For this week’s blog post, I will be reflecting upon leadership styles, and how learning to work with a variety of management styles has allowed me to develop a wide range of communication skills, and refine my own leadership methodology. The best supervisor I ever had was a former boss who challenged me every day. His tough personality, combined with the difficult responsibilities he gave me, allowed me to grow immensely as a professional, and personally as well.
scary boss lady!
When speaking on the phone with my former boss before my in-person interview with him the following week, he ended our conversation with, “Nobody lasts here. I’ll give you a week”. Sounds intimidating, right? Well, he was. But this was just the challenge I needed to show him that I could take a task handed to me and provide effective results. Having to prove myself that week may sound like a lot of pressure, but I learned more in that first week of work than I have in months at other internship experiences I had in the past. In the end, I really appreciated the fact th he challenged me in new ways, and as a result, I grew exponentially from this environment. By the end of that summer, I had gained his trust, so much so that he asked me to return the following summer, and gave me the responsibility of re-branding his company. Our relationship is now more of a mentor-mentee relationship, and we text and talk on the phone often.
Reflecting back, what I appreciated the most about his management style was his willingness to allow me agency in my tasks and responsibilities. By challenging me and handing me difficult work, I had to work hard and prove myself, and learned so much in the process. I often compare this experience to my other intern positions, where I was often given menial tasks and in all honestly, was not using much of my brainpower and often became bored. This contrast made me appreciate the projects and tasks he gave me, which allowed me to grow my professionals skillset and forced me to utilize all the brainpower I have!
In addition, working with a tough personality and character taught me a lot about communication skills, and how to speak to a superior who was often not accommodating or available to offer help. This experience led me to become not only more self-reliant, but develop communication skills that became key in other tough work environments or group projects.
As a leader myself, I would like to emulate these ideals that my former boss taught me. I often describe my leadership style (a VERY common interview question by the way!) as very positive, fostering an environment where everyone feels comfortable to share opinions and ideas, but also a leader who keeps others accountable for their actions and commitments, and aims to keep a higher standard in quality of work than most. In the future, my management style will emulate these qualities, but also allow for the people I manage to grow by giving them challenges and responsibilities that will force them out of their comfort zones and teach them to expand their skillsets as well. What does your leaderships style look like?