Alexandra Bortz

Throughout my time working with Landerholm, P.S. in order to complete my practicum

project, I learned a lot of insightful things about leadership. The most important insight about

leadership that I learned through this experience is that we should never be afraid to lead, no

matter our positional level in the organization. When starting this project, I was intimidated

working with highly skilled attorneys as a college student, and it seemed to me that I could offer

them little compared to everything they already knew. Thinking this way made me less likely to

ask questions or give my input and caused the beginning of my project’s time to be far less

productive. After finding the courage to ask those questions or challenge the process by offering

something new, I found that I was in fact listened to and they did want more of my contributions.

Through my project I learned that I actually was able to give something new to skilled business

professionals, and that I should take on leadership regardless of my position. Coming out of this

experience, I feel strongly that leadership is based on action, not position, and that everyone can

lead by working to initiate change.

Another lesson I learned about leadership is the importance of showing gratitude in the

workplace. In professional organizations, it can often feel hard to build good relationships and

show appreciation to other employees for their contributions. When doing this project, I realized

the impact that daily gratitude has on productivity and employee engagement. When I got words

of encouragement or gratitude about the work I completed from the people at Landerholm, P.S. I

felt more connected to the organization and happier doing my tasks. I want to be a

transformational leader that changes how employees view the workplace, and how they interact

with their teams. I want to a continue taking notice of how everyone I work with personally
Alexandra Bortz

contributes to successes, and I want to be a leader acknowledges my gratitude towards them

often.

A leadership skill that I further developed while working on this project was my ability to

accept feedback and continue challenging the process after being unsuccessful. Accepting and

seeking criticism is a skill that I did not have a lot of experience with, however good leaders

must be willing to actively listen to feedback. During my project, I got to experience receiving

professional feedback on the work I submitted. At the beginning of my project, I felt insecure

accepting criticism, however I learned that by actively listening to it and then trying again my

work quality improved and I felt more successful as a team member. I began getting more

confident in my ability to ask for feedback, and I through this increased feedback got more

confident taking risks while completing my project. I learned that a leader should be able to

challenge the process, even after temporarily being unsuccessful.

While creating my project, I learned a lot of technical and professional skills that will

help me develop as a business professional. I learned how to communicate with a professional

organization to understand their wants and needs. I also learned how to organize and create a

professional outline that is clear and useful. At the beginning of my project, I was nervous to

undertake a marketing assignment as it was not my business field of study, however I was able to

gain a lot of value from stepping out of my comfort zone. I got to learn more about how people

successfully advertise, how legal services can be advertised, and how legal professionals build

their networks by accepting an opportunity that challenged me. In the future I will incorporate

some of the things I learned about networking, such as joining professional groups, into my

career.
Alexandra Bortz

While reflecting on learning from this project, I feel as though I developed a lot of

leadership and technical skills from my experience. This experience allowed me to positively

impact an organization that shares values similar to my own, values of being involved in the

community and building relationships with others to foster trust. This project has pushed me out

of my comfort zone in order for me to develop leadership behaviors. In the future I hope to work

with Landerholm, P.S. again and be a leader that can transform others in the ways that this

company and project transformed me.