Sometimes in our lives it is OK, maybe even wise to just float. Kick back, let the current take you wherever it will. But usually this does not work in our professional lives. Success doesn’t just “happen,” and organizations, including libraries don’t just “become” great. Nope, Teams Do Not Drift to Greatness (another great blog post from Seapoint Center.)
Success, and greatness, don’t just happen. You have to work at it. And not surprisingly, this has to do with planning, which I’ve written about before. You do need to have that vision, and core values. You also need all the other things guest blogger Mark Miller lists, too, like resources, education, encouragement.
Look, I’m all for serendipity and I love it when a “happy accident” that I’m not even looking for just falls into my lap. But in our libraries we can’t just sit back and wait for funding, or successful programs, or great staff, or whatever, to just happen. We have to make greatness happen: “Although the journeys are all unique, they all begin the same way – it starts with leadership. Leaders build high performance teams by ensuring their teams are strong. . . .”
As one of the comments on the post says ““Nobody ever reached the summit of Everest and said ‘oh wow, I never expected this’. You may not reach the summit even if you have the vision, but you certainly won’t accidentally stumble upon it.”
If you haven’t, please do start upon your path to greatness today. You won’t get there by drifting.
Aerial view of Everest. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A Life in Libraries 