Nancy LoGuidice

Professor Manuel

Leadership 362

 

Reflection 1: Does the Leader-Member Exchange Theory help account for your internship office dynamics? If yes, how? If no, which other theory captures it?

When I initially read about the Leader-Member Exchange Theory I did not make any connections to my own office. From a big picture perspective, everyone within the office appears to be on equal footing with supervisors and managers. However, when I look at my department specifically, I can see multiple ways that the Leader Member Exchange Theory is relevant to my office and internship experience. 

Firstly, it is important to note that my ‘department’ consists of myself, my supervisor, and one other intern. While my position is seen as a job rather than simply an internship, I see myself on the same organizational level as my fellow intern, and we both report to Derek, our supervisor. The way I see the Leader-Member Exchange theory manifest in my department is in the way that Derek treats me as opposed to how he treats the other intern. It is clear that I am trusted far more than the other intern and am given more responsibility and freedom in my day-to-day activities. There are many reasons that account for this, and the most prevalent is that I have known Derek for nearly seven years and have worked with him on many projects, including Youth and Government as a presiding officer, service trips through our youth and government program, and a previous (but far less time consuming) internship my freshman year. Throughout these years I have shown my commitment and dedication and as a result, Derek can trust me to accomplish tasks and take on projects without aggressive supervision. 

Additionally, the distinctions between myself and my fellow intern speak to why he is given less responsibility than I am. Specifically, he is younger and has no previous internship experience, so this opportunity for him is about becoming accustomed to professional environments, which is something that I have already done. That isn’t to say that he isn’t a valuable member of the team, but his experience means that it has taken more time for him to feel comfortable taking on tasks and responsibilities. 

To expand the application of the Leader-Member Exchange theory to my entire office, I don’t see it as prevalently as I see it demonstrated in my department. There are many factors that could account for this, but I believe it is because every person in the office has very different projects and responsibilities, so it is difficult to distinguish our supervisors treatment based on assignments and responsibilities. However, I do recognize that our supervisor, Neil, is extremely focused on maintaining a positive relationship with every member of his office, and goes out of his way to check in with each of us, including the interns, every day, which speaks to his leadership skills. 

 

Reflection 2: What are the differences and similarities between Northouse’s Adaptive Leadership (Chapter 9) and your office experience?

 

Fortunately throughout my internship experience so far I have been able to see adaptive leadership on many levels, including through my team, my department, and by my own actions as a leader. 

There were a few instances where we as a Voter Registration Coordination team had to utilize adaptive leadership. The first was in our event planning process. We spent most of September planning a Youth Summit in Iowa, which needed to be rescheduled when no schools, students, or teachers signed up to attend. At the rescheduled date attendance was dismal and we as a team realized that we needed to improve our outreach strategy. As a result we re-worded our outreach communications as well as changed some internal operating strategies and decided to focus more on tangible voter registrations rather than events. This strategy proved to be successful and we saw a drastic increase in communication with schools and voter registration efforts. 

At a smaller level, my department, which only has three people, saw adaptive leadership in many ways. One way I was able to practice adaptive leadership was by serving as a mentor to my fellow intern, Ian, who is a freshman at American. Initially, Iam saw me as a supervisor and would ask for my approval on things like when he could leave or if he had done enough work. After reestablishing our relationship as colleagues and peers rather than supervisor and subordinate, I found it easy to give him guidance without feeling the need to assert any sort of authority over him. Working with Ian was a really significant exercise in adaptive leadership because he often has less clear expectations in his work that I did, and looked to me for guidance, especially when our supervisor was traveling. 

Additionally, I faced some familial issues while working, and working through those struggles while still trying to do the best job I possibly could taught me the importance of self-care and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. I was extremely fortunate to have a supervisor who was accommodating and trusted me enough to set my priorities and complete necessary assignments without taking on too much.

 

Reflection 3: What are the differences and similarities between Northouse’s Team Leadership (Chapter 14) and your experience?

 

Team leadership seems to be the most prevalent leadership style for my office. I see this as the case because although every member of the office seems to have a very specific job including very specific tasks, the interconnectedness of the office is palpable. While the most obvious leadership team interactions happen within departments, there seems to be a large amount of overlap between missions, goals, and assignments. That makes sense to me given that the mission of the Y is so pervasive throughout all of the work we do. It feels very empowering to know that I am connected to everyone around me based on our values and goals for our work. 

Within my specific department, I see Team Leadership through my interactions with my supervisor, Derek, and the members of our team of partners from other organizations including When We All Vote, Inspire2Vote, and the Iowa Secretary of State. My supervisor typically takes on a hands off approach until there appears to be a need for him to become involved, and provides myself and the other intern with a space to do our work however we see as most efficiently. As a result both myself and the other intern have become more confident in our ability to work on projects and provide deliverables. 

Within my group of partners the team style of leadership manifests differently. The team of partners is a particularly interesting leadership experience because we are all coordinating from different parts of the country. I am in DC, while my colleagues are based in Richmond, Illinois, and Iowa. I have particularly grown in my understanding that working with a group of people in different regions and time zones requires a bit more coordination than simply calling a conference room meeting for the next hour. Additionally, working with a team made up of people from all different organizations has helped me to navigate and strange or unfamiliar power dynamics. In particular, I felt some tension when the group first started to come together because there was no real sense of hierarchy or organization, which is something that I have come to expect in the workplace. 

Overall I find team leadership to be one of the most intriguing leadership styles because someone who excels at team leadership has the potential to see the benefits in every aspect of their office.