Week 6 in Dublin is complete! This week was filled with great music, celebration, and adventure. One of the most significant events was my work’s product launch event which was held on Wednesday night. The event hosted over 100 influencers and press to celebrate the launch of Cocoa Brown’s new instant bronze self tanning product. It took a lot of planning and preparation, but the night ended up being a huge success. The space was beautifully decorated and was complete with signature cocktails, a DJ, and even a telephone booth where guests could record their thoughts about the product. I had never been a part of planning such a large-scale event and it was rewarding to see it come together and be a part of it. I’m very grateful to have had the experience.
Other events of this week included going to see Hozier in concert on Friday night. Hozier is from Ireland (more specifically Bray, which is just south of Dublin) so it was super fun to see him perform to a home crowd in Dublin. We did get rained on but I think it added to the experience. Hozier sounded amazing live and it will surely be a concert I’ll never forget.
On Saturday, we made our way to Northern Ireland for a Game of Thrones themed tour. The tour took us to several of the filming locations from scenes from the first season of the show. In the morning, we trekked through the mountains of the Tollymore Forest. After stopping for some seafood chowder on the coast, we visited the tower house Old Castle Ward. The day concluded with us yielding swords at the ruins of the 12th-century Cistercian Abbey for some great photo ops. I’ll admit, I had never seen Game of Thrones before the tour so I did not understand all of the references, however, I still loved the experience and getting to see parts of Northern Ireland. It was absolutely beautiful and I wish I had time to explore more. After this trip, I have now visited every country in the United Kingdom!
When reflecting on leadership and how my internship abroad has changed or challenged my view of leadership, I realized that my experience with leadership has been very different in my Dublin internship compared to the internship I held back in Pittsburgh. In my marketing internship in Pittsburgh, I have a supervisor, however, I’m given a lot of freedom and work mostly independently. Most of the time, I lead myself, and occasionally the other newer interns when I need to delegate tasks. At my internship in Dublin however, I’m not as much placed in a leadership position, and rather, I am on the receiving end. There isn’t anything wrong with this, especially since I am new to the company and only here for a short amount of time. In fact, I think it’s been beneficial for me to see other people’s leadership styles and learn from them how I can be a better leader. Having this multi-perspective of leadership is valuable, and I can take aspects of what I found most helpful or impactful in my supervisor’s leadership and then use this in future leadership positions I may have.
Experiencing different leadership styles during my internship has widened my understanding of management in the workplace what is most effective in certain situations or settings, and also what style is most effective for me personally. For example, I’ve realized that I’m most comfortable when I receive more specific instructions from my supervisors. Some people, however, don’t like a lot of instructions and would rather do something their own way. I think that’s why being a leader can be so difficult. It helps to know the team you’re working with very well so that you can adapt your leadership style to them. This is something I’ve enjoyed about my company–with less than 10 employees everyone is very close. As my coworkers have gotten to know me, communicating tasks and directions has become easier and more comfortable.
In conclusion, I believe there is equal value in learning how to take direction and be led by others as there is in leading others yourself. I now see the importance of connecting with others as a leader, more so than I did before coming to Dublin. This is something that will definitely stick with me when I return to my internship in Pittsburgh or start a new job.
I can’t wait to make the most of these last two weeks! Until next time.
Sláinte!
