Posted on by hildaweisburg

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.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Be Resilient and Persevere

It is a long-term truism that we live in a rapidly changing world. Keeping up with change is an ongoing component of a school librarian’s toolset. But the current speed of change is outrageous. From one day to the next there are so many changes from so many directions it is nearly impossible to keep up.

The stress level created by this is high and is a true test of your abilities as a leader.  Think of yourself as the captain of a ship dealing with safely navigating a ship in a wind-laced storm. As you weather these constant challenges, you must simultaneously review and sharpen your ability to persevere and draw on your resilience. These two in combination will help you to not only survive but thrive.

Danna Diaz in her article, Resilience and Perseverance: Keys to Effective Leadership in Schools, writes about the process of strengthening your abilities in these two areas by defining them then presenting strategies to do so. As always, I have added my comments to more firmly root them in the daily work life of school librarians.

Definition – According to Diaz, “Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from setbacks, while perseverance is the steadfastness to stay committed despite difficulty.” We are all familiar with the pivoting that has been necessary in the past years. Fluctuating situations require us to be even more nimble in making changes to meet new requirements. Our perseverance is tested as we hold true to our commitments and Mission in the face of the ongoing challenges.

Building resilience in leadership – To build this necessary component, you need to have a growth mindset and a belief that a potential or possible crisis can be turned into an opportunity. A blog post I wrote on May 27, 2019, Crisis? No! It’s a Chopportunity, details the many ways you can use an apparent disaster into a chance to strengthen and grow the library. When presented with a challenge—look to your Mission and Vision to find possibility.

The role of emotional intelligence – Your ability to create a Chopportunity relies on your awareness and understanding of what motivates others (whether positively or negatively). For example, if you have been informed of a drastic cut in your budget, the opportunity you present to your principal needs to be based on how well you know your principal’s needs, wants, and goals and your ability to show them how your work supports what they are trying to do.

Perseverance: The long game of leadership – Diaz says, “While resilience helps leaders recover from setbacks, perseverance ensures they remain committed to their vision.” Your Mission Statement, combined with your knowledge of what a your school or administrator needs, guides you in creating the opportunity or recommendation you present. Your Vision keeps you fighting to see it through. It is why you write a Vision in the present tense. While it isn’t the current reality, it is the aspiration that should inspire you to hang in there and bring it closer to existence.

Strategies for building resilience and perseverance in schools –

  • Foster a culture of collaboration and support – You are a relationship-builder. Use the relationships you have with teachers, students, and administrators to further your plan. They have come to count on you to deliver on your promises.
  • Model self-care and wellness – Never neglect to take care of yourself. Relying on Persistence and Perseverance without including self-care leads to burn-out. In taking care of yourself, you are showing others that much can be accomplished while not losing yourself. It’s another aspect of your leadership.
  • Develop a data-driven mindset – We always need the data, but I’d go one step further and remind you to look for emotional context to bring to the data. Decisions are rooted in emotion substantiated by data and logic. Give them a reason to care about the data you present.
  • Build strong community partnerships – Expand your thinking to find and work with others who can help you in strengthening the library in challenging times. Parents can be a good source. If you have parent volunteers, they know your value. Parent-Teacher associations can also be helpful as can relationships with the public library.

Diaz concludes by reminding us of the ripple effect of doing this work: We will inspire resilience and perseverance in others. Remember, the job of a leader is not only to have followers, but also to create other leaders. Times are likely to always be tough in one way or another, but so are you.  You have or are building a track record and can thrive. Be Resilient and Persevere. So many will benefit when you do!

Posted on by hildaweisburg

Developing Confidence

A baby takes its first steps and falls. The child gets up and tries again. Totally confident that success will happen. When does that innate confidence in one’s ability disappear?

It’s usually not the failures that make us lose self-confidence. It’s the comments and criticisms we have received and the comparisons we make with other people that have nibbled our confidence away. The result is we struggle to leave our comfort zone, often question our decisions and are fearful of making a mistake.

But you are a leader. You need self-confidence to take your program to the next level. Is there a way to get back what you once had instinctively?

In Where Does Confidence Come From?, Frank Sonnenberg offers ten way to strengthen your confidence. As you read through them, acknowledge the ones you can do immediately and lean into those first, then consider which one you want to add next:

  • Successful Track Record – Sonnenberg starts with something simple – every win can boost your confidence – no matter the size. If you have trouble recalling these, consider a Success Journal or Win Folder on your computer so you don’t forget your accomplishments. And take a little time to celebrate and cheer yourself.
  • Courageous Action – Look for ways – big and small – to step out of your comfort zone. It can be intimidating, but you know when something needs to be done, and not doing it doesn’t give you the results you want. Take those first steps (and then add that win to your Success Journal).
  • Prepare and Practice – Athletes don’t just walk out into the field and turn in an outstanding performance. They practice. If you are giving a presentation, write it out, tweak it, tweak it again. If it helps you, learn it almost by heart. For a big project, outline the steps. Create a timeline. Be prepared to adjust that as the project progresses.
  • Self-improvement Efforts – We are lifelong learners. Be committed to your own growth and improvement. Since it’s rare for the Professional Development offered by your district keyed to librarian needs, seek out your own PD. Or you can use your Professional Learning Network, find a mentor, or attend a library conferences.
  • Mindset and Attitude – “If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you are right.” Our brains are powerful. Don’t let yours defeat you. You have been successful before (you have proof!) and will be again. Use your failures as learning opportunities to take into your new endeavor.
  • Supportive Environment – Every school has people who only see the negative. While you must have a collegial relationship with them since the library is for everyone, you don’t need to take in their gloomy view of everything. Be closer to people who can see what is good and enjoy what they do.
  • Encouraging Comments – Savor positive feedback. Knowing that others see your achievements is validation. It helps to power you forward. Be mindful of that and do the same for others. (And when someone gives you positive feedback – that goes in the Win Folder!)
  • Self-reflection – Make time at the end of the day, perhaps on your commute home, to reflect on what you accomplished. Was there a student whose eyes lit up as you helped them find the “just right” book? Did you strike something off your to-do list that you had been putting off? Focusing on these large and small achievements improves self-confidence. (Yup – Success Journal time!)
  • Goal Setting and Achievement – What is something large you wanted to achieve and did? Good news – you can do it again. Write the goal and develop the action steps needed to attain it. And of course, Prepare and Practice.
  • Personal Values and Beliefs – This is what holds you steady. Confidence comes from within as do these values and beliefs. As librarians, we hold to the ALA’s Code of Ethics and the Library Bill of Rights. As school librarians we consider AASL’s Common Beliefs are intrinsic to our program. Build your confidence on your values and you’ll see some amazing results.

Sonnenberg concludes with this quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt, “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” When you build your confidence, you grow into the leader your library program needs. Take those baby steps. Get up when you fall. You can do it.