Last month I was lucky enough to be able to attend this year's Aurora Institute for Emerging Leaders. I'd heard about Aurora for the first time via ALIA mailing lists back in 2006, and had thought it sounded amazing and challenging. It was something I hoped I would be ready for one day, but each year it was offered I thought, 'maybe next year.'
This year was no different. I saw the call for applications, looked at the website, thought it sounded fantastic, and that maybe I should think about approaching my Director about it-- next year.
Lesson 1: Seize opportunities. Sometimes it's worth taking the next step even if you don't feel completely ready. It's that idea of stepping out of your comfort zone and stretching yourself. If I had waited until I felt completely prepared, I don't know when (or if) I'd have ended up going. Mentors (Aurora Foundation Board members and invited guests), spoke about their careers and passed on what they had learnt from them. A common thread of their talks was that when a new challenge presented itself, they went for it, even if it meant leaving jobs they enjoyed, or moving interstate or overseas.
Fortunately, my Director asked me about Aurora and encouraged me to apply. It was the push I needed to finally put together an application. And it was definitely worth it.
Lesson 2: Think about how you act. And how it affects others. If you are leading, people are looking to you for guidance.
The program is facilitated by Annie and David McCubbin of coup, who use the Human Synergistics Life Styles Inventory tool to develop a picture of how you view your behaviour, and how others see your behaviour. (Thanks to everyone who completed the survey for me, by the way- it's looong, but the feedback was enlightening and extremely useful.) By working out your motivation for acting in certain ways, you can then move to consciously choosing to behave in more constructive ways. David and Annie were brilliant at using their acting skills to demonstrate particular behaviours and bring them to life.
Lesson 3: Fake it until you become it. If you can avoid behaviours which make you seem less confident and capable in stressful situations, your message will be more convincing. It also helps you personally deal with pressure.
All attendees brought details of projects from their workplace. We were asked to pitch the project as we would to our management teams or whoever would normally be responsible for approving or funding the project. Presenting in public is often nerve-wracking, but this time there was the added pressure of knowing the presentation would be evaluated and (eek!) recorded. After being told the expectations of the presentations, we were taught techniques to deal with the pressure, including breathing and centring, and using body language to have an effective presence. Amy Cuddy's TED Talk was referred to, and I highly recommend it. The importance of telling a story to make a presentation more engaging and memorable was also emphasised, and this TED Talk also happens to be a great example of that.
Lesson 4: Find friends and allies. One of the mentors said she thought of it as 'finding friends and allies' rather than networking.
This can be an especially powerful idea in the LIS world, where we may shy away from the stereotype of corporate schmoozing and exchanging business cards without making a real connection. At Aurora there were plenty of opportunities to get to know other participants over group work, meals, and maybe a game of pool. The mentors were also extremely generous with their time, attending and contributing to the sessions, eating with us, and providing excellent advice. I genuinely feel I've made friends and allies at Aurora, rather than simply 'extending my network'.
Lesson 5: Think big. A common theme for the Aurora attendees was that we were focusing on day-to-day operational matters, and letting them distract from more strategic, long term, 'big picture' thinking-- vital for the future of the profession.
But how, when we are all faced with budget cutbacks, restructuring, and the everyday tasks of helping clients and providing a well-run library or information service to our clients? One of the mentors mentioned making your own agenda, including focusing on what only you can do, and getting others to do the rest. I am particularly guilty of letting everyday tasks eat away at my day, so I will be working on this.
Amy Croft
@amyecroft
Thank you to the Aurora Foundation, mentors, and fellow attendees. As the program is held under the Chatham House Rule I have not identified individuals. But I have learnt a great deal from all of you.
Showing posts with label TED talks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TED talks. Show all posts
Sunday, 9 June 2013
Thursday, 14 June 2012
Eight Great TED Talks I've Watched Recently
Here are some of the talks I’ve recently watched. Do you have any recommendations for TED talks? Please add them to the comments section.
Eli Pariser: Beware online filter bubbles (9 mins)
February 2011
"Facebook was looking at which links I clicked on, and it was noticing that I was clicking more on my liberal friends’ links than on my conservative friends’ links. And without consulting me about it, it had edited them [the conservatives] out. They disappeared."
A thought provoking talk on how the flow of information online is changing as services (such as news and search results) are being tailored to individual preferences by companies like Google and Facebook. Eli Pariser argues that we need the web to introduce us to new ideas, new people and different perspectives. And he’s worried that is happening less and less with these ‘filter bubbles’.
JP Rangaswami: Information is food (8 mins)
March 2012
"When I saw ‘Supersize Me,’ I started thinking, now what would happen if an individual had 31 days of nonstop Fox News?"
Questioning how we consume data, JP Rangaswami compares it to how we consume food. He has some sharp and funny insights about information.
Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story (19 mins)
July 2009
"Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity."Novelist Chimamanda Adichie grew up in Nigeria reading British and American children's books. So when she started writing stories at the age of seven, they featured white-skinned, blue-eyed children who played in the snow. Never mind that she had never seen the snow. Then she discovered African books. This talk examines how our lives and cultures are composed of a multiplicity of stories about each other, and warns of the danger of the 'single story'.
Chip Kidd: Designing books is no laughing matter. OK, it is. (17 mins)
March 2012
"Much is to be gained by eBooks: ease, convenience, portability. But something is definitely lost: tradition, a sensual experience, the comfort of thingy-ness — a little bit of humanity."
Chip Kidd takes you on a tour of the book covers he has created – with a sense of humour that makes this topic come to life. A fascinating insight into design that made me look twice at the cover of the novel I’m currently reading.
Brewster Kahle: A digital library, free to the world (20 mins)
December 2007
"I'm a librarian, and what I'm trying to do is bring all of the works of knowledge to as many people as want to read them. And the idea of using technology is perfect for us.... I'm going to try to argue only one point today: that universal access to all knowledge is within our grasp."
The founder of the Internet Archive shares his ideas about digital libraries, and the importance of archiving our online history.
William Kamkwamba: How I harnessed the wind (5 mins)
July 2009
At fourteen, William Kamkwamba made a windmill to provide electricity and pump water for his family in Malawi. How did he do it? Based on books he got from his school library. This talk reminds me that access to information matters.
Susan Cain: The power of introverts (19 mins)
March 2012
"There's zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas."
Do we design our schools and workplaces for extroverts? If so, does this bias waste the talent and energy (and happiness) of introverts? Cain argues that culturally we need a much better balance when it comes to creating space for introverts.
Solitude and quiet are becoming harder to find in our connected, socially networked world and it’s refreshing to hear someone passionately advocate that they still matters. Oh, and I love that she brought a suitcase full of books onto stage with her!
Amit Sood: Building a museum of museums on the web (5 mins)
March 2011
Amit Sood explains where his idea for Google’s Art Project came from. One word: access. If you haven’t played around with Google’s Art Project this is a great introduction to it.
One last thing - take a look at the new site TEDEd: Lessons Worth Sharing. It's a wonderful resource for students and educators. You can customise lessons, take a quiz after watching a talk or delve deeper into a topic.
Sarah Fearnley
@SefLibraryLand
@SefLibraryLand
Sarah is an Events Officer for the ALIA Sydney Committee. She works at the University of Western Sydney Library. Her substantive position is as a Digital Librarian; however she is currently on secondment as a Liaison Librarian. All opinions expressed are her own.
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