Monthly Archives: February 2025

In mission-driven organizations, we tend to feel a particular irritation when those to whom we answer require us to account for our work with statistics. “Not everything that matters can be quantified!,” we insist – and we’re right. In fact, … Continue reading →

If you’ve spent any time in library leadership, you’ve probably encountered a situation like this: One of the people you supervise – let’s say it’s a librarian named Gary – wants a library policy to change. But the policy – … Continue reading →

One of the most frequent and potentially vexing questions a library leader faces is “When do we make exceptions to rules?” It’s a tough question in any organization, but maybe especially so in an organization that is constitutionally designed for … Continue reading →

With today’s post, I’m introducing an occasional series with the theme “Two and a Half Cheers.” Let me explain, briefly, what it’s about. Usually we use the phrase “Two cheers for…” to preface discussion of something that is commonly underappreciated … Continue reading →

Tuesday’s post was about managing the library agenda in a macro, high-level way, by being careful to avoid the mistake of allowing your organizational agenda to be driven by the person who happens to be making his case in your … Continue reading →

Sometimes the most important lessons we can learn as leaders are the ones we already understand intellectually, but have yet to learn experientially – or to get all the way down into our hearts.  For example: all of us know … Continue reading →

We’ve all heard the aphorism that the leader who tries to make everyone in her organization happy will only succeed at making everyone unhappy. Most of us probably believe it. (I certainly do.) But what does that aphorism mean, and … Continue reading →

When you’re in a position of leadership, people are going to lobby you – either for things they want for themselves, like raises or budget increases, or for initiatives they believe the library should undertake. In previous columns I’ve addressed … Continue reading →