One of my long-time administrative colleagues took a moment to remind all of us in our conference session (IAAP-CAPStone) to take time and evaluate if we are living our purpose. Are we going through the motions at work allowing the sing-song days to come and go with little or no energy?
She also reminded me how I came to training and teaching, which I had also visited during my session presentation in Cape Town. It comes down to this: Pay it forward.
There were so many IAAP members in DC Metro that encouraged me, prodded me to keep going and trying. I remember the day Pat May and I walked out of the CAP exam-thinking we had not passed. Once we received the notification we had passed, we made an agreement that we would bring along those other EAs/Admin Assistants that didn’t think they could ‘do’ the exam. Our thought was if two 20 year EA veterans could do it, certainly the younger members of our field could conquer it. Over the next five or six years, the CAP study group in DC evolved to a handful of EAs wanting 1-1 time with CAP alum. My good friend Jan Szych and I decided to host an intensive exam boot camp at her offices on Saturdays. After a year or so of teaching the domains at NVCC Workforce Development, I began to host the study group on one Saturday, three weeks out from the exam to help my colleagues do one last embrace of the expansive materials.
I have always been grateful for the teachers that stepped in to help me when I was a very young girl, growing up without my mom. Their kindness, their empathy paved the way for me to pursue a career in ‘helping others’. Today, I think about how can I encourage, energize the younger members of the workforce around me. They are overwhelmed. They are scared. They are angry at the disrespect shown to our profession. And, it’s not just the admin world- it’s the broadcasted disconnect between what organizations say and what they do. That distrust is incredibly corrosive. All I can do is connect. Listen. Try to help them problem-solve. Encourage them to dismiss the haters and disdainful. Trust themselves. Trust their journey, their purpose. Thank you, Sonya. I so appreciate you.
Coffee-and-Courage 