Comments on: Leading with Heart

By: Oleg K.

Oleg K. — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:02:56 +0000

Eric,

I liked how your article cut through the half-marketing/half-management self-help gobbledegook to explain authentic leadership. I was particularly pleased with the personal example you used; you did what a leader should do – you had a personal vision, but you created an environment where everyone had a chance to contribute. I’m a librarian now, but I worked as stage manager in the theatre before, and this is ability to have a strong personal vision and yet let everyone (actors, designers, crew…everyone) feel like it was they who made the show happen.

Anyhow, nicely done.

By: Vivienne Blake

Vivienne Blake — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:53:29 +0000

Thank you for an inspiring post, defining what constitutes effective, generous and human leadership.

By: Very Comprehensive Strategic Plan #2 « Earl's Business

Very Comprehensive Strategic Plan #2 « Earl's Business — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 02:09:17 +0000

[...] Leading with heart (inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org) [...]

By: Part II – Strategic Plans – Vision & Mission « Earl's Business

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:28:37 +0000

[...] Leading with heart (inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org) [...]

By: Dale

Dale — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:21:09 +0000

Sarah Michalak at UNC-Chapel Hill would be on my list.

By: Eric Frierson

Eric Frierson — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:01:35 +0000

Ha! Thanks, and stealing the design would be flattery. :) Must thank our outstanding university Web Team at St. Ed’s for doing the heavy lifting with the code and being very attentive to the design that reflected our library goals.

By: Eric Frierson

Eric Frierson — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:00:19 +0000

Thanks for the comments, everyone! Does anyone want to highlight a particularly authentic leader in libraries that you know about? I can name several people that come across as open, supportive, and passionate about the work – Barbara MacAdam, AUL at the University of Michigan… Laurie Sutch, Academic Learning Facilities coordinator also at UM… these two taught me so much about being a leader early in my career. Honored to have worked with them.

By: Dale

Dale — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:31:12 +0000

Nice post that captures some very profound points. Glad you included the hook about no one being able to do all of those things each and every day. There’s real truth behind that statement, but it doesn’t mean we should not aspire to be transparent and trustworthy at all times.

By: Veronica Arellano

Veronica Arellano — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:57:10 +0000

I really appreciated your blog post and the thought you put in to describing ideal library leaders, but I must say, I was completely distracted by your redesign of your library’s website! I thought it was clean, intuitive, and functional. As someone who will be undertaking an academic library website redesign this coming year, I would love to use your site as inspiration.

By: Librarian_101

Librarian_101 — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:36:38 +0000

Can I just say – thank you? Thank you for not just recognizing but calmly and smartly calling out a massive problem in our field. I have been saying for years that we have lots and lots of managers (and many of them struggle with the day-to-day duties of that job) but very few who can lead. It does take a rare person who can both manage people and projects AND inspire and engage others, but we should be encouraging these people to come forward. Unfortunately, I’m not seeing that happening much. It’s truly a shame, but a trend that I hope will change very soon.