January102011
I Get My Check On Friday, It’s Already Spent
“Men always find themselves the most fascinating subject of any conversation. When in doubt, let him talk about himself. He’ll think you’re a brilliant conversationalist. ” -The Southern Belle’s Handbook
I am an executive assistant for a not-for-profit dealing in economic development (not the easiest job now a days!) Working for a not-for-profit has its own interesting twist and turns but more than anything being an executive assistant is the most interesting, patience testing, and humbling job I have ever had.
My boss (we will call him K) is a wonderful person. He is flexible, trusts me to a fault, allows me to do my work without micromanaging me, always says thank you and most importantly has faith in my ability to get my work done. I couldn’t ask for more out of a boss. That said (you knew that was coming) there are some days where I want to kill him but I guess that’s why they pay me to come here! I want to give you a brief example of a conversation I could have with K on any given day so you can understand why I have to remind myself daily that patience is a virtue.
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Me: (Knock, Knock) Can I come in and ask you a quick question. I’m super busy but I was curious if….
K: Come in! Come in and sit down!!
Me: Okay but I’ve got a ton of stuff to get done I just wanted to know if you had see that email that “Bob” sent us and exactly what you want me to do about it. Do you want me to call our attorney and try to sort it all out?
K: Yeah, do whatever you need to do Abby. I trust you.
Me: Great, thanks (I start to stand up)
K: Wait, wait…I wanted to tell you something. Speaking of attorneys did I ever tell you about the time that I was working for that big corporation in Indy? I had a staff of almost 25 people and I bet we employed over 500 people total. Well somehow the people in personnel hired a guy who didn’t know how to read and…
Me: Oh yeah, You’ve told me this story before. You couldn’t fire him because he could sue you due to the fact that when you hired him he…
K: Anyways, Okay Abby you won’t believe this but, we COULDN’T fire him because he could sue us due to the fact that when we hired him he couldn’t read and we should have never hired him to begin with.
Me: Yeah, that’s what I just said. I’ve heard this story before.
K: So, you won’t believe what I did. I told personnel that we had to get him a tutor and teach him how to read. We couldn’t send him on the job site when he couldn’t even read blueprints. I mean yes he was just a construction worker but..
Me: Yup, you couldn’t have him going out as a representative of your corporation and not even have the ability to read because it reflects badly on you. I’ve heard this story so many times I could tell it, K. I really should get back to my desk I’ve got tons of stuff to get….
K: Like I was saying, we couldn’t just let him go out representing us and not even have the ability to read. So I (puffs out chest) ripped personnel a new one, helped them find this kid a tutor and we helped him learn to read. And then do you know what we did…do you???
Me: Actually yes I do but go on….(this is followed by me giving up any hope of getting work done in the next 45 minutes and resigning myself to the fact that I’m going to have to hear this story for the 18th time..this year.)
Working for K has taught me many things. All of these things have made me a better person in my professional and personal life but if I had to pick the one things that he has taught me that has served me best in life it would be this: Allow men to talk about themselves, they love it. Also, don’t try to deflate a man’s ego because you are going to end up being the one who has to re-inflate it…and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want that job.
