Introduction

Welcome back to Linking Our Libraries! This week we are going to talk about the leadership competency that sounds like Adulting: Accountability.

We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and we are here to chat with you this season about building your leadership skills. We provide support and training for all types of libraries, and our work can be used by anyone who wants to build skills, and to become a better leader in your own organization.

Do you want to talk with us further about leadership skills? Do you need some training organized for your organization? We are here for you! Check out our website and let’s get this started!

And now, on with the show! Who is joining us this week? Rhonda Huisman, doctoral candidate and Dean of the University Library at St Cloud State University!

 

The Basics

We hear people talking about “adulting” online and in person. When you think about it, this means being accountable. And that’s kind of terrifying. Being accountable means taking responsibility for results – positive and negative. It’s great to take responsibility for the good things that happen in your library – everyone can join in celebrating together! It is much less fun to be accountable when your program is a disaster, people are complaining about your books, the computers explode, and the ceiling falls in with water damage.

Leadership means standing up, being accountable, and then helping everyone else to get back on track. Things will not always go as planned. It’s okay. Leaders will accept responsibility, and start working on strategies to move forward.

You can easily think of any number of leaders you have seen at work or in the news, who refuse to acknowledge they make mistakes or are involved in any workplace problems. These people are not real leaders; and everyone can see it. No one wants to work with someone who constantly tries to shift blame and hog credit.

Once you start focusing on being accountable for your decisions, it’s surprisingly easy. It means saying you are sorry when things go wrong, and being honest about things that you could have hidden. Even when things happen outside of your control – the weather, the stock market, your Friends group – being accountable means you stand up to fix things.

 

Failures are going to happen. You are going to make bad decisions, and mistakes. Things will go wrong. All of that is inevitable. Real leaders will be the ones to take responsibility for the problems, and start working on solutions. Nobody will trust a whiner who constantly plays the victim, or who blames everyone else around them. No matter what their job title, that person is not a leader. Real leaders will command the respect of the people around them, as they work with honesty and a drive toward teamwork to get through any problems.

 

So that’s some theories about accountability. Let’s get some ideas on how it can work in practice from Rhonda!

 

 

Books We Read

Everyone shares a book (or two) they have enjoyed, or are currently reading:

An Easy Death (Gunnie Rose Book 1), by Charlaine Harris “

Set in a fractured United States, in the southwestern country now known as Texoma. A world where magic is acknowledged but mistrusted, especially by a young gunslinger named Lizbeth Rose. Battered by a run across the border to Mexico Lizbeth Rose takes a job offer from a pair of Russian wizards to be their local guide and gunnie. For the wizards, Gunnie Rose has already acquired a fearsome reputation and they’re at a desperate crossroad, even if they won’t admit it. They’re searching through the small border towns near Mexico, trying to locate a low-level magic practitioner, Oleg Karkarov. The wizards believe Oleg is a direct descendant of Grigori Rasputin, and that Oleg’s blood can save the young tsar’s life.

As the trio journey through an altered America, shattered into several countries by the assassination of Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Depression, they’re set on by enemies. It’s clear that a powerful force does not want them to succeed in their mission. Lizbeth Rose is a gunnie who has never failed a client, but her oath will test all of her skills and resolve to get them all out alive.”

 

Vox, by Christina Dalcher “Set in a United States in which half the population has been silenced, Vox is the harrowing, unforgettable story of what one woman will do to protect herself and her daughter.

On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than one hundred words per day, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial. This can’t happen here. Not in America. Not to her.

Soon women are not permitted to hold jobs. Girls are not taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words each day, but now women have only one hundred to make themselves heard.

For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice.

This is just the beginning…not the end. ”

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home, by Rhoda Janzen “Not long after Rhoda Janzen turned forty, her world turned upside down. It was bad enough that her husband of fifteen years left her for Bob, a guy he met on Gay.com, but that same week a car accident left her injured. Needing a place to rest and pick up the pieces of her life, Rhoda packed her bags, crossed the country, and returned to her quirky Mennonite family’s home, where she was welcomed back with open arms and offbeat advice. (Rhoda’s good-natured mother suggested she get over her heartbreak by dating her first cousin―he owned a tractor, see.)

Written with wry humor and huge personality―and tackling faith, love, family, and aging―Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is an immensely moving memoir of healing, certain to touch anyone who has ever had to look homeward in order to move ahead.”

 

 

If you want more book ideas, we would love you to join our podcast book group! Check out our podcast Reading With Libraries, and join us for a new genre each week. We drink beverages matching up with the genre, talk about places to find more info on the genre, and have Guest Hosts who help us to excitedly share all kinds of books we have loved! Join us!

 

Conclusion

Thanks so much for joining us today! Being accountable for things, good and bad, that happen in your organization is a great way to show that you are a leader. it helps people know they can rely on you, and put greater trust in your skills.

Tune in next Thursday for another important leadership skill! We are looking forward to chatting with you then.