MIDDLE LEVEL MANAGER - ADVANCES IN LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANIZATION

Janine Golden

INTRODUCTION

Leadership development is a significant issue in public libraries and library administrators debate, among other topics, how to achieve it for the middle- level manager. At the present time, library organizations use leadership and management workshops, seminars, and institutes to assist with managers’

organizational learning processes. Current literature indicates that addi- tional strategies such as career planning, mentoring, networking, acquiring adequate qualifications and experience, professional involvement, and continuing education are used not only to facilitate middle-level managers’

career development, but also to help organizations fill the leadership gaps within their ranks.

The Problem Statement

Which combination of career development strategies creates the best pathway for these public library middle-level managers aspiring to become public library directors is not known. The need for the profession to explore

Advances in Library Administration and Organization, Volume 23, 173–244 Copyrightr2006 by Elsevier Ltd.

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this path has become critical because the significant number of leaders who are graying and who plan to retire is creating a ‘‘potential erosion of leadership stability in the information community over the next 5 to 10 years’’

(Katz & Salaway, 2003, p. 8). With the departure of the older baby boomers,

‘‘a serious collective loss is imminent in terms of experience and expertise.

There are few experienced, trained, middle-level managers, supervisors, and administrators within the middle age group of librarians who could ensure appropriate succession in the libraries following such a massive retirement exodus’’ (Curran, 2003, p. 134).

Although graduate schools of business are now emphasizing leadership skills, schools teaching library and information science were and are largely neglecting those same skills. ‘‘Many in the mainstream profession of library and information science education believe that such a topic has little place and importance for the LIS student and thus there is no room in or outside the curriculum’’ (Sheldon, 1991, p. 69). Formal library education courses have attempted to provide skills needed to manage libraries; however, the leadership factor has been understood primarily as an innate personality characteristic and, as such, not generally incorporated into the LIS curriculum. Instead, librarians have been viewed as gateways to sources of information for other career fields studying the leadership concept (Sheldon, 1991).

In order to help strengthen and expand the future leadership pool, three components are needed: (1) the establishment of stronger methods of effective training and development; (2) programs built to identify potential leadership candidates, since not all individuals may choose to move into more senior leadership positions; and (3) indicators to assist these potential leaders in determining which methods are necessary to pursue a successful career developmental path (Katz & Salaway, 2003). In all cases, libraries recognize a need for career professional development strategies.

The library and information science profession specifically is concerned about the issue of leadership. Elements involved with the existence of a call for leadership renewal exist: the erosion of leadership stability, perceptions of leadership, and the identification of potential managerial leadership candidates.

Erosion of Leadership Stability

Two issues have contributed to the erosion of leadership stability. The first is the graying of the workforce. The demographics of the baby-boom generation point to a future in which there will be a much older workforce but ‘‘one that may be far too small to meet America’s organizational needs’’ (Goldberg, 2000, p. 15). According to Goldberg the problem is twofold. First, there are JANINE GOLDEN 174

too few people to replace the previous generation. Second, more people are leaving the workforce earlier than ever before. The average age of retirement has declined steadily, dropping from 67 in 1950 to 62.7 in 1995. The Em- ployee Benefit Research Institute’s 1997 Retirement Confidence Survey indicates that the trend toward early retirement in all probability will continue.

The American Library Association (ALA) engaged Decision Demo- graphics of Arlington, Virginia to calculate how many librarians would reach age 65 in each of the next 30 years. They found using 1990 census data that 87,409 people said they were librarians and had a Master’s degree or above. They then used the age of those 87,409 people in 1990 to project when each of them would reach age 65. The highest number (18,469) will be 65 during the years 2010–2014. Logically, then, what may be surmised is that, with this reduction in the number of librarians will come a corre- sponding reduction in the size of the leadership pool. However, along with the graying and retiring of the current workforce comes a second issue: the resultant shift in organizational memory and experience. Research literature shows that there has been a lack of growth in succession management sys- tems over the past 15 years. In 1984, 68 percent of organizations reported having formal succession plans in place, but in 1999 this had dropped to 61 percent (Bernthal, Rioux, & Wellins, 2004).

Perceptions of Leadership

As Bernthal noted in a 2004 Development Dimensions International (DDI) study, there exists a real leadership shortage. The library field is certainly no different. Riggs (1997) reported that, although leadership had become a common word in the business profession and in everyday use by the late 1980s, the existence of books and journal articles on library leadership at that time were scarce.

Ten years later, Moran examined the topic of leadership and found that, although there was an outpouring of literature about it, leadership within the context of libraries is still ‘‘characterized by ambiguity and inconsist- ency’’ (Moran, 1992, p. 377). The body of literature expresses concern with the leadership, or lack thereof, in today’s library managers (Evans, Ward, &

Rugaas, 2000). According to Sayles ‘‘Jobs get done and functions get performed with managers who are leaders, but they don’t add up to organizational effectiveness without leadership’’ (Sayles, 1993, p. 82).

Identification of Potential Managerial Leadership Candidates

In the DDI study, Bernthal et al. found that three-quarters of businesses have difficulty finding qualified leaders. Programs built to identify potential

managerial leadership candidates and establish stronger programs for their effective training and development would help to strengthen the numbers of potential future managerial leaders (Bernthal et al., 2004). The need is to establish individuals interested in moving into more senior leadership positions since not all may choose to do so.

Herb White found that the profession is challenged to locate and preserve the ‘‘wild ducks,’’ those who stand on principle, ask difficult questions, and are not afraid to buck the system (White, 1987, p. 69). Mech’s study noted that existent leaders agree that it is the responsibility of the library director to identify and help transform talented individuals into efficient managers (Mech, 1989). In agreement are Haycock and McCallum, ‘‘If libraries are to craft bold mission statements, reconceptualize services and embrace mar- keting, then the profession needs visionaries, entrepreneurs and leaders as never before’’ (Haycock & McCallum, 1997, p. 34).

In his work, Sayles identified the necessity of a combination of leader/

manager. Applying the titleworking leader, he noted that ‘‘jobs get done and functions get performed with managers who are not leaders, but they don’t add up to organizational effectiveness without leadership’’ (Sayles, 1993, p. 83). Concurring with Mintzberg, Sayles found that action-oriented managerseeks to do something, to change something, and to make tomor- row different from today; thus the action-oriented manager is indispensable.

It is the middle-level leader/managers of today who are faced with two major challenges: the changing nature of their leadership roles and the need to restructure their career plans if they intend to advance. The first challenge is that the leadership role is actually changing; leader/managers have greater responsibilities in operating with fewer staff members but a wider scope of duties. Giesceke found that ‘‘the traditional hierarchical bureaucracy is no longer correct so that evenythe tried and true rules of management don’t work anymore. Middle-level (leader) managers are expected to be a manager of professional librarians who themselves are a form of manager, and to negotiate with – rather than order staff to complete tasks in order to ac- complish organizational goals’’ (Giesecke, 2001, p. 7).

The demands of this changing workplace include (a) a working environ- ment that is faced with the downsizing and flattening of many organizations, (b) an organizational culture in which rapid technological change creates a shift of responsibility for decisions, and (c) external conditions and trends, including an increased focus on the consumer, that involve demands for improved efficiency.

The second challenge presenting itself to the middle-level leader/manager is the need for them to restructure their own career progression paths if they JANINE GOLDEN 176

are intent on advancement. Many managers expect rewards in the form of career progression, but organizations are significantly downsizing and de- layering. Thus, as hierarchical layers are stripped away, so are thoughts of traditional career progression, particularly in a governmental, or civil service infrastructure (Thomas & Dunkerley, 1999). As such, traditional career models have been superceded. Leader/managers now have to find new methods of professional advancement through self-development by diver- sifying skills and/or adding professional qualifications thereby increasing their own marketability.

Purpose and Significance of the Study

This study relied on three types of strategies that are similar to those identified in Farmer and Campbell’s work: (1) professional strategies which include involvement with professional groups at various levels; (2) organizational strategies which are carried out by or within organizations; and (3) educational strategies which relate to more formal learning and training (Farmer & Campbell, 1998). The fact remains that there is little agreement about which set or combination of career development strategies creates the best pathway for the middle-level leader/manager aspiring to become a public library director. This study set out to:

1. Determine the career paths of directors of major public libraries relative to educational background, experience, and years of service.

2. Focus on selected career development strategies to identify which were most useful and most closely associated with achievement of success by public library directors by

(a) investigating a selected group of strategies researched in the current literature: professional involvement, recognizing/taking opportuni- ties, qualifications, mentorship, experience, networking, career planning, training and development, and continuing education;

(b) determining the public library directors’ use of the strategies chosen and the level of significance of these strategies to their career success; and (c) analyzing the relevance of these strategies to the successful career

development for middle-level managers. Since selected strategies are perceived by the directors to be major contributors in their own career trajectory, they are then to be considered as useful elements for middle-level managers to apply to their own career advancement.

3. Investigate the role and value of selected factorsthat contributed to the successful career paths of public library directors by

(a) examining a selected group ofexternal factors relative to public library directors’ perceptions of the extent that these factors affected their career success: luck/serendipity, gender, age, and geographic mobility and

(b) investigating the correlation of theseexternalfactors to determine if a relationship exists among the individual factors and strategies.

4. Collect base-line data from the directors for future study of a selected group ofinternalfactors (innate or developed) chosen: ability, flexibility, communication, determination, proactivity, hard work, personality, in- telligence, and enjoyment. The expectation is that since certain factors play a significant role in career development, the acknowledgement of their existence and effect need to be known.

Limitations of the Study

There are two major limitations to this study. The first concerns the treat- ment of the internal factors in this research: only base-line data was gathered in order to recognize the existence of these internalfactors owned and ac- knowledged by public library directors. They are viewed by this study as either innate or developed characteristics. Measurement of the correlation between these factors and career advancement is beyond the scope of this study; however, the correlation of these factors among themselves is in- cluded. Statistics are gathered only for future reference.

The second limitation concerns the selected grouping ofexternal factors chosen for this study. In the literature, numerous external factors are identified as potentially influential in career success. Luck or serendipity, gender, age, and geographic mobility are chosen because they were specifically mentioned in research on the career success of public library directors. This selection allows for future comparison studies.

Research Questions

This study was designed to investigate selected factors and strategies that perceptibly contribute to the leadership and successful career development of current public library directors so that they may then be considered as useful elements for middle-level managers to apply to their own career advancement.

To achieve this objective, five primary research questions were investigated:

1. What were the career paths taken by directors of major public libraries?

2. How do library directors rate the importance of individual external factors on their career success?

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a. What are the relationships among the importance ratings of individual external factors?

3. How do library directors rate the influence of individual internal factors on their career success?

4. To what extent do library directors report using selected career development strategies to achieve career success?

a. How do library directors rate the influence of individual strategies on their career success?

b. What are the relationships among the importance ratings of individual strategies?

c. What are the relationships between importance ratings of individual external factors and the importance ratings of individual strategies?

5. Which career development strategies are recommended by library directors to assist middle-level managers in the successful pursuit of their careers as future library directors?

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