Leadership: The Challenge for the Information Profession

Citation

Massis, B.E. (2009), "Leadership: The Challenge for the Information Profession", New Library World, Vol. 110 No. 11/12, pp. 570-571. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074800911007604

There is a common acceptance of a perceptible evolution of the modern management model where, as the authors of this book suggest, we have experienced, “… a shift towards participative management and distributed leadership where staff at all levels are empowered in their roles.” While the over‐emphasized word “empowered” is mentioned, organizations who have embraced the concept have been slower to accept it in practice than might have been anticipated. After all, as the authors also suggest, “leadership” is frequently viewed as a positive while the word, “management” is often viewed as a negative. So, whether or not the words “participative” and “distributed” are accepted by an organization, or an individual within an organization, the reality is that for many library professionals who would rather avoid management or leadership, or both, the adjectives describing the latest forms of the two in such a manner only serve as window dressing whose buzz words simply do not attract as many leaders or managers as are needed to the profession, both currently and, ostensibly, for the future. Thus, the authors suggest, there is an overwhelming need for a comprehensive and wide‐reaching program of succession planning across the library profession.

The need for succession planning is well known and has become a much‐discussed but less of an implemented concept. This is a significant concern as discussions of the expected wave of coming “Baby Boomer” retirements become imminent and there must be those to whom the profession can turn to plan the replacement process for those leaders and managers who will exit within the next three years. It is clear that training and development of selected staff will be necessary in order to create a cadre of well‐trained and experienced leaders and managers who will have the proper skill sets to step into the shoes of their retiring colleagues.

In order to address this issue, the authors have included a chapter in the book entitled, “Leadership development” wherein they offer the reader a wealth of resources and practical advice to aspiring library leaders regarding the knowledge and skills toolkit one may avail one's self of in order to build one's strengths in the areas of:

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  “Work experience in practice”.

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  “Experiential learning”.

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  “Action learning”.

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  “Coaching and mentoring”.

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  “Formal (training) programs”.

Allied to the importance of training and development, the book in itself is a proper learning tool with an instructive arrangement that serves as an excellent source of training for the hopeful and eager future library leader. The book is structured such that one can “circle back,” so to speak, in order to review what one has read and reflect upon it.

At the start of each chapter, the authors recommend a series of “Learning Objectives” designed to present a menu of expectations the reader can come to expect from each chapter reading. This strategy presents the book as a learning tool as well as a straightforward textbook and offers a well‐rounded approach to learning the materials presented in each chapter.

The text offers an opportunity within each section described as, “Reflections” where the reader is challenged to review critical concepts and theories in order to stop and consider them more carefully. As an example, early in the book, the authors refer to a table that references a list entitled, “Characteristics of superior leaders,” and asks one of a number of “Reflection” questions asking the reader to, “Think about a positive experience you have had of a boss or colleague providing leadership. What did they do that had such a positive impact?”

Additional opportunities for consideration on the scenarios presented in the book include a series of review questions and “challenges” where the questions posed in these areas serve as a means by which the reader can also further contemplate the chapter readings and use the text as a guide to responding to the challenges posed within.

Also, at the end of each chapter, the authors provide a “case study” structured as an interview with a working library professional responding to a series of interview questions aligned with the material presented in the chapter reading. These “real world” examples provide an honest and straightforward set of responses from the trenches that can prove quite valuable to the reader and enhances the discussions presented in the book.

Finally, there is a selected bibliography posted at the close of each chapter offering citations of the references cited in that chapter, that, when accumulated together, provides a veritable library of leadership and management literature.

Overall, this book is a must for the library professional who aspires to enter the field of library leadership and whose training and development for such a position differs quite substantially from training for a management position. The authors have done a marvelous job of providing the reader with a single‐volume toolkit to serve as a foundation text for those in the library profession seeking leadership positions.