First Week: The Culture of Collegiality
My first week at McGuireWoods Consulting located in Downtown Richmond has been remarkable. The culture here is friendly, and I have noticed that leadership here is organized around personal relationships. On my first day, two of my supervisors took me out to lunch. During the meal, we shared our perspectives of the political environment in Virginia, and candidly expressed our criticisms of it. Additionally, I was able to go in depth on my specific interests, and my supervisors were receptive. Almost immediately, I began to receive assignments related to energy and state government which I found to be fascinating. From then on, every task I received was prefaced with a personal meeting. Usually, one of the people around the office would walk into the intern suite and begin to engage me in conversation on a wide variety of topics. Then, they would introduce me to their area of expertise and describe their current projects. One assignment was explained to me at a local coffee shop, after the associate and I had discussed our backgrounds in depth. Another assignment was explained to me through a phone conference. Experiential learning is a key part of this internship, as most of my time is spent hands-on with projects.
McGuireWoods Consulting is a lobbying firm that functions as a subsidiary of McGuireWoods, LLP. which is a law firm. Networking and interpersonal relationships are at the heart of the firm, which is why they emphasize community and collegiality as key values. The method by which I am given tasks is related to the culture here at the firm, which is involved and interested in building connections. My progress is not micromanaged, however. Once an assignment is given, I am able to manage my time on my own.
I definitely appreciate the bipartisan camaraderie around the office, however the feedback I have received has not been critical. I am not sure if that means I am doing a good job, or if the staff here is lenient on critique. Acknowledging that the office is strong on collegiality and low on candid criticism, I’d say the first week has set a positive tone for the rest of the internship.
Tyler, sounds like a warm welcome at McGuire Woods. Perhaps feedback and critique are limited at this point because you just began; perhaps that is the culture, only time will tell. Sounds as though it is a culture where you learn by doing, versus being oriented and instructed. Given what you describe, sounds as though you’ll be able to develop quite a network.