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BOOK REVIEWS Top titles to supercharge your personal and professional development
YOUR REVIEW
We need more reviewers !
Staff Matters by Bonnie Low Kramen
The book review pages are written for you , by you because – after all – who are the best people to deem whether the latest business book will boost your professional and personal development as a high-level assistant ? Fellow EAs , of course !
Each issue , we ’ ll feature a selection of books , complete with an informative and insightful review by one of your peers and we really need some new reviewers to take part . If getting a brilliant business book in exchange for sharing a few words sounds good , please e-mail editor @ executivepa . com with a line or two about you , your role and your experience . We ’ ll reply with the books currently on offer .
Going to be a reviewer ? Here ’ s how it works :
w You ’ ll get a digital or hard copy of the book and a how-to for the review . w Post-reading , you ’ ll write a short review . Your writing doesn ’ t need to be of a professional standard – that ’ s the editor ’ s job . On that note , you can contact Claire for any questions along the way . w Submit your review and before you know it , you ’ ll see your words on these very pages .
Please note : Regrettably , we can only have one reviewer per title but we hugely appreciate your interest and will always keep you on file for further review opportunities .
“ I chose this book because I fundamentally agree that as an EA / PA we are the eyes and ears of any organisation but I don ’ t believe that the modern workplace is broken . So , I was curious to hear what Bonnie had to say and why she thought it was . Upon reading , I learned Bonnie wants to create the ‘ ultimate ’ workplace and said post-pandemic that a lot of organisations feel fragmented due to hybrid working ; that there isn ’ t much clarity on how many days staff should go into the workplace . I think that statement was true , especially in the early days coming out of the pandemic . But I ’ m not sure that ’ s an accurate assessment nowadays . I feel the read is massively weighted to the way US citizens work and how she talks about it from a woman ’ s point of view sounds a million miles away from my own values and experiences . I work with some extraordinary , empowered females and felt I was being generalised and stereotyped , going back decades , and I didn ’ t like that feeling . That said , if Bonnie ’ s findings are accurate , I feel like I ’ ve learned a lot about what it must be like to work in the US , and it ’ s left me with the impression that it ’ s a very outdated constitution engrained in a toxic culture .
Overall , I read the book feeling ever so slightly offended about how men and women are portrayed in it and I didn ’ t relate to the majority of statements . I ’ m not sure if that ’ s the organisations that I ’ ve chosen to work for in my career or because of my robust character and strong values .”
Jo Jones is chief of staff at Institute and Faculty of Actuaries
64 Executive PA | Summer Issue 2024