Leadership as a concept is often misunderstood. This is the case not only in libraries but, in all situations. People often equate leadership with power, a huge mistake and probably the worst you can make.
For those of you who know me, you know that by profession I am an academic library director and that my other passion is natural horsemanship. I am always seeking never ending self improvement, especially in leadership, in all areas of my life. My study of leadership easily crosses over from professional librarian to horse woman (and back again) but, the concepts are really the same! I have often taken pieces of knowledge from both areas of my life and found that the concepts were easily applied. It is interesting when one tries to understand and communicate with horses that this relationship transcends on how we interact with humans in all kinds of situations as well. I guess I'd like to believe that if I (a predator) can successfully communicate and partner with a horse (a prey animal), that I can just as successfully find a way to communicate and lead those working for me.
I participate in leadership seminars and courses all of the time too and as I mentioned, I strive for continual improvement in all aspects of my life, a life-long project I suppose, and a truly good use of my time. Currently, I am using the FISH! Philosophy with my faculty and staff (and doing a self-study, Leader Fish for myself). It is fun! And, they seem encouraged, interested, and enjoying it–and it truly compliments my professional life and horse journey. The whole idea stems around four principles: Be There, Play, Make Their Day, Choose Your Attitude!
Rather than rewrite what I've written before about leadership, replacing the word "horse" with "person" – or something like that, I'd like to take the approach of just directing you to a blog post I wrote back in December 2009 on my personal blog, Natural Horse Lover called, Leadership with Our Horses and be sure to watch the video if you'd like a good laugh. (Please note, that if you search the blog, there is a lot more on the blog about leadership and other topics that transcend horsemanship if you want to read more.)
I challenge you to consider some of these ideas and morph your own ideas about leadership into something that is not just another power struggle between people (horses or whatever else in your life) but something that helps develop a positive partnership that fosters success, with a great leader at the helm. This is the place where one's dignity remains in tact, everyone is productive, and true leadership shines.
