Are You
Revealing Secrets in Your Administrative Professional Role?
By Karen Porter
The Administrative Professional
Job Performance and Career Success Coach
Assisting Administrative Support Professionals Since 2004
If you're an
executive assistant or a personal assistant, you likely must maintain
confidences. This is sometimes true for administrative assistants too
depending on the breadth and depth of your role and duties.
And maintaining confidences would be easy if nobody wanted to know what you
know.
But often, they do.
As the administrative professional, and sometimes the gatekeeper for your
boss and department, you're the one internal and external clients think of
first (after your boss) as being "in the know."
And you've probably noticed some of those people aren't shy about trying to
gather tidbits of information from you before your boss, or company, is
ready to release them.
For instance, a co-worker or outside contact comes to you and asks, "Is your
manager back from Phoenix yet?"
That sounds like a harmless question...chit chat...right?
But it may not be the friendly banter you think it is.
Not to put conspiracy theories in your head, but I've worked in
administrative professional roles in companies and organizations and I know
"the games people play."
...ones that can get you in hot water with your own boss if you don't watch
out for them.
If you're a veteran administrative professional, particularly an executive
assistant or personal assistant, you likely know what I'm talking about. But
a refresher course in how others get you to reveal your confidences is still
helpful.
If you're new to the role, you better get with it. Unfortunately, offices
are full of people with self interests who will try to "work you"-- the
administrative professional -- to get information you shouldn't be giving
out.
Find out on page 3 of Volume 3, Issue 1, of The Effective Admin
newsletter how that question I posed above - "Is your manager back from
Phoenix yet?" -- is actually designed to get you to reveal confidences you
perhaps shouldn't.
Plus, I'll tell you in that article how you should answer that question.
You can get all of the back issues of The Effective Admin
newsletter, including the one referenced in this article, and a current
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Click here to go to VAAP membership details.