I recently completed a Senior Leadership course for NHS library managers, funded by Health Education England. It was comprised of lots of online seminars on various leadership/management topics, an action learning set that met 3 times (really really good), as well as a project to work on together. It was overall quite an interesting experience and I felt like I learned a lot. Most of all, I really appreciated the opportunity to think about leadership and what it means at this stage in my career.
When I look around at very senior librarians – those in leadership/management positions in large organisations – I do not really see anyone who really openly and consistently challenges the capitalist, racist, misogynistic, transphobic status quo. Does being a senior leader mean only promoting a ‘positive narrative’? What does it mean for me – will I have to tone things down to make myself palatable if I want to move up in my career? I guess I also just don’t really see anyone who is ‘like me’ in senior positions right now.
Looking outside of librarianship, at the senior leaders I have interacted with in recent years, what has particularly struck me is the disconnect between words and actions. People who would say they appreciated my work, that the library provides fantastic and essential service, and yet would actively undermine and exclude me. Or who would claim ‘team spirit’ and ‘all staff are valued’ in departmental meetings, and follow this up with really quite unfriendly and alienating behaviour in one-to-one contexts. Is this what it takes to become a ‘senior leader’ – just talk the talk?
Also, as a minor aside, I didn’t enjoy a lot of the traditional leadership/management literature and theories that were covered on the course. I just didn’t see my values and principles reflected in the language used. I think I need to do my own research to find something that works for me – anyone have any tips?
Many of the people I regard as the most influential role models in my career, who I look up to, are not necessarily in super senior leadership/management positions. But they’ve been able to inspire positive change – perhaps because they’re not in those super senior leadership/management positions? I see strength and value in community, and more informal relationships. I still feel (most of the time, when I’m not overwhelmed with despair) that we can change things from the ground up and champion social justice issues in librarianship and society more generally. And to me, that’s what leadership is.
The Adventures of YiWen the Librarian 