I saw a post yesterday that was well-intentioned, but it exposed a problem we still haven’t addressed.
It listed assistants alongside cleaners, receptionists, and front-of-house teams as examples of how interviewers observe how candidates “treat people below them”.
Every role deserves respect. Full stop.
But positioning assistants as shorthand for “people below us” is simply inaccurate, and it perpetuates a misunderstanding that continues to limit the role.
Assistants provide professional, skilled service that requires judgement, discretion, and proximity to leadership. It is not a junior role.
Cleaners, receptionists, front-of-house teams, and assistants all perform different work, with different responsibilities and different levels of risk. Grouping them together under a single label does not build culture. It flattens understanding.
Being polite to people is the baseline.
Leadership shows up in how well we understand roles, why they exist, and how we choose to work with the people in them.
That distinction matters.
