Epiphany!

Friends, I've had an epiphany. I'd been stalled on my Vision of the Future project, half-heartedly picking away at my presentation while doubting all the technological bells and whistles I'd thrown in to shock and amaze my colleagues at our August staff meeting.  

I was reading the blog of our colleague Karen Isaak and was struck by the quote she included:

The quote was just what I needed because, as I plunked away at my presentation I'd begun picturing myself standing in front of my staff and imagining their various scornful, bored and critical expressions as I talked about the information literacy scope and sequence. I was beginning to think things like, "I don't actually have to present this."  "Who do I think I am, railroading a bunch of time on our August professional day with this stuff?"  "No one will be interested," etc.  

I don't actually believe my content is irrelevant, dull or contemptible.  I do think I am afraid of failing to engage my colleagues and having the impact I would like.  

Being aware of these fears will be a vital piece of this project going forward.  If I aspire to be a mentor to my colleagues in areas such as technology I'm going to have to get over this imposter syndrome or whatever it is I'm struggling with.  I had a look at Brent Gleeson's Forbes article "Conquering the Common Fears of Leadership"  and had the uncanny experience of my every unspoken fear being laid bare.  Never mind that the guy is a Navy SEAL combat veteran and I'm a teacher librarian. There are parallels here somewhere!

As I prepare to truly move into a leadership role in my second year as TL (with just one SLLC to manage this year!) I realize there will be more to it than having a strong mission and a slick set of infographics.  I am going to have to acknowledge and address key tenets of Gleeson's  approach to leadership:

• Expect criticism: Have a thick skin while remaining vulnerable (is this possible?) by requesting feedback and asking colleagues to suggest improvements.

• Expect failure:  Mistakes are inevitable, and are learning opportunities.  Own your failures and find ways to "right the ship".

• Make decisions (I'm good at this one):  take the time to consider all the information at hand and then choose the best possible course of action.

• Conquer fears of public speaking:  Gleeson says public speaking makes the top 10 list of fears and phobias (I checked:  definitely top 20 and right up there with confined spaces, death and spiders).  He recommends getting in front of an audience at every possible opportunity.  (Oh man, that's a hard one.  Is there such a thing as leadership for introverts?)

• Take responsibility:  I loved what Gleeson had to say here:  As a leader your role is to define the mission, provide resources, and remove obstacles. Embrace the fact that you have a team to lead. It’s a good problem to have. 

I have a problem.  It's a good problem, and I'm going to tackle the problem.  It will be exciting to see if a new mindset about leadership helps me attack my work with more zeal this evening.  Wait--tonight is the staff party! It will be exciting to attack my project with new zeal tomorrow evening.  Wait--that's Friday night...

In any event, I'm excited.  Thanks, Karen Isaak, for the inspiration and insight.

References

Gleeson, B. (2014).  Conquering the common fears of leadership.  Forbes, May 5, 2014.  Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2014/05/05/conquering-the-common-fears-of-leadership/#13b05891673c

R. David Lankes Quotes. (2018). [Quotes cited from various works]. Success Through Collaboration HELIN Annual Conference. Smithfield RI. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/562567.R_David_Lankes