Back from New York and put in some time in Scott (our CEO's) diary for a meeting/quick catch up and was sent this very curt email from his assistant:
"In future its best to go through me for Scott's diary as I manage that now"
I had no idea he hired an assistant, so I went over to introduce myself to her and said, "Ah, so you must be his personal assistant" and she just looked at me and replied, "I'm an EA, not a PA. Look it up." And turned her back on me and continued to browse the internet.
Wow. Just wow. Well, I've been told, haven't I?
Was it me or was she just really rude?
Also, is there a difference between a PA and EA? I just looked at her LinkedIn profile and she's always been a PA and she's styled herself as an EA here - I thought it was interchangable?
Ah well it was probably a really big deal for her to be an EA and probably the pinnacle of her achievements. In which case I probably crushed all her career dreams by calling her an PA, which seems like something she perceived to be an insult. Eek, I feel awful, but I really had no idea.
Should I should apologise? I've been told to as my colleague said that pissing her off could potentially make my life at work very difficult. Really? It's such a small matter, no one can be that vindictive over such a little thing? It's a job title and who the hell cares what it is? I just think the work you do and the satisfaction you get out of it is far more important. I mean, in the startup world there are Head of Departments who have no direct reports and CEOs of companies of less than 5 people, so I really wouldn't read too much into a title. I don't know.
Maybe it's really important to her so I should put aside that encounter and apologise for calling her a PA instead of an EA.
Argh what should I do? I'm just go to unpack and think it over.
"In future its best to go through me for Scott's diary as I manage that now"
I had no idea he hired an assistant, so I went over to introduce myself to her and said, "Ah, so you must be his personal assistant" and she just looked at me and replied, "I'm an EA, not a PA. Look it up." And turned her back on me and continued to browse the internet.
Wow. Just wow. Well, I've been told, haven't I?
Was it me or was she just really rude?
Also, is there a difference between a PA and EA? I just looked at her LinkedIn profile and she's always been a PA and she's styled herself as an EA here - I thought it was interchangable?
Ah well it was probably a really big deal for her to be an EA and probably the pinnacle of her achievements. In which case I probably crushed all her career dreams by calling her an PA, which seems like something she perceived to be an insult. Eek, I feel awful, but I really had no idea.
Should I should apologise? I've been told to as my colleague said that pissing her off could potentially make my life at work very difficult. Really? It's such a small matter, no one can be that vindictive over such a little thing? It's a job title and who the hell cares what it is? I just think the work you do and the satisfaction you get out of it is far more important. I mean, in the startup world there are Head of Departments who have no direct reports and CEOs of companies of less than 5 people, so I really wouldn't read too much into a title. I don't know.
Maybe it's really important to her so I should put aside that encounter and apologise for calling her a PA instead of an EA.
Argh what should I do? I'm just go to unpack and think it over.
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