Having spent many years in administrative support, I look back at my work history with pride and contentment. Much of who I am directly results from my administrative experience.
Truthfully, there are so many perspectives and facets of the administrative support profession. I mean, I created an entire blog to discuss them, so clearly I feel bringing to light our experiences is important. I’ve used this blog to show how tough the life of an administrative support can be, and how much it needs to grow in order to have a brighter future.
However, in this post, I’d like to explain how I believe being an administrative professional has made me a better person.
More Open Minded
When your job is to literally support another person and their big picture, our world consists of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes every. day. And if you’re supporting more than one person, you’re putting yourself in multiple shoes every day, all day. While we might not realize, we are practicing this skill every day, and we get better and better at it every day. We know that being able to perceive what is important to others is a demonstration of our value.
Viewing the world from other people’s perspectives became second nature to me. In fact, one of the biggest hurdles writing this blog is trying to put myself in your shoes. All of your shoes are different. I know it’s impossible to capture all of your experiences, but it still weighs on my mind.
Personally, being open-minded has become a key character trait of mine, regardless of the type of relationship. People often feel as though they can come to me with any problem and expect to be heard and not ridiculed.
It’s a matter of respect.
Better Problem Solver
Problem solving is an auto-pilot feature for me (and every other admin I know).
You’re the “go-to” person who fixes, finds out, and solves anything. Much like being open-minded, we practice this skill every day as well. I would even say that our job is 80% problem solving.
I consider problem solving as training. Being the “go-to“ person gives us regular practice and helps build our confidence to know we can 8/10 times find a perfectly acceptable answer to a problem.
Personally, I’ve gotten so practiced with problem solving that I have to remember that solving problem sometimes isn’t the right response.
For example, has a friend called you with a problem, and your response was offering potential solutions instead of the simply acknowledging their feelings? That’s me. While I still instinctively do it now sometimes, thanks to my bestie, I have learned to ask first if they want to just listen or to problem solve before I speak.
It’s an awesome feeling to have confidence in your ability to overcome any obstacle.
Better Listener
Whether it’s in meetings or just with a colleague talking about their day/life, we listen.
Simply always being in an office means you see and hear a lot all the time. Being a skilled listener doesn’t mean we eavesdrop, it means we are sincerely taking in your words and trying our best to understand what people are saying.
Being an admin has given me the opportunity to practice this skill and understand its value. For example, when you truly listen, you can provide anyone with a more personalized experience because you’re able to recall details of what they said later. That personalized experience allows you to make a deeper connection and convey a client’s or colleagues’s importance to them.
Personally, I have used these listening skills to help connect better with friends and family to let them know they are important to me.
Better Team Player
Working in our field often means working on our own to complete tasks, but it’s important to remember that we are typically part of a larger team.
If you’re the only admin, then everyone else on your team will have goals and tasks that differ from your own. As an administrative support professional in these situations, your goal is to learn how to work with and consider your teammates’ needs.
This might involve learning how to communicate clearer and more effectively. It could also require you to learn how and when to speak up, and, hopefully, the ability to “read the room.”
I, personally, try to get a feeling about how my teammates might be feeling. Do they seem to be stressed because of the work? Did they get offended by something? Are they running behind?
These details can help an administrative support professional reach out to a colleague when they need it.
Being a team member doesn’t just mean sharing the work. It means sharing the same drive, successes and failures, and stress as we work toward achieving our shared goal.
Better Independent Worker
I created this blog because I wanted to ease the isolating feeling of being a solo admin.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my alone time, but when you’re at feeling stressed, and no one does truly understand what you do. You can feel the alone at work.
The reality is, most of our colleagues do not know or understand what we do, and shocker, they don’t want to know. They don’t understand when we walk into a 10-minute meeting to discuss an idea the manager has and only the admin (you) walk out with a page full of to-do list items in order to make that one idea into a reality. Their 10 minute idea often translates into hours, weeks, or months of hard, persistent work that only you know must be done and will execute.
Relying on and improving your administrative system can save when you have to work alone a lot. You master how to best organize, prioritize, and outline your work so you can knock every task out of the park!
Working independently can be both awesome and difficult, but as we often experience this, we only get better at handling it.
More Patient and Understanding
Okay, hear me out. We gain patience and understanding, though it might not look like it all the time. We’re not perfect and people are A LOT.
However, one of the most important lessons I’ve learned as an admin is I’m not perfect. And neither is anyone else. That humbling realization has given me perspective on my level of patience and understanding when dealing with other people.
We’re human and flawed. That’s normal.
Though my perfectionist bone is aching when I see mistakes, I can often simply remind myself that it was a human mistake. I could have made a similar mistake, and wouldn’t want someone jumping down my throat. And sometimes, the mistakes end up being better than my idea of perfection.
You may have different standards to others and vice versa. When things don’t go according to plan, remembering that can help you (and others) not get as frustrated or annoyed.
I know this is difficult for perfectionists to cope with, but definitely worth the practice.
More Confident
Y’all, my love of administrative support gave me my confidence to follow through with creating this blog. When I first started my blog, I really struggled with imposter syndrome.
Being an administrative professional reminded me I can handle anything that comes my way because that’s what I do.
Admins handle what comes our way daily. We deal with many requests, attitudes, tasks, and problems every day, and we simply handle each one as needed.
That’s what helped me combat imposter syndrome, and it continues to give me strength to speak up in meetings. I feel that being an administrative support professional is powerful and deserves a seat at the table.
Working in our profession has provided me with proof of my resourcefulness, level of organization, and level of professionalism. Every day reaffirms my dedication and ability as an administrative professional. I take pride in my high bar for the quality, reliability, and efficiency of the work that I do. I am proud of the administrative process that I have delicately and purposely created.
If you haven’t looked, not only at your work and accomplishments, but the beauty of how you accomplish your goals, you’re missing out on the beauty of our profession. The true art of administrative work is not just in the completions of the task itself, it’s the process we tailor for each job, each goal, and to solve each problem.
We are artists.
Conclusion
It’s always great to remember all the positive aspects of our profession. We all have such wonderful and diverse set of skills and experience. We are masters of flexibility and adaptability.
I am thrilled with my professional path. I appreciate the administrative journey. Sharing big picture goals with others and using your skills to make that dream a reality is an amazing accomplishment.
Though most of our job might feel invisible to others, it is that much more important to look back recognize our hard work (especially when others don’t).
I hope you take sometime to look your history and accomplishments to recognize how and in what ways you’ve grown in your administrative career.
There are wonderful lessons to be learned from working in our profession.
If you have found this post enjoyable, please share this post to help your fellow administrative professionals, and comment down below how being an admin has improved you as a person!
Feature Photo by Daniel Hering on Unsplash
