After a series meetings and read several monthly reports from the latest interns, I have observed a few common themes that keep coming up that either creates a risk that your internship is not successful or that you would not enjoy the full potential of your unique opportunity.
Please review if any of these apply to you.
a) You are still vague in your mission statement about what you want to accomplish in your internship beyond the vague "I want to learn ...". You need to turn these wishes into "I want to accomplish xyz, because I want to learn about ...".
Some have not shared their goals with your supervisors. I would like to impress on you again to complete your mission statement and share it with your supervisors ASAP.
For those who have "asked and shared" with their supervisors recenly, have reported REMARKABLE results on how supportive their supervisors were and have come up with suggestions they never thought of to help achieve those goals. All much to their surprise and all said that it was silly for them to hesitate for so long. And the some have reported that their supervisors were enthusiastic to help the interns achieve them.
b) You feel the need to DO IT ON YOUR OWN and many have done so usually out of personal pride. When you say "I want to do it on my own or I don't want to bother others" and you are struggling with a project, you are NOT putting the interest of the company ahead of your own. Your pride puts the project at risk.
Nobody expects you to know everything and they know that you may need to ask. Please understand that your managers and colleagues PREFERS that you ask so that the project is successful than for you to put the project at risk. They do this for everybody they work with, not just you.
c) You don't feel SAFE to offer opinions or suggestions for fear of being wrong. Many of you feel that when somebody don't like or agree with your idea that they would diminishing their opinion of you. Soem feel that they don't know enough yet to speak up.
All successful entrepreneurial companies know that they have to make it SAFE FOR PEOPLE TO MAKE MISTAKES or be wrong in their opinions. But they know everybody deserves to be heard. When they disagree with you, they are disagreeing with your IDEA. They are NOT JUDGING YOU. It is not personal.
When they explain why your idea would not work, all you need to show respect is say THANK YOU and learn from their explanation so you do better the next time. You should not feel you have been diminished.
d) You don't show initiative to take on projects that you feel can be and is worth doing. You should not view your job as just doing what you are assigned or told. Your job is to do whatever you can to help the company be successful. Any extra time you have is an opportunity for you to do something you feel worthwhile and learn something, and do well for your company.
Managers LOVE PEOPLE WHO WANTS TO DO MORE! If you look around, you will see there is plenty to do. Managers do not have the time to micro-manage you. If you have not gone to your manager and say "I have time, what else can I do for you", please do so. Else you are cheating yourself of an opportunity to learn by doing more things on your internship.
You will feel a tremendous pride when you successfully complete a project that you initiated. And the company will feel tremendously grateful to have you on their team.
Your time is the most precious asset. Please make full use of it for yourself and your company.
e) Feel overwhelmed for not being able to accomplish everything you feel you want. There is never enough time to do everything. But there IS enough time to ensure that the most important priorities are done successfully.
I would like to suggest that it is OK to not accomplish some of the lower priorities in your list. Start with a small list that you know you can achieve 100% each month. After you have successfully done them, you can add them on after that. Success breeds success. Start small and build upon it. You will avoid the feeling of despair. Instead, each successful month builds confidence and drive to go to the next level.
You are all very intelligent people and may be even feel that you are smarter than most other people. You are. But nobody can run a long marathon without finishing shorter distances first in their training. Big goals are accomplished through a series of smaller milestones. And do ask for help.
I invite those to share their experience in the comments on this blog for your peers to gain from your successful experiences.
I am sorry for the strong tone of this post. But the frequent occurrence of these themes makes me feel that the broader group may experience similar situations.
You all have a wonderful opportunity to make drastic transformation of your "mental, attitude and emotional" compass during your stay in this unique environment. Overcoming these will ensure your internship will be extremely successful. I GUARANTEE IT!
But finally, please still do have fun! Work when it is a pleasure is a wonderful blessing!
C.H. Low