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Rebecca Jones posted this in Leadership on April 30th, 2012 I recently met Graham Lavender, a recent MLIS graduate seeking employment in the GTA. Many colleagues ask me “what’s the caliber of the new grads?” My response? “Awesome.” These new grads are ‘out there’ — networking, taking extra courses to further their insights, gaining experience with different types of positions, and writing. And, most importantly, they are contributing to and participating in professional associations. Like so many of us, they recognize that CLA, OLA, SLA and many other library associations are OUR associations: they are foundation for networking, advocating, learning, and, as Graham writes here, leadership development.
Graham is a talented writer, and I thank him for letting us share his thoughts on leadership development through our professional associations. For more writing by Graham, check out his blog at grahamlavender.com. Here he reflects on his involvement with associations in Montreal, where he worked for two and a half years as a liaison librarian at McGill.
By Graham Lavendar
For many, library school is a time of heady optimism and ambition. Students graduate with the desire to land a job and immediately set to work improving their new library, armed with a post-graduate degree’s worth of theory and best practices. Unfortunately, most entry-level librarian positions do not include leadership as a core duty, and this can leave new professionals feeling impotent and unappreciated. Why should someone with twenty or thirty years of real world experience (in addition to an MLIS and possibly numerous publications and other scholarly work) be given leadership roles over
Continue reading Leadership Development Through Professional Associations
Rebecca Jones posted this in Conferences, Leadership on March 29th, 2012 The theme of Michael Edson’s keynote at Computers in Libraries 2012 last week was “think big, start small, move fast.” Thanks to Information Today (CIL producers & publishers) and This Week in Libraries for their video coverage of all the keynotes and many presentations. I encourage you to grab a coffee or tea, and, if you work with co-workers, grab them too, and view some of these resources. Erik Boekesteijn’s interview with Michael is below, so maybe you could start with this one. Pay particular attention to what he says and the implications for strategic and operational plans:
Think Big: dream, imagine and design the experiences you envision for your library, your organization, your clients, your staff, yourself Start Small: identify the initiatives that will lead to the dream that are doable, that give you wins & successes to maintain the momentum so crucial to keep going Move Fast: get to it, today. As Michael says, what cost thousands of dollars & personpower a few years ago can now be piloted for a few thousand within a matter of weeks. Do it. Now. What’s the worst that can happen? To Jane & I, the worst that can happen is that you don’t move fast, & someone else does, leaving you way behind.
Other gold nuggets Mike left us with to consider: “The tangible value of the present moment needs to be exploited.”
“Every user is a hero on their own epic journey and it is
Continue reading Think Big, Start Small, Move Fast
Rebecca Jones posted this in Leadership, Learning on March 15th, 2012 Southern Ontario Library Service (SOLS) has been operating an innovative leadership program for the past four years. Spearheaded by Anne Marie Madziak, The APLL Institute (pronounced “apple”, this stands for Advancing Public Library Leadership) is specifically designed for those who aren’t yet in senior management positions. Running over 24 months, participants only need to travel to on-site classroom setting twice – once at the beginning of the program and then at the close. During the intervening months they participate in 12 online courses and discussions.
I’m delighted to be a part of this program as instructor of the Planning course. Anne Marie and I are in the midst of reviewing and redesigning this course. To inform our review Anne Marie contacted graduates of the first 2 programs. What she heard not only informs this leadership program, but has implications for other management and leadership learning events. Here’s Anne Marie’s comments:
As coordinator of APLL, I’m keen to understand what the lasting benefits of the program are two years after graduation. Are there courses that continue to be of relevance? The 9 APLL leadership practices that frame the program are:
Inspire and hold the vision Reach for exemplary service Make intelligent decisions Embrace strategic and purposeful change Create a learning environment Cultivate relationships Develop individuals Sustain a healthy workplace Navigate municipal and community connectedness
Are these leadership practices still useful or long forgotten? Are there particular skills, knowledge or competencies attributed to the program? With a new cohort beginning the program
Continue reading APLL Leadership Program
Juanita posted this in Conferences, Leadership on February 7th, 2012 Wendy Hicks of Stratford Public Library created and moderated a session with an incredible mix of seasoned managers offering their top ten tips to be an effective manager. Although they didn’t say it, I heard the overall message as “Keep in touch.”
1. Keep in touch with the front line: Know what front line staff knows. Go on the front line occasionally to find out what the customers are thinking, and what staff is experiencing.
2. Keep in touch with yourself: Govern your temper, put everything in perspective, and be the calm centre of any storm. Be in control of yourself. 3. Keep in touch with staff: Be respectful of staff, and that respect will then be reciprocated. Acknowledge and highlight the work someone does well. Don’t just point out flaws. While it’s important to make sure staff knows what they can improve, it’s important that they know what they have done well.
4. Keep in touch with the golden rule: Give 100% of the credit to everyone else when a project has gone well. Heap praise on them. Be front and centre when criticism comes your way. Project your people. Take the burden of blame. Build trust, show you have their back and people will do their best for you.
5. Keep in touch with the culture: Keep your style flexible to reflect the style needed in any given environment.
6. Keep in touch with opportunities: Look for opportunities to guide people. Don’t try to control. Identify people’s
Continue reading OLA Superconference 2012: Top Ten Management Tips
Rebecca Jones posted this in Leadership on January 31st, 2012 Too often we find ourselves in a leadership role – whether as a team lead, supervisor, or manager, before we’ve really prepared ourselves. And, can you prepare? Or do you learn on the job? Come & discuss this on Thursday Feb 2 at the OLA Superconference in Session 309 @ 9:05 a.m.
The Accidental Manager
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Rebecca Jones posted this in Leadership on January 24th, 2012 I’ve been away from the blog for too long. I’ve always been amazed at how our colleagues write such powerful blog posts – daily (Stephen Abram!). I admit it – I can’t do it. Projects and clients and family and faith have been my focus for the past few months. I have so much to say! So, projects or no, it’s time to get back to contemplating and sharing the insights we get while on these projects.
Projects will be much more manageable with Juanita Richardson on board. YEAH! We’re delighted that Juanita has joined D&J as an associate. I’m supposed to put her “official photo” in this blog post, but I like this pic with Jane much better — it shows Jane and Juanita as they are — full of life and fun! You can see the “official” one in the About Us section.
Juanita Richardson joins D&J from Richardson Jalakas & Associates – an information strategy company she founded in 1998. Juanita has experience on both sides of the information industry. Most recently, she worked for many years as Business Development Consultant for CEDROM-SNi. Prior to that, she was Manager of Licensing, Product Strategy and Client Services with InfomartDialog. Before “crossing the street” she was Manager of the Business Information Centre for Deloitte & Touche and held positions in the Research Departments of Wood Gundy and ScotiaMcLeod. She is an instructor at Seneca College’s Library and Information Technician program.
Bilingual, with an MLS, MBA and vast experience in the
Continue reading Welcome Juanita Richardson
Years ago I got really excited about “neoteny” when I read Warren Bennis’ book, Geeks & Geezers: How Eras, Values & Defining Moments Shape Leaders (2002). I love the word and the concept, and so does Joichi Ito, the director of the M.I.T. Media Lab, according to this article on innovation in the New York Times. He says, “Neoteny, one of my favorite words, means the retention of childlike attributes in adulthood: idealism, experimentation and wonder. In this new world, not only must we behave more like children, we also must teach the next generation to retain those attributes that will allow them to be world-changing, innovative adults who will help us reinvent the future.” Also, “education is [not] about centralized instruction anymore; rather, it is the process establishing oneself as a node in a broad network of distributed creativity.” Ito is also the general partner of Neoteny Labs.
I have given several talks on why libraries fail, and published an article on the topic, and one of the things I include in developing leaders is “the ability to retain youthful qualities as adults — curiosity, playfulness, eagerness, fearlessness, warmth, energy. Certainly this is the season for it, so strengthen your neoteny!
Thanks to Cindy Gordon who gave me a copy of the book she just wrote with John & JoAnn Girard, Business Goes Virtual: Realizing the Value of Collaboration, Social and Virtual Strategies. I will be interviewing Cindy for the Education Institute Conversations with Leaders series on Tuesday December 6th at 2pm EST. The book begins with a definition of virtual business and the new face of organizations which is being enabled by social technology. Another enabler in the virtual world is leadership and Chapter 3 of the book shares stories of a number of businesses and the strategies that have been successful for them — lots of tips for any organization here! The culture of sharing and collaboration is another enabler for virtual business and the book includes some great stats on the return on collaboration. Virtual worlds and their adoption by tweens is covered and discussed as an impact for organizations of the future. Strategies for and examples of successful organizations abound — you’ll get lots of ideas and insights from the book and from my interview with Cindy. Get the latest strategies and insights for any organization as our world becomes more virtual. Join us. Register here.
An interesting study by MDC Partners & Allison & Partners called the C-Factors Report points to creativity, collaboration and culture to re-engerize today’s global economy. They surveyed leading CEOs & CMOs who view creativity as a criticial driver of the global economy. Great stats & insights:
* 73 % of respondents think we’ve entered the “imagination” economy, with 98 percent affirming that creativity is critical to economic success today
* 76% state that creativity has a significant impact on driving business forward
* over half (57%) strive to develop a strong creative culture within their organizations; & 80% believe creativity must be generated and fostered by industry leaders in order for new and innovative thinking to survive
* 73% of senior executives will place an increasing emphasis on creatively inspired communications in the coming years
“Creating a vision, and building a defined culture around that vision, was a strong theme. Thought leaders from start-ups such as Inkling, to legacy companies such as IBM, all cited the need for deep discipline and a firm self-audit process to unleash the broadest creative efforts possible within a corporation.”
I’ts exhilarating for Rebecca and I when we work with clients to create visions that are so exciting and forward thinking that organization leaders can build strong support for their strategies to guide them towards that positive future. I love the “imagination” economy mentioned in this study and the fact that leaders realize innovative thinking and creative cultures are so important today. Goes back to my favorite Walt Disney
Continue reading Creativity, Visions & Success
What a great fall day when we celebrate Jim Henson’s 75th birthday and wish he was still with us. What a creative genius who dared to do something different and made a difference in so many lives! I love this post from last year about leadership lessons from the Muppets: so many positive words from such interesting perspectives including Kermit and the Fraggles. Rebecca and I have been talking a lot lately about critical thinking and the necessity of looking at challenges from difference frames or perspectives. So check out those from the Muppets, they’re great!
And also have a look at Search Engine Land’s post about today’s Google Muppet doodle. It explains the interactivity of this doodle even if it doesn’t have audio like lots of net curmudgeons complained about this morning. Life is too short — Henson died at 53. Be happy and creative; enjoy your weekend and Henson’s Google Muppet Day!
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