Senior Librarians’ Perceptions of Successful Leadership Skills

Abstract

The purpose of this case study was to explore senior librarians’ perceptions of successful leadership skills in the 21st century. The data gathered from 10 senior library leaders consisted of demographic information and responses to six open-ended interview questions. From the NVivo 10 analysis, several significant themes emerged regarding successful library leadership skills in the 21st century at two levels: foundational and interpersonal. At the foundational level, technical and knowledge skills form the building blocks for the next level of interpersonal skills. Persuasion and collaborative skills are interwoven with these interpersonal skills, both of which are at the core of the postindustrial paradigm of leadership. These two levels of skills, with an emphasis on persuasion skills, should form the basis of succession planning programs for next generation librarians. Implementing such programs could lead to increased leadership diversity, greater job satisfaction, improved job performance and effectiveness, all of which help retain librarians and ease staff shortages. Further studies are recommended.

Citation

Kwan, D. and Shen, L. (2015), "Senior Librarians’ Perceptions of Successful Leadership Skills", Advances in Library Administration and Organization (Advances in Library Administration and Organization, Vol. 33), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 89-134. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0732-067120150000033003