When Leadership Falls Short: The Crisis of Care in Library Work
Posted on in Blog Posts
Situating Yourself as a Leader, No Matter Your Position
Posted on July 29, 2024 in Blog Posts
Authors:
Jamia Williams
As a working librarian, I have often thought of leadership as a duty reserved for those in formal positions, although this differs from how I had thought of leadership prior to becoming a librarian. It has thus been exciting to see so many presentations, much research, and many books being produced about leadership in librarianship in recent years. This has helped me reconsider leadership as central to our profession at every level. One training in particular that has helped me remember that we all are leaders is the Situational Leadership course created by Paul Hersey in 1969. When I first entered the training, I did not understand why I needed to participate, but I was reminded that we all are leaders at different times, and we can all utilize the tools provided in the training. In this blog post, I want to discuss the importance of classes and training that discuss leadership, even for those who are not in a formal leadership role. Many academic librarians lead projects, teach, or provide professional service, all of which offer opportunities for us to showcase our leadership skills.
The Situational Leadership training introduced me to four distinct leadership styles: directing, coaching, collaborating, and delegating. To elaborate on each a bit further:
- Style 1- Telling, Directing, or Guiding: The leader makes decisions and closely supervises execution. This is a short-term approach intended to create movement.
- Style 2- Selling, Coaching, or Explaining: The leader still makes decisions but provides background and context and engages with the follower to reinforce buy-in and continued progress.
- Style 3- Participating, Collaborating, or Facilitating: The follower makes decisions with the leader’s support to instill and enhance task mastery.
- Style 4—Delegating, Empowering, or Monitoring: The follower is trusted to make task-related decisions, suggest strategies for improvement, and identify best practices.
As this overview illustrates, there is no one-size-fits-all leadership style. The key is to adapt these styles based on the needs of the team or individual being led. Failing to do so can lead to ineffective leadership, either in the form of micromanagement or absenteeism.
To figure out which style best applies to a given situation, consider how you can show up as a leader in the various scenarios that we traverse through our work as academic librarians. You should also consider your team members’ strengths. If you are not yet familiar with an individual or people on your team, it is a good idea to ask them questions about their strengths or areas where they would like to grow. For instance, working on a presentation with someone offers an opportunity to collaborate on public speaking, with the stronger speaker supporting their presentation partner’s efforts to improve their skills by having that partner speak the most during the presentation. On the other hand, if you already know the individual or team members with whom you are collaborating, you will hopefully have some insight into showcasing their strengths. If not, asking questions will similarly be helpful in achieving success.
Understanding how to lead is crucial, but equally important is understanding how you prefer to be led. Being aware of how your supervisor or teammate can best support you is a key aspect of effective leadership. Sometimes, you may need detailed instructions when dealing with something new, while other times, you may just need space to work independently. Therefore, take the time to reflect on how you can be led and supported in your committee work, teaching, supervision, and projects. Being able to articulate your needs will benefit everyone with whom you work.
Hopefully, you know you are a leader even if you are not in a formal role. These are some tips I gleaned from the situational leadership training. If your institution has this training, take it! It will be helpful to you because many times, as academic librarians, we are project managers for the different job tasks that we have to execute. Learning that there are other ways to lead is a game changer, and most of all, learning how you need to be led is vital so that your formal supervisor can give you what you need to succeed. Please consider taking leadership courses and trainings to sharpen your leadership abilities and skills.
About the author:
Jamia Williams (she/her) is a health sciences librarian. She is also the co-creator and co-host of the podcast LibVoices and the founder of The Diversity Fellow’s blog.
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