I took the Blake-Mouton Managerial Grid questionnaire and it found my leadership style to be that of a Team Leader (The Vision Council, n.d.).  I was very pleased with the results because the characteristics of being both high task and high relationship are goals of mine as a professional. 

 I am confident in my ability to complete tasks and although I do strive to form relationships with others, I haven’t been in the situation yet to help a team strengthen their bonds with other members for the greater good of an organization.  I feel my experience working with my grade level is different because they are my peers and not my employees.  Also, as a teacher, my peers already have a stake in the education of our students, so helping them to be motivated to work for the greater good of students doesn’t require effort on my part.  However, motivating them to complete goals we are sometimes tasked with that aren’t relevant to the students, is a challenge. As DiScala et al. (2019) discussed, librarian supervisors are often given many additional responsibilities outside of library services. Because of this, I’m sure I will see situations as a school librarian where my team may not be committed to what may seem as an irrelevant task, but if I work hard on fostering relationships of trust and respect, then hopefully as a “team leader”, I will stand out with my concern for both people and productivity and I will get committed workers to accomplish whatever task we are handed (Moran & Morner, 2017, page 300).

When I become a librarian, I look forward to creating groups based on individual qualities that complement one another and can exist in a productive relationship.  As James (2012) pointed out, extraordinary bosses naturally create teams that can quickly form relationships with others (paragraph 3).  I want to be able to match individuals in such a way that we all reach the goals of the library.  This is something that I believe requires excellent communication lines that are both open and that also show I am willing to listen and compromise. According to Becnel (2011), having these qualities, combined with being willing to serve as well as to lead, “will result in a more rewarding experience for you, your employees, and your patrons”.  That is my ultimate goal as a librarian.

References:

Becnel, K. (2011).  When you’re not (exactly) the boss:  How to manage effectively in a “coordinator” role.  In C. Smallwood (Ed.), Library Management Tips That Work (pp. 28-30). Chicago, IL:  American Library Association.

DiScala, J., Weeks, A.C., & Kodama, C. (2019). The school district library supervisor and the National School Library Standards. Knowledge Quest, 47 (5), 64-71.

James, G. (2012, April 23). 8 core beliefs of extraordinary bosses. Inc. com. https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/8-core-beliefs-of-extraordinary-bosses.html

Moran, B. B., Morner, C. J. (2017). Library and information center management (9th ed.). ABC-CLIO.

The Vision Council. (n.d.). The Blake and Mouton managerial grid leadership self assessment questionnaire.  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h07zdMPVzfE0jpl9cCVEqkY_4_rNYyEq/view