I have always been a natural born leader just because I have a strong personality and a loud voice. People followed me because I was assertive, not necessarily because they respected my judgment. I never really had to think about what leadership meant beyond that. I just did it the way I always had. This internship has completely challenged that view. Working at Flynn O’Driscoll, I quickly realized that leadership here looks a lot different than what I was used to. My boss and the team did not hand me trust just because I asked for it or spoke confidently. Trust had to be earned slowly, through consistency, accuracy, and showing up every single day ready to learn. As time goes on I can see the team and my boss has begun to trust me more with meaningful tasks. This week my boss gave me an assignment that was extremely beneficial to the team and myself. I looked at ledgers and balance statements from a real company with real numbers, work I never would have been able to do sitting in a classroom back at Pitt. That assignment did not come from me being loud. It came from weeks of quiet, careful work and proving I could be relied on. That has grown my leadership skills in a way I did not expect.
The biggest shift for me has been realizing that leadership is not about being the loudest person in the room. It is about being someone people trust. From having a new intern group, I have found myself becoming the leader of the group, but not because I forced it. The first day we had lunch together, I suggested we go for a walk in Merrion Square and we have done it every single day since. Even today on our walk I said we should go one block further, and my friend joked that everyone has to listen to the boss, which was very funny to me but also made me realize how naturally that role had formed. I am not leading because I am the loudest anymore. I am leading because people have respect for me.
I am also becoming a better leader in my own career by constantly asking for more work and looking for ways to optimize projects rather than waiting to be told what to do. That kind of initiative is its own quiet form of leadership, one that is about reliability instead of volume. Outside of work, I have found myself leading in group settings while traveling too, through navigating, planning, and adjusting when things do not go as expected. In London, when we did not have a place to stay, I streamlined the quickest plan and workshopped ideas with my group until we landed on the most optimal solution. That situation could have easily turned stressful, but staying calm and organized under pressure taught me that real leadership often shows up in the small, unplanned moments rather than the big obvious ones.
As I continue growing in Dublin, I am realizing that with two weeks left, I have changed so much. My day to day has become a routine in the best ways, and this experience has allowed me to see so much more of the world and see it from a completely different perspective. Even when I explored London this weekend I was trying to do things less as a tourist and rather see the city from a local’s perspective. There are so many lasts coming up, including my last tag rugby match this Thursday. There are so many small things about my life here in Dublin that I will miss, but I will miss the people who have made this experience the most.
Looking back, I think the version of me that arrived in Dublin already believed she was a leader. The version of me leaving in two weeks knows what it actually takes to be one: patience, consistency, and earning trust instead of assuming it. I am looking forward to spending the next two weeks getting to know my coworkers even better and putting the final touches on my projects. I have truly made the most of this experience, and now I get to enjoy the life I have built for myself here.
