Angela Bates
SLIS 5130 – Spring 2010
Leadership Assessment III
April 17, 2010
Leadership and Management in the School Library Media Center:
My Style and Philosophy
After reading two articles by Mark Shead and remembering many of the chapters we
read during our management class, it is clear that there is a big difference between
management and leadership. Both of these jobs are very important for a library media
specialist to perform, but they serve vastly different purposes.
As quoted in the article, Definition of Management, by Mark Shead, two definitions of
management are:
1. Management includes recording and storing facts and information for later use or
for others within the organization. (page 2)
2. The guidance and control of action required to execute a program. (page 1)
Both of these definitions apply to tasks performed by a library media specialist on a daily basis.
The media specialist must record: the number of books circulated on a daily and monthly basis,
the number and titles of books that have been purchased, the number of books that have been
weeded, titles of books requested by students or teachers, lesson that have been requested by
teachers, lessons that have been performed, performance evaluations on lessons, books that
have been or will be read during read aloud, and much more. All of this information is vital to
the daily running of the media center. The specialist executes the program of the media center
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by checking out and shelving books, helping with reader advisory and book location, teaching
lessons, meeting with teachers and the principal, assisting with technology issues and much
more. Most of the day-to-day operation of the media center is consumed with management
tasks. However, the job does not stop there. The media specialist also needs to be a leader
within the school.
Betty Morris points out over and over again in chapter two of our text how important it
is for the media specialist to be a leader in reforming the image of the school media center and
in bringing the new image to life.
Assertive leadership is required in working with administrators to develop school media
programs that are planned to provide service that is vital, innovative and educationally
sound. . . . Being a proactive leader means that the media specialist reaches out to the
whole school community both within and outside the school to promote services of the
library media center. (Morris 2004, p. 35)
In order to do either of these things, the media specialist must first have a vision for the media
center. The media specialist must know the needs of the school he or she is serving and have a
plan for how the media center can best serve these needs. This vision may take on many
different versions based upon the individual school, however the one thing all media center
visions must have in common is placing the media center firmly in the center of all that is
happening in the school. This vision is what separates a manager from a leader.
As a leader, the media specialist must take on the five traits outlined by Mark Shead in
his article entitled, 5 Most Important Leadership Traits: honesty, forward-thinking, competent,
inspiring, and intelligence. Each of these traits has a special meaning for the media specialist
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and the media program. First the media specialist must be honest with the principal and fellow
teachers about the things the media center can do for the school. The specialist must also be
honest about the time and effort it will take as well as the money needed to put the vision into
place. Principals need to understand the impact the program could have on the school as a
whole, but the specialist must be honest about the plan to getting to this wonderful impact.
Teachers must understand the role the media specialist wishes to play within the school and
what part the teachers have in it. And most importantly, the media specialist must be honest
on a daily basis about what he or she can actually get done; not promising more than can be
delivered.
Secondly, any leader must be forward-thinking. For the media specialist this means that
a plan must have been thought out in as much detail as possible before approaching
administrators. This means the specialist must have a working knowledge of what is in the
media center presently, what needs there are within the school, and how the media center can
meet these needs in terms of service and needed supplies. The media specialist needs to have
prepared a five year plan of action as well as a projected budget. No principal will agree to
change an existing program without a well planned alternative that will benefit the entire
school or at least a large percentage of it.
Third, a leader must be competent. This does not mean that the media specialist must
have all the answers to every situation that may develop in the new program, but he or she
needs to have covered many of them and be willing to admit when something was not
considered or thought of in advance. The media specialist needs to be prepared to defend his
or her new plan with accepted research and facts from within the school. Also, the media
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specialist needs to have proven himself competent in the job as it currently exists. If the
principal does not already see the media specialist as competent and knowledgeable, a new
plan will not be met with much enthusiasm.
Fourth, a leader is inspiring. “Being inspiring is usually a matter of communicating an
idea clearly and with passion.” (Shead, 2007, p. 4) Stephen Covey said the voice of inspiration
comes from “. . . being engaged in work that taps into your talents and fuels your passion.”
(Khan, 2010, p. 2) A media specialist can inspire the administrator and teachers to ‘buy into’ a
new program if it is something he or she is passionate about and if the program can be explain
in such a way that its benefits are obvious to everyone. If the media specialist is not sold out on
the program and willing to put everything he or she has into making the program work, no one
else will be either. Also, the idea has to get out to as many people as possible within the school
community. Support for the program may come from some area the media specialist never
expected and that support may be the stone that tips the scale in favor of the new program.
Lastly, a leader must be intelligent. This means that the media specialist must keep
abreast of all new techniques and strategies to improve media programs. Learning should not
stop. “A person can develop a great deal of intelligence in any field simply by investing a
reasonable amount of time to reading on a daily basis. Spending 30 minutes of focused reading
every day will give you 182 hours of study time each year.” (Shead, 2007, p. 5) Things in this
age of information are changing at such a fast pace, it can be hard to keep current unless an
effort is made to do so. At the very least, there are always new technologies being brought into
the schools that need to be understood and taught to others. Being willing to learn and then
help others to understand and learn is the mark of an intelligent leader.
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All of the traits of effective leaders and managers are necessary for a media specialist to
posses. My own character trait analysis showed me to be: distinctly introverted, moderately
sensing and feeling and very judging. Keirsey summed up these traits as the “portrait of a
protector.” Many of the traits I seem to possess will make me a very good manager like the fact
that I display the attributes of a methodical and accurate worker with analytical abilities and a
willingness to work long hours behind the scenes. I also work well within prevailing social
conventions, following set patterns and methods. In addition I have many of the traits that
would make me a good leader. For example, I am highly moral and honest. I have a “need to
be needed” according to Heiss, which allows me to seek out needs to be filled which would
greatly assist me in finding ways to improve the media program to benefit my school. My
analytical abilities and the fact that I like to have things preplanned, will help me design a five
year plan as well as a budget. I also tend to be frugal which could greatly benefit my
administrator, because I will not needless waste money in the budget.
The leadership assessment showed me to be a participatory leader which fits my
personality in that I like to lead from within, working alongside others. I also discovered after
reading Dave Straker’s seven leadership styles that I am most suited to the “Quiet Leader” style.
A quiet leader is someone who is happy letting his actions speak louder than his words and
leading by example. A quiet leader combines “professional will with personal humility”.
(Straker, 2010, p. 1) Straker explained these statements further by saying that a quiet leader
will “march against the status quo if he believes it is the right thing to do” and this person has
the ability to make himself heard when his passions are strong. Also the quiet leader will “give
credit to others for the successes and take personal responsibility for failures”.
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I see the traits of a quiet leader helping me overcome my introverted nature so that I
might be me more inspiring. I am not generally a person who willingly confronts issues head
on. However, when I feel strongly about something, I am more likely to be forceful and
persistent to have my voice heard. I know that in order to promote effective change in the
media program, the media specialist must work collaboratively, or along side, teachers and
other staff members. I tend to like to let my actions speak for me, so I will be an active partner
in any collaboration. I will happily demonstrate how information skills can help with content
instruction and gladly offer my assistance to anyone interested. My tendency to give others
credit for any successes achieved as the program develops will help me be able to find others
willing to work with me on future collaborations as time progresses. Also, my passion for
reading and research and libraries in general cannot be denied. These passions and my desire
to bring guided inquiry into school media programs will help me speak to administrators and
teachers alike allowing me to overcome my normally reserved nature. I do think that Stephen
Covey’s words are true, that passion brings a voice and can be inspiring. I hope that my passion
and voice can be the inspiration needed to help me lead my media center to be the center of
my school and a solution for many of its needs.
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Resources
Cherry, Kendra. (2010). Kewin's leadership styles. Retrieved from
http://psychology.about.com/od/leadership/a/leadstyles.htm
Heiss, Marina Margaret. (2007, August 20). Typelogic: introverted sensing feeling judging.
Retrieved from http://typelogic.com/isfj.html
Humanmetrics. (2008). Jung career indicator. Retrieved from
http://www.humanmetrics.com/vocation/JCI.asp?EI=-67&SN=38&TF=-38&JP=100
Humanmetrics. (2008). Jung typology test. Retrieved from
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm
Keirsey, David M. About the four temperments. Retrieved from
http://keirsey.com/handler.aspx?s=keirsey&f=fourtemps&tab=2&c=protector#
Khan, Sharif. (2010). Leadership development interview with Stephen Covey. Retrieved from
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-17-2006-99558.asp
Morris, Betty J. (2004). Administering the school library media center. Westport, CN: Libraries
Unlimited.
Quiz: what is your leadership style?. (2010). Retrieved from
http://psychology.about.com/library/quiz/blleadershipquiz.htm?questnum=1&aa=950&bb=951&cc=1425&dd=2375
Shead, Mark. (2007, January 1). 5 most important leadership traits. Retrieved from
http://www.leadership501.com/five-most-important-leadership-traits/27/
Shead, Mark. (2007, January 30). Definition of management. Retrieved from
http://www.leadership501.com/definition-of-management/21/
Straker, Dave. (2010). Leadership styles. Retrieved from
http://www.changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/styles/quiet_leader.htm
Stueart, Robert D., & Moran, Barbara B. (2007). Library and information center management.
Westport, CN: Libraries Unlimited.
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