Posted on by hildaweisburg

Gratitude is a Leadership Skill

This is the season for gratitude, making it the perfect time to incorporate it into your leadership toolbox. We may not have a lot of ways to reward people for a job well done, but expressing gratitude is easy once you get started doing it, and it leads to huge returns.

There are lots of ways to notice what you have to be grateful for and, from that, what you can acknowledge others for. I live this by keeping a gratitude journal. I record three things for which I am grateful every day. Some are small – such as the manager at the place where I go to fax who gave me a discount – and others are large – like my health. After my list of three, I add one way I give back such as contributing to the community food bank. Some of my give-backs are smaller, such as curating and sharing articles of interest to school librarians or offering a meaningful compliment.

It turns out that expressing gratitude is more than a good way to get along with people. It is biologically beneficial, as Scott Hutcheson explains in his article, The Most Overlooked Performance Hack? Gratitude. His post describes the physical benefits as well as why it is so often neglected. Here are the facts that support his claim:

The biology of gratitude – Hutcheson says, “by retraining the brain to focus on what’s working rather than what’s missing. The effects ripple through mood, motivation, and even physiology.” I have long believed and seen that the world is like a mirror. When you smile at it, it smiles back. Apparently, it also triggers the production of the powerful neurochemicals, dopamine and oxytocin, resulting in motivation and trust. Both are vital in our dealings with students, teachers, administrators and any with whom we interact. The result is the recipient enjoys working with you, leading to increased opportunities to build on. Studies show that meaningful gratitude makes people feel fulfilled. Gratitude calms stress and increases our empathy and willingness to work with others. In other words, recipients feel positive which increases their satisfaction with life. I personally find that by taking the time to appreciate all I have going for me, the problems I face feel less heavy, and I can honestly face the world with a smile.

Why gratitude disappears at work – We live in a world that evaluates rather than appreciates. Our feedback comes from observations, and there is little or no appreciation unless we achieve some type of reward. As Hutcheson says, “gratitude functions like exercise. It only works if it’s consistent.” Probably the best principal I ever worked for would send a “kudos” email to the whole staff to acknowledge a teacher for doing something great or getting a grant or award. It felt so good to be noticed and appreciated for one’s work. Additionally, it built staff connection and support. We would invariably compliment the teacher who earned the “kudo” knowing that we too might be similarly acknowledged at work. This appreciation and its benefits outside of evaluations.

With my additions, here are the three types of gratitude Hutcheson:

  1. Relational gratitude: This is direct-to-one thanks. Make it specific. Hutcheson says it builds trust, and as I often state, trust is the foundation of relationships.
  2. Reflective gratitude: Build in time at the end of a cooperative or collaborative project to reflect on what worked and what can be improved. Acknowledge how the other person, usually the teacher, helped you do your job and contributed to success.
  3. Restorative gratitude: There is a place for gratitude when the project didn’t succeed as well as planned. Our colleagues are under as much stress as we are. It matters when we let them know we recognize their challenges. Point to what was learned in the process. If appropriate, suggest where you can do more of the heavy lifting next time, but only if you think that won’t stress you out.

The leadership advantage – Your “goal is to make gratitude habitual rather than performative.”  Try keeping a gratitude journal to exercise that “muscle.” Practicing gratitude does not require extra work, and the benefits it brings to your leadership is immense. People like being and working with a person who is grateful and acknowledges it.

When you practice gratitude, you benefit as well. It gives you a more positive mindset in the midst of the challenges and stresses you face. I’ll end this blog by saying thank you to you, my reader. I appreciate your recognizing my passion to help make school librarians be viewed as an invaluable element in the success of students and teachers.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

I Believe In…

How did you fill in the next word? There are many good answers to that question. But you are likely not to have thought of the one you should. The sentence that will serve you best as a leader is, “I believe in Me.”

In my soon to be published book, I identify nine attributes we need to have and employ in our three communities to thrive in these (and even simpler times). The first of the three communities is ourselves. We live in our heads. What we think shows up in how we interact with others.

The very first of the attributes is Confidence which gives us the self-trust necessary to do everything else. In her Middle Web article (a website all about Middle Grades!), Self Trust: A Leader’s  Most Valuable Tool, Jen Schwanke, Ed.D. concurs with my thinking and explains why this is so important. In her book Trusted she writes about how leaders need to be trustworthy and trust willing. “But the final chapter in the book deals with one relationship many leaders often neglect: the trust we have with ourselves…. Cultivating self-trust isn’t just a nice idea — it’s essential for our well-being.” She offers four ways to build it. Here they are with my usual tweaks:

  1. Lead with a mix of confidence and humility – Take an honest look at your knowledge of what your job entails. You know how to do it. Draw on that knowledge to build your confidence. Your students and colleagues recognize your ability and count on it. At the same time, self-confidence doesn’t mean you know it all. You can learn almost as much from your students and their projects as they do. Teachers will give you insight into their subject areas. Your principals, good and bad, can teach you much about leadership. When you recognize this, people are more comfortable working with you.
  2. Manage our emotions and don’t rush to react – Responding fast to a new issue doesn’t mean it’s the best approach or plan. The fires we are rushing to put out are not physical fires. We don’t need to save lives. Think first. Check with your PLN or mentors for more ideas. And as Schwanke points out, each time we successfully manage a crisis, we build our confidence and self-trust.
  3. Consider all perspectives when making decisions – Our world isn’t neat and tidy. Changing one thing will affect something or someone else. Schwanke cautions us to recognize, “we may not know the full story.” She further adds that remembering this “prevents impulsive judgment and allows us to gather more information. It builds trust with others because it sends the message that we won’t be impulsive, that we won’t always take one particular side, and that we care about all perspectives.” Notice your biases and be willing to learn.
  4. Give credit away – I deeply believe in this. When you give credit away, you get it back many times over. Remember, the job of a leader is to build more leaders. A teacher who now feels confident and comfortable with you will seek you out in the future and recommend you to other teachers. A principal who recognizes how you have strengthened their reputation with their bosses is more likely to listen to your requests for funding. As students see their own successes, they feel more confident in tackling more challenging explorations.

Confidence and self-trust are at the root of your ability to grow and thrive. You have what it takes. Believe in yourself and watch as others do, too!

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Walk Away and Get More Done

School librarianship has always been a demanding job. We work with the entire school community, keep current on the latest technology and its potential impact on our teaching, and manage the library environment. The last alone can be daunting with people dropping in while you are leading a class, creating bulletin boards and displays, getting books back on the shelves, sending notices to students, and writing reports to the principal. Just reading this list is exhausting, and it doesn’t include the pressure from book banners and the negative political climate.

You need to be the Energizer Bunny to get it all done. And therein lies the problem. How many of you don’t take a break? How can you when it feels like there is no time? You probably even eat lunch at your desk, if you do eat lunch, and jump up whenever someone needs you. You come in early. Stay late.

But an exhausted leader doesn’t plan well and is not truly efficient. As Larry Robertson says in his SmartBrief article, Want to be a better leader? Walk away, you need to take a break. Easy to say, but how do you do it and get everything done? Here are his thoughts along with my usual additions.

The power of walking away – According to Robertson, and my own experience, walking away allows you to see more. When you are so focused on doing what’s next, you lose that broader perspective. It’s the reason I always recommend making a point of entering your library (and the building) one day a week as though it were the first time you walked in. How does it look? When you are concentrating only what you have to do first or on the library, you can miss what is happening in your school. Stepping back allows you to see the bigger picture.

Misunderstanding what walking away means – It doesn’t mean abandoning what you are working on, it means clearing your brain. You are planning to create a new genre category and are frustrated by the logistics of it. You are getting up to speed with a new technology and are stuck. Do something else. The break clears your brain and gives you new impetus to get the task done. Walking away can also be more literally true. Sometimes your job, and particularly the administration can be draining the life from your passion. When I had a superintendent announce her retirement, I knew that my difficult principal was going to become a bigger problem. I defined what I would need in a new place, travel, library environment, school culture, and successfully job hunted. The move opened new opportunities that more than made up for my loss of tenure.

The simple practice any leader can develop – Robertson says go to lunch. As I mentioned, many of you are eating at your desk. You aren’t proving anything by being chained to your desk – or library. He also recommends going for a walk. That’s a practice that keeps me energized. My eyes stretch when I am not so narrowly focused on a screen. I get to breathe fresh air. I speak to different people along the way, and. I return with more energy and a better frame of mind.

Working without a break doesn’t work. Finding ways to stretch your body and mind by stepping back from what you’re doing both during the day and when you’re away from work. This gives you an opportunity to recenter and bring your positive mindset back with you. Then your whole body becomes more welcoming to others and better able to plot any new directions. You have become a better leader by simply walking away.

And now, I am going for a walk.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

SOAR When Speaking to Your Principal

You need to have a relationship with your principal in order for your library to thrive. So how is that relationship going? Do you have a strong, positive one where your principal supports everything you do? Or do you have one who claims to believe in libraries but is not fully aware of how they have changed. Maybe your principal feel you are not very valuable and a drag on the school budget. If you and your principal share common values about what the school library is and needs to be, you don’t have a problem. But if your relationship falls into the second or third category, how do you change it to be more like the first one?

In their article Dealing With a Difficult Boss for Psychology Today, Wes Adams and Tamara Myles write about the importance of “managing up,” ways to deal with managers who are challenging and/or unproductive. Many of us have experienced difficulties in getting through to principals who hold to preconceived ideas and attitudes about libraries. Adams and Myles recommend a SOAR approach to open communication. This may help to build that important relationship. Here’s their explanation of putting SOAR to work along with my usual tweaks to align it more in our education world:

S-Shared Goals – Start by drawing on what you have in common. Students are at the core of what you both care about and support. But there are other common areas you might address, such as keeping parents included in their child’s education or supporting the mandates of the Superintendent of Schools who is concerned about test results.

O-Opportunities – Point to what can be used to reach those common goals. You both want the school budget to pass. Look for ways to show the value the library brings. Your library can be a perfect location to welcome the business community. They can be invited to share the skills of their trade with students in a related class, such as a business class or a course on future careers. They might also be willing to sponsor an author visit which in turn would bring the local newspaper to cover it, giving the business publicity and the school some vital community visibilily.

A-Alignment – Turn these opportunities into a true conversation by drawing you principal into the discussion. What do they like about what you have presented? What questions do they have? Do they have recommendations for improvement or modifications? Don’t become argumentative with any of their proposals. This is a time to see how to incorporate their suggestions, deepening your professional relationship.

R-Results – Share your goal for the outcome of whatever you have proposed. Let the principal know you will be keeping them posted on how things are going. Make sure they know both the progress and final results. You can do it in meetings or via email. Be open to their responses. If you don’t hear from them after emailing them, schedule a brief meeting.

Adams and Myles further recommend that “when the project is complete, remember to tie the results back to those same priorities and goals to build credibility and gain influence. Doing so consistently reminds your [principal]that you are delivering, which earns trust.” And as I keep saying, trust is the foundation of relationships.

Your relationship with your principal is vital to your long-term success, maybe even your job security. The more your principal sees you as making them look good, the faster and more willing they will approve your next proposal. You will be seen as a valuable leader and the library will thrive.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Your Inner Voice Is Speaking Out Loud

Do you talk to yourself? Probably. Most people do whether we realize it or not. While these silent talks are about a lot of things, much of our inner conversations are about ourselves. So, here’s the important question: Do you speak kindly or harshly?

The truth is we are far more insulting of ourselves than we ever would be with anyone else. This would be bad enough if our internal diatribe remained silent, but we are unknowingly broadcasting these thoughts in our interactions with others. And the messages we are sending out keep us from reaching our full potential as leaders.

Suzy Burke, Ryan Berman, and Rhett Power deal with this common syndrome in their article, 5 Proven Self-Talk Strategies to Strengthen Leadership. In their opening, the authors state: “Leading others starts with self-leadership.” It always starts with you. You are the face of the library. Others take in the messages you send and, from there, they decide if you are sure of your goals and know how to get there. Yu are telling them, intentionally or not, whether they should trust you.  And trust is the foundation of relationship, which in turn leads to the cooperation/collaboration and advocacy you need.

Here are their five strategies along with my tweaks which makes their business focus more appropriate for us:

  1. Self-talk is the hidden saboteur of leadership. In the authors terms, we are involved in worry-wars on many levels and almost constantly. The current Worry War is, for most of us, the societal/political one which has turned the librarians and libraries into prime targets. Additional wars involve budget and staff cuts along with personal ones including financial stresses, family relationships, responsibilities, and whatever else is going on in your life. When any one of these areas show up, your self-critic starts talking and the negative talk adds to the worry.
  2. Every leader has a monster. Many of us, me included, see how talented, skilled, and resourceful other librarians are. We compare and see ourselves as falling short of them. But that comparison is a monster lying in wait. The authors say, “That voice doesn’t just shape your day, it shapes everything.” It shows up in how you hear, what you believe of yourself and how you respond. You do not want to leave this “monster” in charge of your work.
  3. Your mindset isn’t fixed. As lifelong learners, we understand this. Many of us have successfully changed a negative mindset into a positive one. The authors acknowledge that since you will never keep the negative mindset away forever, they offer a three step approach to make the need shift: Catch – Identify when a monster is taking over. Your anxiety is one way to recognize its presence; Confront – Challenge you mindset with facts. For me, it’s when the word “never” is in my thoughts:, Change – Now reframe the thought with a more positive, truthful one.
  4. There is more than one type of monster. – Just what you needed to hear.  According to the authors we must deal with these five monsters:
    • Catastrophizer -This is going to be a disaster.
    • Always Righter – This needs to be perfect, and I’m never going to get it right.
    • Mind Reader –  I know how you are going to react to this situation.
    • Over-generalizer  – This didn’t work, and it’s all downhill from there.
    • Should-er – I should have known better. And now of course, it’s too late.

      The more practice we have spotting each of these monsters within ourselves, the better we get at not letting them be the ones to lead.
  5. Self-talk can be your leadership plutonium. – When you know how to reverse (or lower the decibel level) of negative self-talk, you power up your leadership. While we are talking to ourselves, our bodies are sending out the message of our thoughts. Our face, arms, and tone of voice combine to tell the world what we are thinking—and what monster is in charge. This is why that earlier quote, “Leading others starts with self-leadership” is so important to remember.

Leaders keep growing and learning new skills. Have you seen yourself here? If so, this can be an important lesson for you to incorporate into your leadership. Your interactions students, teachers, administrators, and others you interact with will be more productive as a result. And you might just find yourself feeling better overall!

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Lead Like a Politician

Did the title make you pause? Did you want to reject it? These days, most people have a negative view of politicians, but like them or not, they do lead. And they are able to get people to vote for them.

As school librarians we need to get out the “vote” for us. Whether it’s our students, teachers, administrators, or parents, we need their support and recognition of our value to them. In Jed Brewer’s article, “You Are a Politician: Four Lessons From Local Politics That Make for Better Organizational Leaders,” his lessons for business leaders apply equally well to our ability to be leaders in our educational setting. Here are the four for you with my tweaks.

  1. It’s About the Problem — Always – To be heard, you need to speak to the listener’s wants and needs. With students it’s usually about the grade or the inability to see the value in what they are doing. Hopefully, you are creating engaging lessons, giving learners agency in working on the assignment or project. Teachers want students to learn and do well on high stakes tests. Focus on what you can bring that will advance their goals when you suggest they do a cooperative or collaborative project with you. Your principal worries about the superintendent and the Board of Education and especially the budget. Keep them informed about student successes, sending them things they can use in their reports, such as pictures/videos of student creations tying them to state standards. Parents are always concerned about their children and how they are doing. Make sure they know how your LibGuide and website keep them informed and allow opportunities for them to access you. In dealing with all these different wants and needs, Brewer recommends you find opportunities to connect with each group to be sure you know what they see as their problems and concerns.
  2. Nothing Beats the Personal Touch — Ever – Getting to know students individually is a challenge for us, but it is important to keep working at it. Offering coffee and snacks for teachers is a tried and true way to bring them in and get an opportunity to talk one-on-one. While sending regular reports to principals is necessary, also invite them in when kids are working on projects so they can see the work in action. Also, make sure to have some face-to-face time with your principal. Ask them for their opinion on where they want to see the library go. Be prepared to respond positively but provide data where necessary to correct any negative ideas.
  3. No One Succeeds Alone — Really – Draw on your PLN, your Professional Learning Network. Between the national and state library associations as well as the social network and people you follow, you have ample “partners” in creative ways to address your own wants and needs. Build your own support team so that when things become challenging, you have resources and places to go.
  4. Compromise Is Success — Truly – Important goals aren’t achieved quickly. Trust and relationships need time to build. Even if you have done all the proper preparation, you won’t likely get a complete acceptance of anything you propose. That’s where negation comes in. If you get a partial buy-in, it means they see things they like in what you are saying. Modify, tweak, or do whatever is appropriate for achieving your goal, and then come back. I had a superintendent who once told me her first answer was always, “No.” If someone came back, she could be sure they were serious. Keep looking for new avenues – break a project down into a several year plan, show short and long term benefits, offer ideas for modifications.

Brewer concludes by telling business people they are politicians. This is true for you, too. You have to meet the needs and wants of diverse groups. By using the skills of a politician, you and the library will grow and thrive.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Quality Answers Require Quality Questions

Rhetorical questions are those with such obvious answers no one needs to respond. Simple questions get one word or even one syllable answers. If we want useful, useable answers, we need to ask better questions. Even if we fear a negative response. We cannot build the collaborative relationships we want or improve what we’re doing if we don’t ask questions that give us quality answers. Even if we don’t always like those answers.

Asking quality questions gives us information. “What would you want to do differently next time?” rather than “What did you think?”. If you’re in the midst of a project with students, ask “What was the hardest part of this so far?” In building a connection with your principal, ask, “What would you like to see changed about the library?” Here, you may want to get a little more specific based on your purpose is for this discussion.

In his article, Asking the right questions, Paul Thornton offers eight tips on how to ask questions that get quality answers. As he is addressing the business world, I will add my comments to show how to use the tips in our education world.

  1. Be clear about your purpose – Everyone, even students, are pressed for time and often under stress. Get to the point quickly. See the sample questions given above for suggestions on doing this.
  2. Prepare in advance – This is not the time for improvisation. Once you know the purpose you can decide what questions you plan to ask. In what order? Have them written down. Limit the number to no more than three and memorize them.
  3. Ask one question at a time – Whomever you are talking to needs time hear what you said and form an answer. And you need to be listening to each response. Your focus is on the information you are receiving, not rushing to ask your next question. Thornton reminds you not to ask rhetorical questions. You won’t get usable answers.
  4. Challenge assumptions – Whether you want students to think more critically, extend collaboration with a teacher, or enlighten a principal about how libraries have and need to change, we all carry a level of bias on what we think we know about the subject. Be clear about what you’re asking and don’t assume the basis/background of the answers you are being given.
  5. Connect ideas – Thornton says when asked properly and clearly, your questions will get your listener to gain new insights into whatever you are presenting. It will give them an opportunity. When it’s possible, connect the purpose of your questions (see the first item on the list) to your Mission Statement.
  6. Be comfortable with silence – If you want quality answers you need to allow people time to think. This goes back to Number Three. As you wait for the response, use the time to read body language to see where they are in the process. Giving people space and time to answer tells them you value their response.
  7. Encourage broad participation – With students, a pair/share exercise or having a group post their response on a whiteboard will allow you to see where the class is. With teachers, you might have them share several student projects in the library. A wider net gives you more answers and more information.
  8. Capture notes promptly – You want to have a record of what you were asking about and what the response was. Depending on whom you are talking to, it could be analog, digital, photo, or even a recording. In our fast-paced world, you could lose some information as you turn to the next thing. Give these answers the weight and time they deserve.

Improving the quality of your questions will help propel you forward in increasing the library’s value in the minds and behaviors of the populations you serve. What you learn in the process will be invaluable and further your growth as a leader.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

A Purpose Driven Life

If you are like most people, you constantly feel as though you are being pulled in multiple directions at once. You are probably tired and overwhelmed if not always at least frequently. It’s not healthy, and it harms you and the people you care about who count on you. It can also shorten your life. So what can we do about it?

The question posed in the Harvard Health Publishing post, Will a purpose-driven life help you live longer? has a clear answer – yes. You may not know your life purpose, but you do have one for your work as a librarian. It’s your Mission. Your ‘Why’. My purpose, as an educator and a librarian is: “I reflect back to others their greatness, and, when appropriate, help them manifest it in their lives.” And I live this in my weekly blog where I talk about how you are vital to the students, teachers, and administrators, when I teach at the graduate level, and when I present at conferences around the country.

In his blog post, The #1 reason people fail at their life plan, Denzell Leggett explains why a life purpose is important, why people don’t have one, and offers his suggestion on getting one. Following are the three non-planning patterns he identifies and the answer he proposes along with my comments to make this more meaningful for you:

  • The Flywheel Hamster equals Fake Plan, Fake Hope – The hamster image conveys how many people see their lives. You keep moving but get nowhere. You are basing your plan on what you think you should do. When you realize you aren’t getting results, you change the plan but still are drawing on the expectations of others. So you are not really planning you are reacting.
  • The Floating Dandelion equals No Plan, Misguided Hope – Again the image reveals how you are moving through your life – a dandelion seed floating on the wind. Leggett says people who plan like this are relying on “luck, peer influence, media trends or family tradition to guide them. They chase whatever sounds good or seems easier in the moment.” The wind changes, they go in a different direction. It’s not plan and, once again, it’s all about reacting.
  • The Head-in-the-Sand Ostrich equals No Hope, So No Plan – Why bother if it’s not going to work. We see everything as out of our control so we move forward without a focus. When things are hard, sometimes it seems best to not be noticed even though we have learned that’s not a solution. No matter what is out of control, we can choose how we respond. That response might be the beginning of a plan.

So, if this doesn’t work, what can you do?

  • Transformation is the way out – Leggett says, “The key to destiny control lies in transforming one’s mindset, beliefs and actions to develop assured belief…[and] you must see yourself as the leader of your life. Your destiny depends on it.” He gives no advice on transforming your mindset, but a first step can be to take time to focus on what brings you joy. At work, at home, anywhere. What are you passionate about? List these things, add to it whenever you can. Your true life purpose will emerge. Once it does, as with your library Mission Statement, write it down, save it on your computer, print it out where you can see it and memorize it.

You are a leader in your life as Leggett says. You are also a leader in your school and library. Take time to get clear and discover your purpose. It will help you have the clarity to make a plan that supports that leadership, that supports your dreams, and enriches your life.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

More Leadership Tips

Being a leader, as cliché as it might sound, is a journey, not a destination. Even though you already are a leader, there is always more to learn. As librarians, being lifelong learners comes naturally to us. However, we must always be on the lookout for new places and spaces to learn from.

In this blog, I frequently bring in leadership lessons from the business world. A few weeks ago, I even posted a reference to how Taylor Swift can be a leadership role model for us. Today, I’m returning to Smart Briefs and the article, “Adaptive leadership: How women can lead through uncertainty” from Maria Doughty who shares about leading when “life gets ambiguous.” Although the title says it’s targeted to women, men will find these suggestions equally helpful. You may be doing several of these, but there is always something new you can use.

Here are her eight tips along with my comments on how these relate to school librarianship.

  1. Define goals and stay focused – Just as it is in the business world, our priority is our Mission and Vision. By now you hopefully have both, but when whenever you are feeling uncertain, it’s a good time to review them and see if they need tweaking or expanding.
  2. Be nimble and be ready – Necessity has made us experts at pivoting. What worked yesterday, might not work tomorrow. Stay alert. Read professional journals. In addition to school library ones such as Knowledge Quest (KQ) from the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), your reading should include EL (Educational Leadership) from the Association of Supervisors and Curriculum Developers (ASCD). Keep current with what might be next in technology through ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education) starting with their numerous blog posts.
  3. Stay calm and lead with empathy – This can be challenging to do given the current political and politicized climate and how it impacts school libraries and librarians. But panic doesn’t lead to rational decisions. Breathe. Ask: Who in the school community is also stressed out? Your principal? Teachers? How can you support them? Then stop to consider who can support you? Parents are one important source, particularly if you prepared for this possibility by establishing communication channels with them. Teachers may be as well. Even older students have also proved they can be strong advocates for the school library and you.
  4. Project strength — and vulnerability – While sounding like opposites, they can work well together. Project strength by leaning into the areas where you feel confident. Draw on your values and how capable you are at teaching students what they need to know for today and tomorrow. Teachers are also feeling the effects of the political climate. Let them know you understand and what you are doing to not let it keep you from bringing your best. Share the resources from our national library professional associations and take the opportunity to learn from theirs.
  5. Stay curious and commit to learning – As I stated at the beginning, a commitment to learning is natural for us. Avoid getting so concerned about what is happening in your school that you don’t see the very big picture. Keep aware of what other industries are doing – schools, colleges, and beyond. Notice where you might be prone to tunnel vision about changes, such as AI. Look for where you can adapt and grow.
  6. Maintain inclusivity and engagement – Everyone is busy, but the more people work together – and with the library – the more interwoven you are with your audience. Consider hosting an after school coffee and chat (with snacks if possible!) for teachers to share ideas across disciplines with each other. Perhaps you can schedule something for parents such as students sharing their recent projects. This has the advantage of allowing students to show their growth as they discuss what was the toughest part of the project, what was the best part, and what did they learn.
  7. Take care of yourself – I can’t stress this often enough. These leadership tips take time and energy. Growing, learning and changing isn’t easy. You need TLC to keep going. Whatever relaxes you and/or gives you pleasure – make time for it!
  8. Find your tribe -As Doughty says, “you don’t need to have all the answers yourself.” This is where your Professional Learning Network (PLN) is a great resource. The hive mind invariably can give you the answer as well as new ideas to try. Ask the scary questions. You never know who else is having this challenge or who may have found a solution.

We are living in challenging times. Yes, that’s another cliché that is all too true. You can let it break you, or you can grow as a result of how you lead yourself and others through. Your growth sets an example for others. The future of our students depends on us rising to the challenge and being the leaders they and the rest of our school community need us to be.

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Tools to Take Control of Your Life

Does it sometimes feel as though every day something new is coming at you? You are not alone. This world seems faster changing than ever. With that, each day the news brings information of a new threat or a technology that is likely to affect the library. And in the midst of this you worry if you’ve missed something key. Not surprisingly, turmoil is bad for your health, your relationships, and your ability to best serve your students, teachers, and administrators. It’s time to take back control of your life.

In his blog post, The #1 reason people fail at their life plan, Donzel Leggett says many people now “feel like life is happening to them rather than being shaped by them.”  Legget talks about “the cycle of no destiny control.”  He goes on to write how when we feel in control, we’re able to move with purpose including setting goals and having a forward-looking mindset. But with this distraction and stress heavy world, this is hard to manage.

Leggett discusses three reactions to feeling as though you have no control. His concepts along with my comments, may give you some clarity about how to move forward:

  • The Flywheel Hamster – You may be feeling like that proverbial hamster, your wheels spinning but getting nowhere. Your plans lack direction. Much like the Beatles song “Nowhere Man” you are “Making all his (your) Nowhere plans for nobody.” When your plan doesn’t work the way you wanted it, you revise it. And the cycle repeats. What is needed is a plan with clear goals and confidence in your abilities.
  • The Floating Dandelion – Leggett describes this as creating no-risk plans because risk implies the possibility of failure. We have no room for that. Take a hard look at your Vision and Mission. What are you doing to make them a reality? Start there and craft a plan with a true goal, action steps to attain it, and a reasonable time to accomplish it. Include both formative and summative assessments.
  • The Head-in-the-Sand Ostrich – When you believe nothing you do will change anything significant, and besides you are a target, so keep your head down. As Leggett says, “Like an ostrich hiding its head in the sand, they miss the fact that the world is moving on without them,” Believing that if you do that, maybe they won’t notice you.  That’s a recipe for disaster. You are a leader. Leaders know where they want to go next and how to get there. In reality, that approach is guaranteed to get you eliminated.  And since you are so quiet, no one will even notice you are gone.

Legget concludes by reminding us that transformation is the way out. Change your mindset. Once again, check your Vision and Mission. You have been successful in the past. There is no reason you can’t be successful again. Re-energize yourself. Take care of yourself. Go for walks or whatever you need to feel yourself as powerful and committed as you were.  You are a leader, now lead yourself.

The maxim “Know Thyself” was inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. And, as I say in my forthcoming book, The Involved School Librarian, the first community you need to interact with is yourself. Know yourself, both strengths and weaknesses, and use them as you lead in your school community and elsewhere.