by Kitty Pope, Alliance Library System

I am still thinking about my visit to northern Ontario last month. One of the folks I met was the amazing and effervescent Julie Dénommé, founding partner of Corporate Symphony International and founder of Lasting Leadership,a business located in northern Ontario that works around the world mentoring leaders. In face-to-face and online settings, she teaches people how to step up and be the best leader they can be.

Julie is a leadership coach. Who knew there was such a thing? We spent two fabulous days together. Julie facilitated the leadership summit (with her wonderful French accent), and I was the “color commentator!” So, I had lots of time to sit at the back of the room, watch her in action, and absorb her message. Julie asked the participants three basic questions about their leadership in library land.

The question really made me think about my career and where I want to go. She asked about:

1. The Art of Leadership: What strengths do I have as a librarian and how can they continue to grow and develop? What kind of librarian do I really want to be? What do I need to add to my bag of tricks to continue to grow and be challenged?

2. The Heart of Leadership: Who am I? What do I value? What kind of leader am I and what kind of library leader do I want to become? What do I believe and how do I make people feel?

3. The Joy of Leadership: What am I passionate about? What lights a fire in my belly? What impact do I have on the customer, the membership, the staff, and the board? What brings me joy?

These are not easy questions to answer; much introspection and self-evaluation are required in order to answer them honestly. I am still pondering my responses and where I want to be as a leader. However, what I do know after two days with Julie is that these are the tough questions I need to answer if I am to continue to grow and truly make a difference in library land.

Merci Julie! You are amazing!

NOTE: WJIL offers a series of courses on Leadership free to all registered users. Visit the WJIL Course Catalog to enroll.