Month #4 — April, 2012
While channel surfing on a gloomy Saturday, I recently came across the 1980s movie, Working Girl. I love this movie. If you’ve never seen it, I encourage you to rent a copy of it — it’s a great example of administrative ambition. If you’ve seen it before, you know what I’m talking about and know this is “our” movie and “our” story.
In short, actress Melanie Griffith plays Tess McGill, a Wall Street secretary that is driven to succeed and work her way out of her company’s typing pool. She is smart, determined, night-school educated, but no one takes her seriously with her big hair, short skirts, and clerical-laden resume. What ensues is, of course, a Hollywood plot that thickens: deception, love triangles, unethical behavior, demanding and arrogant bosses, humiliating requests, and ultimately a successful, happy ending for the girl from the typing pool.
Almost 25 years after its release, I still empathize with Tess McGill through a range of emotions: hope, frustration, insignificance, and the excitement of triumph. She was the working girl’s role model in 1988.
Like many others, I was a girl in a “typing pool” in the 1980s. At that time, I worked for a large consulting firm in Boston. Our typing pool, in the center of the office, was surrounded by plexiglass partitions. Because you could watch us work from many angles of the office, we referred to it as the “fishbowl.”
Due to the mundane nature of my work as a word processor (the newly-minted word for a typist who used a computer monitor in the 1980s), I remember feeling irrelevant and not as smart as my higher-level colleagues and those in management. Like Tess McGill, I imagined my associates and managers leading stress free, interesting lives, and enjoying their weekends in their beautiful suburban homes or trendy urban condos, while I wondered how I might pay that month’s rent. I remember the intrigue and envy I’d feel when confident young women, freshly arriving in the workplace with their new east coast college degrees, would eagerly take the first step on their career ladder. I’d assume that their path would somehow be much easier, and more glamorous, than my own. I now know that they had their own struggles too, but they were a few rungs higher on the organizational chart and from my perspective that placed them in a position of authority and advantage. Those of us in the typing pool knew our world was much different than those we supported. We lived and worked in Tess McGill’s world.
Please don’t get me wrong, I chose my career path and I’m proud of my accomplishments over the years. I’ve had many managers who believed in me, supported my growth, and treated me with respect and decency. I’m grateful for my grassroots experience, but I identify whole-heartedly with Tess McGill’s desire for opportunity and professional validation.
Here are the lessons that I’ve taken from the tenacious Tess McGill and I challenge you to think about some of these things in your own career:
- Never Give Up on Your Dreams
Tess may have been invisible in the typing pool, but she took it upon herself to stay informed about the world of finance. She read newspapers, understood the stock market, and recognized opportunities for business mergers and acquisitions. She shared her ideas with anyone that would listen and eventually someone did — acknowledging her potential and giving her a chance to prove herself. What do you want for yourself and how hard are you willing to work to achieve it?
- Identify What You Want or Need to Work On
Tess was regularly overlooked and dismissed when she sought promotions at her firm. As a result of the antics of the movie, she began to understand the importance image and presence have on credibility. As she transformed herself professionally, others began to treat her more professionally, and assumed that she held a position of responsibility within her firm. What do you want to change or improve upon in your own life?
- Avoid Unethical Behaviors
Tess misrepresented herself and her position to others outside of the firm in which she worked. Her boss, played by Sigourney Weaver, took an idea presented by Tess and passed it off as her own business insight. Neither of them did the right thing and only created confusion and chaos for themselves. Although this behavior is what made the movie dramatic and charming, in the real-world this unsavory behavior would get you into serious trouble. How do you define ethical behavior and boundaries for yourself?
- Settle into Yourself
Tess assumed a different persona as she was pretending to be someone she wasn’t. She conducted herself as if “in character” or on stage in much of the movie. Once Tess was hired by a new firm as a junior associate, she relaxed and adopted her own style and approach with others. Who is your authentic self and can you confidently be that person at work?
- Don’t Forget Where You’ve Come From
Tess made it out of the typing pool and was provided an office in which to perform her new job as a fledgling financial analyst. It’s apparent when she sees her office for the first time that she is proud and feels she has finally “arrived.” It’s also apparent when she speaks to her new secretary for the first time, that she will not treat her secretary as she had been treated. Tess makes it clear that it will be a partnership and that “they will figure it out as they go along.” How will you stay connected to your administrative roots as your responsibilities expand and grow?
Tess McGill proved all things are possible regardless of your starting point in life. So, here’s to all you Working Girls (and guys) out there and may all your career ambitions come true.
Happy Administrative Professionals Day 2012!
©Administrative Excellence – 2012
____________________________________________________
Erin O’Hara Meyer, PHR, is President of Administrative Excellence, Inc., and the author of Administrative Excellence Revolutionizing Our Value in the Workplace. She performed “hands-on” administrative responsibilities and managed administrative teams for over 20 years. Human Resource responsibilities provided further expertise in staffing and recruiting, performance management, and employee relations. Contact Erin at erin@adminexcellence.com.
Administrative Excellence's Blog 