Week 5 – Solving Problems/Improving Leadership
This post actually comes at a good time for me, considering that I’ve been having some issues in this arena over the course of this week. The first month of my internship was pretty slow, and I was trying to be patient with that given my feeling that I didn’t really understand what it was my boss wanted me to do while I waited for work to pick up. However, now, the opposite is true – I know that I have a lot to do, but I’m not quite sure what my boss expects of me. My boss is managing a massive amount of work in a variety of different areas; it seriously astounds me she’s able to get done as much as she’s able to do within any given week. That being said, I have felt like it’s really difficult to understand what she expects of me on certain projects, even when I attempt to clarify. I think part of the issue is that there’s so much about this field that I don’t understand that it’s hard for me to really feel confident/ like I’m making progress, in addition to the fact that it seems as if my boss is not always able to effectively communicate what she expects from me. I know there are certainly things I can do on my end to improve the situation – namely, to take better notes, try to focus more effectively, and ask for clarification when necessary – but I also think that setting up a regular time to touch-base (more regular than once a month) would be helpful. I also think my boss would benefit from more clear communication on her end as well; addressing this in a professional manner is difficult coming from an intern to a boss, but I can foresee maybe trying to co-write goals at the end of my meetings with her so they’re in language we both understand.