Leadership and Librarians

I was pleased to have the opportunity to write an article with my colleague Hugh Murphy on the UK Future Leaders Programme which we both completed some while ago.  I was one of the 2010 cohort and Hugh was 2011.  It was interesting to look back, five years after the programme and to reflect on what I have used from the course in the intervening period. 
Here's a few thoughts that have stayed with me and hopefully informed my leadership style:

You don’t get to rerun the world - you need to learn in real time (action learning)
Recommit yourself to leading every day
Raise the quality of the conversation – inquire/question and focus on the positive. The nature of the question determines the quality of the conversation. When faced with a problem ask yourself/colleagues "What would a satisfactory solution to this issue look like?"

Open questions, such as the above,  are the most important questions in action learning

Put an emphasis on evidence – what is the evidence for continuing/changing…
View conflict as a gateway to growth and learning - you are likely to learn most from the people who challenge you most

 Approach every situation with a beginners mind