"Boss": Incredibly Awesome; Miraculous; Great*

Imagine you work at a PR agency and your client calls you with an urgent request. "Hello, I've got an urgent request," he says.

Quickly, you run through all the possibilities in your head: it could be putting together a quick wrap-up report of all the coverage surrounding some random obscure thing an executive was supposedly quoted as saying sometime between May and October, maybe it's rescheduling that interview with the LA Times that has already been rescheduled five times in two weeks, or worse, maybe it's calculating media impressions broken out by key word. Please let it not be the impressions, you say to yourself. I hate that damn website.

Instead, he asks if you can make a run that afternoon to the Quiksilver store just around the corner (you try to hide the surprise in your voice, uh-huh, sounds doable so far ...), purchase Kelly Slater's new book, For The Love (sinch), and then get it signed. Slater will be there to autograph the book, he continues, so you might have to stand in a long line. He's kind of a big deal. (Ok, sure.) (Wait, what?!)

Two Decembers ago, that's exactly what happened. My boss was the client with the urgent request. I was the feeling-totally-guilty person needing the book signed (it was going to be a Christmas present for Hubs). The poor agency girl who took the call was herself, haha, nope that wasn't me ... and well, I guess I'll never know what went running through her head that day.

I promise this story has a point. Or, a question rather: What makes a good boss? Besides pulling strings for you to ensure his awesome gift idea for your spouse gets played out to perfection (yes, can you believe, those shenanigans were all his idea, not mine), what else is there? Let's talk about it.

In my opinion, a good boss/manager is a good leader. First of all, let's clarify that a person may be a manager, but a terrible leader. On the flip side, a person may be a leader (as I'm sure we all are to some capacity), but not yet a "manager." How would you define a leader vs. a manager? To me, leaders inspire. Leaders are experts. And leaders motivate. And last but not least, leaders have followers. Truly, it's the leaders who make the best managers.

Secondly, a good manager puts 100% trust in his direct reports. He knows without doubt that they'll get the job done on time and with acute attention to detail. Have you ever had a boss who micro-manages? It's the worst! It's not only annoying, but it brings down your confidence. You can't help but ask yourself, "Why does my manager feel the need to constantly check up on me? Am I really that bad at my job?" Luckily, I have a boss who trusts me.

And third, a good boss keeps you in the loop. He is honest and open about projects and provides the big picture instead of just handing you petty assignments that you have no idea why he's asking for it or what for. Or when there's changes happening, he explains why and tells you, "This is everything I know, I'll let you know more when I do." He confides in you as if you're equals, not he the big fish and you the guppie.

Which brings me to the sad fact that I am losing the best manager, boss, leader, however you want to put it, I've ever had. Things are changing for me right now. It's been a rough few weeks, and the most devastating part is having to say good-bye.

(No, neither of us were fired, phew. Maybe will save it for another post.)

*urbandictionary.com Did you get my clever double meaning? :)

My Disappearing Act

I think I owe an explanation for my disappearing act, because like I said on our first post back on Monday WG1 had a much better explanation of why she has been MIA.

I've definitely been in a working funk lately. When my last boss left our company, I was in total and complete limbo. They had no intention of hiring a new Executive VP (even though that would make sense) so no one needed a new assistant. Everyone was pretty much scrambling to find a place for me to fit in. They knew that I wanted to keep doing the events, but what else would occupy my time? Before I had been doing various projects that popped up but that was all based on my workload from my old boss. My new boss suggested I become a Project Manager and work with consumer marketing. This included figuring out email schedules, working with new clients, and such.

So for almost two months they had me "shadow" someone who had been managing projects at our company for almost 4 years. And in the middle of those two months, he quit to go back to school. Which left me with his workload, zero understanding of what I was doing, and a mountain of stress. Not to mention I was uber confused. I knew that I still really loved events and they weren't taking those away from me, but now I was doing someone else's full-time job. And I didn't even like it! I wanted to say something to my boss, but the feeling that the only reason I still had a job was because I was filling in with what needed to be helped with, made me think twice about that.

In a nutshell, I wasn't a happy camper. I thought about getting an new job - even applied to a few. Of course, I heard nothing back because the economy is shot so I kept going about my business in a job I didn't love with a mountain of work.

Just last week, my new boss sat me down and proposed that I go back to working with merchant marketing - a job I had kinda been doing before in my old position. She suggested I work on their projects which would include working with the sales team. I would still be doing events but I would get to work on collateral for the sales team and all their supplemental marketing requests. All things I did at my old job. Things that made me feel more comfortable. Things that so far have made me a teensy bit happier.

I won't really transition into my new position until Monday, and really other than doing new things not much else has changed. I didn't get a raise and my title didn't actually change. Don't worry - all things that I will talk about with my new boss in the next coming weeks. I'm settling in for the moment, not just into my new job but also into a new desk (which is ten times larger than my old one and I'm no longer lodged next to all the creatives who I am convinced hate my guts).

Things are getting better and most importantly I'm back from the black blogging abyss.

A Whole Lotta Heartbreak

Last week, it was officially announced that my boss (aka the best boss ever) would be leaving our company. And I have probably been more heartbroken than I should about it.

It's hard to describe why my boss leaving is so heartbreaking. And try as I might, explaining it to my friends and family always leaves me coming up short. My explanations are never on point, or do the situation justice. And I think unfortunately this is something only my co-workers can fully understand.

But I'm going to try and explain to the best of my abilities.

The news came really suddenly. I had no inkling or women's intution that this news was about to hit the airwaves (or in this case I guess hit the fan). And my boss told me first so that I wouldn't hear it from someone else, which was really considerate but also horrifically painful. Now, I'm pretty good at keeping secrets, but when it affects me in some way (aka my job description changing drastically) then it's hard for me to keep it in. And that's what I had to do for 5 days while my boss and the rest of the higher-up's were away on a management retreat.

So I sat here and got more and more depressed because while I had been told my job wasn't in jeopardy, I still felt weary about the whole thing. Not to mention this is the best boss I have had ever. In the existence of bosses, I don't think anyone could do much better than the one I have now. He is fair, kind, hard to make angry, self-sufficient, and treated me with a lot of respect.

So last week was a pity party. And the party was for 1.

Eventually my new boss sat me down and we had a heart-to-heart about she wants me to grow in the company. She also let me know that she has no use for an assistant, so really my new job description will be of the make-it-up-as-we-go variety. (I will still get to do events, but my special projects will all be different).

So this convo lifted my spirits for about a minute and then I went back to depresso mode. All my friends and family tried to make me see the light. "This will be good for you" and "there's a silver lining in this change". I would get to move up in the company, not handle calendars and schedules. I would pretty much get betting a better job by default. And yet this didn't make me feel better.

When the news was officially announced to the rest of the company, everyone came over to give me their condolences like he had died and wasn't just moving on to a better job in the suburbs. Which made me depressed all over again. But at least now I had people to comiserate with. His old assistants (who still work at the company but have been promoted) came over crying. See! That's how great he is!

I think a part of me is just really depressed because he was such a great boss, but I know I'm also sad/depressed because I've never been left behind. I always did the leaving. At my last company, I left them. At internships there was always a time limit. And I don't like being left behind.

A part of me really wishes he had asked me to go with him to his new company, but I know I should be happy about the changes and advancements that I'll be able to make under my new boss. This just wasn't in the plan (aka how I thought this job would pan out for me).

I've always been really great about handling change, but this has been extremely hard for me to stomach.

Tonight is his going away party (that I planned of course!) and it's going to be a lot of fun - people are even flying in for it from other offices around the country. And right now instead of being depressed, I'm going to try and be happy for all the changes and to celebrate having a really superb boss (even if it was just for eight months).

Women in the Working World are Emotional, Grudge-Holding, Bitches...Say What?

I have no idea where my career will take me in 10 months or 10 years but I like to think that one day, I'll be the boss and I'll be a good one. Paul Thompson at AskMen.com Canada doesn't think I can be a boss, let alone a good one. Oh and not just me, all women. Nice Paul, nice.

Thompson begins his editorial explaining the obstacles women have overcome or tried to overcome for equality and fairness; suffrage, sexual harassment, workplace equality, etc. "Anyone who says [women] are [equal] is either grossly misinformed or a woman -- or probably both," he says. Yes, I am a woman but I'm not misinformed. I believe women are equal to men. However, I think that anyone who believes in or strives for complete fairness among men and women is grossly misinformed. More on that shortly.

"Women are ill-equipped to be successful," he says and give several reasons.

First, women cannot control their emotions. What a sweeping generalization there, Paul. Sure some women cannot control their emotions. But there are plenty who can. There are also a great deal of men who cannot control their emotions. I've heard of women yelling in the workplace and I've heard of men yell. Same goes for crying. Now Thompson believes that women bosses treat their employees as if they are in a relationship. Um, they should. When you work with someone, you have a working relationship. Regardless of being a man or a woman, any working relationship needs to be nurtured and developed so that both parties are getting the most of the experience.

His next point is that all women have Queen Bee syndrome. When they reach positions of power, they turn on one another because they feel the need to defend the positions they've obtained. Oh, and they aren't qualified or competent. I know several women who have Queen Bee syndrome and I know, they are not exactly the most enjoyable people I've ever known. But they don't make up the entire female work force. Yes, women can become competitive with one another and get caught up in the race to the top. But bottom line, there are women who are qualified to be there and competent enough to excel.

"Business was built by men, for men," Thompson says. In this argument Thompson discusses dark lounges and pant suits. Not sure exactly how that related to the origins of business but what he's trying to say is that in order to be successful women must adopt masculine qualities. I'd prefer not to wear a pants suit, mostly only because I went shopping for my first suit with my 80-year-old grandma and it was a tramatizing experience, but I don't think putting one on and shaking someones hand in a dark lounge to close a deal would make me masculine.

Finally, women hold grudges. I'll be the first to admit that I've held several grudges in my life and that maybe I'm still holding on to a couple. None of them are work related and all of them are legitimate. But, according to Thompson, grudges are "completely irrational and completely inappropriate." I agree that it is inappropriate in the work place to hold a personal grudge. But again, Thompson believes that because some women go too far with their grudges, women as a whole, cannot be bosses.

"Women are better than men at some things, but being the boss sure ain’t one of 'em," Thompson closes his piece. This brings me back to fairness among men and women. I believe men and women are equal and that in all areas of life they should have equal opportunities. However, as our friend Paul so nicely points out, women excel at some things and men at others. In some industries a female boss may be a more successful boss than a male boss and vice versa.

I have a male boss and a female boss and they are both great bosses. I have a different working relationship with each of them, just like I have a different working relationship with each of my co-workers. Clearly, women can be bosses. Thompson was likely just trying to be satircal but what bothers me is that his points stem from somewhere - stereotypes.

[AskMen.com via Jezebel]

Happy Administrative Professionals' Day!

Did you know that the Wednesday of the last full week of April is Administrative Professionals' Day?

Yea, me either.

That was until this morning when my boss presented me with a HUGE (we're talking massive) bouquet of flowers! He thanked me for all the work I'm doing and I blushed because any time someone compliments me I turn into a teenager meeting their teen idol.

To give a little background on my job (because I realize it can be confusing - what does she do??? I can hear you asking...she does events, and emails and now she's an admin assistant - whatttttt?). I am technically the assistant to one of our EVP's, so I handle his calendar mostly, print stuff, file stuff. But I would say that takes up about 10% of my day. The rest of my time at work, I work on special projects which include our two large events a year and most recently an e-mail strategy project.

Right now my flowers are sitting on my desk emitting a heavenly scent and some of the flowers haven't even bloomed - so I'm thinking these suckers are going to last a lot longer than a week!

Man, I love my boss.

No Shots For You

Last week, I jetted down to Key West for a long weekend of working, coordinating, and being an all-around travel agent to a hoard of salespeople. 

If  you happened to catch my post from two weeks ago (yea, I have been a major slacker, my apologies for zero posts last week), you might recall my mentioning my Spring Break-esque trip down to Florida to celebrate a few of our top salespeople's achievements this year. The trip went almost perfectly (there was one snag - the hotel lost one of my very, very important boxes and my boss was not pleased). 

I did have one fear going into the trip and that was consuming alcohol. The most drinking I have done around co-workers has been at going-away parties and cocktail parties. But I'm not exaggerating when I say I would abstain from drinking more than two glasses of wine/beer. Getting drunk and telling off my boss scared me sober. At my old company, it was easy to avoid drinking. Usually when I was working events, drinking a few glasses while on the job would be deemed tacky. And when I was in social settings, it was easy to nurse a glass of wine. 

My new job, however, has led me into a land of temptation where our sales team will moan and groan if they aren't given more than two drink tickets at a work happy hour function paid for by our company. This trip was especially tricky because it involved being "off" the job on a tiny island where it was highly probable that I would happen upon my co-workers and my boss at bars on Duval Street. And gasp I might be drunk.

And happen upon them drunk I did. I saw one co-worker unsuccessfully try to pick up girls by buying them Jell-O shots. One co-worker, when asked if he had had a good night responded with, "Yes, and a great morning" - yea ew. And another co-worker drunkenly followed me and my friend back to our room (stopping only to thrust his pelvis a few times while in front of our boss's hotel room) to only realize that he had gone two floors too high when he couldn't find room 235 on the fourth floor. Over-served is an understatement. 

The whole purpose of this trip of course was to relax. And when I say relax, I mean the salespeople who had won the trip were there to kick back. I was there to work. So I was naturally nervous to consume one too many beverages when I was off the clock. Which was confirmed, when as I was about to shove a Jell-O shot of my own down my throat, one of higher up salespeople told me I should veer away from any kind of shots. Apparently, my boss loathes them. Which he then followed up with, "Don't worry, I won't tell him I saw you take one." Which of course caused me to have a minor panic attack.

So I threw out that shot of raspberry Jell-O and vodka goodness, and ordered another beer. Any other shots that were bought for me by co-workers that night, I would pretend to take and then throw out. I was being overly cautious, but let's just say I was glad I didn't have to lay on the floor of my hotel bathroom the whole next day. 

While I can't say that I wasn't a teensy bit inebriated most nights of my work vacation, I can truthfully say that I didn't embarrass myself in front of my boss (though I have to admit I made one of my co-workers pretend to be my older brother to ward off a 40-something drunken tourist with a tongue ring who just would not leave me alone).

I was really proud of the way I was able to enjoy myself and not overdo it. I had a great vacation and I met some great people. Oh, and I got a little, itty bit of a tan.

Dad Scares Me

First, some housekeeping. For a while now, I've referred to my bosses as my female boss and my male boss. They haven't had super cool blog names like Chicken Noodle Soup Boss or Facebook Friend Boss but now they do. Promo Girl and I have been calling them Mom and Dad for quiet some time now because our little marketing department really is like a family. There are 9 kids and mom and dad. Dad even calls us "kids" when he walks into the office every morning. So now, they are Mom Boss and Dad Boss.

Now that that is out of the way. It's review time at work which means Dad Boss gets to critique my job performance in about 2 weeks. But first, I had to complete self-review online. Last year, Chicken Noddle Soup Boss was the only on reviewing me and she said, and I quote, "Just put 'I think I'm going a great job.'" So that's what I did and I received a good review.

This year, Promo Girl scarred the crap out of me. Dad Boss is the hardest interview everyone is my office has experience. They all say that if you can survive and interview with him, you can survive an interview anywhere. Except for maybe WG2 in about 10 years. My dear friend is going to make one scary boss.

Unfortunately, I never interviewed with Dad Boss and am therefore unprepared for many interviews to come and for my review. The only interview I had was for my internship and that was with Mom Boss. Although they are both my bosses, Dad Boss is handling my review. Dad Boss is critical, asks tough questions and looks at you funny as you answer. Like real funny. Makes you want to crawl under your chair and hide funny.

I submitted my self review last Tuesday. I think I'm pretty freaking awesome at my job but it's one thing to write that here and a completely other thing to write about it in a formal form for my boss. Once you submitted your review, you couldn't go back and add thoughts or edit a sentence. Promo Girl reminded me of this several times thus making me increasingly nervous. Since I submitted it, I thought of several more points I'd like to make and a few things I'd like reword or just flat out delete.

I'm obviously totally looking forward to my review in a few weeks. Hopefully I wont end up hiding from Dad Boss under my desk.

Ch-Ch-Changes

And I'm back in the game! After a horrible experience with Comcast, I decided to get cable from a different provider who came out the next day to install! How great is that? So I finally have the Internet in my new abode and therefore am back to blogging. Sorry for the hiatus, but I think it was good for me to have a teensy break as I have been uber busy. 

It has only been two weeks since I left New York and so much has changed. I moved into my new studio apartment, which is fabulous. I seriously feel like this place was made for me. I have the perfect sized kitchen with all new Electrolux appliances (and a dishwasher!). I have a washer and dryer, a jacuzzi tub, a fireplace, and a sick patio that I intend to use once it's warmer than 19 degrees outside. My dad was instrumental in helping me A) find the place and B) furnish the place so I can't tell you how grateful I am to him. Without my dad, I would have a bed...and that's it. Below is a picture of my new studio (except it's an old picture from when other people lived here)! I'm in love <3 

Speaking of my dad, that is also something that has changed. I used to talk to my dad maybe twice a week when I lived in NJ, but now my dad lives approximately 6 blocks away from me so I see him at least 3-4 times a week. I've already had dinner at his place twice and he is addicted to my washer/dryer so I expect to see him a lot more which I couldn't be more thrilled about. 

I also have seen my girlfriends from high school quite a few times, which again is a huge change. I used to come back to Chicago maybe 3 or 4 times a year for holidays and maybe a visit in the summer, and I would see the girls once the whole time I was home maybe for dinner and a few drinks. But now I get to see them every moment I want to, which is amazing! 

And work is out of this world different. In some good ways and some bad. 

This week is officially my third week at my new company and I'm still getting adjusted to all the differences between my old job and my new job. And since there are quite a few (and since this blog is all about working), I thought I would list the great new things about my job and some of the not-so-great (quite yet) things about my new job. 

SO GREAT I COULD SCREAM

1. My benefits are the bomb. At my old job, I just had health benefits (and they weren't even that great). At my new job, I have health, dental and vision. Yes, vision! Which means I can get a new set of frames yearly! How cool is that? 

2. My new desk is ginormous. Yes, I still sit in a cubicle, but it could practically be an office it is so large. I finally have enough room to stretch my legs, enough room to hold every file of every project I will ever work on, and still have room to have a impromptu dance party (I mean you never know). 

3.  My boss is maybe the nicest man alive. Every person I have met so far at work has told me that I am the luckiest person to be working for him. Unlike The Boss, he seems to just care about the work you do, not what time you get in the office. And he offers to get me coffee, not the other way around. And to top it all off, he has known me about two weeks and he gave me a bottle of wine as a holiday present! 

THINGS THAT MAKE ME CRINGE

1. Everything starts earlier in Chicago. It is a large understatement to say that I am not a morning person...just ask anyone who has lived with me. I am cranky and about half dead when I wake up. And in order to be in work on time, I have to wake up at 6 am on a daily basis. At my old company, we didn't start work until 9 am, so I usually woke up around 7:30. It is a rough adjustment. 

2. I have to look good all the time. My new company has a stricter dress policy than my old company. In New York, I wore jeans about 4-5 times a week, but at my new company we dress up. I have almost run out of outfits, which I guess means I have to go shopping (what a shame). Also, the fact that I need to look nice all day also means that I have to wake up earlier to do those girly things like straighten my hair and apply make-up. These are things I really do enjoy, just not at 6 am. 

3. I am already out of this world busy. In the next two months, I have a conference and a sales trip (to Key West!) to plan. And last week I had to be at work at 7 am (again, I am not a morning person), to work on another event we had going on. Although I am happy that I have just been thrown into things (since I learn by doing), I also wish I had gotten somewhat of a grace period to ease into things. Instead, I am in bed most nights by 10 pm. 

Overall, I am still adjusting. There are a lot of other things going on that of course are stressful - like a little thing called Christmas. I still haven't done any of my shopping. I'm also broke. So, I'm taking things one step at a time. 

But to be cheesy, I am loving being back in my sweet home Chicago.

The Millennials Get Jobs

Apparently, us kids born between the years 1980 and 2001 have just been given a new nickname and it is the Millennials. 

My father (who is really into me making this job my future career - yay for working from home!), sent me an article in the mail the other day from the Wall Street Journal. The article was really an adaptation from Ron Alsop's new book "The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation is Shaking Up the Workplace". 

And let me tell you. This "shaking" they speak of does not include moving of one's hips to music - unfortunately this shaking is used in a more negative connotation. 

In his book, Alsop speaks of a generation that have crazy expectations of how they see themselves at a company as well as in their positions. As the article says, "Employers realize the millennials are their future work force, but they are concerned about this generation's desire to shape their jobs to fit their lives rather than adapt their lives to the workplace." 

We millennials grew up in a different era than our grandparents and our parents. We were told we could do anything, achieve anything, be anything we wanted to be. We got trophies just for showing up to practice. Even if we got C's and D's on our report cards, we got praise. And now that we're all grown up and entering the work force, we expect nothing but the best. We expect higher pay, flexible work schedules, and longer vacations. Why not? We can have anything we want and be anything we want to be. And if our employers don't like it? So what! We'll get it somewhere else. 

The article really intrigued me mainly because as I was reading it I kept nodding and thinking, 'I totally deserve a pay raise' and 'I have so many talents they could never fire me'. Growing up with a sense of entitlement ingrained in my brain apparently can have some negative effects.

The article also addressed how managers have to adapt to a millennial's mindset in order to make their inexperienced  and high-maintenance employee a more respective and effective employee. His tips to winning us over? Make sure that the job responsibilities that we explained in terms of how they will pay off for us in the end, explain the meaningfulness behind a subject, and place us in an environment where we feel like our views matter. 

Alsop also says that if we are not given enough positive reviews mixed in with our criticism, that you may as well kiss us goodbye. Because millennials are not good with negative. We like the positive and a lot of it. Sure, we can take a negative hit, but follow that up with something positive. Alsop says if we hear too much 'no' and 'not that way' that we will up and quit because "millinnials break down in tears after a negative performance and even quit their jobs". 

Have you been nodding this entire time too? Because I have. 

I am so a Millennial. And some of the scenarios that the article talked about (like a guy who had gone through 3 jobs in one year and saw nothing wrong with it) don't sound like they came out of left field. And the part about needing positive reinforcement. That fits me to a tee. 

I think what I really garnered from this article was the importance of asking for what you want and thinking you can be anything...but within reason. It's perfectly reasonable to want vacation time or more sick days, but taking advantage is bad employee etiquette. Respecting your employer is of the utmost importance, and thinking that you could potentially go from assistant to CEO in a year is utterly impossible. 

While this article does speak a lot about entitlement, I don't think it meant to discourage. In fact, I really think it aids the employer. It tells them how to deal with us - delicately. 

And while yes, I completely agree that I saw myself in the description of Alsop's "Millennial", I also think that over the course of the year and half that I have been in my first job I have grown up. I still think of myself as deserving, but I also know that to truly deserve anything I have to prove myself. And proving yourself takes a while, but once earned can take you quite far in your career. 

Office Politics

There are many things that I loathe about the New Kid (I have even started to keep a list of things that irk me so that I can share them here with you all).

They include:

1. The way he plays "I Kissed a Girl" on repeat and even though he has on earphones I can hear it blasting through my little cubicle walls.
2. The way he sings along to "I Kissed a Girl" on repeat all day long.
3. The way he taps his foot along to "I Kissed a Girl" on repeat all day long.

I mean, I love Katy Perry ("Hot 'N Cold" is my new fave song) but the New Kid's love of Katy Perry is out of control. But of all the things that the New Kid does to annoy me, the biggest one of all is his love of talking about political agendas at work.

Let me set the scene. It is a rainy Tuesday morning about a month ago. I am soaking wet and not a happy camper because I left my rain boots under my desk...about a year ago...and never remember to bring them home. I'm cold, cranky, and I want to be snuggled in my covers watching Sex and the City movie for the 5th time since I bought it for $9.99 at Blockbuster this weekend. Instead, I step into a whirlwind of politics.

He and a few of the other online marketing team are discussing Sarah Palin and how she actually sounded like she knew how to put two sentences together at a debate she was at the night before. Which I responded to with a guffaw. Yes, a guffaw. I'm not going to repeat the whole conversation that was had here because it was heated. And mainly it was heated because what the New Kid is incapable of is listening to other opinions. He loves to insert himself into conversations and then take them over. And he lurves to talk over people. Making it impossible to get a word in edge wise. And he has to be right. All the freaking time. The funny thing is? We both are voting for Obama. But the New Kid brings out the bitch in me. I can't help but fight him on anything and everything.

So since then I have refrained from talking politics at work. Because really some subjects just shouldn't be talked about with people you need to have good relationships with in the future (and who you already want to strangle on a daily basis).

Then yesterday, I came to work and the New Kid had put up a huge "Vote Obama/Biden" campaign poster in his cubicle. I'm talking ginormous. He was immediately told to take it down because our office does not condone politicking in the work space.

Apparently it is distracting and takes away from the day-to-day tasks that we need to get done. Of course, this reason only made the New Kid angry so he busted out some Obama pins and stuck those to his cubicle. Which were quickly OK'ed because The Boss was wearing an identical one.

But it hit me that I had once agreed with the New Kid. While I did think it was excessive that he had a ginormous campaign poster in his cubicle, a few buttons urging people to vote isn't hurting the office. As long as the New Kid keeps his trap shut about his own political agenda, I think we can continue to agree that while campaigning for a certain candidate might not be work-friendly, urging your fellow employees to get out there and vote for the future of our country is noble.

And it made me like the New Kid for a hot sec. Until he started singing "I Kissed a Girl" again.

That's One Demerit For You, Young Lady

I am no stranger to getting into trouble...though I have to admit that this trouble I speak of isn't the kind that led to any arrests, jail time or even a grounding from the 'rents. 

The trouble I'm talking about is detention. Man, oh man, was I a rebel in high school. In particular, I loved not tucking in my shirt, wearing my skirt just a little too short, and my favorite indiscretion was being late (specifically to French class).

I went to a small, Catholic, and all girls (yes a trifecta if you will) in the suburbs of Chicago. And each time you made a boo-boo (aka not making it from one end of the school to the other in under five minutes) you got a demerit. And 3 demerits equaled one detention. 

At work last Friday when I stepped onto my floor at work, I felt like I had done a time warp. There in the front lobby were The Boss and our HR/legal counsel waiting for each employee to take their steps off the elevator. With notebooks and pens poised, they were taking attendance. Flash back to five years earlier and I felt like I was running down the corridors of my high school after a long, long (maybe too long) lunch standing in front of my French teacher as she marked me late in her date book.  

Luckily, I was ten minutes early and instead of getting a demerit, I got a gold star. Literally, The Boss came over to my desk later that morning and starting complaining about everyone's attendance of late. Then told me how proud of me she was for being on time. "A gold star for you WG2," The Boss said. 

Um...thanks. But really? Really? My work place is starting to take attendance? Really? That can't be normal. 

Of course everyone in my office starting freaking out, bitching, and all around complaining. We were all told that if we were going to be late to work that we should text or e-mail our direct managers to let them know we would be late. And to make sure that if we were sick, took a personal day, or if we were on vacation to mark it on the Company Calendar so everyone would know you were going to be out. 

And around 5:30 p.m., our HR rep took a spot back in the lobby and checked off anyone who left early...may I remind everyone that it was Friday. Sitting at your desk until 6 o'clock on the dot on a Friday is painful. More painful than say writing, "I will not be late 150 times" on the white board in the conference room.

So I'm exaggerating a little. But really?! Attendance? Really?!  

Drama, Drama, Drama

Today was one of those days. You know what I mean. The day when before you even walk in the front door you have a feeling that you should turn around and never come back. Yea, one of those. 

Turns out I was right. I spent my entire day burning DVD's with photos from our past event in Aspen for all our sponsors, exhibitors, and partners. This project required me to turn off all my other programs (aka I could not check my fave blogs or chat on Gmail). Leading me to a boring and also unproductive day. 

All together this week has been pretty insane. I got back from a glorious Labor Day weekend and found out two of my co-workers had gotten engaged over the weekend. Now the crazy part of this story isn't that two people got engaged. It's that one of the girls who got engaged over the holiday has only been dating her boyfriend (now fiancee) for four months. Yes, you heard me right. And her rock is ginormous (I can't even use a real adjective to describe this ring because it's that large). And get this...they met on Facebook. I don't even have a comment for this. 

The drama only begins there. Then today I find out that one of the managers at work is leaving the company. Amy is the Vice President of Online Marketing and also my idol. She is in her late 30s, successful, has a graduate degree from Stanford, and has worked at some major awesome companies (aka eBay). She also is from the Midwest, loves rare meat, and is huge into traveling. In short, we're alike and I love her. And I'm super, super, super upset that she is leaving. 

Now on to the big juice. My new roommate Natalie had confided in me when I first moved in that she was dating Drew. Drew just happens to be her boss. He also happens just to have gotten a separation from his wife. And his now ex-wife is also best friends with The CEO's daughter. Talk about drama. This secret has been so hard for me to keep. It's juicy and I want to scream it from the mountaintops. But Natalie asked me to keep it mum. So I haven't said anything. But I think my co-worker Small Fry is catching on, which makes me a Nervous Nelly. I would rather be left out of the drama surrounding my roommate's scandalous love affair. 

The Boss has also been a huge pain in my ass lately. Our marketing department keeps taking on more and more projects. Have I mentioned that our marketing department is 2 people? Yep. Just me and the VP of Marketing. So it's been a challenge. We have another event coming up in October that is sure to be a disaster. And it has just involved so much planning and I feel like I don't have enough time in the day to get it all done. But The Boss thinks I could use a few more projects to keep me busy. Thanks. Once again, I am feeling under-appreciated and under-paid. 

My big personal news of the week. I found out that I got wait-listed for the grad school of my dreams. And while I'm still a tiny bit hopeful that I'll make it through, I'm not banking on it. So I have a new plan in the works. 

All these changes in the atmosphere at work are making me think it's time for a move. More updates on my new job search are to come. 

GOAL! ! ! ! ! !

Doing the same thing day-in and day-out can take it's toll on a Working Girl. It can cause her to lose ambition and motivation; to give into boredom and not use her time wisely; to just do a bad job.

Lately, I've been bored. I've given into the daily routine of checking e-mail, making phone calls and working quietly on my projects. I'm not being proactive and showing my superiors that I can excel in my position. There is a small chance I could receive a promotion from assistant to coordinator in the fall. So, that needs to change.

I work well with planned out goals that result in a reward for myself. In this case, the ultimate reward is a promotion. Not only would the raise involved be nice but I have go to get the Ass(istant) out of my title.

Goal: Flawlessly execute my projects.
The Deal: It's the nature of the business for advertisers to make several changes and therefore pushback the timelines of projects. Just once I'd like to do everything on time.

Goal: Successfully execute next week's west-coast event on my own.
The Deal: I'll be heading westward next Wednesday to manage a reader and advertiser event. According to our events manager, it'll be a turn-key event. I'm nervous as hell. I'll be the only representative from the magazine. It's all on me.

Goal: Develop a big idea for a big anniversary the magazine will be having in a year or two.
The Deal: I've yet to bring my own flushed out big idea to the table in my department. I've sat in on brainstorms and added to the ideas of others. Now, I want to come up with my own big idea and see how it goes.

This is just the beginning. I should probably also stop gchatting so much and not work on Working Girl posts at work. We'll see how that goes.

Reason #328 Why I Can't Stand My Job

The CEO, The Boss and The President of my company are the kings and queens of ridiculous e-mails. Emoticons, swearing, and requests that make you want to throw yourself out of the window - these are the kinds of things I look forward on a day-to-day basis when I open up my Outlook at work. 

Without further adieu I would love to provide a few examples of things that give me headaches and make me want to throw my computer out of our 20-story building. 

***

To: WG2

From: The President

Subject: The poster in the foyer...

Seems to be uneven....not sure if the tripod is set up correctly. If you have a chance to check and adjust that would be great. If it is going to be there until August, we may as well have it looking good :) 

***

To: The Entire Company

From: The CEO

Subject: MEN'S ROOM WINDOW

I love having to do these types of e-mails...such granular stuff...but here it is...the men's room window is a drama to make work right. Please leave it CLOSED and do not, repeat, do not make any adjustments to the window. It looks bad, is hard to get back into place and frankly does no good to open. So thems the rules. Anyone caught breaking the rules will have to pee in their pants from now on. 

***

To: WG2

From: The Boss

Subject: lunch

Could you please get me lunch from Cosi: a signature salad w/ extra pistachios and low-fat sherry vinagrette (on the side only) with whole wheat bread. Don't forget a fork from the kitchen and napkins. Thanks. 

***

To: The Boss

From: WG2

Subject: 2008 events calendar

To access Google calendar you need to log into your Gmail account and then in the upper left hand corner will be a link that says "calendar". Click on this and all the events that I have created will show up. 

To: WG2

From: The Boss

Subject: RE: 2008 events calendar

Mmmmm...this assumes I know how to log into my Gmail account WG2 :) 

***

Yes, The Boss does not know how to use e-mail. Or Power Point. Or Excel. Or how to get her own lunch. 

"And This is My Competent Assistant..."

Yesterday, I met Frederic Fekkai.

Ok, ok, I didn't actually meet Frederic Fekkai. I was working at a big conference that my company puts on every year and I just merely stood next to him. As in, I could have been touching his arm if I wanted (or his beautiful locks). Inside, my body was screaming, 'Tell him you love his 'glossing' line of shampoos!'. Instead, I stood there with my hair frizzing everywhere because of the sudden downpour that Al Roker hadn't warned me about wishing I hadn't skimped at the grocery store this month and bought Suave.

As I was thinking about my poofy hair and how Frederic was probably horrified with my grooming methods, I heard him talking to his PA (a.k.a. personal assistant) about his next meeting. Then I heard him introduce his personal assistant to one of my colleagues. "This is my personal assistant, Erica."

And it got me thinking...was the "personal assistant" in front of her name really that necessary? Granted, in this case it might have been. I mean, it is what she does so it probably doesn't bother her all that much. Obviously, I don't have all the details.But I do know that it really, really, really bugs me when The Boss introduces me as her assistant.

Before I give you the background for why I really, really hate The Boss's introductions, let me give a quick up-to-speed info session. My work friend Small Fry and I used to work in the same department. In fact, she used to be the Marketing Manager. During that time period, The Boss constantly compared the two of us to her two daughters. And I always got compared to her younger daughter, the one who was more laid-back, forgetful, and somewhat lazy. Small Fry was always compared to her older daughter who was responsible and all around awesome. Sucky, right?

Ok, back to the story. Last year, I worked an event for my company and The Boss introduced me and Small Fry to some of her family members who had attended the event. She introduced Small Fry as being wonderful, capable, and used the word beloved more than once. Then, The Boss turned to me and said, "And this is my competent assistant WG2." Yep, that's all I got. Needless to say, I was livid...and quite frankly hurt. Yes, I'll admit I shed a tear.

Since then things have obviously gotten better. Small Fry was transferred to another department because The Boss found out she wasn't really all that great at her job, and I became the wonderful, capable and all around awesome Marketing Coordinator.

I had dropped the assistant out of my title. I was a new woman. Until, that is, I went to this conference (where I got to breathe the same air as Frederic Fekkai) and it's like I stepped into a time warp. The Boss introduced me over and over and over again as her assistant. This conference was filled with big whigs, so I'm sure The Boss just wanted to look cool and be like, 'Look this is a person who will fetch me coffee if I ask...and I don't even need to tell her that I like three sugars'. Meaning, I'm big time and thereby have my own assistant.

Here's the catch though - I'm technically not her assistant anymore, which is why this really irked me. I guess this just made me realize that to The Boss I am always going to be an assistant no matter what title changes or salary increases I get.

That 'ass' in my title ain't going nowhere. On a positive note, my ass did get to stand next to Frederic Fekkai.

Hi, I'm Working Girl One and I'm a Marketing Assistant

I'm not quite a marketing assistant yet, but I'm going to be soon.

Recently, our current marketing assistant gave her two weeks notice and recommended me for the job. For some time, I'd been contemplating sales versus marketing. I think I was almost trying to convince myself to like sales because it's so lucrative, but marketing is just more fun (at least for me). I can plan events, create promotions and gift baskets, and I find that very enjoyable.

When Facebook Friend Boss left and I began doing her job, I started to look at what I was doing everyday more analytically. What I found out: my heart is not in sales. When the marketing assistant told me her news, I started jumping up and down (figuratively not literally). This told me something, told me that right now my heart is in marketing.

I spoke to the associate publisher of marketing, who I had interned for during the summer of '06, and she was thrilled that I was interested. I was basically told that if I want the job, it was mine.

It was hush hush for a while and I couldn't tell my current bosses (awkward!), but last week I was officially offered the job. This means I'm going to be an assistant for a little longer than I thought I'd be but the offered me some monetary incentive, the possibility of a promotion to coordinator after six months, and a sweet business trip to South Africa.

Chicken Soup Boss thinks I'll end up in sales, she thinks I have the personality for it. I think she's wrong.

Working Girl One and Boss are now friends.

"So, Working Girl One, I just asked you to be my Facebook friend," my boss nonchalantly said as she walked by my desk. "It's my new thing, it's so fun."

Cue Outlook to display a new e-mail in pop-up form. "Boss added you as a friend on Facebook..." it read.

Accept? Reject? I can't reject, can I? No, this isn't some sketchy person from the bar this is my boss and she told me, verbally, that she asked me to be her Facebook friend. Doesn't she know that this generation doesn't do the whole verbal communication thing all that well?

I had no choice but to accept. So I did.

Then I began to wonder: is she going to look at my pictures? My wall posts? What is she going to think of me? Will her opinion of me change? As these thoughts raced through my mind, I began to look through the 600 some-odd tagged photos of me. I don't know how I missed them, but quite a few were just bad photos. Bad in that I looked absolutely tragic, not bad in that I was doing anything inappropriate. Don't worry, I untagged those pictures of my friends and I dancing in a cage in Italy down a long time ago. Oh, and the keg race pictures too.

My boss went on to ask me over to her desk to explain Facebook.

"You have more than 300 friends!" she said as she looked at my profile. Uh yeah, and those are just my college friends. I showed her how to view a list of all her friends and see updates on her Facebook News Feed.

"This is so fun," she said. "I love finding people I know!"

Since the beginning of Facebook, I've been told to be careful. Mostly by my grandmother, who watches far too much 20/20 and 60 Minutes. My profile is set to private, I don't accept friendship from people I don't know, and before I started interviewing for jobs I untagged the previously mentioned photos. However, I was thisclose to accepting friendship from a guy who poked me because we both like Jamba Juice (and who doesn't). At work, I'm Facebook friends with the other assistants, they all graduated within a year of me, if not the same year. They get it. My boss's Facebook picture is a photo of her with her one-year-old son. Not so sure if she gets it.

My boss has a family and a demanding job, so I'm sure she's not sitting at her home computer at night looking through my pictures or reading wall posts of inside jokes when she's bored. In the beginning, the beauty of Facebook was that it was strictly for college students. Now, that it's open to anyone, I have to wonder if this is going to become a normality. When I'm a boss one day, will I Facebook friend my assistant? Will I create albums of my children and I? I love spending my share of time on Facebook just as much as the next Working Girl (this is if she is allowed to access it at the office), but this might just be too much.