For the Secretary

by Beneth Perry

As a secretary seeks to help her boss, one of her main responsibilities is to be a good face for him and make him look good. Because he is human, though, he will not always be “good”: he will miss commitments and frustrate some of the people whom he is trying to serve. While a secretary may never lie for her boss, there are certainly things she can say and do that communicate that despite his human frailty, she knows that her boss wants to do right and wants to serve people. Sometimes the boss has done nothing wrong, but people are still frustrated with him, for wrong reasons. Whatever the case, a loyal secretary will “think no evil” regarding her boss and will do her best to make him look good. The following tips may help.

1. To the person who believes that your boss dropped the ball on something he was supposed to do, don’t communicate that you wouldn’t be surprised if he did.

Don’t say, “That sounds like something he’d do.”

Do say, “I’m sure he has taken care of that, but I’ll be happy to check on it for you.”

2. To the person who wants to blame your boss for the situation that is actually his own fault (the fault of the person standing at your desk), don’t brusquely say, “That’s your problem.” Instead, gently guide the person to that conclusion himself.

3. Even though some people are much easier to work with than others, don’t communicate that your boss has favorites. Do your best to get answers for the “tough guy” just like you would do for the “nice guy.”

4. When someone enters your office looking for your boss, be the first one to speak: “How may I help you?” Doing so gives a face of friendliness for your boss and also communicates that you are the gatekeeper to his office—that people may not just barge in on him.

5. Communicate that you and your boss are a team and that you support his leadership by saying we, instead of he or I.

6. Give realistic answers. If your boss is not in and you’re really not sure how quickly you can get a hold of him, don’t say, “I’ll have him call you right back.” If he is not able to call the person right back, you have just made your boss look like someone who does not consider the person calling to be important. Instead, have a good handle on your boss’s schedule and then give a realistic answer like, “I will do my best to have an answer for you by the end of the day.” (Notice that in that answer, you never communicated that your boss would be the one returning the phone call.)