Had coffee with my old boss the other day (he who got me looking into blogging), and was reminded of some of the things I have learned over the last ten or so years as a librarian.
- “No one’s going to die.”
This was said to me by a very wise library technician who’d seen it all. I had just become her supervisor. I had no experience in supervising anyone and had just learned how the circulation system worked and was realising that there was a lot more to the library than the reference desk roster. I can’t remember what I had gotten myself in a flap about, but she stopped me, looked me in the eye and said, “It will be fine. NO ONE’S GOING TO DIE.” These days this phrase always comes back to me when something unexpected and undesirable happens at work and helps me stay calm and not take myself too seriously. - “All staff are not equal.”
I had the privilege* of observing a manager who treated all her staff exactly the same, from the fresh, enthusiastic, full-of-ideas recent grad, to the is-it-morning-tea-time-yet, seen-it-all-before, been-here-forty-years veteran. This does not work well. Oh, of course everyone has the same rights, and so forth, but staff members at different stages of their careers need different things. If you only ever work to the lowest common denominator (“You bothered to come to work. Yippee”), it has a horribly demoralising, dulling effect, not just on the bright young things, but on the whole team. *privilege, because from her I learned a lot about what not to do. - “Be bold.”
I’ve also been fortunate to work with a librarian who was creative and interested in trying new things, right until the day she retired. When she left, she actually told me to “Be bold.” Mal is right, many of us in libraries tend to be afraid. Our first reaction to a new idea is to immediately worry about what will go wrong. “A library blog? We’ll get negative comments!” “A new service? Let’s do some environmental scans, a lit review, talk to people, visit some libraries, write a report, present it to a committee, discuss, consult, another review, report again, committee…” I have to admit, it’s way too easy for me to forget this one. Much easier to not ruffle feathers and just go with what everyone seems to want. Or is it?
What are the useful messages, adages, mottos, that have influenced your world view, and that you try to live or work by?
12 Comments
Liking these. Have used “ask forgiveness not permission” but it translates to your “be bold”.
Don’t say ‘but’, say ‘and’. On the face of it that’s a minor change. In practice it’s a huge difference, because it forces you to think in a much more positive manner.
Take the scary option. Work out why it is scary, and then do it. If you take the safe route you’ll never get anything done, and everything will pass you by. If you only do what you’ve always done you’ll only have what you’ve already got. In actual fact, the ‘safe’ route is more often than not the more dangerous because it means doing nothing, which leads to entrophy. Even chaos is better than that.
There’s nothing wrong with getting it wrong. You tried, and you (hopefully!) learned, and learning is always a good thing.
Yes I like be bold too. So many times my ideas have been knocked back because others are not prepared to take risks or I have failed to ask for things for fear it won’t be considered.
I also like considering “will it matter in 100 years?”… so many things won’t.
I have been fortunate in most of my team leaders and bosses. Most have been encouraging and more like mentors.
I keep asking this lately: Would I rather be right or be happy… Guess it is good to stop and think sometime.
‘This too will pass.’
‘Take a single step and see where it takes you’ (Lisa Dempster, Neon Pilgrim).
‘Sometimes you just have to get through the next five minutes’ – Therese Rein.
I reckon I have a few more, but those are the most frequently evoked – no. 2 more often than the others these days, i am glad to say. No. 3 is strictly for emergency use.
when i left my last job, my boss told me, via farewell speech, to “keep walking on the wild side”. didn’t quite realise that’s what i do until that point. for me, it’s called “getting things done”. for others, looking for loopholes, backdoors and paths around roadblocks is “walking on the wild side”.
so that’s my new motto!
Challenge the comfort zone.
My mentor once told me “I have you on my team Mel, because you challenge the comfort zone – your own, your people’s, your manager’s and mine.”
Like Kate, I just call it “getting the job done”. If I can see a more effective or more efficient way of doing something, I’ll do it … this gets me trouble sometimes but the comfort zone really gets challenged 🙂
Love these guidelines! Will adopt myself.
Have been using no.1 for quite awhile, and my staff are probably sick of hearing it from me, but it’s right, and helps gets things done during a crisis.
Thank you everyone. You’ve given me lots to think about. It really is all about one’s attitude, isn’t it?
chip away – better to start slow and get through something eventually than not start at all.
Today is not a democracy – love it. Translates to your #2 that I was exposed to and always thought I had to do until another, much wiser manager, told me the above.
And: never run – it panics the men. (From my Army days. It was a very limited career.)
to Con & Sue – one of managers used to “ask for forgiveness, not permission” I have fallen back on that adage many a time & of course I always think of that particular librarian when I do