Many people know that my first career was as a secretary, and I taught secretaries for many years, so it's not surprising that I feel a great affinity to secretaries, PAs, admin professionals. Coming up next month is Secretaries Week (or Administrative Professionals Week as it is known in many parts of the world) and that's something I always look forward to. Why? Well, because I shall once again be speaking at the 22nd Malaysian Secretaries' Conference, organised by Quest Learning. This year it will be held at the Sunway Lagoon Convention Centre in Selangor on 13-14 April. And guess what? I'm proud to say I shall be presenting the keynote address, "Tomorrow's Secretary - Embracing the Change" as well as an optional half-day pre-conference workshop called Shirley's A-Z of Business Writing.

This year's conference will be a lot of fun as always, with 12 speakers that will address the most significant subjects affecting secretaries, personal assistants and all support staff. There's also the Secretary of the Year competition as well as Boss of the Year competition too. So don't miss this great opportunity to attend this secretaries' event of the year.

By the way, this photo shows me at the 2004 Malaysian Secretaries' Conference, with Secretary of the Year finalists and fellow-speakers Alison Lester and K C See.

Coming up on 16 March in Singapore is another of my one-day workshops Success Skills for Secretaries and Other Support Staff. This is a comprehensive, fast-paced workshop designed to inspire and uplift you, and give you lots of tips and hints for handling your career.

For details please e-mail sam@learners-choice.com or call 6376 2018. To read some comments from previous participants please click here.

The photo here shows me with all the fun participants at February's two-day workshop Power Up Your Business Writing Skills, with organiser Sam Loo at the front. Thanks to Raji, Public Affairs Officer from Singapore Prisons Service, for saying: "That was a wonderful course. Good luck in your mission and rest assured - you have my support! You should be seeing some of my colleagues in your courses very soon. Keep up the good work."

Are you familiar with the story of Pygmalion? If you are, great - you can read about it again! If you're not, I think you will enjoy this interesting article from my good friend and great trainer, Ricky Lien. This article is reproduced with permission from Ricky's website www.mindsetmedia.com.sg.

In Greek mythology, there was once a sculptor named Pygmalion. Some say he was also a king. He carved a statue of a beautiful girl, and so realistic was his creation that he fell deeply in love with the statue.

He would proclaim his love to her every day. One day, Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, while flying over his home, heard his cries of love and being a Goddess of a lovely nature, drew an arrow from her quiver, fired it from her bow, and brought the statue to life! She named the girl Galatea, and the sculptor married her, and they both lived happily ever after.

Now isn't that an amazing love story? Psychologists today have named that influence the Pygmalion effect. Most people have an influence on others and on themselves by communicating either positive or negative expectations.

And more often than not, people do what is expected of them, and the power of expectation alone can influence the behaviour or the performance of self and others.

We behave as we see ourselves or others.

A first rate manager (or parent, or leader, or secretary) needs to reflect on our role as Pygmalion, in other words:

• Are we positive or negative?
• Do we put people down or appraise them?
• Do we value others and ourselves or do we devalue?
• What are the expectations that are being expressed in our family or organisation?
• Do you encourage growth or are you for mediocrity?
• Think of a positive Pygmalion in our lives - how did s/he make us feel?
• Think of a negative Pygmalion in our lives - how did we respond to that person?

So just be more mindful of your self-talk or when talking to others. Be a positive influence, not a negative influence. Be empowering and uplifting and expect the best both from yourself and others.

Model the role, don't just talk about it, but live it daily and show to others just how much more you expect of them, and of yourself! Walk your talk!

Stretch yourself towards the pathway of being self-empowered.

Ricky Lien has helped many people get huge positive results in the areas of persuasive business presentations, sales, motivation and self-confidence. Drop him a line at ricky@mindsetmedia.com.sg, and find out how he can help you to become the best that you can be! After all, you deserve to be great!

Shown in this photo are Mary and Keith, some great new friends I met in Hong Kong in February. Imagine going around the world and meeting people who originally come from a town just 20 minutes away from me in the UK?! Amazing! Great to meet you both!

And finally ...
Special thanks to Steven Wong from Singapore who wrote to tell me that my header said 'e-newletter' instead of 'e-newsletter'. I checked back, and guess what? It's always had the 's' missing right from the very first edition - and we are now on issue 28. Thanks for being so eagle-eyed when you read issue 28, Steven, but how come you didn't spot the mistake in all the other issues? Nevertheless, as a reward, you will be receiving one of my new notebooks, Shirley's A-Z of Bloopers, Blunders, Common Errors and Clichés. Not that you need it, of course! ;-)

All the best for a great March.

Shirley xx

PPS: You may reprint this newsletter or forward it to your customers and colleagues. However please keep this copyright and contact information intact:

Copyright Shirley Taylor 2005. Shirley Taylor is author of several popular books on effective communication and business writing. She lives in Singapore and works as an international trainer, seminar leader, professional writer and conference speaker.