Posted on by hildaweisburg

Build Your Self-Awareness

How self-aware are you?

Have you ever been out walking and caught sight of your reflection in a store window? Were you surprised to see what you looked like? As the English translation has it from Robert Burns’ To a Louse, “Oh, would some Power the gift give us/To see ourselves as others see us!” We have an image in our heads not only of how we look, but, more importantly, how others see us as a person. One of the challenges as a leader, is being okay with not blending in. A leader has presence and embraces values and vision that are part of who they are – and that makes them stand out.

Do you know how people see you? It’s important to know. LaRay Quy provides three techniques for developing self-awareness and becoming a more impactful leader in her post, How Self-Awareness Allows Leaders to Make a Greater Impact:

  1. Eliminate Inconsistency – Quy says, “how we see ourselves is often an illusion, and it can be dangerous if we misjudge how we come across to our colleagues and supervisors.“ In addition, when our actions are different from our thoughts/beliefs a cognitive dissonance is produced. This causes stress and leads to a lack of confidence. No one follows a leader who isn’t confident. To help, ask friends or colleagues you trust describe you. Does the description match your self-perception? Start noticing where/when the inconsistency shows up. Ask yourself what caused it? What would have been a better way to respond.
  2. Identify Triggers – You may have noticed in the past situations that caused you to respond inconsistently with your values or to hide your feelings. According to Quy, trying to use will-power to prevent yourself from reacting to these triggers doesn’t typically work because your emotions are involved. Again, she says to check in with those trusted friends about how your reactions impact others. If you want some external information, consider taking one of the personality tests such as Myers-Briggs to help you understand why you do it. Understanding yourself is at the heart of self-awareness and can lead to changes and new habits that better support you.
  3. Live Authentically – This is the ultimate goal – being the same person people meet, no matter where they encounter you. It does require courage at times. When you leave your comfort zone and want to succeed in a new situation, it is tempting to try to fit in. But you will be far more successful by being who you are. Yes, you make yourself vulnerable by being self-aware and authentic. But leaders are not wishy-washy. They are who they are. And that’s why people count on them.

Self-awareness is an underappreciated and powerful leadership tool. Your confidence in being the same person all the time inspires others to do the same. It empowers them to take risks and become leaders themselves. And as the saying goes, “A leader’s job is not to create followers. It is to create more leaders.” Be yourself – no one else can do it.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Be Powerful

Too many people think of power negatively, associating it with the concept mostly allied with Power Over. Power Over, also known as Role Power, is authoritarian and tied to the position someone has. Because it is given due to a title, it is the least productive type of power. As School Librarians and leaders, we need to learn, use, and grow other types of power and most specifically Power With and Power Within. When we come from the power within us and strive to empower those around us, we can better deal with the many challenges we face today.

Some power is offered due to physical appearance. Someone who is louder or larger may seem to imbue or manifest power more easily. But that doesn’t lead to the collaborations and connections we want. Leslie Williams discusses using non-coercive forms of power and what to rely on in her blog post The Four Pillars of True Power. Consider which of the following are already part of your interactions with yourself and others and which you need to strengthen.

  1. Grounding – What is the solid ground beneath your feet? Hopefully, you can draw on three Grounding Elements: your code of values, your Mission, and your Vision. As Williams say, it keeps us “stable in the face of challenge.” With all the challenges we are facing, this Pillar is imperative as it gives you confidence in what you say and do. Grounded power isn’t out of control. It is solid.
  2. Focus – Focus grows out of grounding. It is what allows you to stay calm in the eye of the storm and is probably the hardest to achieve and maintain in the face of stress and challenges. You need Focus to make choices, accessing those elements that ground you. Williams says, “Focus concentrates your energy, enabling you to act and speak with intent and precision.” Consider starting each day reviewing the previously mentioned three grounding elements before launching into the daily routine.
  3. Strength – Strength in this connotation refers to courage and the ability to accomplish the task at hand. When not connected to Power Over, it comes out of the first two pillars. They give you the confidence to move out of you comfort zone. Strength is the grit and determination to push forward knowing the values you resolved to protect. Yes, your physical and emotional well-being may be brutally affected, but you persevere because of the power in your Grounding Elements and your desire to support and strengthen your program. The librarians who have been facing the attacks directed show their strength by their still being in the fight. I greatly admire them all.
  4. Flexibility – This can be the hardest to attain. Flexibility while still holding onto the other three principles can seem impossible, yet great leaders know how to adjust. Librarians are getting hit with more rules and regulations than ever. Look for the loopholes in laws/rules that go against your Vision. Listen to and get help from your Advisory Committee. Purchase books with your own money so that the public budget isn’t being used and privately allow kids who need them to borrow those books or read them in a quiet corner. Look for the ways to be flexible while keeping to your Mission so that you keep the existence of a school library safe.

A final important aspect of power is that of connection. Not only do we want to do what it takes to be connected to the teachers and students in our school, but no one understands our challenges better than other librarians. Look for ways to get and give support whether that’s local, state, or national organizations. Support them by being an active member. Reach out to and build your PLN. Even social media can be a powerful tool in uniting us. When we work together, our power – and our potential for impact – grows.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Tap Into The Power of Adversity

I have come to see that everyone has something stressful and negative going on. I hear of emotional, physical, or financial crises in the lives of friends and family. Professionally, librarians face scary and intimidating situations at work. So, what can we do?

We can slog our way through it. Use various techniques to keep a positive mindset. Work on self-care. While these are good ways of coping with what we face each day, we can take a step beyond them. Years ago, I learned the term “Chopportunity.” Blending the words Challenge and Opportunity, it serves as a reminder that a challenge can provide an opportunity. Knowing the term is great but translating it into action can be a challenge in itself.

LaRae Quy explains how we can accomplish this in This Is How Adversity Can Improve the Way You Think. She notes we tend to say, “when things return to normal,” but Quy asks if you really want to return to what was. This is what a Chopportunity it is. You have a chance to have things be better than they were. To do so requires focused thinking. Quy gives these four steps for doing so.

  1. Find the Philosopher Within – To do so, Quy says you need to know what is true, and how you should live your life based on what you believe to be true. As librarians we know how to find out what is true. Your core values tell you how to live your life based on that. Socrates said, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” If you are unsure of exactly what this means for you, consider writing your eulogy. What would you want people to say about the life you led? Are you living a life that would earn those words?
  2. Look for the Opportunity in Every Crisis – It’s the Chopportunity. Quy says the Chinese character for Crisis and Change Point are the same. Every crisis marks a change. What do you do about it?  Think of what you would want to change about your job and what you can do to make that a reality. In your school, this may be the moment you decide to step up to leadership because of the ongoing challenges in other libraries. You could start some monthly workshops for teachers.  On a larger level, you might marshal your resources from your state and national associations and make your presence known in the fight to defend intellectual freedom. As Gandi said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
  3. Take a Lesson from the Stoics – Quy explains the Stoics would consider every possible adversity. Senecca advised Romans to “Rehearse your adversity in your mind: exile, torture, war, shipwreck.”  It seems a scary thing to do, but it gives you the opportunity to prepare for the worst, at least mentally. Consider contingency plans for the possibilities. This gives you the ability to react rationally rather than in a panic when a crisis occurs. The idea Quy says is, “when you prepare for adversity, you diminish its bite when it happens.”
  4. Hunt the Good Stuff – Whatever your favorite news source is, the oft-quoted saying “if it bleeds, it leads,” is true. I have switched to music when I’m in the car because listening to the news makes me anxious. Apparently, research has shown that it takes five positive items of information to overcome a single negative one. You may have to work to find the good stuff, but it’s worth it.

Life is not easy, but it’s what we have. What we do with it, how we choose to react when things go wrong or the unexpected happens, is up to us. Consider what how you can grow as a leader – and a person – when you learn how to use adversity as a step to the next great thing.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Fighting Fatigue

Is there anyone out there who doesn’t feel tired – mentally and physically – most of the time? It seems we are all in a state of chronic exhaustion. It may have started with the pandemic, but since, it seems to be unending. And yet being tired is no more of a useable excuse than not having time. The subtitle of my book Leading for School Librarians is: There Is No Other Option. This means tired or busy – we must be leaders.

As pressures on school librarians increase, so does the amount of time required to do our jobs. Working while exhausted means it’s hard to give our best. Not to our students. Not to our teachers. And not to our family and ourselves.

We can’t afford to be in a state of perpetual fatigue, but how can we change that? Art Petty recognizes the challenge and presents seven ways for dealing with it in his blog post Leadership Fatigue Is a Thing –Make Time to Recharge. Here are his recommendations and my comments:

  1. Center on Your Purpose as a Leader – Think of this as your personal Mission Statement. Why are you doing what you do? Perry asks you to think of how you want to be remembered at your retirement party. Create your personal Mission Statement (different from your professional one) and print it out to remind you of the value you bring. Mine is, “I reflect the greatness I see in others and, when appropriate, help them manifest it.”
  2. Adjust Your Attitude Through Beginner’s Mind Thinking – Step back and look at what you are doing as though you were just starting on the job. Do you remember? That was a time when all was possible. One technique that can work is to walk into your library as though you had never been there before. What message is it sending? Is there anything that seems off? Does it reflect today or when your last organized it?
  3. Treat the Workplace as a Living Laboratory and Start Experimenting – Having seen the library with fresh eyes, what one small thing can you change or add? Look for ways to elevate what’s there, even if you like what you see. If you think everything is fine as is, you will never work for something better. Focusing on doing something different gives a lift to your mindset.
  4. Commit to Creating Value at Every Encounter – Ever have a quick encounter at the grocery story with someone in line that leaves you feeling a little more energized after? Maybe you gave or received a compliment. Maybe someone asked about a product you purchased. In addition, if you keep this in mind as you interact with others, you will be “seeing” them, which builds connections and makes your workload feel somehow less stressful.
  5. Get Physical to Rejuvenate the Mind and Body – This one is my favorite. If you’ve read this blog for a while you know – daily walks keep me going in so many ways. Pick your favorite way to move — dance, yoga, weight training or whatever you enjoy. If you like it, you will do it. And doing it brings all kinds of benefits.
  6. Reinvent Your Career Without Resigning – Instead of thinking a new job is the solution to the challenges you have, consider ways to improve or change what you are currently doing. Is there a new program you’ve been aching to launch? Is there a school activity you’d like to be a part of or a course you can teach? Or how about joining a state or national committee. Finding something new to look forward to has amazing regenerative properties.
  7. Do Something Completely Different – Petty took piano lessons. I know many librarians who quilt. I took a drawing course. Maybe it’s time to switch from being a reader to being a writer. Doing something solely and completely for you can be a freeing and energizing experience.

Will any of these magically give you energy? Probably not. Will you still be tired if you do all or most of these? Perhaps. But it won’t be that same draining fatigue that makes you feel you are on a planet with heavier gravity than Earth. Fatigued leaders are not serving themselves nor those that need them. Find things that give you a boost and keep you going.