Just Your Voice: Part 2: The Ghost in the Machine

A Note to Minions:

Part of finding your voice at work merely consists of avoiding the hot seat.  

Chances are, you are in charge of final details.  Whether it’s your follow-up call to welcome a new consumer or sealing the envelope to get a deadline in the mail or proofreading a document before your boss signs it, you are the ghost in the machine.  

Be a good ghost.  

The mark of a good receptionist is that you don’t notice them.  A customer or boss only notices them when something is flawed or a detail is missing.  As overwhelming as being invisible may be, no attention is better than a boss remembering your name because you can’t seem to get it right.  

Being a great ghost requires patience.  It requires paying attention.  It requires stamina and a sturdy head.  Within the chaos you must be a beacon of peace.  

It is through that peace that you will gain positive attention.  Your voice shines through because there are repeatedly no errors in the final letters you send.  Your voice shines through when your yelling, stressed-out-of-their-mind boss can come to you in a flurry and you have your wits about you to take direction or at least point them in one.  

No, fine tuning someone else’s work is not the same as presenting a great idea to the board.  However, through making sure your final flourishes are flawless, you can make sure your boss isn’t giving a presentation with typos on his slideshow.

A Note to Supervisors:

Acknowledge your ghost for the good they do, not just the unsavory. Invisible staff is weary staff - it's hard to keep your stamina if you feel you're only noticed when something goes wrong.

Remember, they are the stilts that help you stand so tall every day.