I participated in the Association of Research Libraries Library Leadership for New Managers Workshop in the fall of 2004. The experience consisted of a four-day workshop in Washington, D.C., a facilitated project planned and completed in the participant’s home institution, an online survey, and participation in an online forum. The sixteen workshop participants were provided with background reading to be completed in advance. Homework was just the beginning of the experience.
The in-person workshop, led by very skilled facilitators, was an intense experience. The facilitators set the tone for a confidential environment so that participants would feel comfortable talking openly. There was a lot of territory to cover and it required constant participation. Despite the interactive nature of the workshop I found the experience to be introspective and I had many enlightening moments about my professional situation. The workshop was well crafted and covered topics such as leadership characteristics and influencing, emotional intelligence, dialogue, and environmental scans.
The facilitated project, due six weeks after the in-person workshop ended, was a practical way to put the participants’ newly acquired skills to work. With guidance from the facilitators each participant utilized the skills they learned to plan and carry out a project in their own workplace. Each participant posted their project proposal and a final report to the online forum. The results were phenomenal. The final reports showed many successful projects including the one planned for and carried out in my institution.
Finally, each workshop participant was given the opportunity to complete an online leadership survey. Designed to assess individual leadership styles, the baseline for self comparison was a group of University Librarians. I found the feedback from the survey to be an accurate assessment of my leadership style.
I enthusiastically recommend this workshop to any new library manager. I learned a number of skills that are put into practice daily. I should note, though, that this is the kind of workshop in which the rewards are based on individual effort. The workshop requires endurance and it demands various forms of participation from large and small group work to individual, online activities. The workshop is time intensive and the time commitment spans far beyond the in-person workshop, but the payoffs are well worth the hard work.
For more information visit the Library Leadership for New Managers Workshop website: www.arl.org/training/institutes/managers.html.