New Project

This week, I began working with my boss on a project- something that was my idea. Basically what I want to do is put a resource together for people to sue to gain a better sense of policies, regulations, topics, books and organizations that directly impact and are related to blind and disabled people. Throughout my internship, I have been trying to grasp all of these things for myself. There are so many things that I can put into this- some are obvious, others are lesser known. The area of disability policy studies touches so many different people and ares of focus. When I go to meetings with industry and policy makers, one of the biggest things that I have been taking note of is the organizations involved, major topics concerned and related regulations/statues. A lot of these are inter-related so it is interesting to get a sense of each individually and know enough to begin to piece them together.

I feel really lucky that I am in a position where I can pose new ideas to my boss and he just tells me to go for it and offers encouragement and assistance. Most likely, the resource I create will be published on the policy center AFB website which is really cool. There are already some pieces there that touch on what I want to create, but nothing that is all encompassing. That is very emblematic I think of what my boss' overall leadership style is like. If one of his employee's discovers something they want to work on, as long as it is pertinent he sees it as a benefit to the organization and encourages us to explore the possibilities the endeavor will involve. I know some boss' are more hands on and may have a difficult time with this, but the fact that this is a possibility, means a few things. First, there will be a lot more creativity in the organization. Second, tere will be a lot more ownership and by in of employees in the organization. Finally, there will be a lot more contributions to the organization that otherwise may not happen. While, there is a role for the hands on style, I like the idea personally of an exploratory non-static employe-boss relationship. I think this also increases motivation because people are working on things that they personally are interested in and will be held directly accountable for. It also creates a really great sense of overall group dynamics based on mutual trust, creativity, loose boundaries, and shared power.