Hi everyone! I hope you’re having a great Monday. This week I’d like to write about the impact that good leadership can have on a student or an early-career individual (such as myself), as well as what I believe makes for a great supervisor. I feel like I’ve iterated this same point over and over with each blog entry: I did not expect that I’d ever work in the mining industry. Nevertheless, I found it interesting and was deeply inspired by the support from those around me. The encouragement of a few trusted supervisors made the decision really easy for me to commit to this career for the time being.
Before I delve into the generalities, I’m first going to explore what a “great supervisor” means to me specifically. I was a student of science, so at work I had a bad habit of prefacing everything with “I know nothing about engineering but…” and I genuinely felt that way when I was a student at the mine. I was not trained to be an engineer – but my supervisor saw potential in me anyway. Despite my incessant self-doubt and “I’m not an engineer” mindset, my supervisor identified my diverse strengths as a physics student; Not only that, but he adapted his mentoring methods to cater to my prior experiences and knowledge.
My supervisor answered every single question I had, and if he didn’t have an answer we’d just learn about it together. I had a little notebook that I’d take up to the workshop where I did my research every day, and at the end of the day it would be full of questions that I’d ask my supervisor. I realize it isn’t feasible that all supervisors dedicate a large amount of their time towards answering questions every day, but I’m really grateful that mine made time for me to do that. My supervisor also recognized my apprehensiveness towards a variety of things (even something as small as sending e-mails) and found creative ways to make them seem not so scary or daunting. My supervisor ended up becoming a friend and someone I trust with non-work related topics, such as the stock market or home financing. It may have been difficult for me to ask questions and learn from him if we hadn’t got along on a personal level.
What I appreciate the most about my supervisor is that he trusted me. I am on an endless pursuit to learn things, and he allowed me to turn a small battery task into a big research project. I sought to answer lots of questions about the batteries (many that ended up not being helpful, and many that were) and learned a lot while doing so. Initially, the task was meant to be simple: find out if some retired batteries on site still work. With his help, the task quickly evolved into a colossal scavenger hunt for information:
- How can we test these batteries as efficiently as possible?
- It is feasible to use statistical methods to predict the state of the whole population from only a few?
- Is there a hidden relationship between a few battery-related properties that we can exploit for better understanding?
- What is the most cost-effective way to make use of these retired batteries?
- What administrative changes should be made to keep better track of all batteries at the mine before they’re retired?
- Do the operational methods we employ accelerate battery degradation?
- How can we ensure we are not retiring batteries prematurely?
Of course, some of these questions are still unanswered. I guess that’s why I’m still working on it – and I’m really thankful that my supervisor trusts me enough to do so. I can recall a very pivotal conversation we had where he actually told me that I should pursue engineering, and at first I thought he was being silly. I’m not an engineer (yet), but if it weren’t for that conversation I don’t think I would have been courageous enough to try.
In general, I believe that there are many qualities that a great supervisor should have. A good supervisor accurately assesses you as an employee; A great supervisor acts on this assessment to help you develop. A supervisor should complement your skills and interests, and aim to foster more. They should not only help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, but cater to them and help you improve upon them. They should seek to challenge you at a comfortable pace with adequate support. They should take time to answer questions, and inspire more questions. I could go on and on; There are so many things great supervisors do. Ultimately, a great supervisor ensures that you’re working safely and motivates you to be happy.
If given the chance, I could probably talk about the impact my supervisor had on me for an indefinite amount of time. After all, my career (and life) would have been substantially different had I not worked for him. If I am ever to be a supervisor someday, I will try to replicate his methods and hopefully inspire someone else!
(July 13th, 2020)
astronomine 