Transformational Leadership in Practice

Transformational leadership is the first leadership theory I ever learned and one that I saw extremely present during my internship. Transformational leaders seek to help their followers grow and reach their fullest potential by engaging with them and motivating them. These types of leaders are passionate and truly care both about their cause and those that they lead. From my very first day at the Cade Foundation, I witnessed transformational leadership. Despite my nerves, in our opening Zoom meeting that first morning Dr. Hammond immediately greeted us with an infectious energy that instantly relaxed me. It was obvious how passionate she is about the Cade Foundation and the work that they do from the second that you meet her. She was genuinely interested in getting to know each of us and our goals and the ways that she could help us achieve them. She helped us talk through our initial ideas for our research projects and continued to help us hone in on exactly what we wanted to focus on in our articles. Once we finished our articles, Kandice, Dr. Hammond, and the other interns would all help brainstorm different places the piece could potentially be published. 

Both Kandice and Dr. Hammond cared deeply about each intern getting the experience they wanted out of the internship. Based on our research topics we chose for the summer, Dr. Hammond connected each of us to a leading professional in that field. As I focused on the causes and effects of male infertility, I was connected with a reproductive endocrinologist in Richmond. We had a phone conversation mid way through the summer and have plans to reconnect when I get back to school to set up some shadowing opportunities at her practice. I feel so lucky that Dr. Hammond was kind enough to take the time to find a mentor for each of us and really personalize and tailor our experiences to each of us. It is also clear that they want to help us succeed even as we continue on past the Cade Foundation and are proud to see the ways that we have grown over the course of the summer..