Competency M

Demonstrate professional leadership and communication skills

Introduction

Professional leadership can take many forms. While the word “leader” typically conjures an image of a stoic individual taking charge and making decisions, the reality can oftentimes look much different. What this stereotypical image ignores is the team behind the individual, those who turn plans into reality. An effective leader must consider the individuals they’re working with, addressing questions like:

  • How are the team members motivated to produce their best work? 
  • What structures are necessary to provide team cohesion? 
  • What happens when conflict arises?

These are just some of the key questions that a leader may have to address. Moreover most leaders will fall somewhere within an organizations hierarchy. Being a good leader requires you to be a good follower and team member as well.

Components of Leadership

Regardless of leadership style, there are core skills that leaders should work to strengthen. According to the American Library Association (2020), there are 14 foundational competencies applicable across most roles in library leadership. Out of these, a few stand out as particularly notable including vision, evidence-based decision-making, collaboration, communication, emotional intelligence, and ethics.

  • Vision guides the team’s direction; this involves innovation and critical thinking, staying up to date with and may ensure the team’s objectives are met in an organized manner. 
  • Evidence-based decision-making ensures that actions are backed by data and facts, helping leaders make informed choices that benefit the team and organization as a whole.
  • Collaboration creates team cohesion and requires skills like conflict resolution, compromise, empathy, flexibility, and delegation. 
  • Communication, including inspiration and persuasion, ensures that ideas are clearly conveyed and that the team is aligned in its goals. 
  • Emotional Intelligence through self awareness allows leaders to understand their own strengths and weaknesses which in-turn fosters an environment of personal and professional growth. Skills like reflection and accountability are used and provide examples for team members to replicate. 
  • Ethical engagement, particularly regarding upholding integrity and honesty help build trust and credibility within the team. 

Many of these components mirror the competencies we’re exploring during the ePortfolio and further exploration can be found under those corresponding competency pages.

The Role of Leadership in Overcoming Challenges

Leadership is not just about inspiring a team or making decisions, but also ensuring that the team can function cohesively, overcome obstacles, and thrive in dynamic environments. In the LIS field, this means recognizing and effectively managing conflict. As mentioned previously, qualities like collaboration, emotional intelligence, and effective communication are essential for resolving conflicts (ALA, 2020); when leaders can navigate conflicts with empathy, they foster a more resilient and productive working environment.

Furthermore, when challenges emerge, whether in the form of budget constraints, technological changes, or shifting user needs, leaders in the LIS field must be adaptable. They need to lead by example, showing how they can stay positive in the face of adversity, while also empowering their team members to adapt and innovate.

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership, with its focus on motivation, empowerment, and personal development, proves effective in helping teams navigate such challenges. While many leadership styles exist, transformational leadership seems to be a popular choice in LIS establishments. This type of leadership focuses on team member success through inspiration, encouragement, and a sense of project ownership (Haynes, 2001; Yahaya & Ebrahim, 2016). Yahaya & Ebrahim assert that this involves proactive management approaches where team members’ needs are taken into account; they are able to find a sense of purpose, build confidence, establish relationships, and are intellectually challenged. Leaders who demonstrate a genuine commitment to their team members’ growth and success are more likely to retain talented individuals and build a culture of mutual respect and trust.

The Dual Meaning of Communication

Communication is imperative for leadership or any other semblance of team activity. This extends beyond academic settings; working in any institution inherently places individuals in team environments. Even a lone contract archivist or a sole elementary school librarian needs to communicate effectively with colleagues. 

Within the broader LIS landscape, communication takes on a second meaning. Information scientists often engage with individuals outside one’s main institution, via professional presentations, research publications, and conferences. This scholarly communication builds knowledge for our profession, allowing practitioners to share their experience and learn from others.

Evidence

Student Leadership – ASIS&T SC & SAASC

The first piece of evidence that showcases my commitment to leadership and communication is my participation in Student Leadership from Fall 2023 – present. (ASIS&T Bio & SAASC Bio ). 

During the 2023-2024 school year I worked on the Association for Information Science & Technology Student Chapter Executive Committee (ASIS&T SC EC) as the Webmaster. This was an intense experience as there were only four of us on the EC for the majority of the year; we each took on multiple responsibilities and worked together to put on monthly events for the student body. My notable contributions during this year include: 

  • Refreshing & keeping the ASIS&T SC Website up to date
  • Posting a few blogs
  • Hosting a “Weekly Writers Drop-in” study sessions held via zoom and then eventually moved to Discord
  • Creating and posting a number of the Social Media images to advertise our events to the general student population
  • Creating presentations for and then hosting the general member meetings:
    • September 27, 2023, 6PM PT | MLIS Pathway: Digital Curation 
    • January 23, 2024, 6PM PT | Spring 2024 Kick-off
    • April 17, 2024, 6PM PT | Meet the Editors: Student Research Journal (SRJ) and ARCHEOTA
    • April 29, 2024, 5PM PT | Transcribe-A-Thon, Part 1: Online Participatory Archives – How to Transcribe Materials from the Smithsonian Transcription Center
    • May 6, 2024, 1PM PT | Transcribe-A-Thon, Part 2: Online Participatory Archives featuring a conversation with the Smithsonian Transcription Center

This year I’ve continued working with ASIS&T SC as the chapter Chair. In the fall we were still a smaller group but managed to add two new members. We are currently undergoing a major on boarding with potentially 16 new EC members. My contributions so far this year include:

  • Holding the monthly EC meetings every first Wednesday of the month 
  • Attending the Student Leadership Directors meetings that connects our SC to the schools faculty and other student groups 
  • Helping onboard new members by talking through the process of joining the team and figuring out their goals and roles as part of the team
  • Fielding & responding to the majority of the SC emails
  • Creating updated on boarding materials
  • Co-creating the materials for the ASIS&T SC social media takeover of the iSchool during the last week in October
  • Representing the SC at the ASIS&T Annual Meeting (see evidence Conference Attendance below for more details)
  • Hosting the general member meetings:
    • July 31, 2024, 5PM PT | AI & Info Science
    • *August 28, 2024, 5PM PT | ASIS&T in a Bite 
    • *October 28, 2024, 12PM PT | Live Stream from the Annual Meeting 
    • November 12, 2024, 6PM PT | Open Access and Innovative Web Design with Devin Smith
    • January 30, 2025, 5:30PM PT | Spring Semester Kick Off 

*events with an asterisk were Co-Hosted with the Vice Chair 

I’ve also been active with the Society of American Archivists Student Chapter (SAASC) this year as their Webmaster. This has been a great opportunity to understand different group structures as my role is much more focused. I attend the monthly Executive Board meetings, participate in brainstorming, and maintain the website. As this team has many more members we function in a more precise way. I’m able to communicate with other members that specialize in specific tasks when needed and can focus on website architecture, creating uniform pages, website preservation and general upkeep.

Taking part in these teams has allowed me to experience different leadership styles, take on leadership roles, and understand how group structure directly affects group communication. 

Conference Attendance: ASIS&T & SAA 2024

The next piece of evidence shows my engagement with professional leadership and communication via my attendance at three in person conferences in 2024 through ASIS&T and SAA (compM_conferenceConfermation.pdf & compM_GAILsNotes.pdf). These included both organizations annual meetings and an additional event by ASIS&T called the Global Artificial Intelligence Leadership Summit (GAILS). Researchers and practitioners come together in these spaces to discuss current issues in the field, find partners for future research projects, and share their knowledge. I attended multiple presentations covering cutting edge research, participated in group discussions, and met a ton of professionals currently working in the field as well as other students. 

These experiences shaped my understanding of leadership via engagement with the professional community. As a result I have been able to clarify the importance of conference attendance to other students and know that a few of my peers are going to be attending these events after we’ve spoken. Additionally, I was able to see firsthand how students are able to take part by presenting posters and contributing research which bolstered my confidence to engage in these activities myself.

Professional Publication & Presentation

The last piece of evidence that establishes my accomplishment of competency M is my participation with professional publications & presentations (compM_SRJSubmission.pdf & CIDs Poster Presentation). In November 2023, I submitted my co-authored research manuscript written in INFO 285 “International Perspectives on Research Data Management Services in Academic Libraries,” to the Student Research Journal (SRJ). Over the next year and a half my co-author and I worked through revisions under the SRJs peer-review system. We’ve had three revisions during this process and have been notified of pending publication in the May 2025 issue. Additionally, in March 2025 I participated in the CIDs online conference presenting a digital poster with a fellow student and received an outstanding presentation award. 

With both of these projects it is difficult to separate contributions between my co-authors and myself. In both situations, we took past class work and through a little extra work and editing turned it into a type of publication (one a peer-reviewed research paper, the other a conference poster). In both cases, I initiated the conversations that lead to us seeking publication, and, on both accounts, I submitted the initial application as well as the final version of these projects. 

While these are student focused opportunities, they allowed me to participate in professional communication. I worked with my research partners to figure out submission processes and revised our work to adhere to the event and publication standards. These submissions required a significant amount of perseverance to start and follow through, but were well worth the effort. 

Conclusion

Leadership and communication are a necessity in any group situation, as such these skills will be useful no matter what job environment I end up in. A few examples where leadership and clear communication could come into play include: guiding student workers through work study, teaching library or archival instruction, leading events for the institution or professional organization, or even gathering peers to present together at a conference. 

Additionally, I intend to continue seeking opportunities for research and therefore will most likely stay active with professional organizations such as ASIS&T, SAA, or ACRL depending on what type of work I end up doing. These organizations each have their own events, conferences, and publications that provide opportunities to hone both communication and leadership skills. 

References

American Library Association. (2020). Leadership and ​management competencies. Library Leadership and ​Management Association. https://www.ala.org/core/continuing-education/leadership-and-management-competencies

Hayes, T. (2001). Management/leadership styles. In B. S. Kaliski (Ed.), Encyclopedia of business and finance (Vol. 2, pp. 567-572). Macmillan Reference USA. 

Yahaya, R. & Ebrahim, F. (2016). Leadership styles and organizational commitment: Literature review. Journal of Management Development, 35(2), 190-216. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-01-2015-0004.