While shadowing Victoria, I learned about how evaluations as a Senior Consultant are usually done. She taught me that the Senior Consultants evaluate consultants that they work with and the ones that work in their SINC Sites. Even though Glen is a great consultant and would also become a great Senior Consultant, she asked me to practice evaluating, by evaluating Glen. I asked him questions about procedures when working Main Library SINC Site, such as opening and closing procedures and how to make announcements. He did great on the evaluation (of course). I realized that sometimes, even if you know the consultant ver well, and how their work ethics are like, it is still important to do evaluations so you get a better sense of who they really are, instead of how you perceive them. I think that by evaluating and communicating with the consultants are a huge part of this job. By giving and receiving constructive criticism, it helps the individuals grow and learn as a person both professionally and personally. Seeing Victoria do her evaluations made me feel like if I were in her position, I would like to give and receive constructive criticism. I believe that nobody is perfect and that the only way to get closer to perfection, is through improving ourselves. But how are we supposed to improve ourselves if we don’t know what to improve on?

Not only did we cover evaluations this week, I also learned about the importance of delegating tasks and about leadership. I learned that even though we have mentors to shadow and that we should follow in their footsteps, we should maintain our own sense of originality. I learned a lot about how I am as a leader and what type of leader I want to be. I want to be a friendly face that other consultants or users can come to for advice. This week, I became comfortable with taking charge at Main Library SINC Site. My mentors allowed me to take charge and become “Site Manager of the Hour.” I practiced delegating tasks and learned how to be affirmative yet gentle when in an authoritative stance. I practiced how to be kind when trying to delegate tasks. I learned that consultants will respect you if you just ask kindly. When I was “Site Manager of the Hour,” I learned that knowing alternatives to problems just helps to make the run of things so much smoother. By knowing where things are on campus helps makes you a great senior consultant. When others ask where a certain item is or where to get a specific service, by knowing these alternatives, I feel great about myself when I know I can help others. Sometimes it is really frustrating when you need a specific service, but every time you ask someone, they redirect you to another place that isn’t exactly what you wanted. By being available and knowing alternatives, I can be that person to provide information to others.