Do you have IT?

I've never seen mascara run like this. Thank goodness for her skin's pink undertones - it hides the fact that she's been crying. Unfortunately her pink undertones calls out the running mascara. You can never win. Here's what went down the day before the event.

One of the assistants in my department had a minor, okay major breakdown. It turns out one of the agencies that had people on our RSVP list was upset last Monday and started yelling at her for doing a bad job at managing the list. It was 9:04 in the morning, the girl barely had time to sit down before her phone rang. The reason why this upset me - she did the most amazing job at managing the list! I have never seen a list managed so well. And who does this guy think he is yelling at this innocent 22 year old - yelling at one of my girls!!!

When I saw the tears pouring out of this young woman's eyes, I pulled her into a conference room and she spilled everything. My heart broke! I told her she was doing an amazing job! Because she did such an amazing job she would be doing more of the event next time and wouldn't have to do the list. Then she complained about her puffy eyes, I laughed and told her she always looked like that, and she went back to her desk.

What did I do? Have you ever seen the National Geographic Channel when they have those animal in natural habitat specials? Remember the one about the mama bear protecting baby bear. Well that was me. I stormed into my director's office and filled her in. ROAR. The next thing she did was channel it up and "Mr. I can make a young girl cry" was given a call. The next day the assistant had a beautiful bouquet from this evil man (though I'm sure his assistant sent it).

I never realized how protective I was over this girl. She's tall, blonde, and beautiful (so people love her at events when she works the door). She's also dedicated, works hard, and most importantly - she gets it. IT. That indescribable, unteachable instinct. Some people just get IT. They get events, they get decisions, they get how process works and they make the process work for them.

It's odd to think that I'm a female boss. I always think up in terms of managing and never really think down. I ask a lot from the people I work with. Some people might think it's unrealistic - the hours, the perfection, the endless amount of work. But I keep the same standard for myself. If it's not done perfectly, it's not done.

I know you're probably wondering if you have IT. Actually, you probably assume that you do. Everyone likes to think they have IT especially everyone who works in entertainment. But IT is something no one can teach you. You're either born with the drive or you're not. That being said, if you don't have IT fake IT. You'll be more successful, you'll make your boss love you, and you'll be promoted quicker.

Here are some basic fake it tips:

1. Double Check. Triple Check. Quadruple Check. And then check it one more time. Don't ever show your boss something that isn't perfect. The less they need to fix your work the more they'll trust you with bigger projects to handle.
2. Keep a pen and notebook with you at all times. Write notes for everything. You never know when you're going to need them.
• I still do this. It's an old habit from when I was a PA. It's also something I'll always do.
  
3. Answer all your emails within 24 hours. Unspoken rule. You'll look on top of your shit if you do and you'll never get too far behind in your work.
4. Make it pretty. What does that mean? Every document, memo, recap, or agenda should be stunning. Add the logo, underline, bullet, format, format, format - oh, and format. People like pretty documents. If it isn't pretty it isn't perfect.
   
• Note: I feel that this tip actually got me pretty far ahead in the game early on. Because my agendas were stunning I was asked to attend major meetings. Eventually they realized I had the same ability with event recaps and soon I was attending all the major executive events so I could create a recap for them. I began to add a page on what I would do differently to meet the strategic goals of the event or to help with traffic flow or simply to have a better coat check - before I knew it I was the one planning these events.
  
5. Go above and beyond. If they ask for a copy deck for the invitation. Come to the table with the copy deck as well as some creative concepts for the invitation. Volunteer to set-up the meeting for her with the creative team and take notes to recap it to everyone who attended. If you're asked to manage an RSVP list. Manage it to a T. Send an end of the day update every day to your boss so she knows what the numbers are like. And send a list of confirmed names every few days.
• The key to this strategy is to make your boss's life easier. The little things that you take on will allow her to begin to trust you with bigger things. And yes, she will give you bigger things because you're making her look good. Make her look good and she'll love you forever.
  

These again are the basics. You don't need IT to fake it. Get started and you'll get noticed.