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The Right Leader at the Right TimeLeslie + Alan BurgerLibrary Development SolutionsPrinceton, NJ

+So your director is leaving, now what?

Panic

Fear

Who will run the library?

How will we ever replace her or him?

We don’t know where to look for a new director

+First Things First: What is the reason for the change

Retirement

New opportunity

Life event

Separation

+Manage the Transition

Communicate with staff, stakeholders and the community

Plan for interim leadership

Think about what you want in your next leader

Identify challenges for your library

Devise a search strategy

+Interim Leadership

Identify internal leadership

Interim director

+Who Do You Want for Your Library?

Do you want someone to change the community’s relationship with the library or change the hours?

Keep the doors open or remove the doors?

Pull or push?

+What are the Challenges You Face?

Creating the library of the future

Building improvements

Increased support

Build the right staff team

Effect a turnaround

What’s going on in your library?

+Getting Started: The Recruitment Process

Agree on the search process

Establish a timeline

Create a leadership profile

Recruit a great applicant pool

Conduct interviews

Interview again

Design a compensation package

+Leadership, Skills and Talents for Your Next Director: Must Have List Vision

Understands the “why” of libraries and is passionate about what they do

Follows trends

Knows what needs to happen to create the library of the future

Understands library fundamentals: talent management, planning, budgeting, technology, collections, services, programs, marketing

Talents: strategic thinker, leader, articulate, engaging speaker, good listener, risk-taker, confident

+Search Process: Step One – The Search Committee

Who will serve on the search committee?

What is their charge?

Who will do the work?

How will you keep your deliberations confidential?

+Search Process: Step Two – The Candidate Pool

Advertise

Recruit

Sort

Interview

Final candidates

+Search Process: Step Three – Make an Offer

Identify the best candidate

Check references and complete background checks

Employment agreement: at will, union, civil service, contract

Make an offer

Negotiate

Written acceptance

+The Employment Offer

It’s not only about the money

Consider the total package:

Salary

Benefits: health, dues, cell phone, car allowance, etc.

Work environment

Hours, vacation, sick leave, personal leave

Relationship with the Board, Town Officials

Community support for the library

+Effective Searches

Managed transition

Results in the right choice for the next leader

Demonstrates Board leadership

Results in a library that is ready for and embraces the future

+It’s All About Change

It’s not so much that we’re afraid of change or so in love with the old ways. It’s that place in between that we fear. Like Linus when his blanket is in the dryer – there is nothing to hold onto.

Marilyn Ferguson