Leadership and the Nimble Leadership and the Nimble Organization: Organization:

Vital Skills for SuccessVital Skills for Success

Carol Avery Nicholson

President, AALL

Presentation for the 12th North Carolina Serials Conference

April 4, 2003

The Will to Govern WellThe Will to Govern Well

Glenn H. Tecker, Jean Frankel and Paul D. Meyer. The Will to Govern Well: Knowledge, Trust, and Nimbleness. ASAE Foundation, 2002 ?

KNOWLEDGEKNOWLEDGE

Knowledge is a fundamental component of effective leadership.

TRUST TRUST

Trust is essential to gaining support

NIMBLENESS NIMBLENESS

The ability of the organization to seize opportunities (Tecker, et al.)

NIMBLENESSNIMBLENESS

Requires an organization to think about accomplishing goals and…

Focus on accomplishing

– the right goals – at the appropriate time– for the right reasons

NIMBLENESSNIMBLENESS

How does this relate to serials?

KNOWLEDGEKNOWLEDGE

Serialists must have extensive knowledge ofChanges in the publishing industryMultiple formatsMultiple languagesPublication patternsComplex holdings data, etc.Organizational flow

TRUSTTRUST

Public services Patrons Vendors Standards experts Colleagues

NIMBLENESSNIMBLENESS

To accomplish goals– Focus on the right activity– At the appropriate time– With the expected result

The Nimble OrganizationThe Nimble Organization

Daryl Conner. “Building and Leading the Nimble Organization” http://www.odrinc.com/inter/news/iwgc.htm

The Nimble OrganizationThe Nimble Organization

An association, such as AALL, that is complex and highly developed, needs to remain nimble

To respond to constantly changing dynamics and

To influence and shape the course of change.

THE NIMBLE THE NIMBLE ORGANIZATIONORGANIZATION

Remain an open system – keep people and things in an unending growth-

and-renewal mode Increase the enterprise's absorption limits

– be proactivePress the envelope of boundaries

– introduce as many important changes as possible without overextending your resources

The Nimble OrganizationThe Nimble Organization

Leadership requires COURAGE

to take calculated risks

Constrained organization

constrained organizations constrained organizations

Leaders try to direct and predict events

Become paralyzed by routine

Fear changing course Doggedly pursue a

course of action in the face of failure

Managers try to stifle innovations

“We’ve always done it that way”

Refuse to learn new software enhancements

Hang on too long to paper routines

The Will to Govern WellThe Will to Govern Well

The Will to Govern Well The Will to Govern Well

Nimble organizations tolerate riskNimbleness needs boundaries wide enough

to seize opportunities.Nimbleness is enhanced by technology-

enabled methods of work                   

The Will to Govern WellThe Will to Govern Well

Ensure that …the right expertise is in place to support a culture of nimbleness.

Experiment with new methods of work, community, and involvement.

Move from being power-driven to become value-driven.

Develop a unique service niche

The Nimble SerialistThe Nimble Serialist

Middle Management Serials Expertise Project Management

Embracing Change Teamwork Technological

expertise

The Nimble SerialistThe Nimble Serialist

KnowledgeTrustNimbleness

Nimble Serialists: Leading the Nimble Serialists: Leading the Way to Success!Way to Success!