Leading from the Middle, and Other Contrarian Essays on Library Leadership

by Lubans, John

• ISBN13: 9781598845778
• ISBN10: 1598845772
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-16
• Publisher: Libraries Unltd Inc

Summary

While liberating management theories are well known to the profession, the traditional command-and-control structure prevails, leaving many libraries as reactive-not proactive-institutions. How can libraries create encouraging workplaces that are collaborative in decision making and action taking, have a clear mission, and are committed to bringing out the best in each person?

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xiii
Preface	p. xv
Introduction	p. xvii
Leadership, Leading from the Middle, Teamwork, Empowerment, Followership
Balaam's Ass: Toward Proactive Leadership in Libraries	p. 3
ôHypocrisy Aboundsö	p. 4
The Reactive Library	p. 5
Why the Reactive Stand?	p. 7
A Proactive Leadership	p. 8
Asking Jeeves	p. 8
Leading from the Middle: ôI'm the Boss.ö	p. 10
Teams: Theory and Practice	p. 15
What Are Teams?	p. 16
Teamwork Research	p. 17
Letting Go: A Reflection on Teams That Were	p. 24
Why Teams?	p. 24
Challenges	p. 26
Revision Mess	p. 28
Layers of Convenience	p. 28
Who's in Charge Here?	p. 29
Accomplishments	p. 30
Training and Development	p. 32
What I Would Do Differently	p. 33
Conclusion	p. 34
Bridger and Me	p. 35
Leaders and Dogs	p. 40
The Way of the Dog	p. 40
The Invisible Leader: Lessons for Leaders from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra	p. 41
Orpheus Take-Aways for the Nonmusical Boss	p. 44
Legacy Unfolding	p. 47
Epilogue	p. 47
Southwest: The Unstodgy Airline	p. 48
Letting Go	p. 49
ôWe Compete Against Ourselvesö	p. 50
A Desirable Future	p. 51
ôIf the Plane Sits, It's Not Making Moneyö	p. 52
The Unstodgy Airline	p. 52
ôHelp Each Other Outö	p. 53
ôIt's the Peopleö	p. 54
A Day on the Tarmac	p. 54
More Than a Game: A Season with a Women's Basketball Team	p. 59
Transfers from the Hardwood to the Workplace	p. 67
Epilogue	p. 68
Leaders, Bosses, Challenges, Values
ôI Can't Find You Anywhere But Goneö Revisited	p. 73
Users Love the Internet	p. 74
Creating a New Curve or ôJumping the Shark?ö Challenges for Leaders	p. 76
Leadership Responses	p. 77
ôIt's in the DNAö: Infusing Organizational Values at Southwest	p. 80
Organizational Culture	p. 81
Steps for Infusing Values	p. 83
Epilogue	p. 86
Appendix: Core Values at Southwest	p. 87
ôShe Took Everything But the Blameö: The Bad Boss Is Back	p. 88
Bad Bosses in Libraries	p. 89
Good Bosses in Action	p. 91
ôI'll Ask the Questionsö: The Insecure Bos	p. 93
The Insecure Boss Described	p. 94
In the Cross Hairs	p. 96
The Spark Plug: A Leader's Catalyst for Change	p. 99
The Spark Plug's Value to the Organization	p. 102
Encouraging the Spark Plug	p. 103
A Zabarian Experience	p. 104
A Manager's Perspective	p. 107
Will Zabar's Run Out of Programs?	p. 110
Epilogue	p. 111
Orchestrating Success: A Profile of Simone Young, Conductor	p. 112
Simone Young, Opera Australia	p. 113
Telling What You Actually Want: Simone's Words	p. 115
Saving Face	p. 115
ôTime, Ladies and Gentlemenö	p. 116
Show Time	p. 119
Epilogue: ôThe Only Thing We'll Argue about Is Moneyö	p. 120
A Different Leader?	p. 120
Coaching, Self-Management, Collaboration, Communication
Coaching for Results	p. 125
ôYou Can't Coach a Pumpkin!ö	p. 128
What Is Genuine Coaching?	p. 129
Peer Coaching for the Postdepartmental Library	p. 133
The Postdepartmental Organization	p. 135
Helping New Professionals	p. 137
Collective Listening	p. 139
Time Management	p. 139
Delegation of Responsibility	p. 140
Being Prepared, Taking Responsibility, Being Proactive	p. 140
Communication-Talking and Giving Feedback	p. 141
The Library Peer Coaching Institute	p. 141
ôYou Have the Resourcesö	p. 143
A Gift from the Woods	p. 147
ôA Different Mountainö	p. 149
The Rope	p. 150
Full Circle	p. 151
Leaving the Comfort Zone	p. 154
On the Road, Again: Lessons along the Way	p. 157
ôWe Don't Climbö	p. 158
Mirage at 8,000 Feet	p. 160
ôThe Esteemed Order of the Brolgaö	p. 161
Rock Castle Gorge	p. 163
Resolution	p. 167
Sacred Teams	p. 169
Team Progress	p. 171
Leading and Following	p. 171
Community	p. 172
Seeking First to Understand	p. 174
The Stove-Side Chat	p. 178
ôYou Can't Build a Fire in the Rainö: Sparking Change in Libraries	p. 183
Why Does Reform Require a Herculean Effort?	p. 184
Why Change? Do We Have a Choice About Change?	p. 185
What? so What? Now What?	p. 189
Diagnosing the Debrief	p. 191
Techniques and Tools, Productivity, Climate
Sherlock's Dog, or Managers and Mess Finding	p. 197
Definition	p. 198
Mess as Process	p. 199
Mess Taxonomy	p. 200
Applications: Active Ways to Find Messes	p. 204
What to Do about Them (Messes)	p. 207
Climate and Conclusion	p. 208
ôDeterministic, Highly Reductive, and Transientö	p. 210
Fads	p. 210
Non-Fads	p. 211
It's Pupillary, My Dear Watson, Pupillary	p. 212
ôFrom the Gutter to You Is Not Upö: Worst and Best Practice	p. 215
What Are Other Libraries Doing?	p. 215
Peer Productivity Wake-up Call	p. 216
Beyond Libraries	p. 218
Finding the Best Practices	p. 218
ôI'm So Low, I Can't Get Highö: The Low Morale Syndrome and What to Do about It	p. 220
First, What Is Morale?	p. 221
Why Morale Matters	p. 222
What to Do about Low Morale	p. 223
Productivity in Libraries? Managers Step Aside	p. 225
Economic, Biological, and Physical Aspects	p. 227
A Metaphoric Approach	p. 228
ôShe's Just Too Good to Be True, But She Isö: Recognition Ceremonies and Other Motivational Rituals	p. 239
Recognition as Organizational Artifact	p. 240
Scene One	p. 240
Scene Two	p. 241
If You Mustà	p. 241
Last Words	p. 243
ôI've Closed My Eyes to the Cold Hard Truth I'm Seeingö: Making Performance Appraisal Work	p. 244
Why PA?	p. 245
What Can Go Awry and Why: Unintended Consequences	p. 246
Doing without PA	p. 248
How to Make PA Work	p. 249
ôTo Save the Time of the Userö: Customer Service at the Millennium	p. 251
Untie the Hands of the Staff	p. 253
Get Rid of the Bad Apples	p. 254
Listen to What Your Users Are Saying	p. 255
Be Clear about Your Policies and Their Interpretation	p. 255
ôWhere Are the Snows of Yesteryear?ö Reflections on a Suggestion ôBoxö That Worked	p. 257
What Does a Suggestion Answer Book Look Like?	p. 258
What Users Want	p. 259
Style and Tone	p. 260
Problems and Challenges	p. 262
Support	p. 263
Conclusion	p. 264
Sources	p. 265
Notes	p. 269
References	p. 277
Index	p. 285
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