Last week, I was at the hair salon getting my hair cut.  It’s a super friendly place and I was chatting with one of the young women who works there – she’s 19 years old. Since I’m a new client, she asked me what I did for a living. Of course, I said “I’m a librarian”. Her response?  And I quote, “You’re awfully nice to be a librarian”.  All I could say was “that makes me really sad”.

It turns out that her concept of librarians is that they’re, you guessed it, kind of scary and always telling people to be quiet.  The frowning shusher, intent on policing behavior and collecting fines.

You and I both know that’s an outdated stereotype, but the sad truth is that so many people still think the same thing.

And the sadder truth is – there are still too many librarians acting that way. 

In my years of working in libraries, I’ve seen this many times and – I’m sorry to say – was guilty of it myself in my early days.  I thought the library should be a quiet space and that we should teach people, especially children, responsibility by holding them accountable for borrowed materials by charging fines. 

But over time, I realized that what I was really doing was just turning kids off to books and libraries.  Maybe permanently. They’re the kids who grew into adults who say things like “You’re awfully nice to be a librarian”.  And then I read a quote by Doug Johnson, author of the Blue Skunk Blog that said “The goal of a library is not to get back all the books, but all the readers” (Doug Johnson, 2013).

For complete show notes, please visit masterfullibrarian.com/ep-31

In this very short episode, I’m going to talk about the value of story. No, not the kind of stories we usually think of in libraries, but rather the kind our team members have to tell. It’s in these personal narratives that you might discover the most magical solutions to troubling issues.  

As usual, full show notes can be found at masterfullibrarian.com/ep-30.

I discovered this gold mine in a surprising way. 

One of the best parts of my new job is exit interviews.  When a staff member of one of my direct reports leaves, for any reason, they have the opportunity to do an exit interview with me. So far, I’ve had the privilege of doing two – one with a retiring staff member and one with someone who was moving on to a new opportunity. 

 I really love doing these interviews! Although it’s always sad to see an employee go, I just never cease to be enthralled with the stories they tell me about their lives, their work in the library, their challenges, and their successes. And when I really listen and ask powerful questions, I learn much that I can bring to bear in solving library problems.  

 In fact, I learn so much about things like what has worked well, what has done damage, or where an employee might have been better supported along the way, that I realized it was a shame to wait until they were leaving to do these interviews!  So,  I’ve started doing similar interviews now, long before a team member is  even thinking about leaving. 

And although it’s true that someone who’s already out the door will often be more forthcoming with feedback - both constructive and not so much -  I’ve found that when I create for an employee the time, space, and safety to share without fear of retribution – and remember team leaders, that is key, to share without fear of retribution - stories start to flow out like a waterfall.

It’s incredibly useful information for me, as a team leader.

You can do this, too.  It takes some time and a willingness to listen without judgement or even comment, but the payoff is worth it.  

It’s honestly what coaching is all about – asking meaningful, open-ended questions and then really listening to the response.

Because here is the truth.  Every single one of us has a story.  We come to our work, not as blank canvases, but as real people with an infinite variety of experiences, successes, failure, scars, and habits (not all good) . And all of those are interwoven to create the tapestry that is our unique and personal story.

 I have found that when I invite an employee, a member of my team, or really anyone, to tell me their story and I sit and I listen with an open and empathetic mind and heart, they will begin to open up and share some of their authentic narrative with me. And in this way, we can connect and begin to build a relationship of trust and respect. And when I care enough to validate their experiences and their personal viewpoints and perceptions – even when I don’t agree, or when I know that their perception is not accurate – that relationship grows stronger. 

 And when that relationship grows stronger, I have the opportunity to develop that individual into a better team member and to help them move forward toward their own personal goals and objectives. So it’s a win-win.

And when I’m doing that - when that happens - the magic of true collaboration and teamwork starts.

For complete show notes, please visit masterfullibrarian.com/ep-30

Hello librarians.  Welcome to this week’s episode where I’m going to talk about leaders in the library – they’re not always who you think they are.  As usual, for complete show notes, you can go to masterfullibrarian.com/ep-29.

I like to think, learn, and share about leadership.  It’s really kind of my thing. Becoming a better leader is something that I work at all the time. And since I started my new position, it’s been even more important to me because I have a fairly large team that I lead. And  one of my responsibilities is to nurture and develop the people on my team – the leaders on my team – the experienced and the emerging.  So it seemed like a good thing for me to talk about with you. 

There are lots of definitions of leadership. Here are just a few:

1.      the one in the charge, the person who convinces other people to follow (https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/leader)

2.      a person who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a goal (http://www.vtaide.com/gleanings/leader.html)

3.      someone who can see how things can be improved and who rallies people to move toward that better vision (https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2020/01/06/what-is-leadership-and-who-is-a-leader/)

I kind of like that last one, but I’m most drawn to this definition from a White Paper by Bal et al.  In  the paper, The Role of Power in Effective Leadership, they define a leader as someone who has the potential to influence others.  

True leaders are powerful people and it’s because of this ability to influence. 

You could be that leader.

For complete show notes, please visit masterfullibrarian.com/ep-29.