This Is What It Looks Like When a Google Manager Gets Feedback; Harvard Business Review, 12/4/13

David A. Garvin, Harvard Business Review; This Is What It Looks Like When a Google Manager Gets Feedback: "The thing is, many of those who make the cut are engineers, who typically view management as a distraction from “real” work, not as a useful activity. And that presents a challenge: If your highly skilled, handpicked hires don’t value management in the traditional sense, how can you run the place effectively? How do you turn doubters into believers, persuading them to spend time managing others? By applying the same analytical rigor and tools that you used to hire them in the first place. For Google, that has meant using its own data to prove the importance of management, as well as surveying employees and conducting double-blind interviews to identify key behaviors of effective managers — and then providing individuals with concrete, useful feedback in those areas."

Using Data to Shape a Library’s Direction | Data-Driven Academic Libraries; Library Journal, 12/5/13

Matt Ennis, Library Journal; Using Data to Shape a Library’s Direction | Data-Driven Academic Libraries: "Access to good data on key metrics such as circulation and student visits always helps make a better case for the important role libraries play on campus. But using data proactively to address emerging trends and challenges is “what it really means to be a data-driven organization” said Sarah Tudesco, Assessment Librarian, Yale University, during yesterday’s “What Is a Data-Driven Academic Library?” webcast. The webcast was the first of a free, three-part LJ series developed partnership with Electronic Resources and Libraries (ER&L) and sponsored by ProQuest, Springer, and Innovative Interfaces. The series is moderated by Bonnie Tijerina, Head of E-Resources and Serials for Harvard Library, and founder of ER&L. Tudesco suggested a five-part process for libraries interested in making data central to strategic decision making: (1) identify questions, (2) develop a plan to collect the necessary data to answer those questions, (3) collect data, (4) analyze the data, and (5) generate actionable recommendations... The three-part webcast series will continue next Wednesday, December 11 with The Evolution of Usage and Impact: Analyzing and Benchmarking Use..[and the] series will conclude on December 18 with Measuring Impact: Redefining Scholarly Value Through New Data."

CMU study finds employer discrimination via social media sites; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 11/27/13

Kim Lyons, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; CMU study finds employer discrimination via social media sites: "Employers trying to screen a job candidate based on Facebook or Twitter or even LinkedIn run the risk of discovering information they're not allowed to have. And a new study suggests that practice could lead to hiring discrimination. Employers acknowledge using social networking sites to find potentially unprofessional behaviors in job candidates, according to a new study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers Christina Fong and Alessandro Acquisti... And, if employers or would-be employers think their extra online research is off the record, they could be in for a rude surprise, Mr. Murphy said. "Computers don't forget," he said. "There's almost always evidence.""

How to Start Thinking Like a Data Scientist; Harvard Business Review, 11/29/13

Thomas C. Redman, Harvard Business Review; How to Start Thinking Like a Data Scientist: "Slowly but steadily, data are forcing their way into every nook and cranny of every industry, company, and job. Managers who aren’t data savvy, who can’t conduct basic analyses, interpret more complex ones, and interact with data scientists are already at a disadvantage. Companies without a large and growing cadre of data-savvy managers are similarly disadvantaged. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a data scientist or a Bayesian statistician to tease useful insights from data. This post explores an exercise I’ve used for 20 years to help those with an open mind (and a pencil, paper, and calculator) get started. One post won’t make you data savvy, but it will help you become data literate, open your eyes to the millions of small data opportunities, and enable you work a bit more effectively with data scientists, analytics, and all things quantitative."

3 Diversity Strategies To Help Companies Thrive; Forbes, 12/4/13

Richard Levychin, Forbes; 3 Diversity Strategies To Help Companies Thrive: "Diversity is one of the core growth principals of entrepreneurship with the concept of ROI-Based Diversity following a simple proposition: the more audiences you market your services or products to, the more opportunities you create to generate revenue. Accordingly, the more diverse potential customers that you have in your pipeline, the more opportunities you have to increase your revenue... In the most basic of terms, Diversity = Revenue. Here’s how to implement it in your company: 1. Expand Your Scope... 2. Mirror your Desired Demographic... 3. Communicate Your Diversity Plan"

The Focused Leader; Harvard Business Review Magazine, December 2013

Daniel Goleman, Harvard Business Review Magazine; The Focused Leader: "A primary task of leadership is to direct attention.To do so, leaders must learn to focus their own attention. When we speak about being focused, we commonly mean thinking about one thing while filtering out distractions. But a wealth of recent research in neuroscience shows that we focus in many ways, for different purposes, drawing on different neural pathways—some of which work in concert, while others tend to stand in opposition. Grouping these modes of attention into three broad buckets—focusing on yourself, focusing on others, and focusing on the wider world—sheds new light on the practice of many essential leadership skills. Focusing inward and focusing constructively on others helps leaders cultivate the primary elements of emotional intelligence. A fuller understanding of how they focus on the wider world can improve their ability to devise strategy, innovate, and manage organizations. Every leader needs to cultivate this triad of awareness, in abundance and in the proper balance, because a failure to focus inward leaves you rudderless, a failure to focus on others renders you clueless, and a failure to focus outward may leave you blindsided."

Pittsburgh Center Honoring Playwright Finds Itself Short on Visitors and Donors; New York Times, 11/23/13

Trip Gabriel, New York Times; Pittsburgh Center Honoring Playwright Finds Itself Short on Visitors and Donors: "Named for the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who found a street-savvy poetry in the lives of poor Pittsburgh blacks, the culture center’s plight has been especially painful for those who had hoped it would enshrine the music, art and literature of the urban world he knew. Instead, it appears to be a victim of mismanagement by its senior staff and board of directors, who borrowed to build a grand palace of culture, but failed to find a wide enough audience and donor base in the hometown of Wilson, whose plays are mostly set in the Hill District just blocks away... Mark Clayton Southers, a former director of its theater program, said the Wilson center struggled to find an audience among the people Wilson portrayed: working-class blacks, many of whom feel unwelcome downtown with its skyscrapers and largely white-owned businesses, he added. “You can’t build it and they will come,” Mr. Southers said. “Not when you’re trying to work with a community that is not traditional theatergoers or cultural consumers.”... Neither the founders nor a new board of directors that took over in 2010 could come up with a business plan to fund ambitious programs in dance, theater, jazz and art while making the $53,600 monthly loan payments."

After Forcing Rapid Change at U. of Wyoming, President Abruptly Resigns; Chronicle of Higher Education, 11/15/13

Lindsay Ellis, Chronicle of Higher Education; After Forcing Rapid Change at U. of Wyoming, President Abruptly Resigns: "In an interview last week, Mr. Sternberg said that he had not arrived on the campus expecting to change its personnel. Though he received advice from trustees and board members of the UW Foundation about the university's leadership, he said he had made his own decisions. The president also said in the interview that he was not surprised by the criticism of the pace of change at the university. "When someone comes in as a disruptive innovator, metaphorically, it's like an antibody attack," he said. "They attack objects not because they're harmful but because they're foreign. The result is predictable."... Ms. Persichitte, the former education dean, said she thought Mr. Sternberg had not fit into the institution's culture well. She said she hoped Mr. McGinity would move forward carefully, listening to the faculty and staff. "If he does that as we search for a new president," she said, "we have every opportunity to rebuild the leadership gap that now exists.""

Year in Architecture 2013: Something for Everyone [8 Photo Galleries]; Library Journal, 11/15/13

Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal; Year in Architecture 2013: Something for Everyone [8 Photo Galleries] : "This year’s listing of library building projects completed between July 1, 2012, and June 30, 2013, expands on the concept of all-purpose spaces to suit a variety of patrons and needs."

De Blasio as Manager: Delegating, Yet Keeping a Tight Leash; New York Times, 10/31/13

Michael M. Grynbaum and Kate Taylor, New York Times; De Blasio as Manager: Delegating, Yet Keeping a Tight Leash: "They have staked out positions on taxes and charter schools, pedestrian plazas and a ban on large sugary drinks. But the Democratic and Republican candidates to succeed Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg have rarely expounded on the biggest day-to-day challenge that awaits them in City Hall: managing a bureaucracy of 300,000 workers. The New York Times asked Bill de Blasio, the Democratic nominee, and Joseph J. Lhota, the Republican nominee, to explain their approaches to being a boss: making tough choices, recruiting a savvy staff and coping with the crises that inevitably confront the leader of the nation’s largest municipality. Mr. de Blasio spoke with the Times at Bar Toto in Park Slope, Brooklyn. An interview with Mr. Lhota was published in print on Thursday. This interview has been condensed and edited. "How would your management style be different from Mayor Bloomberg? Well, I absolutely oppose the 30,000-feet approach. What do you mean by that? It’s the cursory nature of it. To truly manage that place effectively and the agencies, you have to be, in my opinion, hands-on enough. I think Michael Bloomberg was too cold. To choose the good commissioner, then let them do their thing to the point of distraction, unfortunately led to some of the mistakes in crisis, like the snowstorm or Sandy. I think it led to some commissioners that alienated communities unnecessarily. I think it led to some bad policy decisions... Is there a mayoral model you admire? I think the Giuliani hyper-micromanagement model proved to be very disruptive to agencies and to their leaders. The La Guardia model is where I look in all things, which is a hands-on, very connected-to-the-grass-roots, very present, very communicative with the people. Choosing top-flight people, but also keeping some reins on them, and being able and willing to intervene as needed, I think that’s the right balance... Do you have a favorite management theorist? No."

Research: Cubicles Are the Absolute Worst; Harvard Business Review, 11/13/13

Sarah Green, Harvard Business Review; Research: Cubicles Are the Absolute Worst: "The worst part, according to the data, is that these office workers can’t control what they hear — or who hears them. Lack of sound privacy was far and away the most despised issue in the survey, with 60% of cubicle workers and half of all partitionless people indicating it as a frustration... Make everything modular. Let the collaboration flow. Not so fast. Previous research, cited by Kim and de Dear, has already shown that “the loss of productivity due to noise distraction… was doubled in open-plan offices compared to private offices, and the tasks requiring complex verbal process” — the most important tasks, you might argue — “were more likely to be disturbed than relatively simple or routine tasks.” In this paper, Kim and de Dear show that this loss of productivity is not offset by increased collaboration."

Lessons In Leadership: It's Not About You. (It's About Them); NPR, 11/11/13

Shankar Vedantam, NPR; Lessons In Leadership: It's Not About You. (It's About Them) : "Heifetz trained as a psychiatrist, and he describes his view of effective leadership with an analogy from medicine. "When a patient comes to a surgeon, the surgeon's default setting is to say, 'You've got a problem? I'll take the problem off your shoulders and I'll deliver back to you a solution.' In psychiatry, when a person comes to you with a problem, it's not your job actually to solve their problem. It's your job to develop their capacity to solve their own problem." Many intractable political issues, such as civil war, poverty or ethnic tension are complicated, and solving them may require a whole nation of people to change their mindset. As they approach these sorts of "nontechnical" problems, Heifetz says, leaders should think less like surgeons, and more like psychiatrists."

Harvard Business Review summary, "When You Feel Powerful You Talk Too Much, and Your Subordinates Perform Poorly", of forthcoming paper in Academy of Management Journal, 11/5/13

Andrew O'Connell, Harvard Business Review; When You Feel Powerful You Talk Too Much, and Your Subordinates Perform Poorly: [Harvard Business Review summary of paper, When Power Makes Others Speechless: The Negative Impact of Leader Power on Team Performance] "In a computer-based simulation of a Mount Everest expedition, teams whose leaders had been induced to feel powerful (“Think about a time when you had power over someone”) achieved just 59% of their goals, in comparison with 76% by teams whose leaders hadn’t been induced to feel powerful, according Leigh Plunkett Tost of the University of Michigan, Francesca Gino of Harvard, and Richard P. Larrick of Duke. A feeling of power prompts leaders to verbally dominate, which gives the impression that they are less open to others’ ideas; this perception diminishes team performance. Organizations might be able to minimize this effect by maintaining an egalitarian culture, reminding leaders of subordinates’ importance, and encouraging employees to question the legitimacy of leaders who dominate social interactions, the researchers say."

Libraries in the Time of MOOCs; Educause Review, 11/4/13

Curtis Kendrick and Irene Gashurov, Educause Review; Libraries in the Time of MOOCs: "At the City University of New York Curtis Kendrick is university dean for Libraries and Information Resources and Irene Gashurov is a communications writer and a trained librarian. A wave of disruptive technological changes has hit higher education, forcing us to rethink the way we teach, learn, and provide educational resources. For libraries, the growing reach and sheer numbers of massive open online courses (MOOCs) raise unprecedented challenges and opportunities. As we try to see our role within this new market, it might be worth reflecting on our readiness to operate in the increasingly complex online landscape. Soon, librarians might be asked to provide access to copyrighted, licensed electronic resources for MOOC students around the world. Will we be equipped with the technology to accommodate unprecedented numbers of students inside and outside the university? We will also have to deal with legal issues related to MOOCs, such as intellectual property rights, privacy issues, and state regulations. After exhausting the many ways of saying no to difficult change, perhaps we can find a way to work with all the stakeholders and help shape the rapidly changing MOOC model in concert with our own needs while we still can... Libraries should not miss out on a chance to get involved in the future of MOOCs on campus; as Michalko noted, "At the times that libraries were slow to help, slow to reconfigure their resources, and waited to see what might develop, they lost chances to renew their importance to their home institution." The MOOC frontier offers new opportunities for librarians to provide leadership and guidance in advising administration, faculty, and students about changes in higher education. But first, we must study and analyze the MOOCs landscape so that we can shape the conversation about MOOCs and their successors in a more purposeful and organized way."

Emerging Leader participants for Class of 2014 announced; ALA News, 11/6/13

Beatrice Calvin, ALA News; [Press Release] Emerging Leader participants for Class of 2014 announced: For Immediate Release Wed, 11/06/2013 Contact: Beatrice Calvin Program Officer Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment 280-4280 bcalvin@ala.org CHICAGO — The American Library Association (ALA) has selected 56 people to participate in its 2014 class of Emerging Leaders. The program is designed to enable library staff and information workers to participate in project planning workgroups; network with peers; gain an inside look into ALA structure and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity early in their careers. The program kicks off with a day-long session during the 2014 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia. Following the kickoff session, which includes orientation and training, the program will continue in an online learning and networking environment for six months, culminating with a poster session with the 2014 Emerging Leaders showcasing the results of their project planning work at the ALA 2014 Annual Conference in Las Vegas. Participants commit to taking part in all aspects of the program and may have an opportunity to serve on an ALA, division, chapter, round table or affiliate committee or workgroup upon completion of program. ALA Past-President, program facilitator and subcommittee Co-Chair, Maureen Sullivan, stated: “This very successful program has enabled a number of very talented new professionals to assume leadership positions in ALA at earlier career stage. These individuals have brought fresh ideas, new approaches and significant energy to the association. I welcome this next class and look forward to working with them.” Nearly 70 percent of this year’s participants have received sponsorships. The sponsors included ALA divisions, roundtables, state chapters, ALA affiliate groups and other organizations. Each sponsor commits to financial support of an Emerging Leader in order to help defray costs for attending the ALA Midwinter Meeting and the Annual Conference. Co-Chair of the Emerging Leaders subcommittee, Audra Caplan, said, “I am very pleased to welcome the 2014 class of Emerging Leaders. The success of past participants of the program attest to the value of the program. Many past participants are now in leadership positions in ALA and its Divisions and Roundtables. In addition many of the projects completed by past groups have been implemented successfully by the sponsoring organizations. I am gratified to know that the Emerging Leader program is stronger than ever." Read the complete list of 2014 Class of Emerging Leader Participants (PDF). (http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2013/11/emerging-leader-participants-class-2014-announced)

How the Redskins Could Ditch Their Name – But Keep Their Fans; Harvard Business Review, 11/4/13

Tim Halloran, Harvard Business Review; How the Redskins Could Ditch Their Name – But Keep Their Fans: "AdAge estimates that a rebrand could cost $15 million. According to Forbes, the organization is worth $1.7 billion. What Snyder, and the team name’s defenders, need to acknowledge – if they can peek up from their foxholes – is that over time, the controversy over the name will erode the brand’s value. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, originally a supporter of Snyder’s, has been careful to back down from a strong position of support. Influential sports journalists like Peter King and Christine Brennan have said they’ll no longer use the name. Members of Congress have weighed in. Snyder should act, now, before the controversy gets worse. But how do you change a brand that isn’t working for you any more without alienating your most loyal customers? Here are some thoughts on how I would seek to resolve this extremely difficult branding problem."

Ethics is Leadership Work; HuffingtonPost.com, 10/31/13

Terry Newell, HuffingtonPost.com; Ethics is Leadership Work: "Haven't our leaders acted unethically before? Isn't some level of unethical behavior part of the job description? Could FDR have led us out of the depression and on to victory in World War II with squeaky-clean ethics? Could Kennedy have gotten us through the Cuban Missile Crisis if he had admitted to a side deal with the Russians to take our missiles out of Turkey? Are national and international affairs really the pristine ethical pastures we'd like to wish them into being? The obvious and historical answer to these questions is "no." But that does not absolve leaders from either thinking carefully about ethics in every situation or setting a very high ethical bar for their appointees as well. When you act unethically towards your enemies, your friends may forgive you if the justification is sound. When you act unethically toward your friends - abroad or at home - who is left to forgive you?"

How to Pick Your Battles at Work; Harvard Business Review, 10/28/13

Amy Gallo, Harvard Business Review; How to Pick Your Battles at Work: "You hate that people consistently show up to meetings late. You find your company’s maternity policy woefully inadequate. You think the company’s IT system is out of date. It’s normal to be bothered by work issues like these, but when do you move from complaining to taking action? How do you decide which battles to fight? What the Experts Say One thing is certain — you can’t take on every problem at work. Each person has a finite amount of political capital. “If you make a huge fuss over something silly, you may not be able to get your way when it’s something really important,” says Dorie Clark, a strategy consultant and author of Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future. Even if you’re certain that the issues you want to tackle are critical, your reputation may suffer if you take them all on at once. “There’s a line you cross from being seen as an observant problem-solver to a being Debbie Downer,” says Karen Dillon, author of HBR Guide to Office Politics and co-author of How Will You Measure Your Life?. It’s important to figure out where that line is. Lois Kelly, co-author with Carmen Medina (see case study #1) of the upcoming book, Rebels at Work: Befriending the Bureaucratic Black Belts and Leading Change from Within, says the smartest people carefully calculate what’s worth their time and energy. Whether the issue is minor or fundamental, here are five principles to help you decide whether to take on a challenge or leave it alone."

New York Public Library Postpones Release of Revised Renovation Plan; New York Times, 10/23/13

Robin Pogrebin, New York Times; New York Public Library Postpones Release of Revised Renovation Plan: "The New York Public Library will not release revised plans for its 42nd Street flagship renovation — or independent cost estimates of alternative options — this fall as expected, the library said on Wednesday. “The design work is complex, and we are committed to getting it right to provide a transformative library experience for our users,” the library said in a statement. “Accordingly, our schedule has changed. We now expect to unveil the new design sometime after the New Year.”"

Authentic Librarianship and Procrustean Management; Library Journal, 10/24/13

Rick Anderson, Library Journal; Authentic Librarianship and Procrustean Management: "...neither the “hands-off” nor the “hands-on” style works perfectly in every situation. It would be tempting to think that an approach somewhere in the middle will work more universally, but that’s not necessarily true either—no single point on the “hands-on-to-hands-off” continuum will work equally well for everyone you have to manage... Across all of these dimensions of management, I think it’s less useful to think in terms of style than of philosophy. Style is about how you do things, whereas philosophy is about why you do them that way, and what your ultimate goals are. A philosophy can remain consistent even as you apply different styles and strategies in different situations."

The Best Man for the Job is a Woman | Leading From the Library; Library Journal, 10/23/13

Steven Bell, Library Journal; The Best Man for the Job is a Woman | Leading From the Library: "Self-awareness is key to identifying one’s areas of weakness, whether male or female, and then working to build strength in those areas, according to John Gerzema, author of new book The Athena Doctrine, which argues that traits classically considered feminine are essential to effective leadership today. In his surveys of over 60,000 adults, the qualities most desired in leaders were patience, expressiveness, intuition, flexibility, empathy, and many other traits identified by respondents as feminine. Yet 81 percent of those surveyed said leaders required a balance of male and female traits. Gerzema believes that, while masculine traits are still the ticket to top executive positions, a shift is occurring. He advises leaders to aim for somewhere in between Venus and Mars, and identifies multiple trends that point to workplace changes in which a more feminine leadership will emerge as the preferred style... Does the current debate about whether men and women should be more like the opposite sex apply to the library world? It is a predominantly female profession, so one might think that the observation of feminine qualities among the profession’s leaders would be nothing new. Though the statistical over-representation of men in formal leadership positions, such as dean and directors, might suggest that even in our mostly female workforce, it is the male traits that enable individuals to acquire leadership roles. The real challenge, as I see it, is how leaders learn to morph their leadership styles with traits not typically associated with their gender. This may be where self-awareness, reflection, 360-degree reviews, and other techniques are of use in better understanding our own strengths and weaknesses as leaders. Both men and women can learn from each other as well, to develop the skills that individuals seek in their leaders. Each improvement we make, as we adapt these new skills to our leadership style, will help us to boost the quality of library leadership."

A New Center for the Future of Libraries; American Libraries, 10/8/13

American Libraries; A New Center for the Future of Libraries: "The Institute of Museum and Library Services has awarded the American Library Association a Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program grant to establish a Center for the Future of Libraries. Its goal is to provide library planners and community leaders with information resources and tools that will help them better understand the trends reshaping their libraries and communities and help them incorporate foresight into their planning processes. The one-year, $50,000 planning grant will be coordinated by ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels. During the course of the project, ALA will develop a Center for the Future of Libraries website, establish a “futures” discussion group and blog, present interactive programming at the ALA Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference, and convene a summit of thought leaders to help shape the future direction of the center. ALA will also collaborate with the American Alliance of Museums, which established a Center for the Future of Museums in 2008. “Because libraries must change as their communities change, librarians always have their eye on the future,” said ALA President Barbara Stripling."

Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming; Guardian, 10/15/13

Neil Gaiman, Guardian; Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming: "I was lucky. I had an excellent local library growing up. I had the kind of parents who could be persuaded to drop me off in the library on their way to work in summer holidays, and the kind of librarians who did not mind a small, unaccompanied boy heading back into the children's library every morning and working his way through the card catalogue, looking for books with ghosts or magic or rockets in them, looking for vampires or detectives or witches or wonders. And when I had finished reading the children's' library I began on the adult books. They were good librarians. They liked books and they liked the books being read. They taught me how to order books from other libraries on inter-library loans. They had no snobbery about anything I read. They just seemed to like that there was this wide-eyed little boy who loved to read, and would talk to me about the books I was reading, they would find me other books in a series, they would help. They treated me as another reader – nothing less or more – which meant they treated me with respect. I was not used to being treated with respect as an eight-year-old. But libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education (which is not a process that finishes the day we leave school or university), about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information. I worry that here in the 21st century people misunderstand what libraries are and the purpose of them. If you perceive a library as a shelf of books, it may seem antiquated or outdated in a world in which most, but not all, books in print exist digitally. But that is to miss the point fundamentally. I think it has to do with nature of information. Information has value, and the right information has enormous value. For all of human history, we have lived in a time of information scarcity, and having the needed information was always important, and always worth something: when to plant crops, where to find things, maps and histories and stories – they were always good for a meal and company. Information was a valuable thing, and those who had it or could obtain it could charge for that service... Libraries really are the gates to the future. So it is unfortunate that, round the world, we observe local authorities seizing the opportunity to close libraries as an easy way to save money, without realising that they are stealing from the future to pay for today. They are closing the gates that should be open... We have an obligation to support libraries. To use libraries, to encourage others to use libraries, to protest the closure of libraries. If you do not value libraries then you do not value information or culture or wisdom. You are silencing the voices of the past and you are damaging the future."

Why Management Training Doesn’t Work; Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/15/13

David Evans, Chronicle of Higher Education; Why Management Training Doesn’t Work: "Let me note here that I am not anti-training—I think that there are many areas in which aspiring administrators both need and can make practical use of thoughtfully designed training that helps them learn to manage processes and people and to lead effectively in complex circumstances. I especially liked the suggestion offered by one reader of a yearlong seminar-type program which has as its “lab” the actual concurrent job duties of the participants, a model that could work especially well at a larger institution where there is a regular supply of new administrators being promoted from within and arriving from outside. I do, however, take exception to the idea, expressed by a couple of commenters, that the lack of such training is why many institutions of higher education are in serious trouble right now. I am quite certain that this claim cannot be empirically verified... The ultimate point is that yes, training is important. Administrators absolutely must understand the processes and legalities of their positions, how to manage crises and finances, and learning these by trial and error is the surest route to disaster—I would never argue otherwise. At the same time, as the examples above show, training is not the be-all and end-all of institutional success. People are people, by turns noble and venal, clever and stupid, honest and devious, competent and inept. Character matters, brains matter, empathy matters, work ethic matters. Training can sharpen these, but if an administrator doesn’t have them in the first place, no amount of training is going to fix the problem."

10/23/13 Library Leadership & Management Association (LLAMA) Webinar: "Library Security: The Basics and Beyond"

10/23/13 Library Leadership & Management Association (LLAMA) Webinar: "Library Security: The Basics and Beyond" Wed., Oct. 23, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. (Central time) Description: This webinar will provide the skills necessary to manage threatening situations in the library. Discussion will address theoretical concepts, behavior policies, working with local law enforcement both in and out of the library, library banning policies, staff communication tools, and assessment for dangerous behavior. In addition, strategies for avoiding threatening behaviors will be reviewed. Presenter: Sydney McCoy, Branch Administrator III, Frederick County Public Libraries, Frederick, MD By the end of this webinar participants will: •be able to identify three ways to prevent escalation of bad behavior. •be able to identify at least four ways reverse an escalated patron interaction. •recognize the importance of consistent policy enforcement. •be able to explain a progressive banning procedure. •be able to identify at least five disruptive library behaviors. •be able to list at least 3 benefits to having a consistent and progressive banning procedure. Fees: LLAMA member: $49 Non-LLAMA member $59 LLAMA group rate (5 or more people at one site) $199 Non-LLAMA group rate (5 or more people at one site) $239 Register online: http://tinyurl.com/3zhtecm Register with a purchase order or by mail: registration form (PDF, 1 pg.)."