From Secretary Track to Fast Track: The Get Ahead Guide for Administrative Assistants, Secretaries, Office Managers, Receptionists, and Everyone Who Wants More

354 Pages·1996·0.95 MB·English

by  Ken Lizotte

From Secretary Track to Fast Track : The
Get Ahead Guide for Administrative
title: Assistants, Secretaries, Office Managers,
Receptionists, and Everyone Who Wants
More!
author: Lizotte, Ken.; Litwak, Barbara A.
publisher: AMACOM Books
isbn10 | asin: 0814479022
print isbn13: 9780814479025
ebook isbn13: 9780585040462
language: English
Secretaries--Vocational guidance,
subject Receptionists--Vocational guidance, Career
development.
publication date: 1996
lcc: HF5547.5.L59 1996eb
ddc: 651.3/74/02373
Secretaries--Vocational guidance,
subject: Receptionists--Vocational guidance, Career
development.
From Secretary Track to Fast Track
The Get Ahead Guide For Administrative Assistants,
Secretaries, Office Managers, Receptionists, and
Everyone Who Wants More!
Ken Lizotte & Barbara A. Litwak
amacom
American Management Association
New York Boston Chicago Kansas City San Francisco Washington, D.C.
Brussels Mexico City Tokyo Toronto
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative
information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the
understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal,
accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other
expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional
person should be sought.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lizotte, Ken.
From secretary track to fast track / Ken Lizotte & Barbara A.
Litwak.
p. cm.
"The get ahead guide for administrative assistants, secretaries,
office managers, receptionists, . . . ."
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8144-7902-2 (pbk.)
1. SecretariesVocational guidance. 2. ReceptionistsVocational
guidance. 3. Career development. I. Litwak, Barbara A.
II. Title.
HF5547.5.L59 1996
651.3'74'02373dc20
[B] 96-2128
CIP
© 1996 Ken Lizotte and Barbara A. Litwak
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of AMACOM, a division of
American Management Association, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY
10019.
Printing number
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
To Christie, office manager and poetess extraordinaire
K.L.
To all adminswho've been there and back
B.A.L.
Page vii
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Prologue xi
Introduction: Watching Our Language 1
Chapter 1: Trapped in the Pink-Collar Ghetto 5
Chapter 2: External Forces, Inner Barriers 24
Chapter 3: The Fear-of-Failure Gang 40
Chapter 4: What's Unique About You? 59
Chapter 5: What Can You Contribute? 79
Chapter 6: Positioning Your New Self for Success 101
Chapter 7: Career Treasure Chest 124
Chapter 8: Moving On and Moving Up 145
Chapter 9: Settling In to New Digs 165
Epilogue 181
Resources 183
Index 185
Page ix
Acknowledgments
Contrary to myth, most books spring forth not from isolated sojourns
in ivory towers but from nitty-gritty collaborations with thoughtful,
generous supporters who give of themselves, their ideas, and their
time for the simple good of the project. We'd like to offer all such
supporters a rousing round of acknowledgment. We're sincere when
we say we could in no way have accomplished this book without you.
We'd first like to acknowledge those admins and ex-admins who are
graduates of our CareerScape® programs: Angela Maffeo, Carol
McDonough, Anne Marie Dangler, Cary Schwartz, Mary Miller, and
Judy Tyler. We appreciate your continued enthusiasm for the work we
do.
Thanks also to those heroic ex-admins who agreed to share with us
their stories: Sophia Snow, Judy Wagner, Jessica Lefcourt, Sharon
Casey, Kristina Cavanaugh, Gwen Champion, Janet Hartford-Hill,
Marg Balcom, Nancy Cassesso, Rusty Stieff, Chantal Weaver, and
Marsha Miller.
Acknowledgments too to experts Paul Falcone and Ethel Cook for
sharing their professional observations, and to Cheri Ditsch at
Professional Secretaries International for providing PSI's official
history of the secretarial profession. Also, thank you Louise Bonar,
Martin Duffy, and Catherine Radigund for your research ideas.
To the staff at Katharine Gibbs Schools: We appreciated your opening
up to us as we probed background information for this book. Kudos
especially to Vicki Valhouli for a wonderful, instructive, impromptu
tour of the Boston school and to the incomparable Susan Max in New
York, who unearthed valuable

Page x
historical materials on Katy herself when no one else even knew
where to look.
Finally, our heartiest acknowledgment goes to the insightful,
delightful Mary Glenn, our editor, whose steady commanding of this
project and unwavering belief in us and our ideas spurred us forward a
thousand extra miles. Mary, this book is so much the better because of
thee!
Page xi
Prologue
Something's been grumbling inside you for a long time. It's not your
stomach (you just ate!), so you're hard-pressed to know exactly what's
going on. Yet each day that goes by, especially each workday, its
impact on you becomes harder to deny. This grumbling, this gnawing
ache has been gathering steam for a while now, and you've tried
everything you can think of to relieve it.
"Maybe I just need a vacation," you said to yourself once upon a time.
Then you took off on a great one, flew to the Virgin Islands, lolled on
the beaches, went scuba diving, and consumed many fabulous meals,
while the sun set over the brilliant turquoise Caribbean watersand still
that grumbling throbbed inside you the whole time. Ten days later you
returned to your desk, seemingly refreshed. But the ache hadn't gone
away.
Lately you've been gazing in wonder at your colleagues around your
office and thinking, "What's wrong with me?" Everyone else around
you acts so contented. They all seem very happy. They come in in the
morning, go about their work, finish up their projects, head on home.
No apparent problems. Why can't you feel like that?
How's Your Career Health?
Excuse us for a moment: May we play doctor now? We'd like to
examine your "career health," if you don't mind; see if there's
medicine to prescribe. We'll do our best to come up with an accurate
diagnosis. Would you mind filling out a few insurance forms before
we get started?