Leadership & Communication Skills
Demonstrate professional leadership and communication skills.
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882 American essayist, lecturer & philosopher)
Evidence
SLA Student Chapter Communications Director & Assistant Webmaster
During my time at SJSU, I was an active member of the Special Libraries Association student chapter (SLASC). I started as the Assistant Communications Director and took over the Director position when it became available. As director I oversaw the communications team, which included leading efforts to develop alumni outreach concepts, highlighting members in the monthly newsletter, and delegating other miscellaneous tasks. We collaborated with several other teams in the committee to promote events and create promotional materials to increase attendance and awareness.
After serving four consecutive semesters as the Communications Director, I was elected Assistant Webmaster. I collaborated with the Webmaster to keep information on the website updated, assisted with checking for broken links, monitored plugins, and helped promote group events. Serving in these positions taught me both management and leadership skills. How to be a leader, but also how to collaborate as a team. As a director, I strived to actively listen to my team and encourage feedback, while also showing empathy and support if an individual was dealing with an emergency or illness. When a situation arose, I took on the responsibility or delegated the task to an available team member.
Since I have been a part of the SLASC, I had the opportunity to virtually attend the Medical Library Association and Special Libraries Association joint conference. I was happily surprised at the vast number of virtual talks and posters. I was able to attend two livestream presentations and watched as many on-demand talks as my schedule would allow. The first live-streamed session I attended was Rethinking the Definition of Community and Connections in a Virtually Connected World. The session centered on how COVID-19 has permanently altered not only how we work, but how we interact with each other non-verbally. Professionals have adapted to a more virtual and written form of communication through emails, online live chat services and tools such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
The most helpful on-demand session was New Rules for Job Searching in the Information Field. As someone who is trying to transition into the information profession field, this gave me valuable insight into how to build a professional story. A professional story helps explain who we are and what value we will bring to a job/institution. This is done by highlighting skills, strengths, values, and accomplishments. Skills refer to specific abilities that have been learned, strengths refer to traits that are innate to an individual, and values refer to what an individual cares about and what they are driven by. I have actively been developing my personal story to enhance my LinkedIn profile.
Society of California Archivists Program Committee Member
After completing my internship at California State University Northridge, my supervisor reached out to me and invited me to join the program committee for the Society of California Archivists (SCA) annual general meeting (AGM). I felt intimidated since this would be my first time participating in a professional organization, however, I eagerly accepted. My responsibilities included brainstorming the AGM theme, assisting with extending a call for proposal submissions, reviewing submissions, and acting as a liaison between the committee and a team of presenters. During the initial planning stages, I drew on my experiences and observations from when I attended the virtual MLA/SLA 2023 joint conference.
The AGM virtual conference was held in mid-April 2024 and I assisted with moderating three of the sessions on Zoom. This consisted of monitoring the chat for questions, umuting people for questions, and helping presenters with any Zoom tech issues. I’m grateful to have gained so much professional knowledge while being a part of the SCA committee. My communication skills have improved through professional correspondence and committee meetings. The committee consists of archivists from all over California, so all of the meetings were held virtually, and correspondence was conducted via email. We also utilized Google Docs and Trello to brainstorm, collaborate, and plan the conference.
Conclusion
In closing, information professionals should understand the differences between being a manager and a leader. Whether working collaboratively or taking on a leadership position, being self-confident, emotionally intelligent, and supportive will allow the team to thrive. As a professional, I will strive to continuously develop and utilize leadership skills including respectful communication, empathy, prioritization, and integrity.
Introduction
Developing leadership traits and managerial skills is vital in the information profession. When most people think of being a leader, they think of personnel management, ethics, advocacy, critical thinking, and communication. Leadership skills should focus on softer skills such as inspiring others, fostering innovation and collaboration, and challenging traditional practices (Hirsh, 2022).
Many information professionals are wary of being leaders. This could be due to a lack of desire and intent and therefore a lack of commitment (Romaniuk & Sheldon, 2018). Not all professionals aspire to hold a position of leadership. Self-confidence in one’s abilities and skills is also an important trait of being a leader. According to Romaniuk & Sheldon (2018), leadership is based on four key elements: knowing yourself, creating and communicating a vision, maintaining trust through integrity, and realizing intention through action. Knowing how to communicate in person and within virtual spaces effectively, is also an important skill to possess in any information organization.
Leading vs Managing
Though leadership and management complement each other, management encourages seamless and compliant operations, while leadership requires the ability to articulate a vision, align priorities, and inspire change (Romaniuk & Sheldon, 2018). In an information setting, it is possible to demonstrate leadership qualities without being in a managerial position. According to Romaniuk & Sheldon (2018), leadership is transactional or transformational. A transformational teamwork environment can encourage collaborative decision-making, goal-setting, and celebrating individual/team achievements.
Understanding situations, personal differences, and individual backgrounds is imperative as an information professional. Each person’s perspective has been developed through experiences that provide insights into how to deal effectively with human actions and interactions. Examples of these impact factors include civility, conflicts, cultural diversity, generational differences, group dynamics, noise, non-verbal cues, disabilities, and personality type (Hirsh, 2022). Unfortunately, we are not going to get along with every single co-worker, team, or committee member. We can, however, strive to be civil, professional, and respectful to all of our colleagues.
Emotional Intelligence
According to Wellable (2023), The four pillars of emotional intelligence (EQ) are self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skills. Self-awareness refers to understanding one’s emotions and how they influence decisions (good or bad). Self-regulation is the ability to manage one’s thoughts and emotions despite external influences and difficult situations. Empathy is the act of connecting with other people’s situations while actively listening and offering comfort if needed. Social skills encompass all aspects of building and maintaining healthy relationships, including teamwork, conflict resolution, communication, and problem-solving (Wellable, 2023).
One way to spot low EQ in yourself and others is difficulty managing and expressing emotions (Landry, 2019). This can lead to a high turnover rate, a hostile work environment, and low employee engagement. By embracing EQ, professionals will have the ability to influence and mentor others and resolve conflict effectively. Employees who feel respected, heard, and valued will be more engaged and involved. Collaboration, as individuals or on a team, will be smoother and more effective.
Communication
Being an effective communicator entails understanding the factors that impact communication and possessing the strategies to deal effectively in many situations (Hirsh, 2022). This can include diffusing situations with patrons and co-workers and/or collaborating with co-workers on a committee or project. Information professionals will also need to connect with the organization’s constitute groups to plan and promote new processes procedures and technologies (Hirsh, 2022).
Nowadays, communication can occur through various channels, including face-to-face interactions, virtual spaces, writing, and oral strategies. Effective speaking and writing skills in an information organization are necessary to interact with patrons, co-workers, stakeholders, and when conducting marketing, and outreach efforts. Actively listening to someone is vital to communication and involves providing undivided attention, and feedback when needed in addition to taking notes during a formal meeting or discussion. Non-verbal cues should also be considered, and include posture, eye contact, vocal qualities, physical appearance, and facial expressions (Hirsh, 2022). Utilizing technical, communication, and social skills creates a supportive and successful atmosphere for teamwork.
References
Hirsh, S. (Ed.). (2022). Information services today: An introduction. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sjsu/detail.action?docID=6891082
Landry, L. (2019, April 3). Why Emotional Intelligence is Important in Leadership. Business Insights Blog. Harvard Business School. https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/emotional-intelligence-in-leadership
Romaniuk, M. J. & Sheldon, B. (2018). A Conversation on Leadership: Taking Another Look. In K. Haycock & M.J. Romaniuk (Eds.), The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts. Libraries Unlimited.
Wellable. (2023, September 11). Emotional Intelligence In The Workplace. Wellable Blog. https://www.wellable.co/blog/emotional-intelligence-in-the-workplace/