Effective Leadership in Academic Health Sciences Libraries: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study

Fought, Rick; Misawa, Mitsunori

doi:10.1080/01930826.2015.1130548

Cited by 12 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…According to Jordan (2011) teamwork is basically working as part of the team, it is not just always ordering or leading the team. Fought and Misawa (2016) considered that social outreach is the key for the success of the library. Building strong and positive relationship with library stakeholders will ensure the library's relevance and value to them, especially engagement with the academic community through quality and in-time services.…”

Section: On Library Leader's Best Attributesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Academic library leaders' role in this age of transition is a key determinant of success through the provision of satisfactory library services (Aslam 2018;Fought and Misawa 2016;Wong and Chan 2018). Fought and Misawa (2016) believed that a skilful and competent leadership is required in this time of complexity and transformation. A library leader ensures the relevancy of library to its users through promoting a customer focused, creative and collaborative culture in the library (Harland, Steward and Bruce 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Academic library leaders’ conceptions of library leadership in Pakistan

Ashiq

Rehman

Batool

2019

MJLIS

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The aim of the study is to investigate the conceptions of academic library leaders' about library leadership, library management, the best attributes for academic library leaders and the ways to develop leadership skills. A qualitative approach was used and data were collected through in-depth interviews from 15 experienced academic library leaders in Pakistan. Phenomenology was used to explore the common conceptions of the participants about library leadership, library management, smart leaders' attributes and significant ways to develop leadership. Academic library leaders perceived that a library leader is all about being visionary and innovative, being bold, and being a knowledge worker. Majority of the participants differentiated between library leader and library manager however, others had similar conceptions about both roles. The best attributes of academic library leaders conceived by professionals are having a humanistic and charismatic personality, being a team leader, and having building relationship skills or social outreach. Humanist aspect of a leader prevails among participants' voices and this might be an addition to the existing literature. Continuous professional development, mentorship, and being in a competitive environment are the best ways for library leadership skills development. The study would be helpful for library leaders, university management, library associations and library schools in policy making and offering of professional training and education of library leaders.

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Section: On Library Leader's Best Attributesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Academic library leaders’ conceptions of library leadership in Pakistan

Ashiq

Rehman

Batool

2019

MJLIS

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“…The studies have also tended to be concentrated in only a few areas of leadership effectiveness theory. Only one leadership study, conducted by the authors of this paper, has specifically addressed the effectiveness of library directors in academic health sciences libraries in the United States [ 6 ]. This is unfortunate because a number of studies have discussed how effective leadership is central to the success and future of academic libraries [ 6 – 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only one leadership study, conducted by the authors of this paper, has specifically addressed the effectiveness of library directors in academic health sciences libraries in the United States [ 6 ]. This is unfortunate because a number of studies have discussed how effective leadership is central to the success and future of academic libraries [ 6 – 9 ]. Fair or not, the perceived effectiveness of the library director and the library are closely associated, and adequate funding for the library, a key indicator of administrative support, is primarily determined by the administration’s confidence in the leadership of the library [ 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Effective leadership in academic libraries is even less understood, with research being scattered and few connections existing between studies not written by the same authors [ 5 ]. Academic health sciences libraries are similar to other academic libraries but do face unique challenges that their directors must handle to be effective leaders [ 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Accepting the challenge: what academic health sciences library directors do to become effective leaders

Fought

Misawa

2018

jmla

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ObjectiveThis study sought to better understand effective leadership through the lived experiences of academic health sciences library directors.MethodsPhenomenological interviews were conducted with eight academic health sciences library directors to capture the essence of their shared leadership experiences. The research question that guided the study was: How do academic health sciences library directors understand their leadership effectiveness? The interviews were transcribed and coded, and the data were analyzed thematically.ResultsThree main themes emerged from data after analysis: assessment of the environment, strategies and decisions, and critical skills. Assessment of the environment includes awareness not only of trends in libraries and technology, but also the trends in health information, higher education, and current events and politics of their institutions and states. The strategies and decisions theme is about the ability to think both in the long-term and short-term when leading the library. Finally, critical skills are those leadership skills that the research participants identified as most important to their leadership effectiveness.ConclusionsThe study identified three main themes capturing the essence of the research participants’ leadership experiences. The three themes constitute a wide array of leadership skills that are important to learn, understand, and develop to increase leadership effectiveness. Effective leadership is fundamental to obtaining long-term strategic goals and is critical to the long-term future of the libraries.

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