my day.