Week 6: leader/follower relationships

At this point in the pandemic, I have gotten very used to virtual work and learning. In a way, by now, it almost feels natural. However, after two remote internships, including the one I had this summer, I realized that a virtual internship experience is vastly different from an in person one. The way my internship was structured this year, I was only formally on calls once or twice a day, and the remaining hours I was left to do my projects on my own. Additionally, my calls with Derick were kept pretty casual, and I really never was expected to dress very formally for these calls. This definitely was convenient for me, however, I also wish that I could have had a more traditional internship experience in an office setting, professionally dressed, from 9 am to 5 pm. I think often it was hard for me to get into the work mindset when I was doing it all primarily from my childhood bedroom. That being said, Derrick definitely did everything he could to make my internship educational and as “normal” as it could be. Toward the end of July, Derick, who lives right outside D.C., travelled to New York for the day with Cassidy, a new employee of his and a Jepson alumna. He rented an office space for the day and took Cassidy and me to lunch. I think it was very thoughtful and generous of Derick to make this effort of travelling to a city near me, so while the internship was remote, I was able to experience one day of traditional office time. It also  shows that as a leader, Derick  really cares about his employees and wants them to feel equally important to the company. Additionally, Cassidy has been a great leader and example for me ever since she started work in July, and she shares really meaningful advice with me, as she was in my shoes last year. I think that as such a small company, it is crucial for  Derick to instill trust and positive relationships among the rest of  the company, and he has done a great job doing this.