Models for Our Time: Creme de la creme

It's not the kind of question that you expect in a board meeting of a £2.5 billion turnover company. But two Directors on the third floor had Christian PAs and, when one left, her replacement turned out to be another Christian. Of course, you don't have to be a Christian to be an excellent PA but, then again, maybe an excellent PA who is also a Christian might add something extra. Claire Norgate is one of the PAs in question. She works for BUPA. And she is obviously very good at what she does. You don't get to be the PA of a Director responsible for £1 billion of purchasing and £1.2 billion of property assets through your acumen for ordering in cappuccinos and scouting restaurants - you get there through a whole range of technical and people skills. You get there through talent and personality. The first time you meet Claire you get a sense of what might make her stand out. Many PAs have the formidable combination of an easy, perky personality and an iron grip on the task that needs to be accomplished. And many of them, despite their fizzy cheeriness, make you feel like you're a package being processed - pleasantly, efficiently, tied-up with a ribbon - but still a package. Claire is certainly easy to meet, she's upbeat, and she moves things along, but she is different. Claire has the ability to make everyone she encounters feel like a person, whether she's talking to them for three seconds or three minutes. And this difference counts. I meet her in her office. Her boss, Mark Ralf, is about to go away for four days. They work through the pile of papers and e-mails she has selected for him briskly and easily. Before he leaves he turns to me, and he makes one thing clear, very clear: 'You can interview her, but you can't hire her.' Mark probably didn't have murder in mind, but there are more painful things than death.

Living without Seams

'How do you bring your faith to work?' I ask her. Claire is uncomfortable with the question. For her, there is no distinction between who she is outside work and who she is at work: 'You know who you are before God. You're the same wherever.' It's a concise description of godly integrity. Integrity isn't primarily about honesty; integrity is about 'integrated' living - living in a way that is consistent with your values in whatever context. Christian integrity is about living in a way that is consistent with biblical values - in whatever context. It is seamless. And so when I ask her about answers to prayer, she doesn't start with a work story. Instead, she tells me about being on a skiing holiday with a large group of friends - of days passing without any opportunity to share her faith, of a prayer prayed, and then being at the top of a mountain with one her friends who suddenly turned to her and said, 'Do you believe in Mother Nature?' This seamless Christian integrity helps Claire put work and life in perspective. She's whole-hearted about her work, but it isn't the centre of her life. For many people she's met, work is their life, and the result is that they forget to talk to people as if they were people. Claire makes work and life work better for other people because she is naturally concerned for them as whole people: 'a lot of people just need a little time to be listened to. They're hurting, there's stuff going on at home, or at work. But many of us are so bogged down in work that it's easy to miss people who are really hurting, because we're in our own little worlds, just focused on getting our job done.' Obviously, Claire isn't running a counselling service - she has a job to do, and so do her colleagues. But one of her gifts is the sensitivity to pick up when someone wants to talk, and when they don't; when they want to talk but don't have the time; and when they want to talk and do have the time. Her boss leads a team of 150 people and is clear about the value that Claire brings: 'She's my eyes and ears. She looks out for our people.' And it's not just that she will bring him news of major crises in people's lives - like a death in the family - but that she is aware of wider issues in the company, and of her boss' power and principles: 'some things only Mark can change.' And she knows that there are some things he may not only have the power to change, but would really want to change if he knew about them. So, for example, the team were to be given bonuses to celebrate a good year, but two particular people joined the company slightly too late to be eligible. Of course, there have to be cut off points - but was this just? Personally, Claire had nothing to gain, but she made Mark aware. And he was able to negotiate a bonus for them - not the whole amount, since they hadn't worked the whole year - but still, it was something that reflected their contribution. Claire's relationship with Mark is remarkable. On the one hand, it's absolutely clear that she is there for him, focused on making his job as easy as possible, making sure he has everything he needs for every meeting in the easiest possible form, reducing hassle, minimising interruptions, and fending off unnecessary stress. She is his servant in the best possible sense of the term. On the other hand, she does not primarily think of herself as Mark's PA; she thinks of herself and Mark in terms of a relationship. In other words, their way of working together is not defined by his authority and her subordination, but by a mutual partnership around the tasks that Mark has to achieve with his team. Nevertheless, there are inevitably moments of disagreement. For Claire's part, it is precisely because she has such a good relationship with Mark that, on the rare occasions when she feels that she needs to say something that could be taken as a criticism, she is able to, because he knows that her desire is to build him up and help him do the best possible job.

The Power of the Real

Claire is conscious of her role as a witness at work, but over the years she has become less burdened by the responsibility: 'I went through a stage of thinking that I had to be happy all the time, that nothing should phase me, and that I'd be a poor witness to Christ if I showed anything but joy. But now I realise that that isn't always helpful. People need to see that I'm a Christian, but that things do upset me. I do have arguments at home, but I can talk to friends at work and that really helps. Relationships are deepened by being honest and open with each other.' Of course, this isn't to diminish in any way the difference Christ makes to her life, but it gives her permission to be real with others about who she is and where she is. She doesn't feel pressure to present herself as a paragon of sanctity, constantly radiating effulgent peace. Still, the desire to be real doesn't quench the desire to take initiative in developing relationships. Claire is honest about the challenges that a concern for others' salvation brings: 'I'm always wary of praying for opportunities because you do get them. I've been caught out quite a few times on that one. It always amazes me when it happens. It shouldn't, but it does. On one occasion, I prayed for an opportunity. And the next day I'm in the photocopy room and a guy from another department starts up a conversation about family values, and before you know it... These things tend to happen when I pray.' Funny that. Like many people, she hates to stand out, but recognises that on occasions she will - and should. At one Time Management Workshop, the trainer's response to one particular problem was: 'You could just lie - say he's out of the office.' Claire's retort was just as simple and direct: 'Well, no, I couldn't, because I don't lie.' Afterwards she reflected on 'How dreadful that sounded, how pious, how goody-two-shoes.' On the other hand, why let a highly paid trainer think that their considered professional 'wisdom' is useful when it isn't? Why pretend that it might be right to do something you wouldn't do? Why let someone think that you are a certain type of person when you aren't? Striking the balance between saying what you believe and not being judgmental is difficult, particularly when you are talking to people who don't share your values: 'you have to build a relationship of trust and find ways to explore the issues. And sometimes you just have to wait to be asked.' She knows that her genuine friendship with some of her colleague makes taking some evangelistic initiatives harder. About one colleague, she says: 'I'd love to invite her to do a Christianity Explored course because I think it would be brilliant for her... but I'm worried that if I do, she'll think that I wasn't interested in her at all, just in getting her converted?' Of course, Claire is interested in her friend being converted - precisely because she does care about her - but obviously that isn't the reason for the friendship. It's not as if a non-Christian PA couldn't be her boss' eyes and ears in the workplace, really efficient, and a good listener to her colleagues in need. But Claire has more than that. Peter's words about the beauty of the inner self come to mind: "The unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight" (1 Pet 3.4). Of course, in this context, Peter is talking specifically about wives - but the essential point is made elsewhere in Scripture (eg. Gal 5.22-23 and Col 3.12), and applies more broadly to all Christians. This is the 'right stuff'. It's not about having a particular type of retiring or suppressed personality - Claire is outgoing and expressive. It's about that gentleness that springs from love for others, a Christlike gentleness that is not weak, but at the same time chooses not to demand. It's a gentleness that is wise and humble, letting the other be who they are. It's also about a quietness that lets the other have space to communicate, that involves a deep respect. And you don't have to be a Christian to sense the value in that.

Mark Greene

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