I was
hired as a part-time receptionist for a provider who recently opened a small
psychotherapy practice. My role initially consisted of setting appointments and
following up on referrals, but it turned into so much more. The practice was
thriving; the schedule was booked full of appointments, and my responsibilities
were growing. By taking the initiative
to improve my company's website without being asked, I showed leadership skills
and the willingness to go above and beyond what is expected of me.
The website
did not reflect the practice in the correct light. It was a generic three-page
site that my boss did not have any user control. Luckily for him, his
referrals came from Psychologytoday.com. Because no referrals ever came from
the website. My boss had accepted the website as it merely functioned like a
yellow page listing on the web. I understood the great disparity in costs
between a simple custom website versus a basic generic one. And that’s when a
lightbulb went on inside my head, and I got an idea to create a website for the
practice, myself. I knew it could be done, and in a way that would cut his
costs for website services and allow for more user control over the content.
I began comparing websites of similar facilities and I
learned that other providers had similarly generic websites with minimal
personalization. For the next step of my research, I wanted to get examples of
well-put-together provider websites with details about their services. I
gathered ideas, organized them, and began to draft the outline for the template.
I shared my idea with my sister, who is a freelance web designer. She agreed to
take on the task and write code for a template when she had free time. Over a
couple of weeks, my sister captured my vision and built a professional,
aesthetically pleasing template. I uploaded my content and continued to fine-tune everything. Once the site was ready, I surprised my boss with the news and
revealed the website to him.
My
boss was amazed at the website and showed his gratitude for our efforts. My
sister and my boss signed a formal contract for the template build. And shortly
after its launch, he was getting pitched to be on the show ‘Hoarders’, and he
credited the website with getting him noticed. I knew the site would do well
with Google’s Search Engine page results because my sister was very skilled at
writing code. As a result, I was able to lower my boss’s costs for website
services overall. And the best part about the website was that I could easily
train anyone on how to navigate the platform to make changes.
What
does this example show about my leadership style? I am a visionary leader. I
anticipated future demand would necessitate a strong web presence, and I
prepared for it. An excellent, quality website would benefit the
practice by standing out among competitors. And although I was never asked to
take on the task, I took the initiative when I saw that I could add value and
go beyond what was expected of me without overstepping my authority. In this
situation, I decided it would be better to show my boss the finished product
instead of pitching my idea to him first. The end result proved to be far
better than I ever imagined.
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