Comments on: “Someday when I am incompetent…”: Reflections on the Peter Principle, Leadership, and Emotional Intelligence

By: LIS blogs galore! « Sarah's Posts

LIS blogs galore! « Sarah's Posts — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 01:21:28 +0000

[...] posts per month. Since I’ve started following there have only been two posts, one about emotional intelligence and another about students as stakeholders in academic libraries. The quality definitely [...]

By: Tina

Tina — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:41:52 +0000

Robert makes an important point on the distinction between leadership and management. Also, management skills can be learned but can you learn to be a leader? I spent many years in the business world before becoming a librarian and have to say that I see more resistance to being managed in the library world than I ever saw in the business world. There is an undercurrent of “who are you to tell me what to do?” and I’m not even talking about micromanaging people. Sometimes a decision has to be made and it may be unpopular but the acceptance of that and the willingness to do it, in my opinion, is more prevalent in the business world than the library world. It’s been rather fascinating to watch.

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:23:13 +0000

On your “Leadership is a Dirty Word” section, I agree that most people don’t feel the need to be micromanaged, and like you say, if micromanagement is in fact needed, then the organization has larger problems.

However, I would point out that the business world makes a useful distinction between leadership and management, and in the end, your critique applies to managers but much less to leaders. This site–http://guides.wsj.com/management/developing-a-leadership-style/what-is-the-difference-between-management-and-leadership/–defines the terms fairly well. TL;DR: “The manager’s job is to plan, organize and coordinate. The leader’s job is to inspire and motivate.”

The *leadership* skills (i.e., promoting a vision) developed in one position can effectively transfer from a lower-level position to a higher one, while the *management* skills (i.e., directing ongoing operations) needed in the higher position are not nearly as likely to be developed in the lower one.

By: pokane1958

pokane1958 — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:17:27 +0000

Thanks, I am in the process of considering whether my skills and personal style are best suited to the mid management level I’ve just inherited. I know that EI is not my strength but I also know that to move my library from status quo to innovation I need to find ways to motivate people and so have to develop my skill set.
Of course, knowing I need to change and making the change is absolutely as hard as convincing my staff that they need and have to change.

By: Dan C

Dan C — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 14:30:01 +0000

Interesting and timely post, but I think it misses one very important fact: no library is really a self-standing institution, so library managers tend to be just another step in the organizational chart. We all have to report to someone: The CEO, The Provost, The Library Board, etc.

I think that’s sometimes forgotten from other segments of the Library. As a long time librarian (and long time library manager), it is my job to make my teams job as seamless and productive as possible. But that does have to be a two-way proposition. I promote (and sometimes even try to enforce) that my team go forth and try projects, work on new things, gain experience…they just have to let me and their teammates know they’re doing it.

To often I think people don’t understand that an organization is not just hierarchical but linear and cyclical. And if we are looking for a new model with more emotional intelligence, there needs to be more lateral
transparency and communication and that is something we don’t often see in libraries. It can be easy to blame management for a project fail or supposed lack of support, but what did that person do to make their project really work?

I’m also a firm believer in project management, which is common in organizational development, but not necessarily in libraries. Someone comes to me with a great idea, I am supportive, but I want to know what their next steps are. Is there a plan if this becomes successful as to how we handle the larger workload? Is there a plan B if its not successful? Do I need to work with my superiors to transition this in? And, most importantly, have you told your teammates about this?
I think the idea of the Peter principle is valid and it our job as leaders to help facilitate the gaining of proper experience. But they have to be willing to work at it.