As you may recall, I'm leading a #libleadgender chat on Wednesday (6/7) at 8pm EDT about making the choice to take on significant growth opportunities. Last week, I wrote a little about my journey to getting accepted into the PhD program that I'll be starting in the fall.
In this chat, the phrase "significant growth opportunity" can mean a lot of things: starting a degree program, volunteering in a professional association, joining a structured mentoring or leadership program, or even something not mentioned here. Basically, if it's something that will help you grow and it will disrupt your life in some way, it's a significant growth opportunity!
The questions for tomorrow evening's chat:
Q1.) As you weighed whether to take on a significant growth opportunity, what factors did you consider?
Q2.) How did your identities (e.g., race, gender identity & expression, socioeconomic status, ability) affect your decision?
Q3.) How did the gendered expectations put upon you impact your decision? Would you have chosen differently if they hadn't?
Q4.) What was helpful about how your support system assisted you in the decision making process? What wasn't so helpful?
Q5.) What advice would you give someone about deciding to take on a significant growth opportunity?
You'll notice that all of the questions are phrased in the past tense. That doesn't mean that you have to be past the decision-making process. Wherever you are in the process, you're welcome to join us!
Stay positive,
Erin
Showing posts with label #libleadgender. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #libleadgender. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
You can see I'm single-minded
I'm going to lead a #libleadgender Twitter chat next Wednesday (6/7) at 8pm EDT on making the choice to take on a significant growth opportunity. I know that "significant growth opportunity" is pretty vague but that's intentional since I imagine that it means different things for different people. It might mean joining a leadership or mentoring program. It might mean stepping up to take on a significant volunteer leadership role. Or, if you're like me, it might mean going back to school.
I graduated from library school in December 2004. I had always dreamed of going back to get my PhD, but the time was never right. Three cities and 13 years later, the time is finally right.
At some point during 2016, I decided that it really was time to start taking seriously the idea of going back to graduate school. I spend most of the summer of 2016 studying for the GRE, which I took in November. I pulled together what I thought was a quality application packet and submitted it in December 2016. And then I waited. And worried.
I was afraid that I was too old to be taken seriously as a good candidate for a PhD program. I worried that it had been too long since I'd last been in school and that it would be a red flag for those who reviewed my application. I worried that my GRE scores weren't good enough.
In February 2017, I learned that I'd been accepted to the PhD program I applied to and in the fall I'll begin my course work. I'll continue to work full-time, so I'll be a part-time student and all signs point to the fact that it will likely take me 3 years to complete my course work and 2 years to complete my thesis.
I had to weigh a lot of factors when deciding to put in my application: how would my being in school impact my work? would I be able to be as active as I want to be in ALCTS? what will I have to give up to take this on?
These are the questions I am excited to explore as part of the #libleadgender conversation. How do you know when the time is right to take on something new that feels really enormous? How do you do that really enormous thing while also nurturing the parts of you that already exist and already important to you? And how do gendered expectations for library leaders change how we answer those questions?
Next week, I'll post the questions I intend to use as a conversation starter for our chat. If you are contemplating taking on a significant growth opportunity or if you are already there, I'd love for you to join us!
Stay positive,
Erin
I graduated from library school in December 2004. I had always dreamed of going back to get my PhD, but the time was never right. Three cities and 13 years later, the time is finally right.
At some point during 2016, I decided that it really was time to start taking seriously the idea of going back to graduate school. I spend most of the summer of 2016 studying for the GRE, which I took in November. I pulled together what I thought was a quality application packet and submitted it in December 2016. And then I waited. And worried.
I was afraid that I was too old to be taken seriously as a good candidate for a PhD program. I worried that it had been too long since I'd last been in school and that it would be a red flag for those who reviewed my application. I worried that my GRE scores weren't good enough.
In February 2017, I learned that I'd been accepted to the PhD program I applied to and in the fall I'll begin my course work. I'll continue to work full-time, so I'll be a part-time student and all signs point to the fact that it will likely take me 3 years to complete my course work and 2 years to complete my thesis.
I had to weigh a lot of factors when deciding to put in my application: how would my being in school impact my work? would I be able to be as active as I want to be in ALCTS? what will I have to give up to take this on?
These are the questions I am excited to explore as part of the #libleadgender conversation. How do you know when the time is right to take on something new that feels really enormous? How do you do that really enormous thing while also nurturing the parts of you that already exist and already important to you? And how do gendered expectations for library leaders change how we answer those questions?
Next week, I'll post the questions I intend to use as a conversation starter for our chat. If you are contemplating taking on a significant growth opportunity or if you are already there, I'd love for you to join us!
Stay positive,
Erin
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Why're you doing this? What's your motivation?
I participated in a #libleadgender chat about paths to leadership. I appreciated hearing a group of women talk about how they have found themselves in leadership roles and the challenges and opportunities these leadership roles present. I also appreciated the space for self-reflection about my leadership experiences and about the projects I choose to involve myself in.
At one point in the conversation, I tweeted this:
In December, I wrote about how I was hoping to be more intentional about the projects I say "yes" to and the projects I step away from in the hopes of practicing good self-care. I feel like at every transition point in my career, I've felt pressure to take on projects in order to help myself advance to the next transition point. I felt it as a new librarian. I felt it as an unemployed librarian. I felt it as a project-based librarian. I feel it as a new middle manager. I pressure myself to say yes to chairing the committee or taking the minutes in the hopes of being offered greater levels of responsibility in my own library as well as in The Profession. And when it pays off and I'm offered greater levels of responsibility, it feels really great. There's something exciting about being chosen to lead and I like being seen as trustworthy and reliable by my peers.
What gets lost in that post I wrote is that if I choose to lead--if you choose to lead--for the wrong reasons, we steal leadership opportunity from someone whose skill set is a better fit for the task. This is a crappy thing for us to do, especially when that someone is a person new to the profession who really wants to find a way to be seen by their peers as trustworthy and reliable. If we say yes because we want to continue to be offered opportunities, we'll continue to get opportunities. But then our the committees in our own libraries and in our professional associations become an echo chamber.
And sure, we may want to value experience and wisdom when making decisions. But valuing wisdom and experience at the cost of involving people newer to the profession is problematic. We drive away new professionals who don't see themselves reflected in the values of our libraries and professional associations. And we get stuck in the 'this is how we've always done it' mindset that is so dangerous for growth.
So here's my pitch: don't just say no to chairing a committee or taking the minutes when you know someone else would be a good fit. Offer the name of a person you think would be good to take your place--preferably someone who doesn't get very many opportunities to show their colleagues that they're trustworthy and reliable. And if you (like me) suffer from Fear of Missing Out, don't worry. There's always another project or committee.
Stay positive,
Erin
At one point in the conversation, I tweeted this:
A3.) Real talk: I used to say yes to being in leadership because I wanted to elevate my profile. Not b/c I was best suited. #libleadgender— Erin Leach (@erinaleach) March 15, 2016
In December, I wrote about how I was hoping to be more intentional about the projects I say "yes" to and the projects I step away from in the hopes of practicing good self-care. I feel like at every transition point in my career, I've felt pressure to take on projects in order to help myself advance to the next transition point. I felt it as a new librarian. I felt it as an unemployed librarian. I felt it as a project-based librarian. I feel it as a new middle manager. I pressure myself to say yes to chairing the committee or taking the minutes in the hopes of being offered greater levels of responsibility in my own library as well as in The Profession. And when it pays off and I'm offered greater levels of responsibility, it feels really great. There's something exciting about being chosen to lead and I like being seen as trustworthy and reliable by my peers.
What gets lost in that post I wrote is that if I choose to lead--if you choose to lead--for the wrong reasons, we steal leadership opportunity from someone whose skill set is a better fit for the task. This is a crappy thing for us to do, especially when that someone is a person new to the profession who really wants to find a way to be seen by their peers as trustworthy and reliable. If we say yes because we want to continue to be offered opportunities, we'll continue to get opportunities. But then our the committees in our own libraries and in our professional associations become an echo chamber.
And sure, we may want to value experience and wisdom when making decisions. But valuing wisdom and experience at the cost of involving people newer to the profession is problematic. We drive away new professionals who don't see themselves reflected in the values of our libraries and professional associations. And we get stuck in the 'this is how we've always done it' mindset that is so dangerous for growth.
So here's my pitch: don't just say no to chairing a committee or taking the minutes when you know someone else would be a good fit. Offer the name of a person you think would be good to take your place--preferably someone who doesn't get very many opportunities to show their colleagues that they're trustworthy and reliable. And if you (like me) suffer from Fear of Missing Out, don't worry. There's always another project or committee.
Stay positive,
Erin
Friday, February 19, 2016
Join me for #libleadgender!
Updated 2/24/2016 to include the chat questions!
Hello, friends of the Unified Library Scene!
Next Wednesday evening (2/24) at 8pm Eastern, I'm hosting a #libleadgender chat on building a more inclusive space in which to have the conversation about the intersection of gender and library leadership.
If you are interested in getting more information about the #libleadgender movement, you can start with this excellent article by Michelle Millet and Jessica Olin. You can follow it up with this blog post by Jessica. And, finally, you can search the hashtag on Twitter.
I hope you'll consider joining the chat on Wednesday evening. If you have questions that you'd like to ask--anonymously or otherwise--let me know!
Stay positive,
Erin
PS: The questions!
1. Gendered expectations for leaders is one version of performance. How else do we ask our leaders to perform?
2. How do you think the idea of "cultural fit" perpetuates bias within libraries? What do we look for when we consider "fit?"
3. How can we dismantle bias in our own organization without placing diversity work on the shoulders of our marginalized coworkers?
4. How could libraries give LIS students the opportunity to interrogate bias during a practicum experience?
5. (Submitted question!) What do you envision to be the difference between a feminist library and a library numerically dominated by women?
Hello, friends of the Unified Library Scene!
Next Wednesday evening (2/24) at 8pm Eastern, I'm hosting a #libleadgender chat on building a more inclusive space in which to have the conversation about the intersection of gender and library leadership.
If you are interested in getting more information about the #libleadgender movement, you can start with this excellent article by Michelle Millet and Jessica Olin. You can follow it up with this blog post by Jessica. And, finally, you can search the hashtag on Twitter.
I hope you'll consider joining the chat on Wednesday evening. If you have questions that you'd like to ask--anonymously or otherwise--let me know!
Stay positive,
Erin
PS: The questions!
1. Gendered expectations for leaders is one version of performance. How else do we ask our leaders to perform?
2. How do you think the idea of "cultural fit" perpetuates bias within libraries? What do we look for when we consider "fit?"
3. How can we dismantle bias in our own organization without placing diversity work on the shoulders of our marginalized coworkers?
4. How could libraries give LIS students the opportunity to interrogate bias during a practicum experience?
5. (Submitted question!) What do you envision to be the difference between a feminist library and a library numerically dominated by women?
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