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Loyalty, Schmoyalty What do you do when you realize your devotion to your institution is not reciprocated?

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By James Dixon DECEMBER 14, 2015

Recently, I received an email from a good friend, a tenured professor on another campus, complaining about the latest indignity he had suffered at the hands of administrators.

He had made a routine request for a minor adjustment to his teaching schedule — essentially, swapping one course for another — only to have it denied for no apparent reason and with no explanation. He later learned that a junior faculty member, a “rising star” in the department, had been given the course my friend had requested, despite the department’s longstanding tradition of basing such decisions on seniority.

“I’m sick of this (expletive deleted),” he wrote. “After all I’ve done for this college and this department, all the loyalty I’ve shown over the years. Well, no more. I’m done.”

My reply was even more succinct: “What took you so long?”

You see, I came to the same conclusion several years ago, after a particularly harrowing experience in which a few of my “colleagues” ganged up on me and tried to damage my career. As I wrote at the time, they very nearly succeeded, and probably would have if I hadn’t taken certain steps to protect myself. When push came to shove, all my years of service to the institution, all my outstanding teaching evaluations, all my publications and presentations, apparently meant nothing to the college’s corporatist administrators. They showed me no loyalty whatsoever. In the aftermath, I came to realize that I, therefore, owed no loyalty to them, to the institution, or to the department. Read more…

How to Accept and Give Professional Criticism With Grace

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With deep breaths and an open mind, you’ll be armed with the knowledge to handle any situation properly.

BY DIANE GOTTESMANgetty_480347071_74147

IMAGE: Getty Images

Criticism is a fact of life and a powerful training tool when we understand how to put it to use. We will almost certainly receive criticism (constructive or otherwise) from a supervisor giving feedback and possibly from a client at some point in our professional career. It is important to prepare yourself for all types of criticism in the workplace. With deep breaths and an open mind, you’ll be armed with the knowledge to handle the situation properly.

How to Accept Office Criticism with Grace

1. Be Mindful of Your Body Language

When offered constructive criticism, pay special attention to your body language. Assume a “neutral” posture; keep your arms on the table, in your lap or a combination of both. Maintain eye contact, and be aware of your shifting weight. Avoid crossing your arms, tightening your fists, pursing your lips or rolling your eyes.

2. Arrive Prepared

Reflect back and take an objective look at your past and current performance. Have you made mistakes that have affected the company’s bottom line? Do you have a habit of arriving late or missing deadlines? If so, have an action plan that you have taken (or will take immediately) to remedy your behavior. Bring along a list of positive contributions you’ve made to move the department forward. And, whatever you do, bring a pen and paper to the meeting.

3. Remain Calm and Do Not Respond With Angry Excuses

Often our first instinct is to react defensively. Instead, pause for a moment to allow yourself time to process the critique and then respond in a calm and polished manner. If you fly off the handle when a supervisor gives you a critique, it sends a message that you are not prepared to handle pressure. However, if you accept difficult feedback with a calm and thoughtful demeanor, it shows that you can separate emotion from business – an essential skill for success in the workplace. If you need more time to respond, it is fine to calmly say, “I appreciate you bringing this to my attention and will follow-up with you on how I plan to overcome this challenge.” If you feel the feedback is unduly harsh or unfair, ask for some time to process the information while you formulate your next step.

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How to Communicate Effectively at Work [INFOGRAPHIC]

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communicate-effectively

Communication is the basis of every company – needless to say, if communication isn’t optimum, you will fail in more ways than one. If you are in the driver seat of your company, make sure your work on your communication skills to avoid misunderstandings that can damage not only your brand, but the working atmosphere as well.

Corporate psychology firm Davitt has put together this infographic, rounding up the best tips to be effective in the way you communicate.

Communication is the basis of every company – needless to say, if communication isn’t optimum, you will fail in more ways than one. If you are in the driver seat of your company, make sure your work on your communication skills to avoid misunderstandings that can damage not only your brand, but the working atmosphere as well.

Corporate psychology firm Davitt has put together this infographic, rounding up the best tips to be effective in the way you communicate. Read more…

Better Together: The Cohort Model of Professional Development

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By April Witteveen on December 3, 2015

Higher ed is changing fast right now, and so is librarianship. Traditional in-person library and information science (LIS) education provided students with a robust network of peers for support. Over the last couple of decades, however, trends in higher education have reduced that automatic peer group—not only asynchronous online courses but also “unbundling,” in which students take classes at their own pace and from a variety of institutions. Postgraduate professional development opportunities, ranging from one-day conferences to workshops to certificate programs, were already more isolated, and these, too, have felt the further distancing impact of the digital shift. In addition, the proliferation of new competencies in librarianship can mean that a given librarian’s coworkers may have few if any points of overlap with what they do every day or need to learn—especially if they’re the sole representative on staff of a new library function.

Fortunately, there’s a movement afoot offering learners increased peer support without forgoing the benefits of self-directed and distance learning. Back in 2004, in a College Quarterly article titled “Cohort Based Learning: Application to Learning Organizations and Student Academic Success,” Kristine Fenning defined the term, noting that a paradigm shift toward learning communities, particularly those supported by a cohort-based framework, was under way. The cohort model has gained significant traction in higher ed. Cohorts are also growing in popularity across the LIS field, creating new venues for professional development and project management at multiple points in career paths, from MLS graduates just starting out to seasoned library leaders.

How it works

A cohort is a group of learners who share common learning experiences in order to build a stable, ongoing professional community. A cohort-based model, Fenning writes, results in a positive feeling toward the subject matter and learning becomes more meaningful. The social environment of a cohort is “the key to preventing isolation [on] the learning journey.”

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Giving Thanks for My Mentors

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Giving Thanks for My Mentors (from The Chronicle of Higher Education)
Full turkeys

Image: Thanksgiving – taking home turkeys from raffle, 1912 (Bain Collection, Library of Congress)

Every year since completing my Ph.D., I’ve marked off a weekend or two of November for baking. I pick a seasonally appropriate cookie — something with spices, chocolate, maybe just the right amount of fruit — make them by the dozen, and pack them for shipment to friends and family across the country. (Chocolate-dipped shortbread survived Priority Mail pretty well. The almond Florentines? Not so much.) The list of recipients shifts every year, but I’ve always given priority to four names: the people who’ve agreed to provide letters of reference in support of my applications for faculty jobs.

It’s only a gesture, but I hope it’s an appropriate one — especially this year, when I’m calling on my letter-writers more than ever before. Read more…