WHAT DO I THINK NOW...HALF WAY THROUGH 504?

So, my first assignment is done - although no results yet. I am deeply involved in the last few modules and my thoughts are beginning to focus in on the last assignment for this subject - the vision statement and plan for change.

This subject has a LOT of reading - some of which feels like it has gone over my head, but for the most part I have learnt a lot. I know that the library that I work in definately does not have a strategic plan and unfortunately, our leader's approach to any new innovations is very ad hoc - no consultation with any of the groups that the service is supposed to help and certainly no consultation with the rest of the library team. Any new suggestions are usually barked at us as commands, with no plan for instruction and no coaching - you can see we have a very coercive leader. Consequently any new innovations are not reaching their potential, new suggestions from me of ideas I have learnt in this course fall on deaf ears, only to be revived as the leader's ideas a few months later. Any new ideas are not effectively supported, and sadly several have floundered - with the leader doing nothing about follow up or encouraging. The situation feels pretty negative and reflects what is stated in many of our readings - that unless there is a plan such as CBAM in place, the innovations peter out.

So what can I do, when the leader I have is not leading responsibly and will not listen to new suggestions? What can I bring to our ailing service?

I have read the suggestions about implementing change using a change process model - all very sound and positive. I guess that I try to implement some changes by coming alongside my fellow technicians who want to improve our service but don't know how. I can use CBAM with some of our smaller ideas and work alongside these people with the small new ideas we can improve on.

From the initial readings on leadership in this subject, I have learnt that I need to utilise all aspects of Goleman's leadership styles - except perhaps the coercive (that's taken care of very well around here). That is something that is really enlightening, because with my natural human vanity, I had originally thought that my approach, affiliative, is all that was needed. I can see now that there is much more involved in being an effective leader. I also need to stand up to our coercive style manager and approach her in a business like manner, with facts about end results in hand - since I realise now I have probably annoyed her in the past with my more natural style - so I have definately learnt a lot about how to interact with the different styles of leaders that we interact with in the library.