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The Administrator: an interview by Olivia Walls
The Administrator
An interview by Olivia Walls
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In light of the current fascination with organization and project management, I thought it would be appropriate to write a piece on the topic! How cool would it be to interview a person who’s been in the business of organization and administration for over 20 years.
I knew just the person to interview.
Misty Hood is an Executive Administrator at Church on the Living Edge. Everything about her job requires her to be organized, efficient, and on top of her game. I had the special opportunity to sit down with her.
OLIVIA WALLS: How did you get started doing what you do? Did you always want to work in the field of administration?
MISTY HOOD: No, I started working full-time when I was 15 years old as a receptionist within my family’s ministry. It was a world-wide ministry so it was busy. I did that for a couple years until I took over the mail-order department. So, I was facilitating all the orders that came in—I made sure those got shipped [and] I was responsible for getting all of our shipping supplies. All that kind of stuff.
O.W. That is busy.
M.H. Yeah. And then, the next phase of work for me was overseeing a Creative Department. So, I was not in administration really much at all. I was dealing with apparel, music compact disks, and even *lowers voice* cassette tapes at that time—that’s how far we’re going back. Books. [T]here always was a lot of organization going on but you wouldn’t have said “oh, you’re the administrator of that”. I was really overseeing a Creative Department.
Then...I took over the Purchasing Department. Which meant every purchase that was made for the ministry had to come through my department and had to be approved and tracked. That’s where I started to get into the crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s. Because, at that point you’re dealing with finances being tracked, you’re dealing with budgets and that requires a great level of attention to what’s happening. So, I did that for…gosh…probably 10 years.
O.W. Did you enjoy it?
M.H. Um, I did enjoy that. Whenever you do something for a long time, there’s always that risk you run into where you feel like you’re just in the day-to-day, you’re just going through the motions. There wasn’t really anything new that was going to happen. It was “you’re gonna keep this train going”—which was fine! You know, that’s okay. I wasn’t dissatisfied with that at all. I was young, running departments. So, I mean, from a view-point of “success”, you know, that would have all had been there. I had people that were reporting to me and all that was fine.
And then, I had a major transition where I switched jobs. [Initially] when I came into the position I’m in now, I came over to handle a pastor’s schedule— speaking schedule and such. I didn’t really have experience with that one-on-one. Obviously, I was used to that with my family. They were booked in with things. So, you know, I just jumped in with two feet...and I jumped into a storm of chaos.
There were no procedures, no organization, no proper chains of communication. There was nothing in place. It was a freefor-all. So, I was like “Okay, there’s nothing established”.
You want to talk about attention to detail…you’ve got to make sure they’ve got rides to where they’re going, you got to make sure the hotel is taken care of, product has to get there… So, there was a lot of moving parts.
O.W. And you didn’t have a team to work with either?
M.H. Oh no, it was ME! It was me. And then, something came up like “well, the pastor needs a new website”. And I said, “Well, I’ve worked with web companies for 15 years”. So, we redid his website. We turned around a website in something stupid like 7 days, it was unheard of. We’ve should have never done that. I don’t recommend it! The website was great but [now] your timeline for everything going forward is: “everything happens in 7 days!” And it doesn’t.
Suddenly, more things kept coming over to me. So, inadvertently, even though I wasn’t the “administrator”, I starting to put systems in place all while— I’m a “scheduler”.
That’s why you want to be prepared when you go into a job. Even if you know something that’s not directly related to what you’re doing, you know, you always want to offer it. You don’t want to push it. Be an answer to problems that exist inside your organization, whether it’s directly related to you or not. And yes, there is a proper way to do that, but hopefully, you’re at a business where the leadership is based on relationship and not just your job description. [Because] that allows everybody to flow together.
So, then there began to be some transition of some people that were here on staff and I moved into what was considered the “Administrator”. Then at that point, the staff was reporting to me on day-to-day operational things and we just really started to move through and just bring things into a place of efficiency.
O.W. When you finally moved into official Administrator, did you feel very much prepared for it at that point?
M.H. Yes, because I’ve been working since 15, I have seen the ins and outs of every part of “ministry”. From the financial aspect to leading the team. I was immersed in that type of culture. So, when I was moved into this position it wasn’t scary for me; now there was a lot of work to be done from an administrative perspective. Because now all, for lack of better words, “roadblocks”, they’re out of the way.
You now have the freedom to set the course the way you think its going to be best for everyone. Not for yourself—it has to best for the team. [The] worst thing an administrator can do is be focused solely on what they want.
Here’s the real truth about administration that nobody wants to talk about: you do a lot less work than your team does. The reason is, is that my primary role is to make sure that my staff has what they need to do their job.
O.W. Are there skills that you didn’t initially have that you learned along the way?
M.H. Absolutely. And you have to always, always be willing to learn. None of us has it all right. So whether you look for some coaching in an area that you feel you’re not at your peak: that’s great! I highly recommend assessments of your personality thats gonna help you identify your blind spots in how you deal with people that may have a different personality than you. There is so much that you can’t know until you experience it.
If you see someone that is doing something in a way that you like, say “How does that fit in [with] what we’re doing?” You know, my plan is not always gonna be the right one. But sometimes you don’t know until you’re in the situation. You better be flexible or you’re just going to be angry. Flexibility is a major key.
O.W. With all the experience you’ve had, would you say that administration is a gift or something learned? That is how I carry myself.
O.W. So, it’s not about how perfect the results are…
M.H. No! Absolutely not. Excellence is a spirit and a spirit is internal. That is the way we carry ourselves in a situation. If something has gone awry [and] someone says to you, “Your presence calmed me down and made me feel better”—that’s the highest complement you can ever get as an administrator.
M.H. I think it’s both. I don’t think a highly creative person is going to be your strongest administrator because they’re gonna die on the vine. And I don’t want to spend all of my time creating things, that’s not what gives me life. What gives me life is to make sure everybody has what they need to create. I think one of the dangers of administration is that… just because you’re organized doesn’t make you a good administrator. Administration is much more than organization.
I know a lot of very organized people that cannot relate to others. And so you may have everything perfect, but nobody wants to work with you. I don’t ever want to be that person. Remain a person that people want to be around and work with. It has to be bigger than executing a plan.
As administrators, we have to watch (because we are typically focused on the final goal) that we don’t lose sight of people in the process. You hear all the time about a “spirit of excellence”—that has nothing to do with crossing your t’s and dotting your i’s—a spirit is internal.
Misty Hood: wife, mother, pastor, & a freakin’ awesome administrator.
