Leadership Skills – Illustration by Digits.co.uk Images, CC BY 2.0
The readings from Module 2 of Teacher Librarian as Leader have provided a great foundation for understanding organisational, management and leadership theories. There is often confusion between the notion of management and leadership, where oft at times the terms are used interchangeably.
Management is more so about the structural organisation of people, processes and resources, where managers generally have an appointed or legitimised source of power. Leadership however, is about the influence that is wielded to achieve organisational outcomes. Leaders have an ability to inspire others to want to follow their vision or ideas. In this sense, leaders may not even be in recognised positions of power. This is fitting with Simon Sinek’s (2014) TED talk that I found when going beyond the readings, where he claimed that “leadership is not a choice. It is not a rank”. He further explored that good leaders garner trust and cooperation.
From the consideration of various leadership styles, I can see how the leader librarian fits well into that of servant leadership. The term was first coined by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970s, where the individual sees themselves as servant first, with the leader component is a conscious choice that follows (Greenleaf, 1977). It appears to have embedded roots in religion and spirituality, but the ideas that underpin in can be much more broadly applied.
Crippen and Willows (2019) identify 9 key attributes of the servant leadership style, including: listening, self-awareness, foresight, stewardship, empathy, persuasion, healing, conceptualisation and building sense of community. As I continue to explore the readings, I can see how the teacher librarian is fitting of other leadership styles also, which will be explored further in the first assessment.
A key quote that resonated with me in this module was from Weisburg (2020), who stated “when librarians aren’t leaders, their positions and programs become expendable”. Sounds like a challenge to me! Time to step up and be both seen and heard!
References
Bales, J. (2022). 2.2 Leadership theories[Learning module]. ETL504: Teacher Librarian as Leader. Interact. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_62876_1&content_id=_5105927_1&mode=reset
Greenleaf, R. (1977). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. Paulist Press.
Crippen, C. & Willows, K. (2019). Connecting teacher leadership and servant leadership: A synergistic partnership. Journal of Leadership Education, 18(2), 171-180. https://journalofleadershiped.org/jole_articles/connecting-teacher-leadership-and-servant-leadership-a-synergistic-partnership/
Sinek, S. (2014, March). Why good leaders make you feel safe [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_why_good_leaders_make_you_feel_safe?language=en
Weisburg, H. K. (2020). Leadership: There is no other option. Synergy, 18(1). https://slav.vic.edu.au/index.php/Synergy/article/view/369/364