My Super Power at Work

What’s Yours?

My last job assignment came with its own skill set. A cog in a huge business organization, I was the executive office manager to the top senior VP.

Every company has its own pecking order. Basically, my staff of administrative assistants and I reported to #1 boss and their team of senior and junior executives. That’s some organizational chart that I had to update monthly.

Every member of my admin team had a super power.

I heard that I had three.

Everyone appreciated an assistant who actively listened and passed accurate information to the top boss. Or was someone they trusted for clarification.

I didn’t want any misunderstandings or negative feedback between the teams to go on to top boss. I needed to find a way for both teams to work together. If you ever worked in a big organization, you know that it’s not an easy task to keep up everyone’s level of professionalism. To bring out the best in everyone. Today, I heard Eli Manning speak to this point, in some respect. I was impressed.

I earned the nickname Radar, from the show M*A*S*H — based on a sense of efficiency, dependability and anticipation of ensuring the bosses had the information, documents and amenities they needed for whatever project. If I do say so myself, It’s something I took pride in and actually loved the nickname. I could locate a missing file on even the messiest boss’ desk.

One of the senior executives could not find where she had misplaced her work keys to the kingdom. She was careful not to say anything to anyone who might repeat it to top boss. Wrong move.

She finally appeared, sitting on the side chair next to my desk. She told me her problem and begged that I keep her confidence. I couldn’t make that promise, figuring that someone must know where her lost keys were. And that was a vulnerability I could not take responsibility for.

I quickly helped her trace her steps. That’s when the miracle happened and I found the keys for her. She was amazed. Guess I was as well. But that was the turning point in my career. That day, without saying a word, I became anointed.

One of the big bosses lost his gold bracelet. He figured it was gone forever. When I found out about it, I called ‘lost and found’. It was there. Imagine someone turning in an expensive-looking piece of gold jewelry.

It was mind-boggling that my boss had not even considered calling to see if someone had found it. I didn’t know how jaded he had become. I was merely following standard protocol, and I was naive enough to think maybe there was a chance it would be there.

At the next junior executive meeting, my boss spoke of the incident, noting how two people had restored his faith in humanity. The two of us being me and the person who had actually turned the bracelet in.

That day, we were both anointed.

@ connie song 2020

Thanks to Kristi Keller for inspiration from her story title, “What are you good at? Here’s the link. It’s a good read and just might inspire you, as well.

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