This week has been a blast to say the least. Currently, I am writing this blog post from a hostel in London, and my trip here has been amazing to say the least. Yesterday, three of my friends and I went on the Harry Potter tour in London. They walked us through every set from each movie and explained how they were able to turn the stories told by J.K. Rowling into a magical paradise for everyone to enjoy. Now I have always been a fan of Harry Potter, but it wasn’t until this tour that I became a fan of film and how it’s all made. Being on that tour let me learn more than I ever thought I could about how film, making movies, work, and the work that goes into getting everything into place. It was insane to say the least, and the rest of my time here has been the same. Since we spent an entire day on the tour, it was only fitting that we became proper tourists in London for the following day. So, we walk roughly 25,000 steps around the city to visit every postcard-worthy landmark and send divorced dad selfies back to our parents to prove were still alive and well. But outside of the general tourist attractions in London, we were lucky enough to catch Sunday mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral and be blessed with hearing one of the best choirs in the world. At that mass, funny enough, they talked about leading your life and the people around you into a life of faith, and it got me thinking about how I lead those around me.

Before I made my way to Ireland, I had the opportunity to take multiple courses on leadership and all the different ways to be a good leader. So, when I made it to Ireland, I could confidently say that I liked to lead by example, showing the people around me that I not only care about what I am saying but also that what I am striving for is possible. This is a standard way to lead, and from my short experience in the workforce, most of my bosses and other coworkers have done it this way as well. So, when I got here, I expected most of my coworkers to lead in the same manner, but as I spent more and more time here, I noticed another layer of leadership going on in the background.

Delegation, in leadership, is a point in a leader’s journey where he is able to give very minimal explanations to people, and the tasks that are at hand still get done. And over the past few weeks, my leader and coworker had been getting to that phase without me even noticing, at least not until I was told to write to you about leadership. Looking back on it, since I’ve gotten to St. John of God, my duties have changed a lot. Initially, I was just an extra set of hands when it came to working with the guys, and my main goal was to simply get to know them more. But without me even realizing it, and my coworkers slowly allowing me to step in, I became more involved with the daily care for each of the users. I started preparing and planning their days out! I accounted for their life goals that were mentioned in Circle of Support meetings, and ensured that each day they stepped into G5, they had a meaningful day. It became second-hand for me. Each day I came in, I did more, not because I knew what to do but because my coworkers slowly stepped out of the picture and gave me time to step into the roles they had.

Now I am definitely not a pro at this technique, and I am not even sure how to achieve such a thing, but I do know that I want to become that type of leader. A leader who allows the people around him to grow and excel without even feeling like they are being pushed. So for the rest of my time here, I’m going to look for it. Look for the moments where my coworkers step back and allow mt to step in, and look at it from their perspective in hopes of finding when to give people room to grow.