Managing Up

Kudos to Rosanne!

Thank goodness that Rosanne has finally put into words how EA's contribute to the workplace! My hat is off to her and I've gleaned some new tips!

Touch of fame elevates Welch's secretary's management tips

This is the reminiscence of a famous CEO¿s secretary, but it is better than you might expect. Jack Welch¿s former executive assistant and now author Rosanne Badowski spins anecdotes nicely. She also provides some possibly inadvertent grains of salt to season everything else you may have read about her boss. However, the idea that her warmly chatty observations can generate a respectable book is a tribute to the power of his legend - and her entertaining recollections. The image of a CEO whose secretary has to go through his trash to keep track of what he¿s been doing is very revealing. So is the idea of a secretary going behind her super-boss like Mommy behind a toddler, turning off faucets he can¿t be bothered to shut for himself. Welch acknowledges in the forewordthat he was a difficult, sometimes aggravating boss. He says Badowski, 'lived and breathed work,' and he praises her 'loyalty, discretion and forgiveness' and well as her long hours, the care she took with confidential information and her talent for dealing with those who seek it. Badowski pulls few punches, so you may well agree with Welch¿s self-assessment after you read her book. However, Welch was also, on occasion, a brilliant manager, and Badowski became a strong one, too. We find that her up-close viewpoint includes some useful managerial insights and just enough gossip to keep your batteries charged.

A Good Getting Started Book

I am new to the Executive Assistant level of Administrative Assistants. I found Ms. Badowski's book very informative for someone who is just getting started. It was enjoyable read. She used very relatable examples and used humor to help move the book along.

Definitely on the silly side

I have been an executive assistant for 29 years and I found very little of value or interest in this book.

Another managing book du jour

This book is a quick read albeit not a very interesting one. The primary message I got from this book is that the author was completely enamored with Jack Welch and had totally devoted a good majority of her life to serving him while apparently sacrificing all her personal time. What she described as her sense of humor was a little offbeat and certainly not professional. The potential for a good story is there, it just never hits the mark.

Rosanne Badowski Under Rates her Sixth Sense

Rosanne Badowski's enlightened and insightful explanation of managing demonstrates her sixth sense capacity to spot the real and phony. During her interviews with Jack Welch, she focused on him having a capacity to spot a phony. She did not mention her own ability. I make this statement from direct experience. She redirected material that I sent to Welch to Steve Kerr, Vice President, Leadership Development. It led to a worthwhile exchange of ideas and deeper insights into a part of Jack Welch's management style that has not been covered by the media or in books by, or about, him. I am certain that she would not have taken the position of being the CEO's assistant at Enron.

No text was provided for this review.