Like my colleague, Ed Hart, I was one of the 35 librarians who was privileged to attend what I hope will be the first of many Management and Leadership Institutes sponsored by the American Association of Law Libraries. The Institute was rich in content, and the feedback from participants was uniformly positive.
While Ed discussed the structure of the five day Institute, I would like to focus in this article on the specific topics that were covered during the Institute and the tools we acquired which will help us to become more effective librarians. In so doing, I would like to borrow from the best-selling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey.1 In his book, Covey explains that highly effective people share seven basic character traits, or habits, which make them successful. These habits are progressive, and each succeeding habit builds upon the previous habits. For me, one of the real benefits of attending the Management and Leadership Institute was learning specific ways in which I could apply these habits to my career in law librarianship and my job as a managerial leader.
According to Covey, the first habit of highly effective people is proactivity. The highly effective person anticipates problems, and takes preemptive steps to avoid or minimize them instead of waiting until they occur to react to them. The highly effective person has a personal mission statement and a clear definition of their various roles as well as their goals and objectives in each of those roles and makes decisions based upon these values, and not based upon moods, feelings, or circumstances. The highly effective person realizes that while we cannot control the choices of others, we can control how we respond to them. We discussed the trends which are impacting libraries, such as shrinking budgets, increasing costs of print and electronic resources, print resources being discontinued in favor of electronic resources, shrinking space for libraries, increasing government regulations, changes in the way that existing regulations affect libraries, and the perception that everything is available for free on the Internet, and ways in which librarians as individuals, as managerial leaders, and as a profession can use proactive problem solving techniques to address these issues.
The second habit of highly effective people, according to Covey, is to begin with the end in mind. As Covey says, “To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.”2 Covey asserts that, “This habit is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There’s a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things.” 3 Beginning with the end in mind means answering the questions, “Where am I and where do I want to be?” or “What are the things I want to accomplish?”4
From a personal standpoint, if your goal is to progress in your career, this means identifying the skills necessary for promotion, assessing your skills to identify areas of strength and areas for development, and developing your competency as a leader. We had opportunities during the Institute to engage in self assessment, to create a personal development plan, and to discuss ways in which we could position ourselves for promotion.
From a corporate or organizational point of view, beginning with the end in mind means that, “If you want to have a successful enterprise, you clearly define what you’re trying to accomplish. You carefully think through the product or service you want to provide in terms of your market target, then you organize all the elements - financial, a research and development, operations, marketing, personnel, physical facilities, and so on - to meet that objective. The extent to which you begin with the end in mind often determines whether or not you are unable to create a successful enterprise.”5 As librarians, we need to ask ourselves the same questions. What services will we provide? Will we provide reference service via telephone, or only in person? How about through chat, e-mail or instant messaging? Will we provide them only to our own faculty, staff and students, or will we make them available to alumni, attorneys and members of the public? In order to answer these questions, we will need to analyze the library’s role within the larger institution. Is it solely to serve the needs of the faculty and students or is it also to function as a source of outreach to the larger community?
Once we have decided what it is that we want to accomplish, we then need to decide the best way to accomplish it and what resources we will need. At the institute, we talked about how to develop a strategic plan and how to develop and utilize budgets and budget information. We learned that goals should be SMART - specific, measurable, action oriented, realistic, timed and timely.
The third habit of highly effective people is putting first things first. The highly effective person says no to the unimportant, no matter how urgent, and yes to the important. We discussed business process management and learned how to use business process management to streamline work and eliminate tasks which are unnecessary or redundant and do not contribute to meeting customer needs. We also talked about project management and had the opportunity to prepare a project plan and receive feedback from other members of the group. The emphasis was on providing service to patrons and designing business processes and planning projects from the customer’s perspective.
One of the important activities that highly effective people engage in is relationship building. We examined networking and mentoring opportunities and considered ways in which libraries can build partnerships with other departments or groups within their parent organizations and with groups within the larger community.
According to Covey, the fourth habit of highly effective people is thinking win-win. People who think win-win have what Covey refers to as an “abundance mentality,” the idea that there is plenty for everyone and that it is not necessary for someone else to lose in order for them to get what they need or want. Covey maintains that those who approach relationships with an attitude of win-win establish a high degree of trust with other people because they demonstrate consistent actions that convince people that they have a well-earned reputation for honesty, integrity, and loyalty; believe the best of other people; disclose, so that others will understand their position, behavior and decisions; communicate clear expectations; seek other ideas and listen with empathy; are accurate, timely, and honest in communication; treat people with respect and respond to others’ needs; and focus on the positive, but provide constructive feedback on improvement areas.6
We explored the need for librarians to cultivate win-win relationships and the ways in which cultivating win-win relationships can make managerial leaders more effective in all of their basic areas of responsibility: recruiting, hiring and retaining staff; supervising staff; allocating resources; setting goals; monitoring work performance; delegating; facilitating learning and development; influencing others, facilitating meetings, coaching for improved performance, leading and guiding change, creating a work climate that fosters collaboration, initiative, motivation, and trust; communicating; making timely and effective decisions; negotiating and resolving conflict; managing stress; and identifying and resolving problems.
The fifth habit of highly effective people is the habit that Covey refers to as the habit of empathic communication, seeing first to understand and then to be understood. Covey says,
We have such a tendency to rush in, to fix things up with good advice. But we often fail to take the time to diagnose, to really, deeply understand the problem first.
If I were to summarize in one sentence the single most important principle I have learned in the field of interpersonal relations, it would be this: Seek first to understand, then to be understood. This principle is the key to effective interpersonal communication.”7
We discussed the factors that contribute to effective interpersonal communications, the basic skills necessary for effective communication, and ways to foster productive dialogue.
The sixth habit of highly effective people is synergizing. Covey refers to this habit as the habit of creative cooperation. The idea is that when two are more people work together to achieve a goal or to solve a problem, through synergy, or creative cooperation, they can jointly discover things they would have been less likely to discover individually.
We talked about how to develop and lead teams effectively. We discussed the characteristics of effective teams, the stages of development that teams go through, and how to hold effective team meetings by creating an environment which encourages input from each member of the team.
The last habit of highly effective people, according to Covey, is the habit that he refers to as the habit of renewal - sharpening the saw.
We discussed tips and techniques to stay motivated, energized and productive and to maintain a healthy work/life Balance. The beautiful Arizona weather provided a respite for many of us from northern climates and offered opportunities for physical, mental and social renewal throughout the Institute. As we shared meals, baseball games, cab rides, hotel rooms and hikes through the nearby national forest, we formed relationships which will last throughout our careers. The Management and Leadership Institute equipped all of us with tools, which, if used consistently, will make us highly effective librarians.
1 Stephen R. Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic (1989).
2 Id. at 98.
3 Id. at 99.
4 Id. at 101.
5 Id. at 99.
6 FranklinCovey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Version 2.0 (1998).
7 Covey, supra note 1, at 237.