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Hope you're keeping up those New Year's resolutions!
More words of wisdom from those fine people at The Gregg Publishing Company. This month, we cover self-control.
Remember, the dictation pieces must be a minimum of three minutes to be a valid test. Anything here under three minutes is therefore not acceptable for testing purposes. Keep in mind that before Diamond Jubilee Gregg, all shorthand tests were five minutes.
Applied Secretarial Practice, The Gregg Publishing Company, 1934, p 348
Self-Control
A secretary’s duties are such that a complete command of himself is essential to the highest success. He must at all times be in complete control of his faculties. This is particularly true of the secretary who works directly under the personal instruction of an executive whose time and forces must be conserved for the larger affairs of the business. The executive cannot always be governed by the social rules for conduct toward others. He is apt to be direct in his commands, sketching his instruction in the briefest possible terms, without any frills of “Will you please,” “May I ask,” and so on. This attitude, the secretary should understand, is wholly impersonal. It is often times a question of mood. Impatience must be met with a serene self-control that reflects a sincere desire to be of assistance; not pointedly polite, but with an attitude that shows one is above the petty annoyances of life and has in mind the main object of contributing his best to the business.
Self-control must be exercised toward other employees of the office, with the business visitors to the office; in fact, with all with whom he comes in contact. It is a faculty that expresses itself also in the control of nervous energy. It is very annoying to a busy executive to have about him people who flare up and lose self-control at the slightest provocation.
The best way to learn to exercise control is to begin with your everyday affairs. Learn to make quick but accurate appraisals of situations and act on your judgment. It will be easier to learn these personal qualifications now while you are in school.
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