Molly’s boss had recently given her some added responsibility with higher leadership expectations in the organization. In her mid-twenties, Molly was excited to have been given more responsibility, she was proud her boss saw her potential and she was enjoying her new role.
Then her boss left for a new company. While Molly waited for her boss to be named (she was not a candidate), she thought about what she should do while waiting for her boss to start. She came up with these alternatives:
- she could go back to her role before she was given the new responsibilities and wait to see what the new boss told her to do
- she could join others in her work group who were worrying about getting a new boss and how the new situation would go
- she could keep performing her most recent daily activities and trying to do those well, or
- she could use this opportunity to take on some of the activities that her former boss and new boss would do and help her work group who were operating without clear direction.
As you might guess, she chose the last alternative and became a positive leader for the organization during a time of transition, which greatly helped her future career.