Katherine

“When I first became a supervisor, I didn’t think much about it. I initially thought it would be just another task on my to-do list. I learned quickly- and the hard way- that this simply was not true. 

After a challenging start, I learned that being a supervisor was not just one more task to do. It was, in fact, the most important part of my work. After all those years of thinking of clients first and focusing on my individual work, I had to make a major shift to focusing on my staff and working together. I knew I couldn’t do it on my own and sought help wherever I could get it. I read books, attended trainings, and took every supervisor I knew out to coffee to learn from their experiences. 

My path to becoming an effective supervisor was slow and bumpy, and I know I’m not alone. One of the most important things I learned along the way was that being a supervisor is really challenging and that it takes time and investment to do it well. I learned to find great joy in my role, and realized that if I treated being a supervisor as just another task on my to-do list, that I would never learn to do it well and that it wouldn’t be enjoyable, impactful, or ethical to continue. “

-Katherine