Summer school chaos – or how my OC tendencies impacted my first leadership role
This summer, I worked as a Team Leader for a summer language school. My role involved being a line manager for a group of activity and welfare leaders, and over the course of only 5 weeks, I learned that being a manager with OC tendencies can be very challenging.
Summer school is known for having its challenges. Within one month, I witnessed several first aid incidents, had to crowd control a bunch of kids who did not speak English, and led excursions that (not surprisingly) deviated from the pre-agreed itineraries.
I almost quit on the spot at the end of my first day. There was too much chaos, and the level of organization was not satisfactory according to my high standards. I felt frustrated because my coworkers and senior managers didn’t seem too stressed, while I was losing sleep at the thought of activities not being delivered properly.
For example, I wanted to purchase all materials needed for the whole summer weeks in advance, to prevent any last-minute issues. However, the trend became ordering supplies the night before, hoping it would arrive the next day. Spoiler: sometimes the stuff didn’t arrive on time, and then I was left scrambling half an hour before an activity was supposed to take place. I had to accept that it was out of my hands, as ultimately, I was not in charge of the organization’s credit card.
Other challenges I faced included delegating tasks to junior staff members, working overtime, and having high standards. I had a hard time delegating responsibilities because a) I secretly believed I was the best candidate to complete them and b) I had difficulty trusting that others would be successful in completing the tasks.
I also found it hard to conduct appraisals (i.e. performance reviews) because it meant I had to provide feedback others may not have wanted to hear (and I knew exactly how that felt!).
At the end of the day, my first leadership role taught me that even if an activity session does not go as planned, the world will not erupt into flames. Delegating tasks is not a bad thing, and letting others make their own mistakes is all right, too.
I’m happy to report that by the end of my contract, I left the office on time, learned to tolerate last minute activity planning, and gave up trying to do my coworkers job on top of mine.
Despite a chest infection, lack of organization, and moments of intense frustration, I survived the summer. I made friends from other countries, tried to play tennis, saved up money to travel, and found myself laughing until my belly hurt.
I discovered a love for pistachio lattes, led excursions by myself, and played Jenga for the first time since I was a kid. I fell in love with the city of London a little bit more each week. And even though this summer experience was excruciatingly painful for the OC part of my personality – I still managed to thrive as a team leader for the first time.
What else could I have really asked for?