I very rarely “pull rank.”  I firmly believe that work just needs to get done, so let’s all work together and do it.  I make myself very available to my staff.  My door is always open, I respond to email and phone calls quickly, and I also drop in frequently.  I feel that in the short time I have been here, I have developed productive working relationships with my colleagues.  I am very fortunate.  My colleagues have a pretty good understanding of what it is I do all day in my role as assistant dean.

I wish this were the same for some of my colleagues at other organizations.

If you want to know what management or administration does, ask us.  We are happy to tell you.  Please realize that there are some topics (personnel issues) that we cannot discuss.  Please also realize that our jobs as managers and administrators are very different from your jobs as reference & instruction librarians, catalogers, e-resource librarians, circulation librarians & staff, ILL librarians, IT/Systems librarians & staff, acquisitions librarians & staff, development officers, branch librarians and staff, collection development librarians, tech support, special collections, public services, financial officers, etc.

Management positions require the additional skills/responsibilities of strategic planning, developing policies and services, assessment, budgeting, performance management, hiring and firing, performance evaluation, etc, etc, etc.  In smaller organizations a lot of these skills/responsibilities are rolled into non-management positions, but in a highly hierarchical structure, this is generally the way it shapes up.

As an administrator we get to do all of it.  We get the management package, plus the expectation of understanding the work that everyone else is doing.  We have to make decisions based on our understanding of what is happening in every area (and aspect) of the organization.  We have to be able to quickly draw upon budget information, work collaboratively with our colleagues in HR, work productively with the folks in the development office, participate in campus-wide strategic planning, plan events, solve problems, negotiate contracts, actively participate in the campus community.  All of our time is spent working to move our organizations forward while keeping it aligned with the mission and priorities of the university.

It feels overwhelming at times.   Sometimes it feels like the workload is endless.  There are days that you feel like you have not accomplished a damned thing.  We have difficult conversations – the kind of difficult conversations that some people have spent decades avoiding.  We are asked to make difficult decisions and then communicate them to our colleagues.  We could not do our jobs without the cooperation and understanding of our colleagues and sometimes our decisions upset them.  At the end of the day, we want our colleagues and organization to be successful.

It is one of the most rewarding jobs I have ever done.  It is invigorating and highly satisfying – even when it is not fun. We do it because we love it and believe in the work our faculty and staff are doing and are capable of doing.

So, yes, it is kind of frustrating (okay…infuriating) when someone thinks all a manager/administrator does all day is sit in their office and interfere with stuff.  This is a hard role to embody.  I’ll gladly trade places for a day or two (I could use the time to bone up on my metadata skills) if it means that folks will come out of it with a better understanding and appreciation of what I do.  Also, if it means I never have to hear a friend and colleague tell me that their staff thinks they do nothing all day.

I don’t know about you, but I am working my ass off at doing nothing all day.  Clearly I am doing it wrong…..but if this is wrong, I don’t wanna be right because I am loving every minute of it.

I’m alive and well and been working harder than I have in a long time.  Which is great and good for the soul and a tremendous learning opportunity.  It is also pretty awesome to feel like you are making good decisions and moving a process forward.  I am enjoying my work a lot.  Which is why I have been MIA on here.  It is pretty exhausting and the last thing I want to do when I get home is write something coherent. But, I have been thinking about a lot of stuff lately, so I am following my urge to write.

There has been a lot of recent discussion on the SocNets about professionalism, popularity, personalities, self-branding, etc.  I always find them interesting because 99% of the time it is not a topic I think too much about.  Honestly, I truly don’t.  Mostly because I’m too tired after a workday and also because I am enjoying my personal life a lot (12 months to the wedding! OMG!). A large part of it is also because I don’t feel like it affects me.  I come to work, I get what I need to get done and move on.  None of the people I work with have expressed anything to make me believe that they think or care about this topic.  They are also focusing on taking care of business here.  Before y’all start screaming about how I think you don’t care about your jobs if you think about this stuff, lemme finish my thought path.

Who are your role models?  My professional and my personal role models are my parents.  Yes, you read that correctly.  My parents are not college educated, are not professionals, and still have a marginal understanding of what it is exactly that I do, but are also two of the smartest people I know and are my role models.  They have taught me how to communicate, how to react when things don’t go my way, how to be optimistic, how to see projects through from start to finish, how to be assertive when necessary, that honesty is the best policy, and most importantly how to treat other people. My parents taught me to care.  To care about the work I do and how I treat others.

So what does this have to do with anything?  Well a lot actually.  The people who I am inspired by in our profession are those who care so much about the work that they are doing day in and day out that they don’t need to market themselves.  They don’t need to because others do it for them.  People respect their work and experience and then tell others about the great job they are doing. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I don’t care about how many articles, presentations, twitter followers, etc. someone has.  I care about the work they are doing in their organization and how they get along with other people.  It’s not a popularity contest. Impress me with your passion.  Impress me with your commitment and willingness to learn and grow.  I know this sounds trite and touchy-feely, but those feelings are contagious.  I get invigorated and excited when I work with people who genuinely care about their work.  It is a feedback loop of awesome.

I’m also kind of a fan of modesty.  I believe in tooting your own horn…..just not blaring it all day long. I like to believe that if you do good work it will get noticed.  I also know that sometimes it doesn’t.  Sometimes there is ice cream.  And sometimes there isn’t.

I had to go to Lowe’s Foods this morning to pick up a cake. I get there at 6:45 as it opens at 6. I am greeted by three store employees who are waiting outside and tell me that they cannot get into the store because the person who has the key is MIA and they have called everyone they can and are waiting. It is a beautiful morning, I’m not in a huge rush, so I tell the frantic gal that it’s cool, I’ll chill out here sitting on the patio furniture. So I’m sitting there watching what is happening. It didn’t really occur to me how fucked this situation could be until I saw the Boar’s Head truck show up. Then it occurred to me that there will probably be several other deliveries that are scheduled to happen, the bakery needs to bake, all the prepared food needs to be cooked, prices need to be changed, etc. etc. A lot happens in the early morning at the grocery store. But, I happily sat and was very pleasant about it because I could totally see one of my staff doing this and me not finding out till 5 hours later.

So as I am sitting there I am chatting with the employees and listening to their conversations. What I observe: the one frantic worker bee employee who can’t sit still and even though she is locked out is still working as she is arranging and cleaning up all the plants for sale outside; the bakery gal who is very quiet and demure who is not going to do anything until she is told what to do because she doesn’t wanna make the wrong decision; the Eeyore of the group who has been complaining the ENTIRE time I’ve been sitting there; the completely laid back kid who came running over after his paid breakfast hour who really could care less and is just chilling. I’m watching all of this and then the light bulb turns on.

Sitting in front of me are four of the major employee (and probably personality) archetypes: Worker Bee, I Do What I’m Told, Eeyore and Laid Back Jack. And I could match up my own employees to these folks. And then I started giggling in the car as I rode to work, (not the maniacal giggling of a nervous breakdown) because I felt good. I felt great. Why? Because EVERY WORKPLACE HAS THIS. After three weeks of feeling like the world has been punishing me, the universe finally knocked me over the head with, “It’s not just you, silly!” And now I feel great. The end.

A recent discussion about communication had me thinking about this book today. A friend asked about using communication effective to avoid conflicts and major catastrophe (I’m paraphrasing the actual question).  It’s a hard one to answer without being in the situation or without specific details.

My generic advice was:

if you feel you are not being communicated to effectively then you should directly ask for what you need or what works best. Any manager worth the title would be happy to get such directive feedback.

After thinking about this some, I stand by my response, but I also thought about the book.  One device the book employs to teach the basics of situational leadership is to have a person meet the One Minute Manager’s staff and discuss how he manages them.  Naturally, they are all very much aware of the exact management style he uses and are extraordinarily aware of their weaknesses and why each management style is best suited to their personalities, skills, experience, and work style.

So I giggled a little because that just sounds so perfect.  But, it also reinforces my above statement.  Yes, a manager should absolutely be an effective and clear communicator, but so should the person they are managing.  At the very least, you should be able to tell your manager what it is you need to hear in order to improve your performance.

Everyone has some responsibility in this game.  Managers need to ask for and accept feedback.  Staff need to be able to articulate what does and doesn’t work for them.  We don’t need to be Six Sigma Black Belts to do this.  We just need to know how we feel when we hear feedback in different ways.  What works?  What motivates us?  What makes us feel comfortable asking questions and admitting we need help?  What makes us feel like dirt?  Or stupid?

If we can articulate that, then half the battle has been fought.

I will take this opportunity to remind us all that in order for this to be a successful exchange, we need to practice good active listening and remember not to take things personally.  Put your constructive feedback hats on and change your work environment for the good!

Actually what Jon Gordon has done in this book is remind us of a simple (but often forgotten) axiom about life: life can/will be challenging at times and we can choose how we respond to this challenge.  Gordon presents complaining as a toxic force:

..but in the long run complaining creates a cycle of negativity that feeds itself and grows.  When we complain we feed the negativity

He asks us to think about why we complain.  Most often it is because we feel helpless or scared or because it has become a habit. I added the emphasis there because I strongly believe that this is the reason many of us complain.  I think a lot of complaints start from a place of fear or uncertainty, but then they perpetuate out of habit. I have watched this happen and it is horribly amazing.  My strategy when dealing with this has always been to respond to the complainers with, “If you wan’t to complain you need to bring me a solution to go along with it.” This always received weird looks or was met with anger.  I’m thinking that is a sure sign of a habitual complainer.  Gordon’s book reinforced that this approach is the right one.

If we pay attention to our thoughts, words and complaints, we will learn a lot about what we don’t want and don’t like. We can then use what we don’t want and don’t like as a catalyst to help us determine what we do want and do like.

Every complaint represents an opportunity to turn something negative into a positive.

The book provides a plan to reduce the amount of complaining in your life.  Start with a No Complaining Day and then turn that day into a week, a month, a year.  Observe the thoughts, feelings and words we use to really see how much complaining we actually do.  Do something else instead of complaining.  He offers the following alternatives: practice gratitude, praise others, focus on success, let go and pray and meditate.

I found this book so inspiring and it was the wake up call that I needed at this moment in my life.  The book is presented as a guide for dealing with your work environment, but I call BS on that! Yes, this all applies to work, but I can’t help thinking that this is truly a life lesson.  Particularly this sentiment which I highlighted, underlined and drew stars next to:

Staying positive is not about putting on a fake smile or believing you can do it all yourself. Rather it’s about being optimistic and living with hope and having faith. The measure of our success will not be determined by how we act during the great times in our life but rather by how we think and respond to the challenges of our most difficult moments.

This!  This is what I needed to be reminded at this moment in time.  Just reading that I feel 100% happier and confident and reassured about my life.  I can choose which path I’m on.  And if I fall off the positive path I can always pick myself up and get back on it.

To sort of bring this full circle: lately I have been reading a lot of Libraryland posts that have seemed kinda negative and frustrated. I will not invalidate, devalue, or discredit the thoughts and feelings behind them because I understand where a lot of it is coming from and I think the discussions are necessary and productive. My advice to folks these days is to continue productive discussion, keep an open mind, carefully choose words and let go of things that our beyond your control.

If I had to choose one sentence from this book that really resonated with me and was a true reminder about work and life it is this one:

Never doubt your teammates, because when they are under pressure they will do something amazing.

I think an amazing change is coming.  It’s just going to take some time.

So, I’m back.  Miss Polly PositivePants is back blogging.   For the past few months I’ve been sitting on a bunch of thoughts, filing them away for the “day I started blogging again.” There is lots going on in LibraryLand and I hope that I bring an interesting perspective to the discussion.

PS- I’ve missed all of you!

The other reason behind this decision:  I am very pleased to announce that I have accepted the position as Assistant Dean of the University Library at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.  I begin my new position there on October 1st.  My last day at NCSU Libraries is September 3rd.

This was a difficult decision to make as I have enjoyed my time at NCSU.  The four years I’ve spent here have been an incredible learning experience.  I learned something every day from every person I had the good fortune to work alongside.  It is an incredible library and I will always be grateful for the opportunities I had while here.

I am tremendously excited about joining the library at Pacific.  I loved everything I felt and saw while there.  The campus community is incredible.  The library is doing fantastic work and is committed to providing the best services possible to students, faculty, staff and the community.  My new colleagues have gone out of their way in making me feel welcome and I can’t wait to begin collaborating with them.  While my work will still involve oversight of access & delivery services, my portfolio will expand  and I “will work with University Library administration, staff, and faculty in the development and implementation of effective management strategies and innovative collections, services, and programs, across all areas of the Library, to provide the best user-centered environment for the Pacific Community.” I am thrilled.

So, I’m moving to California!  Which is something I never, ever thought would happen, but in less than a month all of my belongings will be packed up and on a truck heading west.  It’s a new chapter in my life and I’m grateful to again have a wonderful opportunity.

Thank you to everyone who has read this blog and who have inspired it.  Thank you to everyone who I’ve met at conferences or meetings and have talked access services with these past 4 years.  And a big thank you to my staff and colleagues who have made me a better manager, leader and person than I was when I took this position 4 years ago.

I have been working in libraries for 11 years, 10 of those have been in access services and 8 of them have been as a department head.  I am very happy and looking forward to taking this next step in my career.  I’m sure it will be full of surprises and learning experiences!

Management Double Standard:

In discussion, someone made the observation/point that an employee asking a supervisor/manager certain types of questions (for example: “Why are you working this shift?  What are you doing?  Why did you talk to that person? etc) can seem over the line and bordering on being a “busy body.”  I think the point is valid, but I also think that as management you can’t really fight or win that battle 99% of the time.

Rands in Repose sums it up best: “”Leadership is not just about effectively getting stuff done, but demonstrating through your composure that you aren’t rattled by the freakish.”  I’m gonna tweak/interpret it slightly differently: as a manager I accept that my staff are human.  They make mistakes, they have faults, personality quirks, intepret things differently that I do, see things that I don’t see, are fallible.  Simple, right?  This applies to all human beings.  We all have our “things.”  Except when you’re in a management position it suddenly seems like you’re not a human being anymore.  Whether you like it or not, you’re now in a position of authority and are seen as such.  There is very much an expectation that you will have the answers, solve the problems, make the decisions, do it right the first time and not make any mistakes in the process.  You also may not be able to have feelings about certain issues or events, and whether you do or don’t those feelings will most likely not be taken into consideration when you’re interacting with others.

Okay, so that sounds kinda awful and bleak and terrible.  It’s not always like that.  It really and truly is not.  But, there are some days, some issues, some events that make you feel like that is terribly true.  The bottom line is a good manager will remember that her staff are human beings who have faults and foibles and quirks. And that these characteristics influence behavior and performance and while performance expectations must be met, behavior is something that we can’t control or regulate.  So we accept.  With that acceptance must also come the acceptance that we (management) may not be given the same treatment or pass and that is okay because whether we like it or not, it comes with the job.

Halos

In previous POW I’ve heard the term “halo” tossed around a lot when describing someone’s work or performance or general attitude.  As in, “they still have their halo.”  The gross implication is: this person has not screwed up royally yet to lose their halo.  I kinda call bullshit on the concept.  I know I’ve made epic mistakes, screwed up, handled things the wrong way, and made the wrong decisions in my work, but I’ve yet to feel like “I’ve screwed up royally” to the point that my boss and/or my boss’s boss think I suck.

Here’s my take on the “halo” phenomena:

Everyone has one.  You start out with it.  You wear it.  You break it in.  It gets tarnished or bent from time to time, but it can be polished off and fixed. How?  You own your mistakes.  You get things done.  You fix problems.  You’re a team player.  You’re a positive influence.  Etc, etc, etc.

What you don’t do is make poor decisions.  I’m not talking about making the wrong decisions.  We all make wrong decisions.  I’m talking about poor decisions.  There is a slight difference.  The wrong decisions kinda just happen.  You get misinformation.  You interpret a situation incorrectly.  You just make a decision and it turns out to be wrong.  Poor decisions seem to either happen with a lot of thought or absolutely no thought behind them.  These are not the types of decisions that you make in the daily course of your work.  These are those decisions that you make that can affect you and your reputation in your POW immediately or over time.  Decisions like talking about certain aspects of your personal life with co-workers.  There is a big difference between talking about your kid’s soccer game versus how drunk you got at the bar last night.  Think about it.  Which one would you prefer to be spread like wildfire throughout your POW?  The soccer game has no gossip potential.

I’m not saying that sharing yourself with colleagues is a poor decision.  What you choose to share may absolutely be.  Here’s the rub: perception matters.  Perception is what your colleagues/staff/administration often have to go on.  You’re not going to lose your halo because you made the wrong decision.  You may very well lose it because you made a poor one.

The problem is though, as managers we are entrusted with the contents of these discussions.  We are expected to not speak about the details with other people who are not directly involved.  We are expected to maintain our staff’s privacy.  In my opinion it is one of the basic tenets of good management and professionalism.  Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work both ways.

We have all worked in places and/or with colleagues who talk about everything. They spread their own business and sometimes the business of others around.  This is their choice and if they want people to know what is happening, then it is on them.  The problem that arises is the very same one that happens in schoolyards everywhere: the story never stays the same and becomes something very different and sometimes much worse than what it actually was.

Managers do not have the luxury of stepping in and correcting inaccurate details when they overhear them.  We can not make announcements “setting the record straight.”  We can not and should not participate in conversations about discussion we’ve had with our staff.  Consequently, a lot of misinformation gets passed along as fact.  We may seem like we are ignoring problems.  We may be described as “disinterested.”  But that is far from the truth.  Actually we are treating you professionally and maintaining your privacy.

If you’re like me, someone who has a difficult time allowing misrepresentations of what I’ve said persist in my non-work life, knowing that this may be happening and recognizing that you can’t do anything about it is one of the most difficult pills to swallow.  But you do because it is the right thing to do and because you recognize how destructive this can be and you don’t want to add to the problem.

Good managers maintain professionalism even when it’s the last thing they want to do.  Ideally this would work both ways, but in reality it doesn’t.  Good managers keep working to get to that ideal place.

At 5:30 pm EST, NCSU Libraries will begin circulating iPads as part of the Technology Lending Program.  As part of the launch event 5 students will be blogging their experiences using the iPads as they take them to their classes, do their work, and generally goof around the web over the next week.   They are blogging about what they find on the University homepage: http://www.ncsu.edu.