Before coming to Korea, I often found myself in positions where I would let others take control of situations or wait to be assigned a task by someone else. I believe that this is because I am naturally a shy person and would not look to take initiative or take on extra responsibilities. However, I believe that I was proactive and found small tasks that could benefit those around me. For example, at my previous job, I was a cashier for a large retail chain, and even though I was often busy checking out customers, when there was a small break in between customers, I would take time to return the hangers, fold clothes, and wipe down counter tops to make sure the store was clean and so that others would have less work. I handle work similarly in class when working in group projects. I often would assist in creating ideas for the project, but would not comment when it was time to delegate the work because I did not want to inconvenience others by taking the part that they found interesting or were more comfortable doing.

So far, in my internship in Korea, I found that if I sat back and waited for a project to be assigned to me, like I was used to doing, I would spend my whole days doing very little work. In a fast paced environment such as the pharmaceutical industry, my supervisors are often incredibly busy and do not have time to think of tasks for me to do. So, instead of waiting for recommendations for my work, I look at previous assignments and feedback, along with the directions for my final intern project, and find tasks that I could end up producing tangible results for. This strategy not only allowed me to be more independent in the office, it has also allowed me to learn more about the industry. I have to use critical thinking to find things that could actually be of value to the company. 

Even though there are other interns at the company, most of the work I have been working on is done independently. This has caused me to reframe my idea of leadership in this context. I think that seeing leadership only in the context of working with others can limit one’s effectiveness in the workplace. I found that finding my own direction in the workplace by taking ownership and initiative over my own work has helped me develop better leadership skills. Stepping out of my comfort zone to begin to work more independently, at first, presented a major challenge to me, but as I did it more and more, I began to develop a sense of confidence in my work. The more I challenged myself, the more belief I had that the work that I was doing was not only valuable to the company, but to my growth as an individual as well. 

From what I have learned working by myself, I hope that when I return to campus, and in future collaborative work, I will be better equipped to take initiative and shoulder responsibility when working with others. The adaptability that I have developed so far in Korea gives me the confidence that I will be able to take charge of groups. Being able to understand the value of the work that I produce for my company will give me the mindset to find resources valuable to work that I am producing in an academic context. Witnessing the indirect style of communication, in a very hierarchical society, I believe that I can improve the way that I communicate with others, tailoring when I use high and low context communication styles depending on who I am talking to, to communicate my message more effectively. 

Specifically, in the public health industry, where I would like to work to advocate for underprivileged populations, waiting for others would put the health of communities at risk. The confidence I have built in my personal leadership skills will limit hesitancy to use skills that I know I have, or being afraid to use my voice to create change. Working with limited directions in Seoul has shown me that taking initiative is the start of good leadership skills, and is a basic responsibility for any good employee or leader. Through learning to develop my own research methods and improving my decision-making abilities, I believe that I have created a strong foundation and confidence to lead myself and groups through many different situations.