Life & Wisdom Quote by Anthony J. D'Angelo

Politeness here isn’t a virtue; it’s a strategy memo disguised as etiquette. D’Angelo’s line works because it punctures the corporate fairy tale that power lives only in corner offices and titles. It reframes the “secretary” not as background help but as operational authority: the person who controls access, information flow, and the social temperature of a workplace. “Gatekeepers” is the key word. It’s a blunt acknowledgment that influence often sits in roles designed to be overlooked.

The intent is half practical advice, half social corrective. On the surface: treat administrative staff well because they can make your life easier or harder. Underneath: the speaker is calling out a hierarchy that depends on invisibility. Secretaries are expected to be competent, discreet, emotionally calibrated, and endlessly accommodating. When someone with less formal status can decide whether your call gets returned, your meeting gets scheduled, or your “urgent” request gets prioritized, the org chart starts to look like theater.

There’s also a quiet moral test embedded in the counsel. Being “nice” to the boss is common sense; being nice to the person who can’t directly advance your career is character. D’Angelo knows most people won’t pass that test unless you remind them there’s a consequence. The line’s cynicism is its engine: it sells respect by attaching it to self-interest, exposing how often workplace civility is transactional.