It's exit the dragon (Article in Daily Telegraph 21 October 2004)

Professor Yiannis Gabriel has been updating the research into top-level personal assistants and claims that PAs at the top now have different characteristics.

Daily Telegraph  21 October 2004

Old office stereotypes are being revised. Now the ideal PA must act as the eyes and ears of their boss, reports Widget Finn
Is there a dragon lurking in the chief executive's? Or maybe a pet or an anchor? The academics have been doing research into top-level personal assistants, categorising them and putting them into metaphorical boxes.

Twenty years ago academic studies identified three main types of personal assistant to the chief executive - the pet, the mother and the dragon. Are these types hopelessly out of date or have they just been replaced by new "characters" - the anchor, the partner and the rescuer?

Today's tough competitive business world means that the ditsy blonde pet, immortalised in television's Absolutely Fabulous, wouldn't survive until the first coffee break in the chief executive's office. Brains not beauty are what's needed now to power the corporate engine.

Chief executives may occasionally long for the return of the mother type to soothe their harassed brow and produce a cup of tea before they know they want it - but political correctness requires them to banish such dreams.

As for the dragon - we've all known a few in our time. Fiercely protective of their charge, they repel every approach and put off all but the most persistent of inquirers.

Julia Middleton, chief executive of Common Purpose, the leadership training consultancy, observes: "The days of the dragon are over. Good PAs know the difference between being protective and being rude." Maybe, but dragons aren't necessarily extinct.

Professor Yiannis Gabriel from the Tanaka Business School at Imperial College has been updating the research and claims that PAs at the top now have different characteristics. He says "There is the anchor, who keeps the office grounded while the boss is taking the helicopter view. Then there's the rescuer who anticipates any mishap and protects the chief executive from his or her own mistakes. And there's the partner who is a manager in her own right, taking day-to-day decisions so the boss is freed up to take strategic ones."

Whatever the truth of the academic findings they highlight the changing attitudes towards PAs and what is required of them. Michaela Rogers, divisional director for the recruitment giant Manpower, argues that the role of a PA has completely changed in the past two decades.

"The title of personal assistant used to imply an all-round skivvy who acted as the first and last point of call in an organisation. Now the senior PA is a board member's right-hand person who makes a real contribution to the business."
She points out that some tasks that were once done by a secretary have been taken on by the boss. "There's an assumption that people at every level have IT skills so the PA expects her boss to deal with emergency e-mails or even letters, freeing her up for other tasks."

So what makes a top-level modern PA? Caron Rowland, who was personal assistant to the managing director of an architectural company for seven years, says: "Shrinking violets need not apply. You must have a strong personality and plenty of confidence because you will be dealing with senior managers in your own and other companies, and operating on all levels."

While shrinking violets would probably have withered in the head office even 20 years ago, the PA was required to be self-effacing, according to Angela Mortimer, who describes herself as "hands-on chairman" of the eponymous recruitment consultancy. "Having an opinion on anything would have been a complete no-no," she says.

"There was a huge gap in the education of the senior executive and his PA, who was just required to scrape up a few O levels to back up her typing and shorthand speeds. Today the top PA has a degree and probably one or more languages, while an absolute requirement for the role is hard intelligence to understand the business issues and emotional intelligence to understand how to handle them."
The softer skills are much in demand for senior PAs. If their boss is tough and abrasive they have to smooth ruffled feathers and soothe bruised egos.

Even if the chief executive is one of the modern breed, keen to be seen as firm but fair, there's a lot of tact and sensitivity required. A company chairman says: "My wish-list for a PA would be someone who is tolerant, who doesn't get upset if I'm upset, who is able to read the situation and feed it back to me, to be my eyes and ears so I can be attuned to situations and know best how to handle them."

In a working relationship, as with a marriage, opposites often make the best partnerships.
Maria Yapp, managing director of business psychologists Xancam Consulting, argues that the creative impulsive boss needs a well-organised PA who can focus on the detail - a touch of the anchor, with a bit of rescuer mixed in. So maybe the academics have got it right. But what is the value of spending research time identifying PA types? Professor Gabriel defends his position: "Hopefully, it will encourage a chief executive to think hard about the qualities that he needs in a PA."

Does a label on PAs help in the recruitment process? Angela Mortimer claims that any recruiter worth their salt would instinctively identify the types. "It's my livelihood, so I have to understand the whole area." But she believes that the role of a PA is bigger than any label. "Twenty years ago when no boss wanted an assistant with ideas above her station I placed a very talented secretary in the City. Now she's a financial adviser earning £100,000 a year." Dragons - eat your heart out.