Learning Through Leadership: Lessons From Weeks 4 & 5 at Longevity
Longevity’s Edgecliff intern Ryan here again – coming at you after the finish of week 5.
My favourite part about these last two weeks has been my conversations with the EPs on site. There have been a couple sessions this week where I found myself a bit confused with the structure of a session, or about specific decisions that were made spur of the moment. When that happened, I jotted them down, and later in the day was able to sit down with those EPs and discuss those points of contention. Every time, I was able to have an incredibly productive and informative conversation about what I saw from an external view, what I thought I would have done in that situation, and go through how it differed from the session. I ended up learning a lot not only about my own biases, but about how different minds approach the same challenges.
Overall, week 4 was really another week of taking steps in a forward direction. I spent more and more time being the “lead EP” in sessions, with the AEP sitting back and taking a more passive role. The toughest part I found was in the lack of time to think – often I’ll be coming straight from one session to the next, and as soon as I step in front of the client, the EP will hand me the iPad and say “go.” Instructing an exercise or running a cardio protocol is relatively comfortable in isolation, but it feels like a whole different beast when you’re the one leading the pattern, telling a client where to go next, and having full control of the sequence of events.
Last Thursday’s PD was a special one – there was a guest speaker named Sally Clarke who gave a very insightful talk regarding work, burnout, balance, and anything of the like. She took the time to go through how you might go about recognizing burnout in yourself, recognizing burnout in your colleagues and friends, and some really great tips into making sure that you are doing your best to stay happy and healthy for as long as possible. That in itself was a great opportunity I was happy to be a part of, but on top of that I also had the chance to attend the company-wide Quarterly meeting last Friday. You can imagine my surprise when I showed up expecting a day-long sit down conference, and I was immediately ushered into the TimeZone arcade, where we spent 90 minutes at 9am with unlimited access to Skee-Ball and crane machines! I spent as much of my day as possible meeting EPs from other locations, trying to learn a bit more about what Longevity looks like outside of Edgecliff. It was a great day overall, and learning more about the company as a whole as well as getting the chance to meet more of the team has really added to my overall knowledge of the company and how the team operates on a more macro-level.
Week 5 was a big week of reflection for me. Firstly, reflecting on the different EPs that we have here – as I’ve been able to sit in on sessions with a broader range of team members, I’ve been able to sit and jot some notes about some observable strengths, challenge areas, and just an overall feeling of how they tend to run a session. This has allowed me to analyse who I align with most, who I feel I differ the most from, and why those differences exist.
One challenge I am giving myself for next week came from those reflections. I believe the idea originally came from the Longevity director Jarrat: spend a day as if it’s opposite day. Imagine that person that you find you differ from the most, and spend the day being in their shoes. Speak as they would, run the session as they would, and see how it feels.I’m super excited to share the results of this with you guys next week!
These two weeks have been a great week for experiences. Having opportunities arise like the Sally Clarke chat and the Quarterly conference were fantastic for my learning, and I can’t wait to implement some of the topics and areas of growth into my weeks going forward. Week 5 in the books! Be sure to keep an eye out on my next blog post, where I discuss how my opposite day went!
Want to find out more about current job opportunities? Call us at Longevity Exercise Physiology Ascot Vale, Aspley, Broadbeach, Burwood, Casey, Castle Hill, Coburg, Deagon, Drummoyne, Edgecliff, Five Dock, Gladesville, Gungahlin, Kingsgrove, Liverpool, Macarthur Campbelltown, Macarthur Tindall, Marrickville, Neutral Bay, Penrith, Pymble, Pyrmont, Randwick, Rhodes, Rosebery, Springfield, Yamanto today on 1300 964 002 or apply now via Seek: https://www.seek.com.au/Longevity-Exercise-Physiology-jobs
Written by Ryan (intern)