THE PROFESSIONAL POWERHOUSE:
How are you surviving without an assistant?
I think the legal TV series Suits tried its best to portray the role of a great assistant. Donna, Harvey’s assistant knows everyone and can get anything done. And when it matters, she yells at Harvey- the egotistic super brilliant, and revered Senior Partner at the firm to get him to listen. Harvey respects her. They have a great work relationship that positions them to conquer any mountain.
Who doesn’t want to have someone who takes care of all their important tasks before they even know they need to?
I know another ‘Donna’ in the name of Juliet Adong and guess what! I grew up with her in Nsambya. Our mothers were best friends and we interacted a lot as children but we all grew up and moved away from our big community.
Years later when we met, Juliet had transfigured into this super beautiful, professional, elegant confident young woman. I didn’t know if I should admire or fear her. And gosh! Her clothes!
“…that’s Juliet, the Executive Assistant to the Secretary to the Board at National Water.” Annet my cousin whispered to me the day I saw her at a party she was hosting.
I learnt that day that Juliet was highly respected and revered at National Water where she worked.
Juliet is a powerhouse.
Something about her drew me in. I wanted to know more. I am an Executive Assistant myself and I get the dressing well and being confident but Juliet. She was something. To borrow the words of Maya Angelou, “she walks like she’s got oil wells pumping in her living room.”
Many assistants don’t carry this air or better still, many assistants don’t start out wanting to be one. Sometimes, like in my case, someone observes a young hardworking intern and calls them to the job. Sometimes, you are fresh out of school without many options, so you take on what is available as you wait.
Not Juliet.
“I’ve always wanted to be an Executive Assistant,” says Juliet.
Turns out at 13years old, Juliet walked into the Prime Minister’s office and was smitten by one Dorcas who was a Principal Personal Secretary. Dorcas was elegant, professional, and amazing and Juliet knew there and then that she wanted to be like her when she grew up. When she asked Dorcas what she needed to do to be like her, she was advised to study Secretarial and Administrative Studies at the University.
Juliet studied just that, then a Masters in Public Administration, and a Masters in International Relations, then a Masters in Business Administration and a thousand certifications for Executive Assistants in between.
This girl can commit!
For a moment when she was lining up her qualifications, I found myself wondering, “What on earth!”. You must be thinking- Does Juliet know what she can do with all those degrees? Does she know the opportunities she could be getting? It crossed my mind too.
So, does Juliet know what she could do with those degrees?
Oh yes! She does.
They help her to be the best possible support system for the executives she works with.
She recently started out with the Deposit Protection Fund of Uganda and she says she needed knowledge in finance so that she could support her new executive exceptionally.
Wouldn’t you just want such a person on your team?
It hasn’t been without challenges though.
Executive Assistants go through a host of challenges and have to navigate lots of murky waters first, to get the work done, then to get the acknowledgment and appreciation that goes with it.
In Suits, we see instances where Donna is undermined by some leaders at the firm even when she knows best. Later in the series, in a bold move, Donna demands to be treated as an equal and acknowledged for her contribution and worth. She asks to be a Partner at the firm. You should have seen me scream …you go, girl! I had to scream because that move it so darn hard in real life.
But it isn’t so hard when you try. Juliet says after a couple of years at work, she realized she was offering a lot of value to the organization and she negotiated for better compensation that was commensurate with her contribution. She got a yes. Oh, and Donna didn’t become a partner at the firm, but she got to be the Chief Operating Officer, got the big office and the big pay.
It turns out, in our role as it is, for now, we have to fight like hell for people to acknowledge the strategic contribution we make and to be paid accordingly.
Someday this will change and it will be systemized but for now, fight on like Donna and Juliet.
Let me know your experience if you have had an assistant before.
Check out part 2 here on What Executive Assistants do.
