Leadership in Uncertain Times

Over the past several years, I have interviewed for jobs at quite a few universities. While most people have strong feelings about job interviews (usually dislike to loathing), I really enjoy the interview process. Some of this comes from the fact that I don’t get nervous and don’t’ have butterflies talking in front of people. The other part comes from the enjoyment of meeting new people and having the opportunity to talk about things that I am passionate about.

Since I am interviewing for leadership positions (Dean of Libraries/University Librarian) I can always expect to get one or more questions related to my leadership/management style. While I always have a number of responses that I give depending on the institution and the tone/shape of the question, I recently have had the opportunity to be a bit more reflective.

For the first ten to fifteen years of my career, I had no interest or desire to be in a leadership position. I saw these leadership positions as “stepping outside the profession” and not getting to do the real work of a librarian. In 1997 I started a doctoral program and two courses I took changed the way that I thought about leadership and management.  One was on university administration and management and the other on leadership. Both courses were taught by very successful women. I came out of those courses with a real appreciation of management/leadership and a nascent belief that this is something I could do.

After being in senior leadership positions for 19 years I am convinced that a library leader is doing the real work of the profession. While I am convinced that library administration is real library work, I still quite often here joking and not so joking quips from some administrators that they don’t do real library work.  The flip side of this is when former colleagues talk about taking a leadership position as going over to the “dark side”.

In the past, one of my stock answers, when asked about by management/leadership style was that I hired good people and got out of their way and let them do their job. I wanted people to know that I am not a micromanager. I went on to explain that my style was collaborative, and I appreciated lots of input from librarians and staff. I listened to people and could be persuaded by the input of others.

In a recent job application, I was asked for a more formal statement on leadership and I had a chance to be more reflective and thoughtful about my response. In thinking about my style and what is important to me, I wrote that my personal leadership philosophy is a mixture of three leadership ideas/philosophies; namely “transformational leadership”, Robert Greenleaf’s “servant leadership” and Nelson Mandela’s “leading from behind”. I think these three philosophies work well together because they are centered on the library’s most important asset; namely its people. Staff (librarians, professional, and support staff) are key to operational and strategic success. Without these key people, a library is a physical or digital warehouse.

Transformational leadership centers on the goal of transforming people and the social systems in which they work. The transformational model involves influence, motivation, stimulation, and consideration. Transformational leader attempts to influence others by modeling behavior that others will seek to emulate. As part of the modeling behavior, the leader never asks the staff to do things that they themselves are unwilling to do. Motivation plays a key role in helping staff to grow and should be a key part of a leader’s plan for supporting professional development across the organization. Transformational leadership focuses on growing the organization through intellectual stimulation and providing individual consideration to staff members rather than taking a cookie cutter approach. I like this approach because of my own penchant for change, innovation, and creativity. It builds support for the ongoing and constant change in libraries and the need to continually reimagine our work.

Servant leadership may seem like an oxymoron to many. How can you lead and also be a servant? The genius of servant leadership is its focus on people and on many of the soft skills that employees often feel that upper administration lacks. These include things like listening, empathy, healing, persuasion, commitment to the growth of people, and building community.  This approach is a holistic approach that builds up and supports people of the organization.  Sage advice from many leaders is to hire and develop people who are smarter than you as they can help advance the organization in ways that a leader alone cannot. Servant leadership provides the type of support that allows this model to flourish.

Nelson Mandela’s thoughts on leading from behind invokes the idea of a shepherd that carefully works in the background and often from behind in helping everyone move forward. It does not mean that the leader is silent or never in a forward role but one where the leader does not always need the limelight.  Leading from behind was part of President Barrack Obama’s strategy and one for which he was roundly criticized by some. Elements of “leading from behind” can be seen in the work of Mahatma Gandhi as well as Martin Luther King. Leading from behind allows the more adventurous (early adopters) to move forward while others follow, all the while being directed/nudged/prodded in a particular direction. It allows for some personal freedom while also allowing the leader to see and influence the overall direction.

We live in uncertain times. Higher education is under attack from many quarters. Funding for higher education and for libraries are a constant challenge. The Library’s mission continues to evolve and grow with changes in technology, scholarship, and the demographics of students and faculty. Each of these changes requires leadership that is sensitive to these and a myriad of other changes and to help the library (read its people) navigate the changes and to be the educational and creative partners that our universities, students, faculty, and our public need.

Leadership in uncertain times requires, I believe, a people-centered approach. A staff who is strong, agile, and constantly learning will enable our libraries to make a significant and lasting impact. It will not make the times less uncertain, but it will make our people more certain of their ability to thrive and grow.