Life beyond the glass ceiling

IT dawned on Jo Coleman just how far she had come when she found herself in the exclusive Turks and Caicos Island overseeing the design of Bruce Willis's three luxury villas.

That was last year. Just three years before, Coleman, 29, had made the extraordinary career leap from team secretary to a director of the innovative design consultancy United Designers. The company is the creative talent behind venues like Nobu, the Met Bar and U2's Clarence hotel in Dublin.

Secretaries who have made it all the way to the boardroom are rare; for most, climbing the career ladder often means little more than ending up in an office manager role, unless they change jobs or retrain.

But Julia Philipson of the Institute of Qualified Private Secretaries (IQPS) believes that most secretaries could be making much more of their jobs.

"A secretary can go as far as he or she wants to go, their limitations are themselves.

Unfortunately, not an awful lot of secretaries fulfil their potential in their jobs as they can get a bit pigeonholed," she says.

Richard Grace, managing director of Gordon Yates, says: "The role of support staff is changing; graduates are taking on support roles as a means of entering a particular industry, so they have to make an impact.

Attitude is essential: you have to work beyond your job description and constantly look at ways in which things can be improved."

Coleman, who doesn't come from a design background, is in no doubt as to the key to her success. She says she has such a strong work ethic that she left halfway through her A-levels through her impatience to start working.

"I think my best quality is my will to succeed," she says.

"Trying to keep that up and strive for perfection is what drives me. It is amazing how far hard work will get you."

She also acknowledges that joining the company, which was founded six years ago by design guru Keith Hobbs, when it was still relatively small, was a great opportunity for her.

"Keith has been in the business for about 30 years and has been a mentor to me.

He gives people the opportunity to get on and you take it as far as you want to take it. For me, it has worked out brilliantly. I could do what I wanted to do and there wasn't any kind of obstruction. Being here is a constant challenge for me because as the business has grown, I have grown with it."

Though not formally qualified in accounting, Coleman now oversees the financial side of the business, which turns over pounds 7 million a year and employs 50 people.

Louise Bretton's climb to the top took her 12 years. She worked her way up from junior secretary to PA to chairman and owner of travel company Trailfinders, and was made a board member last October.

After being at Trailfinders for so long, Bretton, 33, is unfazed about being a director of one of the largest privately owned companies in the UK, with a turnover of pounds 460 million and 1,000 employees. She puts her success down to having a good relationship with her boss, Mike Gooley, and taking the opportunity when she was a PA to learn all about the running of the business.

"As Mike's PA, I made sure I got involved in all aspects of the business.

One thing that made a great difference to our relationship was that I actually sat in the same office as him so I knew what was going on all the time. Mike is very involved in every aspect of the business and I've always been inquisitive about how Trailfinders works, so I became very good at anticipating what was needed."

Bretton oversees the administration of the company, as well as running Gooley's other interests, which include a sports ground, catering company, a wine bar, a rainforest resort in Australia and a small airline.

When it comes to recruiting her support staff, Bretton says: "I think that being a secretary you get a unique opportunity to study a business properly and you get quite a good platform to see what is going on. The number-one quality that I look for in a PA is common sense.

Also not being frightened to ask questions because if somebody asks questions that means they are learning."

Things to remember on your way to the top There is no such thing as a glass ceiling - just a "sticky floor". It is up to you to move forward and upward.

Enrol on one of the LCCIEB's professional secretarial diploma courses which combine secretarial with business-focused skills.

For more details call 020 8309 3000.

Never say "no" to joining a team to launch a new project/product; you never know where it will lead your career.

Always dress for the job you want not the job you've got.

Join a networking body.

Never assume anything.

Check, check and check again.

If you don't understand, ask, and ask again until you do.

From IQPS

Copyright 2003
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.