@Libby and Josh: I added you to this Branch because I would love to have your insight and I'd also like to get some non-library people in here talking about this very important topic.

Librarians: Go wild.

"How do we support and grow individuals who “consistently and significantly outperform their peer groups in a variety of settings and circumstances."

Justin, my first thought reading the post was that Abrams was writing to your Steve.
My second thought was it is amazing when you tell some staff to follow their passion how far it takes you and your organization. The State Library has always done genealogy but since I've empowered one of my staff who is passionate about it to go for it we have had adult education classes here and she has spoken to groups all over the state. Please note that this newly energized ambassador of library resources is older than I am and you Justin are younger than my oldest child.

On a related note Emily will be attending the event with Abram at Thorndike press next week.

Thanks for adding me, Justin.

I like to empower those folks by giving them ownership over their own projects. Libby has a mandate to evangelize Branch Groups, and she has complete control over how she does that, because we know she will do a superb job. Similarly, we gave one of our designers full-control over our rebranding/logo.

Two caveats:

1. I've never managed, or been managed, before so take anything I say in this branch with a grain of salt.

2. We have a slightly different dynamic because we're a small startup. To be frank, we'd fire anyone who wasn't over-performing, and we're so small that there often isn't more than one or two people performing the same duties.

That being said, maybe there's some way for larger organizations to structure themselves internally to gain the benefits of startup organization (e.g. ownership, clear visibility into performance, etc.)

Thanks to everyone for chiming in.

I think reading the comments to the article posted are a good idea...lots of great things are brought up and I really zeroed in on the "Libraryland needs to develop a better culture of innovation and support for our innovators so they needn’t fear the haters (and I’ve known a few!)" quote. I think that's why I'm hugely attracted to start ups and tech stuff. Their culture is so positive. Libraries? Not so much at all.

But that's not to say that things are not changing. I try to incorporate a lot of what Josh is saying in my teen library, specifically the ownership thing. I don't manage a lot of people and I don't really call what I do management but for those people I fully trust them.

...And I encourage them to be themselves...because they all have something really awesome in them. That's what makes the world go 'round and keeps things interesting.

Ditto to @Josh's posts! Ownership is really important and in a way is another name for what the article calls "control" over your work and, at a higher level, career.

I think it can be helpful to reframe that in terms of responsibility rather than ownership/control, though. How much responsibility do you have for the direction of your project, group, organization? In my case, I have the *responsibility* of getting people to use Branch Groups. The designers have the responsibility of making it work well and look great. The engineers, the responsibility of building it.

Most of the time, I think, that's what the best people want: opportunities where others say, "This is important to us. We believe in you. Go make it happen."

Whether it's a small project or a broad mandate, though, having a frank conversation with really smart people about the high-level goals of an organization (Do not keep these secret from high-achieving people! Ever!) and then saying "Let's figure out a way for you to contribute directly to achieving those." is HUGE.

> "I try to incorporate a lot of what Josh is saying in my teen library." @Justin - What kinds of stuff have you worked with students on?

Worth saying, too, that in the realm of good problems and bad problems, having frustrated high-achievers is a good problem to have :)

@Libby: The whole idea of ownership is huge for both the teens that use my library and the employees.

I always tell the teens: This is your library. This is your space. I'm just the person who works here that does his best to make what you want a reality. I will buy you the materials you want, put on the programs you want, and do other things (within the limits of my power) because....it's the public library. It's funded by tax dollars...the community.

So when they have that sense of ownership, they respect the hell out of us a lot more. If something gets fouled up and it can't happen anymore, it's on them and they know it and they understand they need to make changes.

As for employees: I've found out that when an employee....be it part time or full time...feels respected and part of a place they love being at work and that reflects well on the teens. It's like all of our attitudes are connected: Mine, my employees, the teens...if we're all feeling ownership and respect, then this place is awesome.

I feel that in my workplace people are so overwhelmed with the onslaught of day-to-day tasks that we find it really hard to stand back and reflect. Leadership and personal and career development goes out of the window in this sort of environment.

I don't really expect managers to be looking out for me and, from what I've observed on Twitter with other librarians, it is pretty much down to the individual to forge opportunities outside of the workplace for themselves to develop. Then you take that experience to apply for a better job somewhere else. Employers know this so why should they bother developing or looking after their employees?

It comes back to one of the reasons many of us stick with the profession. We care more about all libraries than any particular library including the one that currently employs us. I am a middle manager and I am overwhelmed with the minutia of why the ILS just gave somebody a due date of 12/20/2000. But I also consciously make time to support my staff and other librarians in getting clearer about what we do and why we do it.

"We care more about all libraries than any particular library including the one that currently employs us."

Yep, that is so true.

To continue on this discussion, I'd like to add this post into the mix:

stephenslighthouse.com

Yup, it's a long one but it's a good follow up to the original article. Good for any kind of professional!