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Library Leadership Your Way
Author Jason Martin won’t tell you how to be a leader. In fact, that’s not the point of his book. Instead he’ll give you a roadmap and the tools to find it out for yourself, guiding you to discover why you want to lead, how you can best lead, and what your own unique leadership practice looks like. Activities will both allow you to explore your leadership identity and develop your leadership practice. Signposted with prompts for self-reflection, workshop discussions, and mentoring conversations, this guide’s topics cover core issues like
•discovering why you want to lead;
•research findings on the five most desirable traits in library leaders;
•wrestling with the constraints of organizational culture;
•a tour of practical leadership models such as Theory Z, Situational Leadership, Transformational Leadership, and emotional intelligence;
•how to develop habits that will bolster your confidence through inevitable moments of doubt;
•cultivating a “people first, mission always” mentality;
•self-care for leaders; and
•living out your unique leadership vision through goal setting, self-evaluation, and other key steps.
By following the activities in this book and using them to inform your leadership practice, you will add value to your leadership and to your library. As Martin demonstrates, it all starts with asking yourself, “What can I do today to make myself a better leader?”
•discovering why you want to lead;
•research findings on the five most desirable traits in library leaders;
•wrestling with the constraints of organizational culture;
•a tour of practical leadership models such as Theory Z, Situational Leadership, Transformational Leadership, and emotional intelligence;
•how to develop habits that will bolster your confidence through inevitable moments of doubt;
•cultivating a “people first, mission always” mentality;
•self-care for leaders; and
•living out your unique leadership vision through goal setting, self-evaluation, and other key steps.
By following the activities in this book and using them to inform your leadership practice, you will add value to your leadership and to your library. As Martin demonstrates, it all starts with asking yourself, “What can I do today to make myself a better leader?”
- GenresLeadershipNonfiction
88 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2019
42 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 2, 2022
A workbook to help you closely define your idea of leadership and examine how you might develop it further.
Each chapter alternates between looking at yourself and looking at others. The first chapter starts with a self-analysis that has you consider your traits, skills, and abilities, along with your style and leadership ambition. The next chapter acknowledges and focuses on the interplay between leadership, followship, and organizational culture. Then it's a return to self-focus and reflecting on leading yourself with focus, purpose, and inspiration while maintaining good self-care. In the fourth chapter, the author looks at the traits needed to effectively lead others and a few leadership theories. Lastly, after considering all these components, you are asked to revise and refine your personal leadership plan and practice.
I especially appreciated the message that leadership is not a sole enterprise of a leader working to make an organization better, but how leaders and followers work together for organizational success. The afterword summarized the key points and was an encouraging and motivating end to the book.
While it was written mainly for those new to or aspiring to library leadership positions, it could also serve as a thoughtful review for established leaders to evaluate and modify their purpose and course as leadership should evolve as the leaders, followers, and organizational culture evolves.
Each chapter alternates between looking at yourself and looking at others. The first chapter starts with a self-analysis that has you consider your traits, skills, and abilities, along with your style and leadership ambition. The next chapter acknowledges and focuses on the interplay between leadership, followship, and organizational culture. Then it's a return to self-focus and reflecting on leading yourself with focus, purpose, and inspiration while maintaining good self-care. In the fourth chapter, the author looks at the traits needed to effectively lead others and a few leadership theories. Lastly, after considering all these components, you are asked to revise and refine your personal leadership plan and practice.
I especially appreciated the message that leadership is not a sole enterprise of a leader working to make an organization better, but how leaders and followers work together for organizational success. The afterword summarized the key points and was an encouraging and motivating end to the book.
While it was written mainly for those new to or aspiring to library leadership positions, it could also serve as a thoughtful review for established leaders to evaluate and modify their purpose and course as leadership should evolve as the leaders, followers, and organizational culture evolves.
August 13, 2019
3.5 stars. I was hoping for a bit more depth and a bit more library-specific content, but this is a decent brief introduction to a few leadership/management concepts for folks like me who are new to leadership and don't have any formal training in management. I enjoyed the premise that no one theory of leadership is one size fits all and that you can borrow from any/all theories to form leadership definitions and goals that align with your own strengths and values.
Note that the book is presented in workbook format with the expectation that you will fill in blanks with your own ideas about leadership as you read along.
Note that the book is presented in workbook format with the expectation that you will fill in blanks with your own ideas about leadership as you read along.
November 24, 2019
A great workbook that can be used as a daily journal prompt. The book asks you to reflect upon your leadership traits, and evaluate your strengths, weakness, both internally and externally. The book also warns you to steer clear of romanticizing leadership and keep a realistic picture of what a good leader should be to you.
June 17, 2021
A guide to leadership within library organizations. Highly interactive, it focuses on different styles of leadership, and how leadership/followership/organizational culture are all intertwined.
January 26, 2021
This is a good resource for some reflective practice on leadership philosophy, vision, and practice.
August 17, 2022
Short book that packs a punch of what to think out before becoming a leader (or ways to become a better one).
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews