Zahra_In depth analysis of an effective team leader

In this week’s assignment I would like to talk about a person who is very special to me and how working with him made me change how I see things. But first let me tell you how I ended up working with this person. Well, it all started when the university that I used to go to back in my home town decided that it was mandatory for all the students to have an internship in relation with our major. Since I was studying marketing and communication I thought that it would be nice to have my internship in a bank because they are constantly dealing with customers and trying to help them effectively. 

My father worked as a director of a bank (Crédit Agricole du Maroc) and I thought that it would be really interesting to do my internship in the bank that he works for, not with him though. Luckily or unluckily I ended up working at the same bank that my father works for. I wasn’t ready for it and to tell you the truth I was a little scared to go to work with him. So as you can imagine at first I didn’t like it at all especially that everyone was trying to avoid me because I am the daughter’s boss but as the time went by all this has changed. 

I remember that everybody loved to be working with my father. Why? Well simply because he cares about the people that he is working with and he likes to show it to them. I felt a great energy and team spirit while working with the whole group, I felt that they shared certain values and they had a common vision. My father used to encourage a lot his team to work hard and sometimes when they felt tired he would organise fun events to make them gain a team spirit. He would have a picnic, go to a restaurant or simply share a cup of coffee with the team and this made them feel happy and energetic. Also, my father used to encourage his team to think about creative ideas and made sure that their ideas were being implemented. He truly believes that good communication and active listening are essential tools when dealing with the employees and he wants his team to have these qualities too. So he developed a certain credibility and I felt that the team was trying her best to support him and back him up when needed.  

I’ve got to say that I wasn’t that exited when I first heard that I was going to be in the same office with my father but, doing this internship with him and the team was really rewarding because I got a chance to see another side of him. In fact, I remember that by the end of the internship my father asked me if I was interested in becoming a manager in the future and frankly I wasn’t so sure that I wanted to be in a position like him because it demands a lot of effort and dedication. But he said something that got my attention, he told me that one of the many things that will make me a great leader is to care about people and show that to them. He explained that when you provide this positive vibe around you people will be willing to be there for you when you’ll need them.