酷兔英语


'It's like an office marriage,' says Rosanne Badowski, 53, of working since 1988 as the executiveassistant to Jack Welch, the retired General Electric Co. chairman and CEO.


这就好像是一场办公室婚姻。"在谈到从1988年起就一直给通用电气公司(General Electric Co.)前任董事长兼首席执行官杰克•韦尔奇(Jack Welch)当高级助理的经历时,53岁的罗塞娜•博得斯基(Rosanne Badowski)这样说道。



Mr. Welch disagrees. 'This is smoother,' he says.


韦尔奇不同意这个观点。他说:"这种关系比婚姻更和谐。"



Such long-term partnerships between an executive and an executiveassistant (or 'EA,' 'admin,' or 'secretary,' depending on your location and generation) are becoming increasingly rare. Executives change companies more frequently, and while some assistants will relocate, many can't uproot to follow the boss. Cost cutting and technology mean that fewer mid-level executives are assigned assistants, cutting back chances to move up the ladder together. At some law firms in Manhattan, for example, as many as five attorneys might share an assistant. At certain technology companies, having an assistant is considered outdated.


一个老板和一个高级助理(或者说是"行政人员"、"秘书",根据不同地域和不同年龄段的叫法不同)之间能形成如此长久的合作伙伴关系,这种情况越来越罕见。公司管理者跳槽的次数更频繁,而他们的助理有些会跟着走,很多则不会抛下一切追随原来的老板。成本削减和技术进步意味着配备助理的中层管理者越来越少,助理跟老板一起往上走的几率也因此降低。比如在曼哈顿的一些律师事务所,五个律师可能共用一个助理;而在一些IT公司,配备助理被视为一种落伍的行为。



'An assistant can buffer you from a lot,' says Tim Westergren, the founder of Pandora, the Internet radio company. For this reason, he is assistant-free.


"助理会让你失去很多与外界接触的机会。"网络广播企业潘多拉公司(Pandora)的创始人蒂姆•韦斯特格伦(Tim Westergren)说。因此,他根本不用任何助理。



Yet, at the same time, the demand for highly skilledassistants has increased in the last several years as shareholders and customers demand greater connectedness with executives. Tech-savvy assistants increasingly are targets of poaching by other executives. 'The term chief of staff is being used a lot more,' says David Goldman, the owner of Ruby Peak Recruiting, a San Francisco head-hunting firm which specializes in placing assistants with top-level executives in the technology and venture capital sectors.


但与此同时,过去几年来对高素质助理的需求在不断增加,这是因为股东和客户要求与企业高管有更多的接触。精通电脑和IT手段的助理日益成为被挖角的对象。"在越来越多的情形下,人们用参谋这个词来形容助理所扮演的角色。"旧金山一家猎头公司Ruby Peak Recruiting的老板戴维•高德曼(David Goldman)说。这家公司专门为IT和风险投资行业的高管寻找合适的助理。



'Demonstrated longevity' is now an explicitly sought-after qualification, headhunters say. Sun Microsystem's longtime CEO, Jonathan Schwartz, worked with his 'admin' for 10 years before Oracle acquired Sun and he left the company. Richard Parsons, chairman of the board of Citigroup Inc., has worked with his assistant for 22 years. The former Bear Stearns chairman Alan 'Ace' Greenberg has three secretaries whose tenures with him range from 10 to 25 years. When Jan Verhage moved from Washington, D.C., to New York this spring to become chief operating officer of Girl Scouts of the USA, her last act at work was a sit-down conversation with her assistant of 16 years. 'It was a heart-string situation,' Ms. Verhage says.


猎头公司表示,助理能够"长期追随老板"已经成为市场特别需要的一种特质。太阳计算机系统公司(Sun Microsystems)多年在位的首席执行官乔纳森•施瓦茨(Jonathan Schwartz)与他的"行政助理"共事了10年,直到公司被甲骨文(Oracle)收购,施瓦茨辞职,这段关系才告一段落。花旗银行(Citigroup Inc.) 董事长理查德•帕森斯(Richard Parsons)跟他的助理合作长达22年之久。前贝尔斯登(Bear Stearns)董事长阿兰•格林伯格(Alan 'Ace' Greenberg)有过三个秘书,在任时间从10年到25年不等。2010年春天,简•沃赫基(Jan Verhage)从华盛顿特区迁往纽约担任美国女童子军(Girl Scouts of the USA)首席运营官时,她在原先公司做的最后一件事情是坐下来跟共事16年的助理长谈一次。"那是一段动人心弦的谈话。" 沃赫基说道。



'It's about chemistry and trust, and when you have it, it's the difference between having an assistant who manages your errands and a partner who is looking out for you and your career,' says Flor De Leon, 36, who worked for a decade as the assistant to Vish Makhijani, a tech-industry executive.


"经理和助理如果能彼此产生默契和信任,助理就不再是一个帮你料理杂事的人,而是一个为你本人和你的事业着想的合作伙伴。"36岁的弗萝尔•德里昂(Flor De Leon)说。她为一个IT行业的高管当了10年的助理。



An assistant is involved in the nitty-gritty of a company's operations. She (and she is often though not always a she) may listen to her boss' voicemail messages, if she's not listening in on calls directly. She is privy to email correspondence and proprietary information. At some companies, assistants sign nondisclosure agreements. Others rely on honor and discretion.


高管的助理对公司经营的核心情况有所了解。她(经常是"她",但也可能是"他")就算不直接听老板打电话,可能也会听老板的语音信箱,还清楚其电子邮件往来和私人信息。有些公司的助理是要签保密协议的,另一些公司的助理则主要靠职业道德来自我约束。



Dawn James worked for seven years as the assistant to Alfred Chuang, a founder and CEO of BEA Systems, until the Silicon Valley company was acquired by Oracle in 2008. 'They're getting pinged by 5 million people a day. You have to be able to weed through the madness,' says Ms. James. 'I was a sponge absorbing the business.'


道恩•詹姆斯(Dawn James) 给BEA系统有限公司(BEA Systems)的创始人及首席执行官庄思浩(Alfred Chuang)当了7年助理,直到2008年这家硅谷企业被甲骨文收购。"每天都有500万人关注我们,必须学会怎么去过滤和筛选。"詹姆斯女士说,"我就是一块能吸收多余水份的海绵。"



Many assistants to top executives say they know each other, only over email and the phone, from years of connecting their bosses. They tap this network for tips on where best to pull together last-minute board meetings, find a limousine service in Shanghai, and to vent about bosses who take out their frustrations on their aides.


很多高管的助理说,这么多年来她们在为老板牵线搭桥的过程中,通过电子邮件和电话彼此熟悉起来。她们利用这个网络互通有无,在极为紧张的时间内决定在哪儿召开董事会,在上海订到大型豪华轿车接送服务,或者互相诉苦,聊聊老板总是拿她们撒气这件事情。



Ms. Badowski was working for a GE senior vice president in 1988 and applying for sales jobs within the company when human resources encouraged her to apply for the job managing the life of Mr. Welch, a CEO with 350,000 employees. She ran Mr. Welch's GE office for 13 years. After he retired from the company in 2001 and eventually moved to Boston and remarried, Ms. Badowski moved too, even though she had never lived outside Connecticut. Then the Welches moved to Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., a year ago, so too did Ms. Badowski.


1988年的时候,博得斯基正在给通用电气的一位资深副总裁当助理,并打算应聘公司内部的销售岗位。这时,人力资源部建议她给手下有35万员工的通用电气首席执行官杰克•韦尔奇当助理。自此,她为韦尔奇工作了13年。2001年,韦尔奇从公司退休,搬到波士顿,重新组建家庭,而博得斯基一直跟随着他,即使她以前从未在康涅狄格州以外的任何地方居住过。一年前,韦尔奇又搬到佛罗里达州的棕榈滩花园(Palm Beach Gardens)居住,博得斯基也跟着搬过去了。



Ms. Badowski tells Mr. Welch her opinion, even when she knows he's not going to agree. And she will defy his orders on occasion. 'I'm not going to do something inefficiently just because he's told me to,' she says. 'It's for his own good.'


博得斯基喜欢表达自己的观点,即使她知道韦尔奇并不认可,有时候,她甚至会违抗韦尔奇的指令。"我不会因为要服从命令,就去干一些没效率的事情。" 博得斯基说,"这是为他好。"



When Mr. Welch launched the Jack Welch Management Institute, an online MBA program through Chancellor University, this year, he had Ms. Badowski enroll as a member of its first class. She is giving Mr. Welch an insider's analysis. Ms. Badowski has not hidden from her instructors her connection to their boss, nor has she advertised it.


2010年,韦尔奇通过钱斯勒大学(Chancellor University)创办了杰克•韦尔奇管理学院(Jack Welch Management Institute),推出MBA网络课程,并让博得斯基登记入学,成为第一届学员,让她从学生的角度来评估教学质量。博得斯基没有向教授隐瞒她是韦尔奇助理的事实,但也没有四处宣扬。



'I respect her views of what is working and what isn't,' Mr. Welch says. 'Candor is what you want. As an executive, you search for that.'


"她对于什么行得通、什么行不通的看法,我都会尊重。" 韦尔奇说,"我就喜欢她的直率。作为一个管理者,能听到属下对你讲实话是很难得的。"



High-level assistants are well compensated. When an executive changes jobs or is promoted, the assistant's pay is often negotiated by the boss as a part of his or her overall deal. Of the placements Ruby Peak has made in 2010 in San Francisco's Bay Area, the average starting salary has been $72,000, a base which excludes bonuses, profit-sharing and 401(k) plans. Working as the assistant to a 'screamer' might entail a base salary of $100,000, Mr. Goldman says.


高级助理的收入水平不错。当高管跳槽或升职时,助理的薪酬也往往作为高管薪酬谈判的一部分来加以讨论。2010年至今,Ruby Peak公司在旧金山湾区(Bay Area)挖到的高级助理平均起薪为7.2万美元,这还不包括奖金、分红和401(k)退休计划。高德曼说,给"大人物"当助理,基本工资可能高达10万美元。



In movies, plays and television shows, secretaries have often been portrayed as temptations for married executives. While surely some professionalpartnerships have morphed into personal relationships, assistants to top-tier executives say having trust and frequentcommunication with their boss' family is vital. 'You need to partner with your exec's spouse,' says Melanie Delaney, an administrativeassistant. 'You don't want to send them to school for a school play when there is no school play.'


在电影、戏剧和电视剧中,秘书经常被刻划成一个喜欢勾引已婚老板的角色。虽然有些秘书跟老板存在暧昧关系的事情确实存在,但顶级公司高管的助理说,与老板的家人建立信任感,经常保持沟通,这一点非常重要。"你得跟老板的妻子通力合作,"行政助理梅兰妮•德莱内(Melanie Delaney)说,"要是明明没有学校演出,你却安排老板去看,那就不妙了。"



For a decade, she was the 'admin' to Mr. Schwartz, then the CEO of Sun Microsystems, Ms. Delaney, 38, also helped him to have a life: She blocked out time for him to work out several times a week. She was kept apprised of his kids' activities by his wife and made sure he attended as many as possible. She looked after his health too -- making sure he took time to eat and that what he was eating was in keeping with the appropriate regimen. 'If they're doing no carbs, there can be no carbs,' she says. 'I put thought into what I fed my guy.'


十年来,她一直是太阳计算机系统公司首席执行官乔纳森•施瓦茨的"行政助理"。38岁的德莱内让施瓦茨得以更好地安排生活:她帮施瓦茨腾出一些时间,每周去健身房锻炼几次。施瓦茨的太太经常把孩子们的动向告诉德莱内,后者则尽量安排好时间,让施瓦茨多去参加孩子们的活动。德莱内还关心施瓦茨的身体状况,确保他能定时吃东西,饮食结构合理健康。"如果医生说让他少吃碳水化合物,我就不会让这类食品出现。"她说,"我就像关心自己的男人那样关心他的饮食。"



After the company was acquired by Oracle in January, both Ms. Delaney and Mr. Schwartz left. She now works for the president of a pharmaceutical company. He is deciding what to do next.


2010年1月,太阳计算机系统公司被甲骨文收购后,德莱内和施瓦茨双双辞职。现在,德莱内在给一家制药企业的总裁当助理,施瓦茨则在决定下一步的去向。



'Melanie understood all my priorities and not simply the Sun priorities,' Mr. Schwartz says. 'She was critical to my productivity. She was my liaison to customers, shareholders, to the media, to my employee base, to members of my family. She was at the nexus of all of that.' When he left Sun, he didn't think he would have enough work to justify keeping Ms. Delaney employed.


"德莱内不但了解公司的重大事项,也清楚我每一件工作的轻重缓急。" 施瓦茨说,"我工作上能取得好成绩,她功不可没。她是我与客户、股东、媒体、员工和家人沟通的媒介,她是这所有一切的交汇点。" 施瓦茨离开公司时,认为自己暂时不会有很多事情要处理,因此不得不让德莱内另谋他就。



The first day, he triple-booked lunch. 'Then I failed to show up for all three,' he says.


在没有助理的头一天,施瓦茨在三个地方订了午餐。他说:"结果这三个地方我一个都没去成。"



Katherine Rosman
  • working [´wə:kiŋ] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.工人的;劳动的 (初中英语单词)
  • executive [ig´zekjutiv] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.行政的 n.行政官 (初中英语单词)
  • assistant [ə´sistənt] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.助手;助理;助教 (初中英语单词)
  • venture [´ventʃə] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.投机 v.冒险;敢于 (初中英语单词)
  • chemistry [´kemistri] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.化学 (初中英语单词)
  • partner [´pɑ:tnə] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.伙伴 v.同....合作 (初中英语单词)
  • valley [´væli] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.谷;河谷;流域 (初中英语单词)
  • management [´mænidʒmənt] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.管理;处理;经营 (初中英语单词)
  • institute [´institju:t] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.学院 vt.建立;设置 (初中英语单词)
  • program [´prəugræm] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.说明v.为...安排节目 (初中英语单词)
  • analysis [ə´næləsis] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.分解;分析(结果) (初中英语单词)
  • hidden [´hid(ə)n] 移动到这儿单词发声 hide 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
  • connection [kə´nekʃən] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.联系;关系;联运 (初中英语单词)
  • professional [prə´feʃənəl] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.职业的 n.自由职业 (初中英语单词)
  • frequent [´fri:kwənt] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.常见的,频繁的 (初中英语单词)
  • communication [kə,mju:ni´keiʃən] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.通信;通讯联系 (初中英语单词)
  • location [ləu´keiʃən] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.定位;位置;地方 (高中英语单词)
  • ladder [´lædə] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.梯子;阶梯 (高中英语单词)
  • founder [´faundə] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.奠基者 v.陷落 (高中英语单词)
  • skilled [skild] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.有技能的,熟练的 (高中英语单词)
  • oracle [´ɔrəkl] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.预言(者);圣理名言 (高中英语单词)
  • decade [´dekeid] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.十年(间) (高中英语单词)
  • correspondence [,kɔri´spɔndəns] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.通信;符合;相当 (高中英语单词)
  • sponge [spʌndʒ] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.海绵(状物) (高中英语单词)
  • senior [´si:niə] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.年长的 n.前辈 (高中英语单词)
  • chancellor [´tʃɑ:nsələ] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.首相;大臣 (高中英语单词)
  • appropriate [ə´prəupri-it, ə´prəuprieit] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.适宜的 vt.私占;拨给 (高中英语单词)
  • critical [´kritikəl] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.批评的;关键性的 (高中英语单词)
  • increasingly [in´kri:siŋli] 移动到这儿单词发声 ad.日益,愈加 (英语四级单词)
  • manhattan [mæn´hætən] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.曼哈顿 (英语四级单词)
  • qualification [,kwɔlifi´keiʃən] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.资格;合格证明 (英语四级单词)
  • network [´netwə:k] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.网状物 vt.联播 (英语四级单词)
  • eventually [i´ventʃuəli] 移动到这儿单词发声 ad.最后,终于 (英语四级单词)
  • administrative [əd´ministrətiv] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.管理的,行政的 (英语四级单词)
  • retired [ri´taiəd] 移动到这儿单词发声 a.退休的;通职的 (英语六级单词)
  • uproot [,ʌp´ru:t] 移动到这儿单词发声 vt.将...连根拔掉 (英语六级单词)
  • pandora [pæn´dɔ:rə] 移动到这儿单词发声 n.潘朵拉 (英语六级单词)
  • enroll [in´rəul] 移动到这儿单词发声 vt.登记;注册;招收 (英语六级单词)
  • entail [in´teil] 移动到这儿单词发声 vt.限定(继承人);需要 (英语六级单词)