Week 3 (6/14-6/18) Theories in Action 1

When I first started this internship, I was curious about which theories I would be able to connect to my work at Porter Isaac. My internship is completely remote and I realized this week that much of my tasks will be done on Linkedin. For the most part, I will be pulling leads for Derick, which means researching and filing companies that are hiring and would potentially use Derick’s help to find candidates for their openings. Because of this, I was not sure how theories would play out in such a technical job. However, I definitely have noticed that Derick aligns with some leadership theories that we learned about in Theories and Models last semester. Specifically, I think that Fielder’s Contingency Theory is one that applies well to Derick. Fielder’s theory posits that leader effectiveness is dependent on the qualities of the leader as well as the demands of the situation. Derick, with simply his starting of Porter Isaac 8 years ago, is a very interesting and commendable leader. He worked for a large staffing company and essentially decided that he would be able to do it better if he led his own, so he left and started Porter Isaac, named after his great grandfather William Porter Isaac, who also was an entrepreneur, in order to honor his family who “paved the way before him.” Because of this, I have assessed Derick to be a very driven and task-oriented leader; however, this does not hinder his ability to connect and care about his small staff. Derick consistently creates a friendly and favorable work environment, constantly making everyone involved feel comfortable and respected. Therefore, he certainly possesses relationship-oriented qualities of leadership, especially because his direct family works in the company with him! Every time Derick and I meet, we discuss my work, projects, and progress very attentively, but Derick also actively asks how I’m doing, how my summer in general is going, my future plans, my goals in my career, and much more. He cares about me as a person beyond my work for Porter Isaac, which I very much appreciate and respect. Overall, I think Derick reads situations very well and therefore is a successful leader because he can assess when he should be task-oriented, and when he should be more personable and relationship-focused.