Task- oriented pressure

A considerable amount of pressure started to set in around the fourth week of my internship. There was no urgent task be completed or any final presentation to show my colleagues how much I’ve learned. In fact, the only pressure was the pressure I placed on myself. To complete the considerable amount of task assigned to me in Salesforce, to contact every popular local business suggested to me for a charitable donation, to get every HR contact from the given list to take part in the Veterans Career Fair. I was concerned with rather or not I could complete it all in my short time here or “how many can I get”. Quickly my opportunity to intern at Biocom became a giant to do list. I had become overly task-oriented. Being task-oriented is not always a problem but, it had gotten to the point where I would bury my head in my office issued laptop and close the door to the office I was borrowing for the day. Human interaction was of the least importance.

It was the interactions with my colleagues that helped me remove this task-oriented pressure. Routinely, they would reiterate how okay it would be if I didn’t finish my work or suggest a new task for me to switch the workload up. Joint efforts were made to get me out of the office, to attend community outreach meetings alongside colleagues, to attend happy hours after work, to grab lunch, to “add me on LinkedIn”, etc. It seemed the only person really concerned about what I completed, was me. My office was more concerned with getting to know me while they could. Somewhere along the line, the office saw a benefit in relationship-oriented leadership and there was no looking back ever since. Relationship- oriented leadership is concerned with the whole being of employees and the motivation behind them. I believe this method of leadership is more beneficial than task-oriented leadership and results in more productive team work and trust throughout the office.

I recently sat down for breakfast with Karmin, the Executive Director, who took interest in everything that motivated me to get me where I am today. A good leader knows how to balance the best of both relationship- oriented leadership and task- oriented leadership. She applauded everything I had accomplished so far and even suggested to help me make additions to my resume that highlight the task I have completed so far.

Relationship- oriented leadership is in fact the whole basis of Biocom. Life Science companies join the network for the relationships that are created as a result, and from that, opportunities and success. Events are a staple of Biocom, an opportunity were relationships are created and strengthened. I had the opportunity to sit in on a meeting with membership last week. A construction company was interested in joining for the potential work down the line because of how rapidly the life science industry is going. Membership was emphasized as a long time commitment and although nothing may arise in the near time, small engagements here and there will yield a huge return in the long haul.