Personal Assistants and Afternoon Tea

I went to The Angel Cafe this afternoon to meet a lady for coffee/tea. What was different is that I'd never met her prior to this - but it was a networking time as she is the Personal Assistant to one of the other principals in town. It's something I'm starting to do, meet up and have coffee with PA's from other schools and this way build relationships that will help us all.

It was a different dynamic to what I expected.

I've discovered thus far in my working life that as a PA you become loyal to the person you're assisting and to the organisation you represent, perhaps more so then another job, because you see how things really are. If you don't have respect for the organisation, the management of the organisation or your boss, you can't continue to work there, and indeed should not. A good PA is proud of the person, the organisation and happy to promote it... someone who is not, in my opinion and experience should move on.

What was interesting though was how this lady let her guard down to me, a PA of a rival school, and shared all the things that was hard, about her job and more specifically her boss, the Principal of the school. A very different dynamic, but one that from other stories I've heard is common when secretaries get together.

I was so very thankful (and astounded!) that I had nothing but positive praise for my boss and even when the tone of the conversation was negative I wasn't tempted to speak in kind. It's not that my boss is perfect, he's not (and neither am I), but I have a great deal of respect for him and the way he manages some very difficult situations - he also puts up with my many quirks and gives me the freedom to speak my mind.

I'm challenged to keep the tone higher in other networking meetings - not to encourage the bitch - but encourage the person to keep on doing what they do best... supporting some people that have some very tricky jobs!