Shirley Baker

Vice Chancellor for Scholarly Resources and Dean of Libraries

Leading From Below; or, Risking Getting Fired

In most organizations, including libraries, there are few formal opportunities for leadership. There is one director, several assistant directors, a few more department heads, and many staff without formal leadership responsibilities. However, while formal leadership opportunities may be few, informal opportunities are many. A librarian interested in leading can grasp these opportunities and gain valuable experience.

Key Leadership Characteristics

Those interested in leadership should think about the characteristics critical to leadership success. My own list of key characteristics includes three: vision, courage, and the ability to make things happen through others.

Having a vision for the organization is critical. Leaders must know what their organization should be and how it fits in the larger picture if they are to be able to move that organization forward. A leader who can articulate that vision succinctly and inspire others to share it can focus the organization's energy.

The second, and perhaps the most important leadership characteristic, is courage. Real leaders do difficult things. Moving an organization forward requires making hard decisions and choices among competing priorities. If a leader is not willing and able to make hard decisions, he or she is not capable of leading. With our society changing so fast that our organizations must change constantly to survive, we find courage more critical than ever. Today's world has little use for caretaker "leadership".

The third critical characteristic is the ability to make things happen through others. This can be learned. Early in our careers, many of us feel that it is easier to do things ourselves than to train and motivate others to do them. When we train others and let them act independently, we multiply our own efforts and increase our effectiveness. Mastering this skill is required for those who aspire to senior leadership positions, where one does very little alone but instead works by inspiring others.

Expanding Your Leadership Opportunities

Formal leadership opportunities, with title and authority, are often not as readily available as staff with desire and ability would like. Those interested in leadership should look for informal opportunities which allow them to test their interests and ability, without a formal appointment. Leading from below - taking opportunities to lead projects or committees - is a choice opportunity.

Requirements for Successfully Leading From Below

Work hard without concern for personal gain. Leading from below has fewer problems if your passion for making the right things happen is greater than your ambition for your career. The best leaders from below cannot keep themselves from trying to make things happen, trying to make things better, even if there is no obvious personal reward. Many leadership opportunities are available for those who are willing to stretch their sense of "their job" without insisting on a reward or a raise. Those who wait to show their leadership skills until someone gives them an official position reduce their chances of gaining those positions.

There are many good reasons for taking on responsibilities which do not necessarily bring promotion. Many of the best staff in libraries, for personal or professional reasons, choose not to seek advancement. For these staff, boredom or burnout are dangers. These staff can keep themselves entertained, find new challenges, and raise their visibility at raise time if they are willing to take informal leadership opportunities.

Do your own job well. Essential for leading from below are having the time and the opportunity. In most positions, there are problems to be solved and things to accomplish. These may be completed before you are willing or ready to move on to a higher position. Having addressed the major issues in your position lets you focus on new challenges. Doing your job well gains you the attention and confidence of your administration. It demonstrates potential for greater challenges.

Know when to let go. Presumably your job was designed to fill all of your time. Therefore, to make time for leading from below, you must delegate. If you are a person who must keep tight control on all aspects of your unit, you will not have time to look upward. You must work with your staff to define what is important in your unit. Then you must be willing to let them worry about the details. This means accepting approaches which may differ from how you might do the work. However, this is the essence of delegation, of supervision, and ultimately, of advancement. You should be training your staff to replace you. They will appreciate it, your unit will perform well, and your moving on (should you so desire) will be easier.

Be interested in the bigger picture. Be nosy. Talk with others in your library who work in different areas. Learn about the challenges they face and the approaches they are taking. Network. Meet other people on your campus; take them to lunch to talk about their work. Think and read beyond your own field of expertise. Read the Chronicle of Higher Education, read management literature, attend conferences on topics broader than your immediate responsibilities.

Use the power you have. Most librarians have the opportunity to hire, even if only student assistants. Hire the kinds of people you think your organization needs. Volunteer to serve on search committees. Try to influence position descriptions so that they reflect characteristics you consider important for success in the kind of library yours should be. Volunteer to do training for new and existing staff.

Let people know you are open to taking assignments outside your area. Administrators are always on the lookout for willing souls to help with necessary and sometimes unglamorous projects. My first cross-organizational responsibility was overseeing a project to put security strips in the collection. It wasn't glamorous but I got to test my organizational skills. Staff in my library recently organized and ran focus groups with faculty and students - a volunteer and a growth experience.

Learn the value of teamwork. None of us have all the skills necessary to do a perfect job. Learn to draw on the skills of others, through committees and task forces. Success can be achieved by working with staff who have skills which complement yours. Give your staff the opportunity to lead from below.

Hostile, Neutral, and Supportive Environments

You have polished your area and made it as good as it can be. You still have extra energy. There are no immediate opportunities for advancement. You are a prime candidate for doing some leading from below. Your opportunities will be determined by the administration and situation in your library. Environments can vary, from hostile to supportive, but each provides opportunities to lead. Some scenarios are described below.

Hostile: Your organization has crying needs for improvement but is resistant or hostile to addressing them. You can make an effort to contribute to improving the organization, but be prepared to channel your energies on other activities. Instead, become more professionally active, write an article, have a personal life. Update your resume. These organizations are death to problem solvers with no real authority.

Neutral: You may work in an organization which has things it wants to get done but wants to protect those who ought to be doing them. This is an opportunity. Go ahead. You can learn things. You can end up taking responsibilities without the title that goes with them, but sometimes you can get money. Try not to hope for miracles. Accept the experience but recognize what you can't change.

Supportive: You may work in an organization that wants change but lacks time or know-how at appropriate levels. In this case, seize opportunities. You can help make important things happen. You can keep yourself challenged. You can get recognition, opportunity, and money. This is the best, short of leading from above.

Results of Leading from Below

Leading from below allows you to add key accomplishments to your resume. You may have not been the department head, but you have done large chunks of the work. Search committees looking at your resume will recognize that, provided you list your accomplishments as well as your title. You will be a stronger candidate than others who have worked only at their official level.

You will gain in strength and experience by taking on responsibilities above your level. You will have contributed to your own development and discovered abilities that you might not have otherwise known. Your official job becomes easier because you are stronger. Leading from below allows you to help make things happen, to strengthen your organization, to improve service to your user community. You will be able to take satisfaction in having left a mark on your organization. Sometimes, you will even get promoted.

Shirley K. Baker is Dean of University Libraries at Washington University in St. Louis since 1989. Baker has worked as a librarian MIT, Johns Hopkins and Northwestern. She earned her MLS and an MA at the University of Chicago, after having worked for several years with computers in industry and serving a stint with the Peace Corps in India. Baker has had many opportunities to lead from below, from drafting a library-wide plan as a department head to chairing a committee which includes her university's provost and chancellor. Baker has come close to being fired three times in her career.

Shirley K. Baker
Vice Chancellor for Scholarly Resources
and Dean of Libraries
E-mail: shirley.baker@wustl.edu
Washington University
Campus Box 1061
St. Louis, MO 63130
Phone: 314-935-5400
Fax: 314-935-4045