Yes, Libraries Change Lives!

Libraries change lives.  You hear it every day.  But you must be able to point to concrete examples of how YOUR library changes lives.  Helped someone with their resumé, which helped them find a better job?  Found information on an illness, which helped someone discuss treatment options with their doctor?

Well, here’s a fabulous example of a library that changed a life:

Kathleen Lee has been a Health and Safety Associate (HASA) at the San Francisco Public Library since October, 2010. Before that she and her partner owned a painting and restoration business in Sacramento. During the recession in 2009, they lost their business and became, for the first time, homeless. Thanks to services provided by the City and County of San Francisco and the Homeless Outreach Team, Kathleen has been able to

recover from homelessness. Through her training, Kathleen was hired as a counselor at a local shelter and is now working full-time employment with the Homeless Outreach Team — the same program that helped her find housing. She continues to work as a part-time HASA at the Library.

Wow.  See How to Change a Life, (from Infoblog) and the links to the webinars and podcasts for more info.

And then go out and change some lives!

Employee Problems?

Here’s a couple of posts about various problems you may be experiencing with employees:

• Dealing with Complainers Who Sap Workplace Productivity (The Fast Track)
• Tips on Handling Co-Worker Sabotage (The Fast Track)
• 10 Reasons Why No One Wants You in Their Meetings (US News and World Report)

135/365 (Photo credit: slurpiesandstraws ☮)

Any of these sound familiar?  Do the suggestions sound helpful?  Do you have anything to add?  Hit me in the Comments.

A Personal Post

Today is my mom’s birthday.  She is 92.  I’ve written about her before, but I feel the need to take a minute to acknowledge her today.

Mom

Today, I’m thinking about how she has never been an avid reader, but always liked to read, whether it was Better Homes and Gardens magazine, or a picture book before we took a nap, or her Bible.

Today, I’m also thinking about how her eyesight is failing.  She recently received an injection to help alleviate the affects of macular degeneration, and is scheduled for three more.  She has already noticed a slight improvement, and we hope that there will be more with each treatment.

Sadly, her hearing also continues to fail, so although I’ve suggested books on tape or CD, that doesn’t seem to be a viable solution.  So I’m pinning all my hopes on her eye treatments, and look forward to a day when she can enjoy reading again.  And, oh yes, watching “her” Minnesota Twins’ baseball games on TV.

Happy birthday, Mom.

Got Your Elevator Speech Ready?

Are you familiar with the term “elevator speech”?  It’s a short speech (the amount of time you might spend in an elevator with another person) that gets an important point across.  It’s a good idea to have some elevator speeches about your library ready to use whenever you might need to.

• On Men, Elevator Speeches, and Market Segments (Illinois Libraries Matter)
• The Elevator Speech (Hack Library School)
• Another Take on the Elevator Speech (Librarian of Fortune)

Got yours ready?

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Don’t Hit the Snooze Button

So often in life, whether our professional or personal lives, we get a wake up call.  Sometimes, like in the example in How to Answer a Wake Up Call (Seapoint Center), it is an uncomfortable one, and we just want to ignore it, or hit the snooze button.  We think we don’t need to listen, or pay attention, or we can take care of the problem or situation later, or on our own.

The woman in the post didn’t answer her wake up call, and lost her job as a result.  Sometimes the wake up calls we receive in life aren’t as noticeable as an alarm clock.  But sometimes they are, like the woman who was evaluated low on empathy, managing emotions and providing feedback.  Or like the one Alfred Nobel heard.  Unlike that woman who hit the snooze button and lost her job, though, Nobel decided he didn’t want to be remembered as the man who “made his fortune by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before.” And so he established the Nobel Prizes.

So I suggest, the next time you get a wake up call, answer it!

English: The face of a black windup alarm clock (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Not for the Faint of Heart

Libraries, like all organizations, must have good leaders.  Leaders are not born, they are made.  Becoming a leader is a conscious decision.

I find these 11 Ground Rules That Leaders Ought to Know (from Leading Blog) a good place to start.  What about you?  Here are a few:

• Leaders don’t plan to be disrespected; Leaders practice universal principles than earn respect.
• Leaders don’t motivate followers; Leaders search for the wants and needs that motivate followers.
• Leaders don’t overreact to problems; Leaders prevent problems before they materialize.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Like Scrabble? Having Trouble With Eyesight?

I’ve just returned from vacation, and am trying to catch up on email and other projects, so today’s post is simply to tell you about a cool article:  Scout Creates Giant Scrabble Set for Highland Library:

Poor eyesight can no longer be an excuse for not playing Scrabble at the Highland Public Library.

Vincent Alcorn, a Lakeland High School senior, made sure of that, creating a giant Scrabble set for the library for his Eagle Scout project.

Pretty cool, huh?  Does it give you any ideas, whether to “borrow” wholesale, or adapt in some way for your library?

Scrabble-tile (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Giving and Success

Are You a Giver or a Taker? (from the Leading Blog) explores three types of people at work:  givers, takers, and matchers, defined in this description of the book Give and Take:

Whereas takers strive to get as much as possible from others and matchers aim to trade evenly, givers are the rare breed of people who contribute to others without expecting anything in return.

Now, you may wonder which term describes you, and you may also wonder which type fares better at work.  That’s where things get interesting:

Research shows that givers sink to the bottom of the success ladder. Givers may make others better off, but they do so at their own expense.

But here’s the thing, givers also land at the top of the ladder with takers and matchers in the middle. Adam Grant explores in Give and Take, what separates givers at the bottom and top. And the difference is not competence, but the kinds of strategies givers use and the choices they make.

Grant notes that in “purely zero-sum situations and win-lose interactions, giving rarely pays off…. But most of life isn’t zero-sum.”

The giver advantage is often hard to see in the short term because the “giver advantage grows over time.” Chip Conley, founder of Joie de Vivre Hotels, explains, “Being a giver is not good for a 100-yard dash, but it’s valuable in a marathon.”

Kind of cool, isn’t it?  So, you can get near the top by being cut-throat (a “taker”), but you can really get to the top by asking for, and giving help (being a “giver”).  At least according to Grant.  I like the idea.  What do you think?

It’s not Micromanaging, It’s Managing!

I guess we all dislike being micromanaged.  But the person asking this question of AskaManager, is clearly so afraid of micromanaging, he/she is hesitant to actually manage:

 

It is not micromanaging to clearly explain what a work product or outcome should look like, or to ask that work be done correctly, or to expect people to incorporate your feedback into their work in the future. That’s managing.

 

Uber management consultant Alison Green has hit the nail firmly on the head, as usual.  Be sure to read the full post.  You do need to find that perfect balance between management and micromanagement.  The goal is to get the results you need from those you manage, all for the benefit of your organization.  The goal is not to make friends, or avoid being labeled a micromanager.

 

Who’s the Boss? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Skills: Hard or Soft?

Sometimes I am late (and yes, sometimes very late!) to learn about things.  In this case, the concept of “hard skills” and “soft skills” is new to me.  Whether you already know all about this, or are just learning, like me, I hope you find something new in today’s post.

What got me started was this great post, Develop Your Soft Skills for Workplace Success (from The Fast Track) in which I learned that “soft skills, including interpersonal communication and conflict resolutions, are becoming increasingly important in the workplace” and that “71 percent of employers say they value emotional intelligence over IQ.”  The post goes on to discuss soft skills, why they are important, and how to develop them.

Soft (Photo credit: katerha)

Obviously, it’s time for me to learn more about this “hard” and “soft” skills thing.  In People Skills Training: Are You Getting a Return on Your Investment? I learned that

“[H]ard skills” are technical or administrative procedures related to an organization’s core business. Examples include machine operation, computer protocols, safety standards, financial procedures and sales administration. These skills are typically easy to observe, quantify and measure.  They’re also easy to train. . . ”

In contrast, “soft skills” (also called “people skills”) are typically hard to observe, quantify and measure. People skills are needed for everyday life as much as they’re needed for work. They have to do with how people relate to each other: communicating, listening, engaging in dialogue, giving feedback, cooperating as a team member, solving problems, contributing in meetings and resolving conflict. Leaders at all levels rely heavily on people skills, too: setting an example, teambuilding, facilitating meetings, encouraging innovation, solving problems, making decisions, planning, delegating, observing, instructing, coaching, encouraging and motivating.

OK, so my take away from this is that we need both—in ourselves, as leaders and managers, and in the people we hire and supervise.  So when you’re hiring, don’t just ask things like “how familiar are you with Excel?” but also ask questions to help you learn how cooperative they are, how they communicate, and resolve conflict.  And yes, it’s true, it’s harder to learn about soft skills in the interview!  (And don’t just ask, “how do you resolve conflict?”  Make them give you concrete examples.)

Now, how do you go about evaluating your own soft skills, and determining which ones you need to improve?  Here’s one way:  The Soft Skills Quiz will help you identify your strengths and where you need improvement in the soft skills arena.  Additionally, have your staff members take the quiz too.