President's Update - May 11, 2017

Congratulations to our newly elected President-Elect Kristin Shelley and board members, Jessica Bratt, Pam Christensen, Kelly Richards and Cathy Russ. It will be a pleasure to work with this enthusiastic group. A special thank you to all members who ran for office or who have signed up to volunteer in some capacity in the next year. It takes courage to step up.

What is the difference between leadership and management? As far as I know, there is not one answer for this. Leaders can be good managers, but good managers are not always leaders. In fact, you don't have to be a manager to be a leader. While good managers are good problem-solvers, leaders tend to see the mission in any goal and sometimes change course to do something out of the ordinary to find a solution. The response to the emotion of fear is one place where leaders and traditional managers may differ. When leaders experience fear, they do not give into it by defaulting to maintaining a status quo or going in a direction that will be pleasing to others. In fact, leaders sometimes say things that others don't want to hear. They are willing to explore new paths even if that means temporary setbacks because they know that creative ideas come out of new directions and they can learn from any setbacks that may come. Leaders also trust and respect other people who have the potential skills and abilities to help solve problems and call upon them to help. Leadership is learned from direct experience. It takes time, courage and much reflection.  

Two upcoming MLA workshops address leadership development. I encourage you to sign up to help you move into a new level of leadership.

• Hybrid Librarian,  May 19, 2017 -  blend collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, and flexibility with an experienced leadership coach.

• Executive Summit,  Jun 02, 2017 learn about the key issues and the future of libraries to broaden your perspective.

Back to news