Beyond vision: Making it real

BEYOND VISION: Making it realKate KellyLAI Career Development Group. Lead to SucceedRCSI. October 14, 2016

RCSI Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Coláiste Ríoga na Máinleá in Éirinn

LEADERSHIP & VISION

Leadership Propositions:Leadership is• Relational• Conversational• Contextual• At all levels in an organisation• Inseparable from learning• Enhanced by a clear sense of purpose• Values-based• Leadership requires a personal vision• For leaders what is “real” is always changing

Source: Sheppard Moscow. Leadership Development Programme. 2014. Used with permission

Leading

THINKING

DOINGBEING

"As you think, so will you be. And as you are, so will you do.“Lee Thayer. Thinking, Being, Doing

The Vision Thing

Photo: Corey Miller. https://www.flickr.com/photos/toomuchfire/

Warren G Bennis

“Leaders must encourage their organizations to dance to forms of music yet to be heard.”

Warren G Bennis

“Leadership is the capacity to turn vision into reality”

Willie Walsh

Leadership is the “ability to

give bad news”

vi.sion /’viZHen/n.

Imagined idea or a goal towards which one aspires

http://empireone.com.au/our-vision-purpose-and-values/

LIBRARIES, LEADERSHIP & VISION

LIBRARY LEADERSHIP?

• No such thing• A label rather than a vocation• Put leadership theory and practice in

context, i.e. apply to library

Bell, S. (2016). There’s No Such Thing as Library Leadership | Leading From the Library. [online] Library Journal. Available at: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/09/opinion/leading-from-the-library/theres-no-such-thing-as-library-leadership-leading-from-the-library [Accessed 11 Oct. 2016].

Management & LIS Literature• New type of leader • “Soft” or “people” skills – including emotional

intelligence and vision…imparting vision to help organisations embrace change

• Allow leaders at all levels to emerge• Adapt to workplace where there is more

experimentation, more adaptation and more “healthy anxiety”

Gwyer, R. (2010). Leading in Difficult Times: What Can We Learn from the Literature?. New Review of Information Networking, 15(1), pp.4-15.

Most Important Leadership Skill in Academic Library Leaders? Vision• Be a visionary• Be a person of vision – constantly scanning the

environment, analysing and interpreting it, developing a vision that sets a clear direction

• Take strategic action (as opposed to planning)• Be able to articulate a vision based on university and

library environment• Persuade and guide others to strategic vision and the

goals and objectives to work towards that vision.• Other 4? Management, Integrity, Collaboration,

Communication

Binh P. Le (2015). Academic library leadership in the digital age. Library Management. 36(4/5),pp 300-314

Vision Statements“Toronto Public Library will be recognized as the world's leading library by informing and inspiring Toronto and its communities, making us all more resilient, more knowledgeable, more connected and more successful”.

Madison Public Library: your place to learn, share, and create.

The California Digital Library’s vision is to elevate the digital library for UC so that it becomes "expansively global and deeply local"

To transform the way people experience knowledge. (Virginia Tech)

The UO Libraries serves as a powerful catalyst for learning and knowledge creation. We innovate, adapt, and excel in our efforts to improve the world, one curious mind at a time.

NCSU: The Libraries: NC State's competitive advantage

The vision is for the Library to be the physical and virtual “go-to” place to learn and to research (TCD)

To share the story of Ireland with the world through our unique collections (NLI)

STRATFORD PUBLIC LIBRARY VISION STATEMENTWe’re here for you…The library is a vibrant community hub and favourite destination where personable, knowledgeable and progressive staff, provide innovative and interactive programs and services to anyone.

Or you can take us with you…With robust technology and engaging on-line spaces, the library transforms community life by inspiring and enabling literacy, curiosity, creativity and change.

To refresh your spirit. The library is essential to community life because of its deeply inclusive and collaborative approach to making this a better place to live.

RCSI LIBRARY 2008-2016

RCSI Library 2009 Strategic Plan

Vision: Our vision is that in “three” years’ time the RCSI Library and Information Service will:1. Provide excellent online

biomedical resources in physical environments that are people-centred learning spaces

2. Serve the entire RCSI community through its co-ordinated network of libraries

3. Use the skills of information specialists to support education, research and clinical practice in new ways

4. Develop a “living” heritage collection focused on surgery in Ireland and related themes

5. Be a model health sciences library and information service that implements international best practice

Life is what happens to us while we are making other

plansAllen Saunders 1957 Readers Digest

All Action is Strategic

• Alignment with organisational strategy• Persistence, Patience• Persuasion/Influencing – up, down, and sideways• Resourcing• Risk-taking• Resilience• Belief• Buy-in• Engagement• Action

Vision for RCSI Library?• Over-arching• Vision within visions

– Online– Onsite– Heritage– Records– Clinical – Bahrain

• Connection between them?– Skill set and service– Health sciences

Image: http://www.brainbalancecenters.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Brain-Connections-800.jpeg

Move on Many Fronts

Storywebsite

Collections

SpaceSkills

Heritage

“Friends”

Records IT

Sale of antiquarian books

RCSI: Services and Resources

2008

2016

Library Buildings

• Physical manifestations of vision– For their communities/organisations– For the library profession– For us as individuals

• Symbolic of change

• Catalyst for change

RCSI: Physical Space 2008

RCSI’s Academic Education Building 2017

Library

Learning Commons Pop-up Expo Stage

Ampitheatre

Customer Service Ethos & Model

Evolution of Team and Teams2008 2011 2016 Teams

Archives & Special Collections

Archives & Records Management

Heritage Heritage & RecordsRecords & Information Compliance

Systems Systems & Repository

Systems Support & Development

Service Delivery

Technical Services

Information Resources Management

Information Resources Management

Information Services

Information Services

Customer Services & CommunicationsTeaching & Learning Support

Education, Research and

Clinical Support

Beaumont Hospital

Beaumont Hospital

Clinical Librarian

Research Support

Scholarly Communications & Research Support

RCSI Bahrain (informal)

RCSI Bahrain (formal)

WHERE DO YOU START?

Hunt Library NCSU

http://snohetta.com/projects/10-james-b-hunt-jr-library

“Begin with the end in mind”Covey, S. (1989). The seven habits of highly effective people. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Leading the Library (when you’re not in charge)

• Cast vision• Plan strategically• Manage projects• Reject passivity• Build your team• Implement accountability

Boatright, Beth (2015) leading the library (when you’re not in charge), College and Undergraduate Libraries, 22(3-4), 343-357

• Add detail to the “big picture” • Scan the environment especially outside

the sector• Make suggestions, proposals.• Try things• Make mistakes • “Care and not care”

And

Grotzinger, Laurel A.; Carmichael, James Vinson, Jr.; Maack, Mary Niles (1994). Women's work : vision and change in librarianship : papers in honor of the centennial of the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science. https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/3859

Visions for Irish Libraries?• Dublin City Library • Dun Laoghaire Lexicon• National Library

– Strategic Plan 2016-2021, – Lunchtime library lecture series

• Trinity College Dublin – “The Library of the Future; the Future of the Library” series

• DBS• Open Libraries• Re-associate the word “library”?