So, here's to week seven as an O-tern at OLSON! This week went by very quickly, to say the least. It went by so fast that I am trying to think back on everything that happened, so that I can share it with you, and I feel like I am trying to review a day in my mind as opposed to an entire week!
Last week, I was asked if I wanted to help recruit people to get their photo taken for a new internal OLSON directory we have coming. I said sure, because who doesn't love getting to take people from their work for a moment of sheer joy and excitement while they get to pose in a corner and get their picture taken? That may have come across highly sarcastic. I assure you, that was not the intent. The way I saw it, I was going to get a chance to get to know people around the office better. So, this week came and I got ready to go help get people for their pictures. I found out that I was going to get to work with the Brand Lab interns on this project.
Are you familiar with the Brand Lab? Well, if you are not, you certainly should be! When I found out about it, I was rather impressed! The mission of the Brand Lab is to create opportunities in the marketing industry for students with diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Check out how they do it at http://www.thebrandlab.org/. This is not just another one of those millions of organizations. It is impacting communities and how people look at advertising.
Together with the inters, we called numerous OLSONites and asked them to come up to get their picture taken. Some people were serious, some people were embarrassed, some people smiled like you would have in the 4th grade, and others, well, others had their own ideas all together. My favorite one was the guy that asked me if he could take one picture with his helmet on, and another with his helmet off. Get this: it was so that he could merge the two together and have a picture with half a head wearing a helmet and half a head without. Ha. I love people who work in advertising. Never a dull moment!
The tip of the week comes from something that happened to me this week. Huh, shocker. :) The role I currently have is that of an intern, as you well know. In this current state, it has been pretty safe to say that the majority of things I have participated in within the last month and a half have been things that have been new to me. I have gotten used to not being the expert, to say the least. I ran into a situation this week, however, where I was able to be the mentor, in a sense. In what I was training other to do, I encouraged and coached them in a manner that would lead them on a pathway of success, rather than on a pathway of failure. Everyone learns better that way. The tip of the week is: Whenever you are in a position of leadership, find a way to train others in a way that encourages them to acknowledge the things they know, and makes them excited to learn the things they do not.
I have found that this tip has been executed by the people that I work with time and time again. Because of that, I have greatly enjoyed the learning process here at OLSON. What a joy it is when you are set up for success, rather than failure.
No comments:
Post a Comment