JP, in one of the usual great posts, asks the question, should a “captain of industry” use Facebook himself or should his secretary?
I remember the people who used to have secretaries. It was the last century. Of course we, the executives, need help, but not in the traditional secretary sense.
I would not surprised that the people who do not use Facebook, do not use MS Word either, MS Excel or MS Power Point. Maybe they do not know how to use their company’s ERP (SAP or Oracle) or the Business Intelligence software. Needless to say, they are not thinking to automatize the sales process with SalesForce or some other CRM solution.
Maybe all the software I just mentioned is used by their kids, secretaries, assistants, and other peers at their companies, who are going to be promoted way sooner than they will.
Stephen, punctualized, “secretary” was changed in the United States by “administrative assistant,” (“admin”). And he gave a nice story I wanted to share with you.
“One of my colleagues got to pitch it to the executive level of some colonel in the Pentagon. After the initial presentation, the following dialog ensued:
COLONEL: What if I want to know the current disposition of all Navy carriers in the Mediterranean.
MY COLLEAGUE: That’s easy, you just type …
COLONEL: WRONG!!! COLONEL’S DON’T TYPE!
Whereas Partha Kannan, reacted with a quotation from the book THE ELECTRONIC SWEATSHOP: “If you think a secretary without a boss is sad, you should see a boss without a secretary.”
If you are launching a start-up with a “skeleton crew;”, unless everyone is highly self-sufficient, the launch is unlikely to take place. On the other hand, if you came “up through the ranks” of a large, established firm, you probably feel “entitled” to your own admin (or at least a share of one) when you reach a certain executive level, regardless of what your capabilities are. The issue may have more to do with enculturation than with any more pragmatic factors, even when profitability (the ultimate pragmatic factor) is at stake!
on 04 Sep 2007 at 11:33 am # Bill Jung
Depends on what you call an admin. If you are talking a person to type your letters, the answer is no. If you are a very busy person, sure you need someone to keep the logistics of your agenda.
Bill
on 04 Sep 2007 at 11:34 am # colleen
I do not want to be an assistant. I think most people except the President can do everything for themselves.
Colleen.
on 04 Sep 2007 at 11:36 am # here i come
This Colonel had guts instead of gallons.
HIC