Ode to My Assistants !

Leadership

My near 43+ years of corporate journey, was supported a string of assistants, who made a huge difference to my life in more ways than one. Here is a quick memoir of that journey which started, with Typists -> Stenographers -> Secretaries -> Personal Assistants -> Executive Assistants to finally Managers, who managed my so-called office. This tribe is getting extinct in the new corporate world order, and I am learning dictating online and using AI devices… the new journey just begins. In reflection, sharing my stories….

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1.???? Grover - 1980, Daurala, a Village in Uttar Pradesh near Meerut… Sugar, Alcohols, and Chemicals complex of DCM, on wintry mornings I would enter the Pool Typists Room – a happening place indeed, that made a huge noise clanking noise – ‘clickety-clank, clickety-clank’, interspersed with the roller turning with each line, and at the end of the line rang a bell! It would sound a literal orchestra with over a dozen Remington Rand typewriters fiercely typing away.? The assigned typist for our Material Management Dept was one Grover… I was a young 19-year-old lad - Management Trainee, Mr. G was in his 40s... a handsome man with a great coiffure, Amitabh Bachan cut, that he took immense care… and very nattily dressed. He had an attitude for sure. The protocol was to hand him the hand written letter /note in clearly readable writing, on a Pink Sheet of paper… called the draft paper. He would then receive it and put a No ? Circling it… to sort give your pink sheet, the status of queue no. He would type it in a few copies – Main in Letter head of White + copies in thin Rice Paper in different colors i.e. Yellow, and last one in Pink. The Yellow Copies did the job of todays CC and perhaps BCC copies of mails. Tragedy hit you when you would do a great job, and when you put it up for your boss to sign, he would make all the changes on the main copy and you had queue back at Mr. Grover, the Master Pool Typist to do it again and face his chagrin. That was how life began for me.

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2.???? Jagdish, 1983-85 the 6 fingered Stenographer (he had an extra thumb on his right hand!) … was a very young man from the village who studied hard, and his father was also working in the same Co as a Peon (more about them later). He has an excellent attitude, and keenness to learn. I learnt to dictate letters rather early in my life – dictation is an acquired skill, as you need to clear what to say and how, and not go back and forth as it is hell with the Stenographer… eventually I realized, the relationship with the Steno matures, that I realized much latter like that of a husband and wife, often the other hears the complete sentence that you did not even say! I would engage two shifts with him, a load of letters in the morning that are turned back on my table by lunch and the second batch post lunch. It worked amazingly well.

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3.???? Post 1985 / 89 - Mrs. X, MS R, Ms. S, were interesting ladies… good to talk to, but a challenge to deal with. Had to manage much with what we had, and the PCs made an inroad by then– as young Managers we were encharmed by the DCM Tandy TRS Machine model 2000 that was launched in the US in 1983 and came to India through DCM, that used the super Word-Perfect Software for word processing! … We mastered it, and used it extensively. The typists got a complex, the other was the Lotus 1-2-3 the breathtaking spreadsheet, that one learnt. These were times when PCs and MainFrames were kept in Air-conditioned rooms and we used to sit under the fan and coolers, and mastering the use of PCs was also a ticket to sit all the while in cooler climes, with the incentive to play a game called Digger – that was so very addictive.

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4.???? Raju, was a new hire at Duncans – an elevated status of a PA (Personal Assistant) as I achieved the exalted state of being the All-India Marketing Manager. Finally, I had someone sitting directly outside my room, and was an effective traffic controller! He came from Kerala to Delhi, and thought he would be good in English and being Secretaries and PAs is quite aspirational for many from that state, as they dominate the Middle East. He had a very strong Keralite accent… and later realized he might have been a very strong communist activist, by his demeanor and need to be agitational for everything. Actually, he expected me to dictate to him English in Malayalam which I failed completely, for what I used to dictate to him English I could not follow in what language he used to type. Finally, it ended with his accusing my poor language skills and inability to dictate well. It was one stellar case of disappointment that stands out.

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5.???? Kalyan, was the next hire. He was a young lad from Chennai again came looking for a job in Delhi, and had experience of being a trainee with a Chennai based Kothari group. His language skills were excellent, and became a great assistant. These were early days of computerization and he had a natural flair for it, and I grew very fond of him. He was a good organizer, and assistant and totally loyal to the core and eventually grew very close to the entire family. He later rose to become a PA in the Group Chairman’s office in Calcutta. He struggled in his initial years, speaking in Hindi but he mastered Bengali. I am so glad to still be in touch with him and he now runs a 5 Star Hotel in Dubai as a General Manager or profit center head.

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6.???? Kala, was my PA when I moved to Hyderabad, in the Pharmaceutical Industry as a Vice President. She grew up in Andhra, and was a very sharp young lady with an amazing memory. She would remember not just letters, customers, orders or meetings… but even the shipment dates. In International Business it was crucial to be able to completely hands, to be responsive to global customers. She also helped me understand products, with strange chemical names, and pharmaceutical compounds, codified. where I learnt from her SMX meant Sulfamethoxazole and TMP meant Trimethoprim and so on... She used to plan my international travel to the last detail including meetings, stays, air tickets, and she was simply amazing. She had a greater potential that being a PA and I moved her eventually to be the Export Coordinator and she would support my running the review meetings including minutes. Her sharp memory was a huge help, to make a big difference. No wonder, I am so glad and proud of her that last, I know she became the General Manager Exports of a well-known Pharma Co and perhaps she has moved even higher now.

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7.???? MM, since moving Kala to a line role I hired a young man MM in Hyderabad. A man with exceptional energy, positivity, and drive. He was outstanding, in many ways and always ready to act at the instant. He was provided a room next to mine, and could see him through a glass window and he was so alert would jump in to come, by sheer looking at me without having to call. This is the time, I brought some technology into life, first time I acquired a Compaq Notebook, and also a Dictaphone He would take dictations of nearly 35/40 letters and ram them out within the day. Eventually to save time, I would dictate letters on Dictaphone while having my tea and driving to office and hand it in as I entered, but lunch time I had the letters on my table to sign. He was equally amazing at managing my overseas travels, meetings etc., and imagine travelling for nearly 100+ days across 40 countries… and without emails, all communications were managed through Faxes and Business Centers of Hotels. He was passionate about making a career in HR and he has done extremely well, and works for a Tata Co as a Dy General Manager. Very proud of him.

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8.???? Irene, Singapore… was in her early 50’s and was my first foreign secretary. She was a very kind person, and has a completely round face, complemented with round spectacles. More than my assistant she was my coach to everything about Singapore – she along with an office assistant called Johnny were my culture tutors. They did great a cultural knowledge transfer – I learnt from Irene MC meant Medical Certificate and it’s a leave! … I picked up rudimentary Singlish that was so handy. Where to eat, what to eat, where to park, and how to go to a local Chinese Bone setter when you sprain your ankle badly. How traditional Chinese weddings get done, and what to do and what not to do…etc.

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9.???? Ratna - she was quite an interesting lady of Indonesian Origin, very sprightly and always extremely cheerful. She was a Muslim, but would dress with a great elan in the most modern of ways, without any hijab, and was full of life. Pagers and Mobile phones entered into our lives by then, and she had a fancy for such gadgets. She was exceptional in building good relationships, and finally confided to me that she doubles up as a real estate agent ??… She had expensive tastes, and was a party animal at night, accordingly her own sharing. She was reliable, helpful, and was a very pleasant addition to the office.

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10.? Ms. M, was a lady from Mumbai who got married to Singaporean and was of Gujarati origin. A very pleasant and extremely helpful person, the most interesting part was that as long as she was around with us, she would ensure there was always a variety of Farzan (snacks) in the pantry.

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11.? Ms. CY, was a super-efficient and very artistic person. She was my PA during my civil service stint. She was far too well organized, and totally reliable. She would make my work like a precision clock, managing sometime 10-12 mtgs and her hand writing was like a piece of art work, and exceptional in paper / file management. She almost spoke in such low tone, that was like a whisper. ?I was very keen to take her during my future roles, but she was very keen to pursue a career outside of what she was doing in the arts sphere, and lost touch with her.

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12.? Ms. T, was the spouse of a junior colleague, who was very bright and qualified, and started work to assist me. She was all in all, and had a very good memory too. She got trained in HR, Accounts, Admin and quickly learnt the tricks of the trade. Though a quiet person she was an innate observer of human behavior and she had the art to mimic all in the office and was quite draw.

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13.? Ms. SD, came with experience from the hospitality industry and would walk in with a 1000Watt smile. She was very popular in the office, and had not worked in a typical PA role, and would find it hard to be bound to a seat and a PC. However, she managed quite well, and was very supportive. We both would have our own mood swings and she would make it very apparent how she was upset, and then there would reproachments. She always meant good for me, and moved on to pursue a different type of job within the group.

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14.? Ms. M, was highly experienced and she came with a lot of corporate experience with senior people, in India. She has a great institutional knowledge and internal networking was amazing, and she made a move to come to Singapore after years of experience, and the cultural difference of working overseas was a bit of a challenge. She had great interest in pursuing a career in HR where she has worked for years in the support role, and when an opportunity surfaced, she took it… and she is doing a great job in her HR career.

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15.? Ms. S, moved into the role of a PA from a group Co where she was handling commercial and accounts. A very diligent young lady, whose eye for neatly arranging papers, files, effect etc. was truly outstanding. Also, a very responsive person at all times on phone and text a vital requirement. I wish her all the best in career.