Would you spend $52 bucks and 52 hours over the course of a year to become a great boss? That’s just one hour and one buck a week! You can do it with ALA’s Be a Great Boss: One Year to Success by Catherine Hakala-Ausperk.
An important thing to know before you order your copy, though, is that it’s not a textbook–it’s a workbook. You’ll end up putting aside an hour a week (I blocked it out on my calendar to make sure) to stop, read a short chapter, think about what you’ve read, apply it to your own Library and department, and write down your thoughts. It’s tailored to the library world and it’s suitable for brand new managers all the way to seasoned managers. The author is a 25-year public library veteran and conference presenter who writes with great insight and a clear, conversational style:
“Within these pages is a compilation of trusted, experienced, and knowledgeable advice in areas you’ll need to master in order to be a better boss…it’s not just one person’s (my) opinion of what makes a person a good boss. Over the past 25 years I’ve collected, written, spoken, presented, whispered, conferenced, published, and otherwise handed down advice from some leading experts on libraries, management, leadership, and (now, don’t roll your eyes if this sounds corny) life.”
There are chapters on interacting with your board, evaluating your staff, customer service, budgeting, planning, etc. The “Attitude” section, which I found particularly inspirational, has articles on “The Attitude You Display,” “How to Treat Others, “Instill Confidence,” and “Lead, Model and Motivate.”
And to even better extend this process, try doing it with some colleagues. A number of Youth Service Managers in my area decided to get the book and work through it together. We posted our thoughts, comments and questions on a virtual chat area. This worked great for us, until (surprise!) Summer Reading hit, and we let the hectic pace get in our way. In retrospect, I think if we had scheduled some actual meetings (maybe just one a quarter), either virtual or in-person, that would have provided us a much-needed deadline and a chance to catch up with the readings and with each other. Another way to use this terrific resource would be to have all the managers in your library work through it together.
$52 bucks and 52 hours? Totally worth it!
You can order it here: http://www.alastore.ala.org
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Our guest blogger today is Shelley Sutherland, who wrote this piece as a member of the Managing Children’s Services Committee.
If you’d like to write a guest post for the ALSC Blog, please contact Mary Voors, ALSC Blog manager, at alscblog@gmail.com.