Beth South is Assistant Librarian of Access & Technical Services and Archivist at Indiana University East.
During Spring and Summer 2019, I had the opportunity to participate in the IU Regional Supervisor Series (RSS). There were 47 participants from all the regional campuses, with 9 of us representing IU East. In its second year, hosted by the Talent & Organization Development team, RSS is a professional development program designed to introduce leadership concepts, techniques, and principles in order to enhance supervision and leadership skills. Topics included Communication and Leadership, Coaching for High Performance, Personnel Policies, Situational Leadership, Analyzing Performance Problems, Managing Conflict, Corrective Action/Grievance Handling, and Creating a Motivating Environment.
An example of very interesting and useful content was information about “Generations at Work” in a session facilitated by Training Manager Amy Batule. We learned that Millennials are now the largest living generation in the United States, and by 2020, they will account for one in three adults. The population of older Americans is expected to more than double by 2060. She also noted that age and experience no longer indicate role. One in 3 employees report to someone younger. One in 7 report to someone a full decade younger. A new generation, and the most diverse in U.S. History, Gen Z, is entering the workforce at a rate of 4.5 million each year.
More information can be found from Catalyst, from the Center for Generational Kinetics Gen Z White Paper, and from Generational Edge.
As a result of this training, participants created a “leadership brand” and gained new insight into how we can be supportive work team members, as well as supervisors and leaders. This includes asking more questions, allowing for more open discussion in meetings, staying positive, and utilizing staff strengths. In our organization, there is no solo endeavors; it takes a team to make our organization succeed.
IU East Campus Library offers a variety of resources about leadership. Below is a list of recommended ebooks and audio books. Want to find more? Just Ask Us!
Your First Leadership Job: How Catalyst Leaders Bring Out the Best in Others by Tacy Byham
https://iucat.iu.edu/iue/16845456 – ebook
This book gives you practical advice straight from others who have walked in your shoes. Not only does it include dozens of tools to ensure your success, it introduces the concept of catalyst leader–one who sparks energy, passion, and commitment.
The Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey
https://iucat.iu.edu/iue/16846799 – downloadable audio book
For business leaders and public figures in any arena, The Speed of Trust offers an unprecedented and eminently practical look at exactly how trust functions in our every transaction and relationship—from the most personal to the broadest, most indirect interaction—and how to establish trust immediately so that you and your organization can forego the time–killing, bureaucratic check–and–balance processes so often deployed in lieu of actual trust.
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking when the Stakes are High by Kerry Patterson et al.
https://iucat.iu.edu/iue/10869592
This book revolutionized the way people communicate when stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. Millions of people have learned how to hold effective crucial conversations and have dramatically improved their lives and careers thanks to the methods outlined in this book.
Facilitator’s guide to participatory decision-making by Sam Kaner
https://iucat.iu.edu/iue/15115696 – downloadable audio book
The third edition of this ground-breaking book continues to advance its mission to support groups to do their best thinking. It demonstrates that meetings can be much more than merely an occasion for solving a problem or creating a plan. Every well-facilitated meeting is also an opportunity to stretch and develop the perspectives of the individual members, thereby building the strength and capacity of the group as a whole.
The Fifth Discipline: the Art & Practice of The Learning Organization by Peter Senge
https://iucat.iu.edu/iue/16847198 – downloadable audio book
In The Fifth Discipline, Senge describes how companies can rid themselves of the learning “disabilities” that threaten their productivity and success by adopting the strategies of learning organizations—ones in which new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, collective aspiration is set free, and people are continually learning how to create results they truly desire.
Generations at Work: Managing the Clash of Boomers, Gen Xers, Gen Yers in the Workplace, 2nd ed. by Ron Zemke
https://iucat.iu.edu/iue/16843939 – ebook
Taking a fresh look at a growing challenge of navigating the multigenerational workplace, this book provides in-depth interviews with members of each generation, best practices from companies bridging the generation gap, and specific tips for each generation on how to handle the others.