WELCOME TOWELCOME TO

Overcoming the Silent Overcoming the Silent Barriers--Barriers--

Living Leadership Values Living Leadership Values From the Inside OutFrom the Inside Out

Panelists

Francine Carlin, Principal,

The Performance Partnership

North Vancouver City Library

Jane Watkins,

Chief Librarian

John Black, Librarian,

Collections & Info Services

Karen Coyne,

Senior Clerk, Children’s Services

Program OverviewTo share our experience of the importance of acknowledging,valuing and dealing with issues relating to organizational culture to achieve your Vision and effectively lead and manage change.

The Context

Our Vitals• Serving a population of 46,000• Single site library system – the Heart of the

City• Open 69 hours per week• 43 staff 30 FTE’s (Unionized)• 100,000 items• Circulation + 600,000 items per year• 14,000 square feet • New 35,000 square foot facility planned

Our VitalsEveryday on average:

• 1,400 people visit the library

• 1,800 items are checked out, and 1,800 items are checked in and shelved

• 75 reserves are processed

• 175 information inquiries are answered

• 100 children attend literacy based programs

• 375 sessions are booked on Internet stations

Background

• New director hired 1999

• Clear mandate to modernize operations, build relationships with Library Staff, City Staff, Council and the community

• Lead the process to expand/build a new library facility

First Impressions

• No leadership from the top

• No vision

• No standards or expectations of performance

• No effectiveness, efficiency measures

• Strong informal leaders that did not work together

• Bitter infighting and longstanding inter-personal conflicts

• Glass half empty mentality

• No pride in place of employment

• Dark, crowded, disorganized environment

• Services set up for the convenience of the staff not the customers

There was a lot to do!

Transforming the Organization

• Space Needs Analysis•Vision•Roles established•Need for new library facility established

• Strategic Plan Revised and Updated• Operational Review conducted and

implementation plan established

Key Recommendations

• Measure all activities by asking “What business are we in?”

• Move from a task oriented to a customer focused organization

• Address duplication of effort and rationalize division of tasks

• Restructure staffing complement to public service

Transforming & Marketing Our Image

• Modernized our look with new logo

• Established a Customer Newsletter

Transforming the Staffing Structure

• Rationalize departmental tasks and where possible reallocate staff to public services

• Revisit organizational structure with each resignation and retirement

Transforming the Library Environment

Seismic Upgrade

From Overcrowded & Disorganized

To Clean

Clearly Labeled

A Splash of Colour Brightened the Environment

From Hidden Service Point

To Service Points Clearly Accessible and Always

Staffed

From Underwhelming New Materials Display

Exciting Displays That Tempt and Please Our

Customers

From Uninviting Seating

To “A Room With a View”

Age Appropriate Furniture

From Crowded Public Computer Workstations

To Customer Friendly, Personal Stations

Self-Service Features

Self-Service Features

Self-Service Features

Self-Service Features

We had:

• Employed all the proven management strategies

• Included staff in all these processes

• Held change management workshops

…It still wasn’t enough.

Transforming the Organization’s Culture

What To Do?• Address culture shock

• Gain Senior Staff buy in and team commitment

• Gain staff support to achieve the common goal of delivering excellent library service

Enter Francine

Where to Begin???Where to Begin???

Facing cultural patterns imbedded overtime

BUILDING TRUST & BUILDING TRUST & RESPECTRESPECT

SENIOR STAFF

STAFF

The key to shifting The key to shifting negative cultural patternsnegative cultural patterns

BUILDING TRUST & BUILDING TRUST & RESPECTRESPECT

Process:• Subtle, experiential and internal• Addressing the silent barriers

• hurt feelings, history, anger• Building positive relationships• Creating a safe environment

Focus On:

• Authentic communications--own and express feelings• Listening to hear• Confidentiality• Acknowledging individual worth

Senior Staff Leadership LabCreating A Leadership Team Takes Practice:

1. Relationship Building

• Addressed long standing interpersonal issues

• Strengthened relationships through self-discovery

• Dealt with vulnerable issues around being a leader

• Introduced ‘Emotional Intelligence’ components of self-management and self-awareness

Senior Staff Leadership Lab

2. Leadership Skills Building & Practice• Regular leadership ‘check-ins’• Established team vision, values• Identified individual leadership styles• Conducted leadership self-assessment • Participated in peer reviews• Developed personal learning plans• Commitment by the Chief Librarian to facilitate practice of the learnings in between Lab Sessions

John’s Perspective

• Where we’d be if we hadn’t participated

• On being customer focused

• Listening as a leadership tool

• Personal reflections

Staff Team Learning Lab1. What’s Working, What’s Not?

• Each department and each individual invited to talk openly w/o fear of repercussion

• People could really vent• Facilitator reports outcomes to management

2. Deepen Trust and Respect Between Departments and Among Individuals

• Identify what’s needed to be successful• Greater information sharing regarding change

initiatives• Identified departmental roles and responsibilities• Encouraged personal ownership of attitudes and

behaviors

Staff Team Learning Lab

3. Team Learning SkillsTeam Learning Skills

• Authentic communications

• Active listening

• Practicing teamwork

• Dealing with conflict

Karen’s Perspective

• What Is Was Like Before the Change Process

• Describes the Experience of Going Through the Change Process

• The Library Environment Today

Coming Together

On Being Customer Focused

• Explored what it means to be customer focused

• Examined how being customer focused impacts staff roles and responsibilities

• This program symbolized the shift to a shared vision for the Library

Transforming blaming and complaining & we vs.

they --- into working positively together.

Transforming the Transforming the culture culture

is a work in progress, is a work in progress,

one day at a timeone day at a time.

SELECTED READINGS ON LEADERSHIP, CHANGE & TEAMS

1. Leading Change, John P. Kotter; Harvard Business School Press, 1996

2. The Heart of Change, John Kotter & Dan Cohen, Harvard Business School Press, 2002

3. Managing Transitions: Making The Most Of Change; William Bridges; Addison-Wesley Publishing; 1991

4. Deep Change Ğ Discovering The Leader Within; Robert E. Quinn; Jossey-Bass, 1996

5. Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson; Putnam, 1998

6. Leading In A Culture of Change; Michael Fullan; Jossey-Bass; 2001

7. The Dance of Change: A 5th Discipline Resource; Peter Senge, et al; Doubleday Books, 1999

8. The Change Monster: The Human Forces That Fuel or Foil Corporate Transformation & Change Jeanie D. Duck, Crown Press; New York 2001

9. Managing At The Speed of Change; Daryl R. Conner, Random House, 1992

10. Beyond Change Management Ğ Advanced Strategies For TodayÕs Transformational Leaders; Dean & Linda Anderson; Jossey-Bass; 2001

11. Clear Leadership, Gervase Bushe 2001.. Davis-Black Publishing, CA.

12. Managing Oneself. Peter Drucker, March-April 1999. Harvard Business Review

13. Leadership That Gets Results. Daniel Goleman, March-April 2000. Harvard Business Review:

14. Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. Daniel Goleman, and Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee. 2002Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

15. The Leadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations James Kouzes and Barry Posner, 1995.. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

16. The Wisdom Of Teams; Creating The High Performance Organization; Jon Katzenbach & Douglas Smith; Harper Business; 1994

17. Working With Emotional Intelligence; Daniel Goleman; Bantam Books; 1998

(June 2004)