While it may appear a hard nut to crack for most executive personal assistants to grant interviews at such a short notice owning to their busy schedules, it’s however more intriguing when you are actually meeting the person for the first time and don’t know what to expect.
So it was with some measure of uncertainty when I made my way to the office complex of First Independent Global where this interview was conducted.
When in 2004, Kenny, as he is fondly called by friends and colleagues, discovered then as a youth corps member that he was not going to be given a job as an underwriter in Standard Alliance, he was however willing to take up a job of a secretary based on his undergraduate day experience in the knowledge of computer and typing. His grounding as a successful insurance graduate and a fast learner, no doubt, helped him to quickly take in his environment and responsibilities.
On his duties as a PA, he disclosed “I am engaged in a lot of things. I work as company secretary; I work as a PA; I work as an administrative person, which is part of my personal assistant duty; I supervise the admin department, and then I also work as an accountant. I go to the bank, meet our account officers in one or two areas, in all; I am gaining more and getting more experience from these lines.
“In 2004, I started with Bode Akinboye, managing director, Standard Alliance Insurance. Three years later (2007), I became his PA as group managing director Standard Alliance. When in 2009 he resigned to start his own business, because we have been used to each other, it made good sense that I join him to make the business grow. Knowing that the job of executive PA is a continuous thing, so joining him was more or less like continuing from where we stopped at Standard Alliance.”
Recounting some interesting aspect of his job, he is quick to note several benefits accruable from the job. In his words, “There are some motivations you get in the job that keep you going. People recognise you and accord you respect; the same respect they would give to your boss. Also, another benefit of being a PA is that it creates great avenues for you to network with a lot of people, especially if your boss is well connected.”
The versatile Kenny advises on the need to develop trust and have passion for what one is doing, noting that the job of a PA can be very slippery as not many last on it. On the challenges inherent in doing the job, he was quick to point out that satisfying your boss most times might be very difficult, so with that at the back of your mind, you try to live up to expectation, at least he knows you are human being. To him, “there are areas your boss does not expect you to commit serious mistakes, and if you commit them, he would get angry. So, in your quest to satisfy a difficult boss, you don’t allow such attempts to weigh you down.”
His motivation/inspiration, he emphasises, is drawn from the character of his boss, who he affirms is hard working, God fearing and very detailed. According to him, “he daily strive to attain higher heights even though he can be said to be financially okay. When you think he has gotten to a point where he is successful, he still thinks that there are new areas to cover, and by working with him, I have gained a lot of things.”
In pin pointing some of his memorable achievements in the course of his job, he recalls with nostalgia when as a graphic oriented person (one of his numerous skills) he was involved in the re-branding of Standard Alliance logos and letter-head papers, saying when ever he recalls this, “I feel fulfilled that I am able to make an impact in that organisation.”
In his estimation about some of the qualities expected of a PA, he states that knowing that administration is a core duty of any PA is something you learn on the job. Unlike what they teach in school, he therefore insists that any person that wants to effectively work as a PA must be a graduate.