By Tracy Z. Maleeff aka @LibrarySherpa
My late mother used to love to tell the embarrassing story of how I was a disciplinary problem in nursery school. Whenever my class would line up single-file and I wasn’t first in line, as the story goes, I would physically remove the child who was first and take his or her place. When asked to explain my actions, I replied, “I’m the leader. I’m first.”
What I didn’t know then, but what I learned later, it’s not being first that makes you a leader. As SLA member Zena Applebaum discussed in her presentation, “Competitive Intelligence as a Leadership Tool,” some of the traits of being a leader are things like listening skills and the ability to clearly articulate a vision. No ordinal numbers required.
So, why is “lead, follow or get out of the way” my theme? As a Myers-Briggs ESTJ personality type, I’m naturally drawn to getting involved and wanting to be a part of the solution. When I created my online identity of Library Sherpa, I dubbed myself, “Your guide up a mountain of information.” I personally feel that librarians and information professionals have a responsibility to be thought leaders, innovators and catalysts for change. For me, creating Library Sherpa gave me the voice and confidence to aspire to be a leader within our profession.
Perhaps the real reason why this quote resonates with me as a theme is that there are two other options other than to lead. Experience and maturity have given me the wisdom to identify those situations when following or simply getting out of the way is in my best interest. I don’t think that makes me less of a leader for conceding. As the saying goes, I think it makes me work smarter, not harder.
Tracy Z. Maleeff is the Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia. In addition to being a DC Chapter member, she is the Chair of the 2015 Annual Conference Advisory Council and Chair of the 2014 Online Content Advisory Council for SLA. Tracy enjoys yelling at her favorite sports teams on TV, live-Tweeting award shows and gin that is distilled in a copper kettle. She lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband Josh and their dogs Sammi and Reese. Tracy Tweets as @LibrarySherpa and blogs at LibrarySherpa.com.