You Scratch My Back, I’ll Scratch Yours

Admit it, sometimes you need help from your colleagues, no matter what profession you’re in.

So read Building Alliances at Work for some tips on how to get others to want to help you.

Friday Fun

For your Friday reading pleasure, I share with you this story of Elsie Eiler, the ONLY resident of her tiny Nebraska village.  The link to libraries is tangential—but she is the town librarian (as well as the mayor, bartender,. . . you get the idea.)

I see that she pays taxes to herself, and secures state funding for the villages four street lights.  I hope some of those taxes go to support the library!

How Kind are Your Library Spaces?

When I do a presentation about customer service, one of things I always recommend is walking through your library and thinking like a customer.

Here’s a great post on that: Examining Library Spaces Through a Kindness Audit.  (Thanks, Library Dude!)

I’ll be interested to hear the results of your kindness audits!

Another Look at Managing

I talk a lot about leadership and management.  I share a lot of posts about the topic on Facebook and Twitter.  I am currently involved in a mentoring program for emerging leaders in Wisconsin libraries.

But not everyone is meant to be a leader, in the traditional sense.  In order for there to be leaders, they must have followers—they must have someone to lead.  In libraries, we do have leaders, whether they are the library director, department head, or some other type of supervisors.  And we have lots of other staff members, or people you might traditionally think of as followers.

But here’s the thing. Even if you aren’t a manager, you DO need to manage.  Sometimes you need to “manage” your boss.  This is often called “managing up.”

Some people think “managing up” is about manipulating your boss or managing her perceptions, but it’s not. It’s about working with your boss in the way that will produce the best possible results for your team, while at the same time making both your and your manager’s lives easier.

Well, that makes sense, doesn’t it? So, how can you do it well? Reading Six Key Principles of “Managing Up” for Better Results at Work (the Fast Track) is a great place to start.

A Novel Idea

A Novel Idea (reposted from American Libraries).

Libraries have long . . . provided public forums for book discussion, long before talk-show host Oprah Winfrey renewed interest in book clubs in 1996. . . .

In our more modern, connected, and ever-busy age, however, traditional library book clubs have been undergoing a quiet revolution. Lack of time, scheduling conflicts, mobility issues, desire for anonymity, and other factors have moved the conversation online—namely onto social media.

 

Clear Communication in a Fast Paced World

We’ve become a world that communicates in two-minute sound bites and 140 characters, but how can anyone expect you to explain complex information so quickly and concisely? Well, they do – and you can.

Read 6 Ways to Clearly Communicate Complex Information (the Fast Track) to learn more!

 

Library Advocacy Done Right!

There is very little I can say about Thing 1 and Thing 2 (from The M Word).  Except, read it.  And watch the video.  And read the Power Guide.  And learn how your library can do this too.  Library boards, staff, supporters MUST speak up forcefully for their funding. There is no other way.

This, my friends, is a perfect example of how to represent libraries at city budget meetings. There were library supporters (or advocates) with a unique, customized, story that was entertaining and memorable. There was a cute kid, a sweet old lady, a nice old man, and more. They made an impact.

 

Delegate!

How are you at delegating?  Are you an expert? Or are you one of those people who thinks instead of telling someone else how to do a task, you might as well do it yourself?

If you are a supervisor, you do need to be able to delegate.  And if you could use some help with knowing how and when to do that, you might find 8 Steps to Problem-Free Delegation helpful.

Why Privacy Matters

Privacy does matter, and libraries should be proud of the fact that we value and protect privacy.  Especially since other entities are whittling away at individual privacy:

So much of the discussion of late around privacy centers on its tradeoffs with security. Want to feel safe on a plane? Then you won’t mind having a full-body X-ray or a pat down that could easily be mistaken for a third date. Want to fight terrorism? Then it’d be fine to have the government read all your emails, listen to your phone calls, and know what you search online. Besides, if you don’t have anything to hide….

Well, it’s not fine with me, and it’s not fine with libraries, and it shouldn’t be fine with you.  In None of Your Beeswax Joe Janes discusses his thoughts on the topic.

Riding the Waves of Change

Ah, change.  It is inevitable, isn’t it.  Yet, it’s one thing to know that change is inevitable, and quite another to cope with it.  Change happens in the world, in our cultures, in our lives, and in our workplaces. In an organization, such as a library, we must change or die (or at least become irrelevant.)

Change Your Story, Change Your Organization discusses change, and how to survive and thrive amid change in a way that I’ve never heard, nor thought of, but it really resonates with me.  See if it does with you, and see if you can identify yourself and the role you play in the waves of change.  Are you a:

• Stabilizer (focus on the current)
• Originator (experiment with new ideas)
• Hospice worker (help us mourn what is going away)
• Midwife (help originators)
• Wave rider (help us transition between old and new)

We actually need ALL of these roles.