PSEG Theories in Action I

Throughout my 10 weeks at PSEG, I have witnessed the transformational leadership theory firsthand. According to the Burns’ transformational leadership theory, a transformational leader engages with others to create a connection that increased motivation and morality in both the leader and the follower, as well as a leader that tries to help their followers reach their fullest potential. My supervisor, Julie, from the beginning, has clearly wanted the interns on my team to learn and get the most out of this internship as we can and was constantly asking what she could do to make it better given the virtual circumstances. Julie asked us if we were interested in any other departments within the business, other than state and government affairs, and I stated that I was interested in corporate responsibility. My boss then connected me with a “mini” project with a corporate responsibility manager. I felt that my boss wanted me to learn about the business as a whole and provide me with the most exposure possible, which made my summer experience that much better. Additionally, every week Julie would set up small meetings with the other interns and myself and we were encouraged to share what we learned in our different departments that week and what we were all working on. I found this to be a great bonding experience, not only for the other interns and me but also for Julie and the whole team, because Julie was truly interested in what we had to say and what we were learning about.

Julie also has gone above and beyond to ensure that our experience this summer, albeit different due to covid, was as good as it could have been through setting up various field visits. Throughout the summer we visited the State House in Trenton, went to a Gas System Modernization Project site in Newark, went to a solar and battery storage facility in Caldwell, and finally the nuclear plants in Salem. All of these visits coincided with our weekly presentations on different projects the state and government affairs department aids with and provided priceless insight into why our department was advocating for what it was. Finally, I believe my boss Julie to be a transformational leader because she truly went out of her way for us to meet with people from all different backgrounds, different degrees, and career paths, in order to showcase the different paths that can be taken to get to senior vice president positions, managers and everything in between. Julie really wanted each intern to get a better idea of what our life goals were in terms of education and careers which was so helpful, especially because I got exposed to paths and ideas that I think will greatly help me moving forward.