Leader/Follower Relations at AGS

The leader/follower dynamic at Antrim Grace Solutions has an obvious structure. In terms of a hierarchy, Sam and Heidi are the founders and co-partners, while Saunders was an associate right below them, and then there are 4 interns. Heidi and Sam have a list of clients from whom they receive work and assignments, as well as a number of tasks that need to be completed for AGS. Heidi and Sam would decide which work they would take on for themselves, as well as what Saunders would be assigned to work on. After that work has been divvied out, they release a list of the rest of the tasks for each of the interns to assign to themselves, with 4 different classifications: short term, medium term, long term, and ongoing. After we choose which assignments we would like to work on, we meet with the corresponding supervisor for the project. After the initial meeting, we would meet weekly, or bi-weekly with each managing supervisor for each project to go over the next steps and wrap things up. In terms of decision making, just about everything is done between Sam and Heidi, AGS’s founders. They are somewhat of a new company, and it wouldn’t make much sense to entrust the decision making of the organization to anyone other than themselves. However, after an initial decision is made about which and what type of projects to take on, the interns have a lot of say about how projects are completed. Almost all of the projects we worked on are given to us with a lot of flexibility and autonomy. Heidi and Sam understand it is important for us to get real experience on projects that we will have a major role in completing. I think in terms of leader/follower relations it is very important for them to identify a role for us in which we are learning about the industry and the kind of work we will be doing, while learning new skills. At the same time, they have to find a balance where the work we do will be the most beneficial for their business.