What is a “corporate secretary”?

Another in the newbie series: Unless you're in the field of corporate governance, you probably get the impression that a "corporate secretary" for a public company is an administrative assistant of some sort. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The corporate secretary in a public company actually has a lot of jobs—there's a lot of multitasking involved, a lot of responsibility, and a lot of stress. (Note that as an officer of a public company, corporate secretaries may be included in lawsuits against the company. You may not realize the joy that comes with being a named officer of a public company. So much fun.)

Many of the corporate secretary's hats relate to the care and feeding of the board of directors—and the board is an important group for the company. They oversee the management of the company, they have the power to hire and fire the CEO, and to alter the strategy for a company.