Posted on by hildaweisburg

Stop Getting In Your Way

How many times have you felt overworked, overwhelmed and unsuccessful? For many of us this happens often. We have so much to do and there’s so much left undone. But what if… we were part of the problem? We know that our thoughts are powerful, but if they’re sabotaging you, then they need to change.

In her article for SmartBrief, Amber Johnson write about , “The 10 mental traps that sabotage your success.” After working with business leaders she discovered how we get in our own way, and sabotage our success. She writes, “We’re seeing obstacles when an overpass has already been created. Often, it’s our thinking that is actively creating the obstacles.” Her ten traps (and my suggestions) are:

  1. Avoidance – The talk with the teacher who keeps “forgetting” to show when their class is scheduled is not going to be easy, so you put it off. It keeps happening, making you more frustrated. Planning the PD for teachers you promised your principal will take lot of work. You put it off, and as the date approaches your stress level increases. These become missed opportunities and bigger problems. Do the hard one first.
  2.  Making everything about us – Johnson refers to taking “other people’s moods, decisions or feedback personally when it often has nothing to do with us at all.” Just because teachers are having a gripe session, doesn’t mean they are complaining about you and/or the library specifically.
  3. Perfectionism paralysis – Between Avoidance and Making Everything About You, this is an easy trap to fall into. Johnson recommends asking yourself: “What am I not starting because I’m waiting for the perfect moment? What do I keep tweaking instead of seeking feedback?” The good plan you do today beats the perfect plan you’ll never start.
  4. Catastrophic thinking – A never ending loop of thinking of all the possible problems and ways things can go wrong can stop us as much as perfectionism. We are so afraid of what might happen, we do nothing. Instead, try to end the loop by thinking of a positive possible result and the importance of getting there.
  5. Comparison trap – Are you measuring yourself based on what another librarian is doing? Or what your predecessor did? How about the perfect video you saw online. This is another thought process that will keep you from seeing what you’re doing well. Gauge your success by your learning and growth, not by looking at others.  Besides, you are probably doing somethings better than that other librarian.
  6. All-or-nothing mindset – This one is pulls in parts of  #3 and #4, it results in #1. If we can’t do it completely, we don’t do it all. Johnson suggests looking at what can happen no matter what. She suggests you ask, “What partial solutions would still be beneficial? What’s worth trying because we’ll learn along the way?”
  7. Ruminating on past mistakes –You made a bad mistake in the past. It was embarrassing. But you learned from it. Remember “FAIL” can stand for First Attempt in Learning.” Don’t let it keep you for trying it again or trying new things.
  8. Assuming we know what others think – The body language you think is about you could be about something else entirely. (See #2). Your hesitancy in talking or working with this person adds to your stress, self-sabotaging thoughts, and keeps you from being the leader you need to be,
  9. Staying in our comfort zone – This is one I talk about often. If you stay in your comfort zone you aren’t growing. And if you aren’t growing, you are dying. You and your program must be seen as a dynamic force that is integral to your school community’s needs and wants.
  10. “The way we’ve always done it” thinking– Back to #9. Yes, it’s easier to go with the tried and true. If our industry had done that, we would still have card catalogs and use only Dewey for cataloging. We need to lead the way. Keep up with what’s happening in our field – and what is happening in teachers’ and administrators’ fields. Know what the kids are interested in and you’ll find new ways to grow and lead.

Being a school librarian can and often is exhausting. But its also exhilarating. We touch so many lives over the years. When we look at where our thoughts stop us —even lie to us—we can push past the self-sabotage and be the Leader they need.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Keep It Short

(Fauzi Muda/Getty Images)

Are you deluged with too many emails and social media posts? I am. How about new initiatives from the administration? Requests from teachers? It’s a lot and wading through all of it saps your concentration. You probably need to go over it several times.  And who has time for everything?

If you dislike receiving all those long messages, you can be sure recipients of your communications feel the same way. In his blog post, “I’ll be brief: the power of just a few words”, Larry Robertson reminds us that it’s not the number of words that matter. It’s the power they contain.  And frequently, shorter is better.

Google’s 12-word road map – You can get a lot done with very few words. When they raised money to found Google Larry Page and Sergey Brin used twelve words to get people on board: “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” That’s a Vision Statement. Robertson points to its clarity and brevity. Brevity doesn’t work without clarity.  Choose your words carefully whether you are crafting a Vision or sending an email to your principal. Prepare your opening statements to students when introducing a learning opportunity. Too many words and you lose them. Think about what will most capture their interest?

Look for words that provide clarity and direction – You probably don’t need to give as much detail as you think The usual step-by-step directions often locks students into a pre-conceived approach. Allowing for their creativity while aiming for a goal will get them engaged. In your dealings with the principal, if you highlight what you want to achieve and why, you are telling them you are not locked into one approach. Rather, you are open to a discussion of how best to achieve the results and why it’s important.

Words as guides for success – There are so many synonyms for powerful words, but they don’t mean exactly the same thing. They each convey a slightly different sense and will draw different reactions. I regularly rewrite sentences and my editor take the rewrites further. For example, before settling on “regularly,” I considered “often,” “usually,” and “frequently.” (How did I do?) Robertson says, “The right words can offer guidance to success, for the leader, to be sure, but also for her team, its external partners and even for their marketplace.” He is talking to the business world, but  it’s equally applicable to our interactions with students, teachers, administrators, and the outside communities.

And to show I am following his advice, I am keeping this blog short.  Our time is a precious commodity. We all need to spend it wisely.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Craft Your Leadership Statement

You have written a Mission and Vision Statement for your library. Hopefully, they are what energize you every day as you see them (they are in a prominent spot, right?). Your Mission, as I often say, is your perspiration, announcing what and why you do what you do. Your Vision serves as inspiration and aspiration, igniting ideas for future goals and plans. Today, I’m going to add another one: a Leadership Statement.

Like a Mission Statement, a Leadership Statement grounds you as you move out of your comfort zone. It defines you and how you present yourself to others. It is a place to take what you are best at, most known for, or enjoy the most, and use it to grow into the leader you want to be.

In her article, What Do You Stand For? The Power of a Leadership Statement, Elizabeth Hayes writes “A clear leadership statement not only builds trust and aligns expectations but also creates a more engaged and motivated team. When your team understands what you stand for, they are more confident, engaged and empowered to perform at their best.”

Writing the statement takes time and thought. To help you craft your statement, Hayes gives these four guiding steps:

  1. Define what matters most – Identify your core values. Where won’t you compromise? Do you stand for intellectual freedom? If so, what does that look like for you and your library? Perhaps it is that the library is a safe, welcoming space for all. You can combine values in your statement, but don’t overload it. Hayes says to reflect on how you want others to describe you.
  2. Draw inspiration from great leaders – The library profession provides a host of great leaders from whom to choose. You might go further and look at leaders in politics and those who led the way for significant change. Or authors who didn’t change what they wanted to write based on the biases around them. When you identify what inspires you in others, you’re likely to see that this is something you strive for —or already do.
  3. Learn from leadership missteps – No leader is perfect. We have learned from our mistakes; learn from where leaders took a wrong turn. There are always those who don’t recognize when it was time to leave, having become hooked on power and prestige. Some leaders stop listening to others, convinced their view or approach is the best possible route. Where did they falter?
  4. Pull it all together– This is the hard part. What do you write in your statement? Hayes says to, “Start by jotting down key ideas from your reflections…It must be authentic and reflect your true values, as any disconnect between your words and actions will erode trust.” To structure your statement, she gives the following frameworks:
  5. Values-based framework – A personal “I believe” statement followed by a goal.
  6. Commitment statement framework – Identify your core principles followed by daily commitment to it.
  7. Mantra style framework – Hayes says this is “A single sentence encapsulating your core leadership principles.”

If this is something that clicks for you, give it a try. Make notes, imagine what you want your leadership to be like. Like your Mission and Vision, it is likely something that will need a few iterations before you feel it’s finalized. When you feel comfortable, share it with others and see if they agree it’s a good fit. I built mine from my personal mission statement: “I seek daily opportunities to inspire school librarians to become the leaders they need to be.” The clearer you are about who you are, the more powerful and impactful your leadership will be.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

ON LIBRARIES: High Touch When You Can’t Touch

In recent years, many businesses have found success by being “high touch.”  According to Upscope a high-touch business is “one in which a customer places trust and partnership with a company, and in many cases, a specific individual or team at the company.” These companies develop close relationships with their customers, which builds loyalty.  The mental image is of them “reaching out and touching someone,” of being connected. We, too, need to develop these kinds of relationships with our “customers,” but in the current environment this is challenging on both a figurative and literal level.

Our ability to connect with teachers, students, and administrators determines whether we will be considered indispensable. But we base much of our relationship skills on being in physical contact with others.  We are accustomed to reading the body language and tone of voice of others to help us identify where they are and what they need.  Zoom may give us some clues, but it doesn’t come close to real life.  While we will probably have more in-person contact as schools resume, you will still need to rely on other means to build and keep relationships.

In developing these alternatives, you will display important leadership characteristics. Our teachers and students are crying out for leadership as the ground beneath us shifts almost daily.  Our administrators are stressed even more than the rest of us, being put in charge of situations fraught with uncertainty and danger.

Ken Goldstein’s blog post Desperately Needed Now addresses what you can do to help your students and colleagues.  After observing the success of several business teams, he noticed some important commonalities and proposes we need to focus on three “C’s.”: Confidence, Clarity, and Connection.

Confidence – It’s difficult to feel and act confident when there are so many uncertainties. Yet this is where leadership comes to the fore.  You know what the proposed plans for the restart are.  You know what the changes are likely to be, depending on the situation with the virus. What is your plan of action?  And what’s your Plan B? Don’t doubt yourself. Accept that your first plan will inevitably need anything from tweaks to full-scale re-writes. Be certain to write your plan(s) down somewhere and keep checking it regularly, adapting as necessary.

Having a sense of direction will build your confidence.  Bring that confidence to your Zoom and in-person meetings.  Don’t try to suggest that you have all the answers, that would be arrogance.  But when you project you know what you will do and how you will work with others, your colleagues will feel reassured and look to you as a leader.

Clarity – You have all seen people in leadership roles who start talking and then bring in something that runs counter to what they just said.  Their audience is lost then either tunes them out or stops trusting them. Keep your ideas clear and simple. It’s hard for audiences (students and teachers) to stay focused in the current climate. Be ready to state your plan in another way if your audience seems confused. But keep it brief.  Encourage questions.  This will ensure that everyone – or sometimes the person you are talking to – understands your plan.

Connection – Social isolation is contrary to human nature. We can see it in the behavior of adolescents who keep violating the social distancing rules or the way we are calling friends and family more often.  Look for ways to personalize connections with others.  Use tech to send friendly visual messages. We are hard-pressed for time, but relationships need and deserve that time.  Ask about family and other non-education related topics once regular business is complete, just as you might under normal circumstances.

It sounds as though all this might add to your workload, but in the long road it will lessen it.  Your colleagues may start by leaning on you but will soon take on the behaviors they are seeing in you.  Leadership is about getting in there with people and plotting a direction.  The route to getting there is where the learning and growth happens.  The Connection you help to create will strengthen the school’s culture.  Your Clarity will help them achieve their own plans. And your Confidence will grow.  You’ll create a library that’s high touch no matter the circumstances.