Check out Simon Sinek–How Great Leaders Inspire Action (TED lecture):
For inspirational leadership, it all starts with “Why”…..
Words of wisdom from General Casey
I had the privilege of hearing General George W. Casey, Jr. (Ret.) 36th Chief of Staff, United States Army discuss the challenges of working and leading in a VUCA environment—volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity. Wikipedia has an excellent article about how this military concept has been utilized in business and higher education: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatility,_uncertainty,_complexity_and_ambiguity
Some of General Casey’s gems:
- Expect that your plan will not survive first contact with the enemy.
- Hard to make predictions when talking about the future.
- Clarity and simplicity are key in communications; leaders should be prepared to repeat themselves over and over.
6 areas that leaders need to focus on for success:
- Vision and strategy
- Unity of effort – consensus-building inside and outside the organization
- Build a great team – members should have vision, courage, and character
- Influencing organizational change
- Communication
- Sustaining yourself – read, rest, exercise, think
Some of these areas are described in Chapter 6 of this NDU Press book called Strategic Reflections: http://www.ndu.edu/press/strategic-reflections-ch6.html
Tidbits from ALA: Assessment, Statistics, & Change
With summer thunderstorms, meetings dispersed between the convention center and far away hotels, and the Blackhawk’s Stanley Cup victory celebration & parade, travel to and around Chicago was a little challenging, but this still was an enjoyable conference. Here are a few tidbits from a few sessions that I attended at ALA 2013:
ARL Assessment Forum
Paula Kaufman, Tina Chrzastowski, & Lynn Wiley presented on a study of the value of E-books to academic libraries and users, very similar to this one:
As part of the study, Humanities faculty were surveyed about their preference for e-books or print books, and for those that preferred print, one of the major reasons they cited was that it was not possible, or much more cumbersome, to highlight and make notes directly on e-books compared to their ability to do so on print books. However, as one audience member noted, the survey respondents seemed to be comparing their use of print books that they owned (and could make notations on) to e-books (either purchased, or accessed through the library). From a library perspective, it seems like it would be much more interesting to compare preference for print books borrowed from the library (which faculty should not be marking up) and e-books accessed through the library (which in the right format or platform, they potentially could mark up electronically). It would be interesting to see if preferences would shift towards e-books in this context, given how important highlighting and note-taking appear to be for the way that Humanities faculty use books.
ARL Survey Coordinators & SPEC Liaisons meeting
Good news for those that help with the ARL Statistics! There will be no changes to the survey this year, following the major changes that we dealt with last year (If you are curious, here is an item by item comparison between the old and the new ARL statistics questions).
However, two new ARL surveys are likely on the horizon. The first potential survey will focus more deeply on Special Collections. In the past, ARL collected data on linear feet of archival material, and more recently, they have collected info on staffing and expenditures in Special Collections. However, there is a recognition that much more interesting, relevant, and useful data could be collected in this area. There was no hint yet at what this might be, so stay tuned…
The other area of future interest is some sort of survey about library buildings. Again, there were no details about what might be included, and the frequency of the survey could range from once, to every 3-5 years, to an inventory that is updated as needed. Again, stay tuned….
Organization Theory & Practice Discussion Group
This was a wide ranging discussion, but one of the more interesting themes was a comparison between the way that many of us are currently experiencing constant change in our organizations and the way that change is described in theories of organizational change and change management. These theories usually are articulated as having a clear starting point, mid-points, and a definite end point. However, with the pace of change in current library and higher education environment, it seems like we are just digesting one change when another one comes along. In this context, change feels more like an evolutionary process, or perhaps an ongoing series of waves, rather than something that you bring to completion.
Manager resources: training and positivity
I came across these resources last week and thought they were worth sharing!
Manager Excellence Resource Center
For UCI employees. “MERC includes people management eCourses, guides, checklists, tools, and other resources to help develop the team and individuals. MERC helps supervisors/managers save time and better meet the needs of their direct reports, team/department, customers, and provides resources for their own professional development.”
Note to Managers: Positivity Matters
“There are many elements to consider as we evaluate strategies to effectively lead a group of individuals in today’s world of work — but, can positivity play a central role in enhancing a team’s outlook and performance outcomes? A growing body of evidence says, yes.”
Snippets from SLA
I recently had the good fortune to attend the SLA (Special Libraries Association) Annual Conference, where I also encountered two of our colleagues, Julia G. and Bethany H! SLA is a smaller and arguably more manageable beast than ALA Annual, though it’s pricey to attend. That said, the expenses are worthwhile for intimate networking opportunities (many familiar faces by day three), focused subject presentations, and a high concentration of relevant vendors, all of which are quite useful for me as a business librarian.
Two standout presentations that may be of interest to my UCI Libraries friends were:
2) Leadership: A Commanding Officer’s Viewpoint.
I also schmoozed at events hosted by the Business & Finance subgroup. Having chatted with many early-career business librarians, we all ponder which group will give us the best professional-involvement-ROI (Return On Investment), and our two key groups are SLA- B&F and ALA- BRASS (Business Reference & Services Section). Currently I am the new webmaster for BRASS, and I look forward to attending my first ALA conference, (aack, flying tomorrow!) in part so I can compare the in-person business subgroup experiences between ALA and SLA.
Maybe I should start packing…
Inspiring Leadership through Emotional Intelligence
Richard Boyatzis of Case Western University is teaching a Coursera course on building great leadership through better relationships, entitled “Inspiring Leadership through Emotional Intelligence.” The course will start on October 28 and is 8 weeks long. The course commitment is about 3-4 hours per week; perhaps there could be a “watch group” to meet weekly during lunch. Here’s the course summary:
Great leaders move us through our emotions. They establish a deep emotional connection with others called resonance. Their own levels of emotional intelligence allow them to create and nurture these resonant relationships. They use their EI as a path to resonant leadership through mindfulness, hope, compassion, and playfulness. Unfortunately, most people in leadership and helping positions (i.e., doctors, teachers, coaches, etc.) lose their effectiveness over time because of the cumulative damage from chronic stress. But humans can renew themselves, neurologically, hormonally, and emotionally.
Based on decades of research into emotional intelligence competencies and longitudinal studies of their development, the course will examine resonance and developing “resonant leadership” capability, emotional intelligence, and the experiences of mindfulness, hope, and compassion. Using the latest in neuroscience, behavioral, organizational and psychological research, participants will understand the theory, research, and experience of the Positive Emotional Attractor that is an essential beginning to sustained, desired change for individuals, teams, organizations and communities.
Performance Management is more than Annual Performance Evaluations
It’s that time of the year again: all Libraries’ supervisors are writing the annual performance evaluations for their staff direct reports. And it’s also a good time to remember that a performance evaluation/appraisal is just one part of an ongoing performance management. An effective performance management includes setting individual goals that are aligned with those of the whole department of unit, working together with your directs to create individual development plans, tracking their performance results, coaching for improved performance, rewarding and recognizing good performance, providing the training needed to perform successfully, and motivating all staff to perform at their very best.
The article The Art (and Basics) of Performance Management shows why performance management is important, and how to set SMART objectives. Creating Development Plans that Actually Work gives you some good ideas on producing solid development plans. And here’s a very basic but effective coaching model: How to Coach
An effective performance management process will maximize your staff engagement and performance, while also increasing the effectiveness of the managers and supervisors that are using it.
TED talk
This TED talk focuses on “what makes us feel good about our work.” It would appear that it is not the fact that you love what you are doing. And it is not about the pay check. What it really comes down to is feeling a sense of purpose and being recognized for your efforts. I also really enjoyed listening to the reports on the experiments that helped to prove this idea.
Shared Responsibility for the ILS: How Does That Work?
This is a presentation by Colby given at the IUG (Innovative Users Group) Annual Conference in 2013.
The ILS Coordinators Group is a relatively uncommon strategy for managing the ILS. The University of California Irvine Libraries have implemented a management approach for the ILS which decentralizes control and distributes the responsibilities for modules into their respective functional areas. The presentation included: prior organizational configurations and the rationale for change; benefits and improvements in service; group structure including the background and skills of its members; allocation of responsibilities and functions within the group; tools and methodologies used by the group, including a work-ticket system, documentation practices and project management techniques; a critical assessment of efforts to-date; and future refinements.
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