The Making of a Winner Interview with Lacey Wingler

With 15 years in the administrative profession, Lacey Wingler has built a career on brightening days and treating everyone like they're the CEO. An Admin Awards winner, she has since been promoted into a new role as Manufacturing Analyst at Northrop Grumman in Rocket Center, West Virginia.

What did you want to be when you were a child?

This changed frequently, but everything from a news reporter to a professional cheerleader.

Did you choose the Administrative Profession or did you stumble into it?

I stumbled into it.

What's something you're most proud of in your career?

Passing the CAP test!

Has there been a low point in your career? If so, share what that was, how it impacted you, and what you learned from it.

Right after graduating college, it took me three months to find a job. I was terrified, thinking I'd never find anything.

What is the most important thing you do as an Admin that will never appear in your job description?

Brighten days.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever gotten, or can give about managing up?

Treat everyone like they're the CEO.

What part of your job gives you the most energy? What part drains you?

Helping others gives me the most energy. Meetings about meetings drain me the most!

What's the hardest part of supporting a leader that most people never see?

Knowing when someone is coming to him with bad news.

What's one thing you've learned to say "no" to that's improved your work life?

I've set good time boundaries. Most people know I have a child I have to pick up from school, so I have to leave by a certain time no matter what. There are times I have to apologize, but I leave.

What's a "favorite failure" of yours and how did it set you up for later success?

Not getting a job in a different town. It set me up to move back home and end up at Northrop Grumman.

Describe a challenge you've overcome either professionally or personally that helped shape who you are today.

COVID! I was three months pregnant when COVID hit, and I was sent home before everyone else was. I figured out how to do my job completely remote before that was even a thing.

Would you hire yourself for the version of this profession that will exist five years from now? Why or why not?

Yes, because I genuinely care about what I'm doing and who I work with and for.

What are you still trying to get better at?

AI.

What's something you believed early in your career that you no longer believe?

That work flexibility wasn't good for productivity.

If every executive in America could hear one message from you, what would it be?

Value your admin as much as you value your CEO. Raises, promotions, and continuing education options should be discussed yearly.

In the last five years, what's one new belief, behavior, or habit that has most improved your life?

Go with the flow. Be flexible!

What's something you're unusually picky about?

Things being symmetrical.

Have you ever disappointed yourself? What happened, and what did you learn from that experience?

Yes, I attempted another role at work but didn't like it, and I felt like I'd failed by switching back to my previous role. I learned that some roles require too much of a work-life balance sacrifice, and you have to decide whether you're going to go all in on a career or have balance.

What's something about you that people would be surprised to learn?

I went to the number one party school and never went to a single party or club!

What's one decision you're especially glad you made, even though it felt risky at the time?

Having a child! I'm so blessed to be a mom.

What's the biggest professional risk you've ever taken, and was it worth it?

I recently took a different role at work. It was a very, very big decision, and I'm very glad I stepped out on the water and accepted the offer.

How do you build enough trust and confidence to challenge someone who has more authority than you?

Just be there with them day in and day out, and help with decisions.

If you could do it all over again, would you still choose this profession? Why or why not?

Yes, because I love the people I work with. They truly are like a family.

What did winning an Admin Award validate that you had never been able to validate for yourself?

It validated that I mean as much to them as they do to me.

Did recognition change how other people saw you, or how you saw yourself?

It gave me so much more confidence, professionally and personally.