you can't handle the truth.

I think a big flaw with a lot of HR practices is that they are performed too late.  For example, exit interviews. Employees are only asked for feedback after they have already decided to leave the company.  What good does that do the company?  Because they have already lost the good employee.  I worked somewhere for 3 1/2 years and was only asked for my opinion once at my exit interview.  And ironically, I was leaving because of bad management.  But of course I didn't note that in my exit interview.  It wouldn't have improved the time I spent there anyways.  It's just like instructor evaluations.  Why evaluate an instructor at the end of a course?  It doesn't improve my learning experience in any way because I'm already finished with the course.  I know that sounds selfish, but I give my most honest and thoughtful opinions when I have something to gain from it.  When I don't have anything to gain from it, I don't really put much thought into it.

I have learned that the best leaders are continuously seeking feedback from their followers and want to constantly improve their performance.  Leaders first have to want feedback.  They have to prepare to hear things that they might not want to hear.  But good leaders will look at it as a learning experience and as an opportunity to improve.  Leaders also have to create an environment where employees feel safe enough to give their honest feedback.  If employees do not feel safe, the only feedback given about a leader will be about how great of a job they are doing.  Which will just continue a cycle of bad leadership.  Lastly, leaders have to commit to making improvements after receiving feedback.  The worst feeling for an employee, student, etc. is when you put a lot of time and thought into your feedback, and nothing changes.  I can't tell you how many times I've had high hopes for professors to make improvements to their course, just to hear the next semester from a friend that it is the same.  Can they not handle the truth?  Or maybe I just give bad feedback.

one day former interns will lead the world...

It's funny how interns never have names.  It's always, "have the intern do it" or "I talked to the intern".  Or my favorite, "you're just an intern".  That's how it was when I was an intern.  A lot of the time I felt like I had INTERN written in permanent marker across my forehead and all I wanted to do was cover it up.  Once people learned that I was an intern everything I said became questionable.  But when I was actually able to cover my forehead, for example, when I was on the phone, was when I performed at my best.  Not having that label made me feel much more confident in my abilities than when I had the label.  People took me more seriously.  I was respected and people listened to what I had to say because I knew the answer, not because of my title.

I think working with interns is where a lot of managers could improve on their leadership skills.  There is a constant display of power by managers.  I think that's why most get a kick out of assigning crappy jobs to interns and leaving them nameless.  Leaders always want to prove how much more knowledgeable they are than their interns.  To be more effective leaders should listen more and be open to the fact that they might not know everything, and that they can actually learn from their interns, just as their interns are learning from them.  The best leaders are willing to listen and learn.  Leaders should also work to transform internships.  There seems to be this unwritten rule that nameless interns have to be initiated by endless amounts of filing, copying and coffee fetching.  And my impression is that a lot of managers enjoy this because it's just how they were initiated at some point in their lives.  But a good leader will look to transform an internship into something more than meaningless work.  Yes, those kinds of tasks will always be there for a business to complete, but leaders need to look beyond the restriction of that's all interns are here to do. 

Now of course my internship experience wasn't as bad as I made it sound.  I actually enjoyed the experience very much and am very appreciative of everything I learned there.  But there were plenty of times when I didn't have a name when I wished I did.  I do wonder though how long this intern cycle of abuse has been going on. Were there nameless interns in the 50's?  80's?