The Assistant Then & Now

With my recent insight into what I need to do to work smarter and with Administrative Professionals Day around the corner, I've been doing a lot of thinking regarding this world of mine lately. This week was great and I've been progressing on nailing down my boundaries. I'll be a work in progress until I get myself fully disciplined, but little by little I'm getting there. I will order Stever Robbins' book soon and discovered Dr. Henry Cloud will be releasing a boundaries book related to work as well. I really enjoy this author and have liked his perspective on the other books I've read by him or in collaboration with Dr. John Townsend. Boundaries at Work will be out late May so I'll look forward to digging into that one, but for now, will glean some work-saving insights from Robbins. :)

With Admin Day though, I've been thinking about the fashion of my world, who knows why. :) It could be because two years ago I took a class with a friend of mine who is an image consultant professionally, Stefanie Lee Thompson, and recently had her debut on KCTV5 - go Stef! In my class, we talked about what image is from the inside out, because our outer image should be a natural extension of who we are on the inside. See, clothing is its own language, and we should strive for it to be speaking OUR language!! Why? Because it speaks before we have a chance to say any words and is what leaves a lasting impression of who we are. With such power in its hands then, we need to make sure our personalities are what is on display through our colours and styles. It's a very fun and insightful class that I recommend to ALL! If you know me, I'm sure at some point I've talked to you about the value of this class. :) No matter what we do in our day for the season of life we're in, we can dress to who we are.

 

In my current season, part of my daily life resides in the work world and I learned a looooot of tips regarding the communication of my clothes in this setting. Tips for the professional dresser include NOT wearing dangly/noisy jewelry, not exposing the arm pit through sleeveless shirts, not wearing sandals that expose all toes, always wearing make-up, wearing tailored or structured clothes, etc. The list goes on, but I just want to wet your appetite. :) When I went down the list with Stefanie, I had committed 90% of the things to avoid and hadn't even thought twice about it! Once it was highlighted though, it was absolutely obvious why it would look unprofessional. Wow, eye opening for sure!

Flight Attendant

Secretary

Now, in today's world, things have changed in the office environments to a more casual feel. The secretaries and flight attendants I saw as a little girl and fell in love with are rare these days. Very sad to a romantic of those "good ole days" like me, but, I enjoy dressing up the casual feel. :) There IS such a thing in Stefanie's class that deals with wearing jeans to work. There are jeans that are very professional as well (think darker colors, no seams, patches, fades, etc) and can be paired with a tailored shirt, nice belt, nice shoes - my beloved HEELS! - appropriate jewelery, scarf, etc. And of course, it's not like there are rules against the dress pants or skirts these days, so I still bring those in as well. It's my childhood dream folks, it's who I am at the core so I need to stay true, no matter how casual everyone turns around me. :) It's worth it to put ourselves together on a daily basis, but according to who WE are, not what the media or whatever trend around us tells us we should be. Not according to what our jobs tell us we should look like, or our peers, our stereotypes or the SALE RACKS. Discover YOU and realize the importance of the image you're portraying so you can be in agreement; your outside to be a natural extension of your inside.

So to my fellow Admins out there, let's rock the office world and enjoy being celebrated next week!!! Btw, you do know that just as the image of the "good ole days" secretary has changed, so has the job itself - we do NOT just answer phones and mail letters - had to throw that out there. :) Back to Admin Day...I personally get to be celebrated by hitting another local foodie spot because my boss ROCKS and knows how to get to my heart of hearts. :) I haven't quite nailed down my spot yet so I'll take any recommendations! :)

Happy Administrative Professionals Day on April 27th!