ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 22 / C&RL News ■ January 1999 The importance of learning in a shared leadership model by Briniey Franklin O n ce a college o r research library m akes a com m itm ent to a d a p t a sh a re d lead e r­ sh ip m odel, lead ersh ip roles at all level th e organization b e g in to change. As P eter S enge w rites in The Fifth D isci­ p lin e: “T h e n e w v iew o f lead e rsh ip in learn ­ ing organizations centers o n su b tler a n d m ore im p o rtan t tasks. In a learn in g organization, lead e rs are designers, stew ards, a n d te a c h ­ ers. T h ey are resp o n sib le fo r b u ild in g orga­ n iz a tio n s w h e re p e o p le continually e x p a n d th eir capabilities to u n d e rs ta n d com plexity, clarify vision, a n d im p ro v e s h a re d m ental m odels— that is, they are responsible for learn­ in g .”1 S hared lead e rsh ip m odels typically d em ­ o n strate at least th ree characteristics: e m p o w ­ erm en t, accountability, a n d a decisio n -m ak ­ ing p artnership. T h ere are co m p ellin g re a ­ so n s for to d a y ’s libraries a n d research orga­ nizations to a d a p t this lead e rsh ip m odel. E m p o w e rin g o th e rs G enerally speaking, to d a y ’s college a n d re­ search library staff are highly e d u cated , self- m o tiv ated , a n d p o ss e ss sp e c ia liz e d skills. T h ese are all characteristics th at su p p o rt a sh ared leadership m odel. T he com plex w orld o f library a n d inform ation services req u ires real-tim e decisions a n d answ ers in an increas­ ingly electronic a n d inform ation-driven aca­ d em ic a n d research environm ent. T rad itio n al m a n a g e rs c a n n o t b e e v e ry ­ w h e re in tim e to m ak e th e re q u ire d im p o r­ s o tan t decisions, n o r d o th e y o ften u n d e rs ta n d th e technical w o rk currently bein g perfo rm ed fb y subject specialists o r inform ation tech n o l­ ogy professionals. M ore specifically, e m p o w erin g individu­ als o r team s w h o p erform w o rk allow s library a n d research staff closest to th e task to in d e ­ p en d en tly im prove w o rk processes a n d m ake decisions. T his c a n ach iev e b o th eco n o m ic savings a n d service im provem ents. A ccount­ ability en su res th at e m p o w e re d staff u se re ­ so u rces at th e ir d iscretion w isely a n d learn from th eir decisions. A decision-m aking p a rt­ n e rsh ip gives library staff m o re o w n e rsh ip in th e critical decisions b e in g m a d e a n d allow s a p p ro p ria te decisions to b e m a d e at all levels o f th e organization. T h ere are, how ever, m an y things to b e learned in a shared leadership m odel. T he vari­ ous types o f decision-m aking, such as direc­ tive, consultative, majority, co n sen su s, a n d unanim ity, n e e d to b e learn ed o r relearned. As leadership roles are distributed th roughout the organization, traditional leaders a n d their staff n e e d to learn ab o u t gro u p process an d facilitation skills, role-playing, a n d leadership styles, including coaching an d mentoring. Com­ m unication skills a n d interpersonal skills b e ­ com e increasingly im portant an d m ay also need to b e nu rtu red o r im proved. W h ile m a n y lib rary a n d re s e a rc h staff m em b ers are e x p e rt in th e ir subject o r te c h ­ nical areas, th ey also n e e d to d e v e lo p social skills to successfully p ro m o te a n d d eliv er L E A D E R S H IP A N D LEA RN IN G About the author B rin le y Fra n klin is associate d ire c to r a t t h e U nive rsity o f C on n e cticu t Libraries a n d a special co n s u lta n t f o r KPMG Peat M arwick, e-mail: brinleyf@ uconnvm.uconn.edu Beyond shared leadership mailto:brinleyf@uconnvm.uconn.edu C&RL News ■ J a n u a ry 1 9 9 9 /2 3 quality services. We all n e e d to reco g n ize a n d rein fo rce th ro u g h o u r actions th a t ev ery staff m e m b e r h as certain le a d e rsh ip q u alities th a t will b e n e e d e d b y o u r o rg an izatio n s at so m e tim e, a n d w e n e e d to re s p e c t a n d a p p re c ia te diversity in all its form s. L earning to w o rk m o re p ro d u ctiv ely a n d im p ro v e serv ices w h ile sh a rin g le a d e rsh ip ro les a n d m ak in g g ro u p d ecisio n s w ith col­ leag u e s lead s us to a p p re c ia te th at various p erso n ality traits are n e c e ssa ry fo r a sh a re d le a d e rs h ip m o d e l to b e su ccessfu l. D avid B arry identifies th e s e b eh av io rs as: en v isio n ­ ing, organizing, sp a n n in g (to o u ts id e g ro u p s a n d individuals), a n d social.2 Learn a b o u t users' needs Library a n d re se a rc h staff also h av e m u c h to le a rn a b o u t o u r u sers a n d th e ir n e e d s. In th e tr a d itio n a l h ie r a rc h ic a l le a d e r s h ip m o d e l, m anagers often m a d e th e m ajor collection an d serv ice decisions. In this era o f k n o w le d g e m a n a g e m e n t, a n d in a s h a r e d le a d e rs h ip m o d el, library a n d re se a rc h staff are ideally p o sitio n e d to directly offer th e k n o w le d g e reso u rces, social capital, a n d in fo rm atio n in ­ frastructure w e h av e av ailable to o u r users, b u t w e n e e d to le a rn to p e rs o n a liz e th o se services a n d tailor th e m to o u r u se rs’ n eed s. In sh o rt, in a s h a re d le a d e rsh ip m odel, th e re is m u c h to learn. T raditional lead e rs are learning facilitation, coaching, a n d m en to rin g skills. Staff are lea rn in g social, in terp erso n al, a n d g ro u p p ro c e s s skills. We a re all learn in g m o re a b o u t o u r u se rs to b e tte r serv e them . As P e te r S enge so aptly states: “System s thin k in g , p e rs o n a l m astery, m en tal m odels, b u ild in g sh a re d vision, a n d te a m learn in g — th e s e m ig h t just as w ell b e called th e leader­ sh ip discip lin es as th e learn in g disciplines. T h o se w h o e x c e l in th e s e areas will b e th e n atu ral lead e rs o f lea rn in g o rganizations. . . . Or, to p u t it a n o th e r w ay, w h o are th e natu ral le a d e rs o f learn in g organizations? T h ey are th e le a rn e rs.”3 N otes 1. P eter M. Senge. The Fifth D iscipline: The A rt a n d P ra ctice o f th e L e a rn in g O r g a n iz a ­ tio n (N ew York: D o u b led ay , 1990): 340. 2. David Baπy. “Managing the Bossless Team: Lessons in Distributed Leadership,” O rganiza­ tional D ynam ics 20:1 (Summer 1991): 36. 3. Senge, The Fifth Discipline, 359-360. ■ 2 4 1 C&RL News ■ Ja nuary 1999