Week 7 – theories in action (trait-based theories)

At this point in my internship, it’s a good opportunity to apply trait-based theories to my supervisor, and leadership in the office as a whole using the OCEAN model. First, looking at openness, I would say that my supervisor would rate highly their, as would other leaders in the office. In this field and on projects we’ve been working on, I’ve noticed that my supervisor is very open to new ideas, curious, and has a more open mind in general, and that goes for other leaders in the office as well given the breadth of issues that we are working on, number of proposals for addressing those, and various strategies that can be adopted to effect change — in the field of public policy, leaders must be open-minded and always willing to learn more. Second, I would also rate my supervisor higher for conscientiousness, as her leadership style and style of thinking is very intentional and thoughtful, and she is very aware of what is going on in the office and on the floor with regards to our portfolio. This helps her to be effective as it allows her to effectively manage the team and know when deadlines are, and how we can best be equipped to meet deadlines and achieve our goals. Likewise, I would also rate her higher on agreeableness, while there are times where we have internal debates regarding policy issues and priorities, we’re always able to work through complex issues together and come to a consensus on the best way to move forward and/or address a policy question. While I would not say this trait itself is particularly important in this environment, I think it is important for leaders in the office to know how to be able to come to agreements without issue and as a team.

Although, I would rate her lower on extraversion though – this is an important skill, and during constituent meetings she does come off as more extraverted, however I think there are times in other situations where she comes off as more introverted and can have a tendency to be more independent in how she works, especially at times when giving feedback. Lastly, on neuroticism, or emotional intelligence, I would rate her a little higher – I think that she can be very understanding and compassionate in constituent meetings and when it comes to issues that have a more individualized impact, and that she is also well-composed considering the workload and fast-pace environment.