Saturday, April 14, 2018

#UNYSLA2018 : Crafting a career path in uncertain times

Jan FleckensteinJan Fleckenstein presented on crafting a career path.

“In all periods of history the demand for leadership has been greater than the supply.” - Beta Phi Mu

Today’s leaders are actively looking for the next leaders of their organizations.  

What does a career path look like in this day and age?
  • More responsibility
  • More money
  • More influence
First, be a good follower: 
  • Fulfill your responsibilities
  • Be reliable
  • Develop your soft skills - hiring managers don’t feel that new employers are coming with the needed soft skills
  • Be the solution, don’t be the problem
Be the person that people look to:
  • When they need somebody to take on a new project.
  • When they need somebody to take on a ewe role.
  • When they need somebody to do the unglamorous work that keeps the organization functioning.   
Say yes!  You put yourself in the position to be asked to to do the next thing. This is how you get to leadership roles.

Growing your career #1 means:
  • Managing people
  • Managing conflict
  • Representing your library to the world
Growing your career #2:
  • There are things you have to know or learn as your move up any career ladder.
  • Find opportunities to learn them.
An important thing to do is trust.  Trust your boss.  Does your boss trust you?

Growing your career #3:
  • Broaden your experiences
  • Broaden your outlook
Growing your career #4: Libraries run on money
  • Where does the money come from?
  • What are the constraints?
  • if people trust you, more information on funding will be shared with you.
Getting mentored:
  • Sounds like the awfullest part
  • Mentors are looking for you, too
  • Internal or external mentors
Getting additional credentials
  • Yes, sometimes you need to do this in order to become a leader.
  • Enhance your credentials as you go along.
  • Work to gain and demonstrate knowledge.
Deciding not to pursue a managerial track?
  • I’m a specialist in my area.  Do I have to move into Administration?   No! We cherish our specialists.
Have courage!

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