Survive and Thrive as a Library Director: Part 2 (Nov/Dec 2016)

1. Survive and
Thrive: Staff
December 5, 2016

2. Comments from last
week? Anything you
changed or began?
• Type in the chat space

3. First: prioritizing
• Know your style, community and staff
• Know your goals, know your resources,
follow or adjust the strategic plan
• What really needs YOU?
• Color code your week if you’re a visual
person
• Leave a meeting with no assignment
other than following up

4. Library staff:
Put yourself in their shoes
• Meet with teams
• Your good/bad supervisors
• What do they think they will do at work
each day?
• How supported are they?

5. Key attributes of a director
that make the best staff
• Has vision
• Is ethical
• Is consistent
• Is fair
• Gives continuous feedback
• Prepares them for what’s next

6. Bonus slide: Predictions on
what is “next”
• Circulation staff will need to become
either tech savvy or reader’s advisors or
customer service representatives
• Reference staff will need to learn how to
teach and the art of conversation

7. “It’s better to lose a
book than a patron.”

8. “It’s about the
conversation first,
linking to resources
second.”

9. Communicating the mission
“The library’s mission is to promote the
joy of lifelong learning, stimulate curiosity,
support the exchange of ideas, and
provide a welcoming gathering place for
our community.” (Newtown, CT)

10. Poll time!
1. How many of you have a mission
statement you are proud of?
2. How many of you have a strategic
plan you are proud of?

11. Their role in the mission
Getting staff to “get” the vision—they have
to own it and see themselves in it.
You have to speak at a high level and
outline concrete actions at the same time.
Remember the N and the S types. You
likely have more S than N.

12. You should always be in
hiring mode
• Base hiring on your strategic plan
• Hire for the future, not the present
• Is the org chart in sync with the plan?
• Recruitment techniques
• Try-out opportunities
• Hire people first, skills for positions second

13. How to select
• Identify (resumes, referrals,
personal observation, etc)
• Interview
• Observe
• References
• Take your time

14. The interview
• Don’t use questions they can practice
• Set up practical situations
• Stress the desire and capacity to learn
• Watch for empathy

15. Beware
Make sure you know what NOT to say.

16. Sleep on it

17. You will make mistakes
We hire for skills and fire for attitude.

18. “On boarding”
Welcome them, orient them, invest in them.
(but pay attention to the probation period)

19. How to deal with
who you inherited
Get to know them better to uncover
talents or discover their future
plans.

20. Have them tell you a
couple of things
about themselves:
• What would someone be
surprised to learn about you?
• What have you learned to do
recently away from work?

21. For new directors
1. What shouldn't I change and why?
2. What are the 3 most important things to
change & why?
3. What do you hope I'll do?
4. What are you afraid I'll do?
5. Is there anything else I need to know?

22. • Don’t be fooled by the E’s
• Look hard for the ISJ’s=work
• Look for loyalty
• Look for shared vision, different skills
Identifying your staff
strengths

23. Model the behavior
you expect

24. Poll time!
Do you have someone you have to
say “goodbye” to?

25. Problems can occur
when power is
concentrated in the
wrong places or
badly dispersed

26. You’re only as good
as your weakest link
• Solve one and the next pops up
• Everyone is counting on YOU to
solve it
• Expect fallout after you do

27. They can be like
adolescents
Hard to get them separated so
they can act singularly. Help them
to do that. Like bus drivers with
time between runs. Don’t give
them time together!

28. Dispel myths and
past rules
“But we used to…”
“No one told ME that policy changed”
The person least invested in your vision will
be the most likely to use those words.

29. Be their union!
Know your management rights clause
A contract can be their excuse and your
crutch. Know it cold and put it away.

30. Have staff blanket the
community

31. Helping managers

32. Your biggest staff
challenges
• Keep close to them
• Make them advisors
• Give them time and attention

33. Your biggest worries
• Who is handling the finances?
• Who is saying what directly to public?
• Who has personal relationships with
key people like board members?

34. Watch out for:
• Showing favorites
• Telling them more than they are
able to handle
• Feelings of frustration

35. Think of the worst that could
be said about you.

36. “You must be hard to
work for”
Who me???

37. Poll time!
1. Do you have an evaluation process?
2. Are you happy with it?

38. Evaluations and the
Strategic Plan
• Stick to the strategic plan as a guide
• Use situational management
• Continuous feedback=no surprises
• Document, document, document

39. Evaluations, cont’d.
• Practice what you’ll say
• How you evaluate your
managers will be the way they
evaluate their staff
• Choose the right location

40. Cherish every one
• Everyone has a gift. Bring it out.
• Know what motivates them.
• Give each a role that’s unique

41. One staff, one library

42. Homework:
Make a list of staff
who you don’t know
well or haven’t had
contact with

43. Ask for feedback on
one or two things
you could do to be
even better.

44. Reminders:
1. send me your photos
2. make your second
1-on-1 appointment

45. The Front Row Culture by Seth Godin
The group files into the theater, buzzing.
People hustle to get to the front row, sitting
side by side, no empty seats. The event
starts on time, the excitement is palpable.
The other group wanders in. The front row is
empty and stays that way. There are two or
even three empty seats between each
individual. The room is sort of dead.

46. In both cases, the CEO or the guest
speaker is going to address the group for
an hour. But the two groups couldn't be
more different.
The first organization sees possibility, the
second sees risk and threat. The first
group is eager to explore a new future,
the second group misses the distant
past.

47. The truth is this: it's possible to hire for,
train for and lead a front-row organization.
And if you merely let entropy take over,
you're going to end up with the second,
lesser, failing organization instead.
It’s worth saying this as clearly as possible:
The culture, the choice of front row or back
row, is a choice. It's the result of
investment and effort.
Where would you rather work?