Memoir | Machiavelli | Part VI of VI

My mentor’s advice to take on volunteer responsibilities while I was an office secretary for a director and desk officers paid off. When one of the desk officers was promoted, he offered me the position of his office secretary. With the approval of the Human Resources Division, I transitioned to his new office, known as the “Front Office,” where top executives worked. I was suddenly in a more prestigious setting, alongside our bureau’s other executive office secretaries who were often unfriendly and seemed to lack a strong work ethic. Thankfully, an advisor guided me in developing resilience to adapt to this new environment.

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A month later, our executive’s senior advisor asked how I was getting along with the other executive secretaries. I shared that they were not very helpful when I sought assistance while filling in for our executive’s senior office secretary. I also mentioned that they tended to be unapproachable and seemed to show limited dedication to their responsibilities.

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Alexander Weinstein, a senior advisor, gave me good information on how to deal with the negative executive office secretaries.

Weinstein’s suggestion: “Mia, read the books by Niccolò Machiavelli, an Italian politician. His books will teach you how to deal with those secretaries.”

I read Machiavelli’s book, “The Prince.”

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One day, I found myself stepping into the role of senior office secretary for our executive. He instructed me to convey an urgent message to his deputy, requesting his immediate presence in his office. When I relayed this message, the deputy’s office secretary challenged it!

In her response to my email, she expressed skepticism about the urgency of the executive’s request and inquired about Rachel’s whereabouts. Her email was filled with grammatical errors, which only added to my irritation. It was the ideal opportunity to implement the tactics I’d absorbed from reading Machiavelli’s writings!

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In my response to her, I used bold text and a red font to underline the urgency of the situation. I wrote: “As communicated in an email to all our bureau’s executive office secretaries, I would be the proxy to Rachel in her absence. So, it is only logical that I am covering for her at this time. Therefore, I urge you to swiftly pass along the urgent message to our executive’s deputy. Should you decide against it, I will have no choice but to escalate this matter to our executive and let him know that you are challenging my authority on his behalf. In addition, I will forward my executive and your deputy this rude email that’s filled with significant grammatical errors.”

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Moments later, Advisor Weinstein hurried over to where I was working alongside our executive.

“Mia, you stirred things up with the deputy’s office secretary. She forwarded me the email you sent her,” he said with a hint of amusement.

“I can tell you’ve been reading Machiavelli,” he continued.

“Just remember, don’t put anything in writing that might come back to haunt you. Avoid pointing out grammar issues and steer clear of bold text and red font in emails. But honestly, you handled it well, very well!”

With a chuckle, he walked away.

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My scruples vanished; it was time to embrace Machiavellian office politics with my challenging co-workers, the difficult office secretaries!

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(Copyright © 2025 by Mia Z. Edwards. All rights reserved.)