Week 6 – Leadership Skills and Style
It is hard to believe that my time in Madrid is already halfway through. It has gone by so much faster than I had expected. It is now week 6, which means that I will only be posting 3 more blog posts!
When it comes to my leadership skills and how they have developed during my time at my SegurCaixa Adeslas marketing internship, I can definitely say that my leadership skills have become stronger and have somewhat changed. I think the extremely different style of leadership that I have encountered overall in Spain as well as specifically in my internship has helped me develop my own leadership skills and style. From what I have experienced, the leadership style in Spain is a lot more relaxed than that of the United States. Spanish leaders seem to take a more hands off approach to leadership, and do not necessarily lead by example. To be specific, based off of my own experiences as well as the experiences of my peers in the IIP Madrid program, it seems rather common for a boss or supervisor to not be present in the workplace for the entire day. I view this as the hand off approach to leadership. Spanish leaders expect you to ask questions. Although they will not necessarily tell you word for word what their expectations are, they also heavily appreciate personal inputs and opinions on how to do something different, improve efficiency, etc.
Before coming to Spain and beginning my internship at SegurCaixa Adeslas, I would describe my leadership style as Democratic and very hands-on. To be specific, I highly value the input of others as it stimulates creativity and constructive criticism. In terms of my “hands-on” leadership style, I consider myself to be the type to lead by example. I think this is where I mostly differ from the normal Spanish leadership style. I firmly believe that in order to be a good leader, it is important to build close relationships with your employees by working side by side with them and as a team. I often view it as my role as a leader to assign roles and tasks based off of the wants and abilities of those I am leading. I think, however, there is something to be leared from the hands-off nature of the Spanish style of leadership. A more hands-off approach could result in higher levels of creativity and a higher sense of freedom and mobility within daily work tasks. When it comes to this, I believe finding a healthy medium between these 2 styles has definitely helped me develop my own leadership skills and styles.
Terrazas
This week, I finally got the chance to experience a Madrid staple: a terraza. Terrazas are rooftop restaurants (typically connected to hotels), and some of the most popular are located in Gran Vía. Some of the more famous terrazas require reservations months in advance! The terraza that I went to with the other EUSA students was beautiful. It was definitely an experience getting to the terraza, however, which was very hard to find. It was located on the 10th floor. At the 8th floor, there was a small, nearly unnoticeable doorway that you need to go through in order to get to the terraza. I almost missed it since it just looked like a hole in the wall. Despite the somewhat “shady” entrance, the terraza, located in the center of Gran Vía, was a great experience. Although I missed the cloudy sunset by a few minutes, the night view of Madrid was very worth it. I am looking forward to going to another terraza in Gran Vía soon. Hopefully this time I will be able to see the sunset!
Aside from the terraza and a quick taco Tuesday dinner at a birria restaurant, this week was very laid back. I mainly used this week to rest up for the busy weekends that I will have coming up. I am looking forward to visiting Málaga (a beach on the southern coast of Spain), and Valencia (another beach city on the eastern coast of Spain. Valencia also happens to be the origin of Paella, a stable Spanish dish that I have still not tried. I am looking forward to getting the chance to explore more of Spain as my time here comes to an end.
Hasta Luego,
Olivia