05 Apr Library Leadership Reading Group chat – The Virgin Way #llrg
[View the story "LLRG chat - The Virgin Way #llrg" on Storify]...
Blog - Jo Alcock Consulting
15381
paged,page-template,page-template-blog-large-image,page-template-blog-large-image-php,page,page-id-15381,paged-3,page-paged-3,ajax_fade,page_not_loaded,,paspartu_enabled,paspartu_on_top_fixed,paspartu_on_bottom_fixed,qode-theme-ver-10.1.1,wpb-js-composer js-comp-ver-4.12,vc_responsive
Blog
21 Mar Leading with authenticity – my guiding principles
My authentic leadership journey A little over a year ago, as part of my Clore Leadership Short Course, I had the luxury of spending a little over 24 hours reflecting on myself, my strengths, and how to lead authentically. It was tough but transformational. We'd been set some homework to complete in our rooms the night before the workshop, and I suddenly regressed back to a 15 year old version of myself panicking about making it as perfect as I could. After about 4hrs of thinking, planning, and drawing, I came up with my lifeline. [caption id="attachment_2772" align="aligncenter" width="500"] My lifeline[/caption] The next...
02 Mar Owning your public speaking
Last week I attended a UKSG workshop called 'Make Yourself Heard' which was for anyone wanting to improve their public speaking skills. Public speaking is something I do quite a lot of in my day job, and although I enjoy it and I'm generally a lot more comfortable with it than I used to be, I can still get very nervous. I'd hoped the workshop might give me some tips on how to better prepare and how to manage my nerves. [caption width="401" align="aligncenter"] Speaking at CILIP Conference 2015 (I was unusually nervous at this one)[/caption] Within the first few minutes I...
28 Feb Clore Leadership Course – one year on
Just over a year ago I completed my Clore Leadership Short Course; a 2 week residential leadership development course. I wrote a blog post summarizing some of my main learning points but said that I thought I'd probably be reflecting on my experience for along time to come. So have I? ABSOLUTELY! I commented at the time that I came out of Clore a different person to who I was when I started. In a way this was true, but I think I'll always be evolving - those two weeks just had a dramatic impact so I felt totally different. However...
31 Dec Lessons I learnt in 2015
On the last day of the year for the past few years now I've blogged a review of my achievements during the year. 2015 however has been quite a different year and I want to mark it in a different way. There have been some great times this year, but unfortunately there have been some not so great times, and through the good and bad I have learnt some key lessons that span across all areas of my life. I wanted to document these, both for myself to aid my reflection, and for others in case these may also apply...
23 Oct Work-life balance and my five top tips
Posted at 16:41h
in Productivity, Professional issues, Reflection, Uncategorized
by Jo Alcock
0 Comments
Do librarians struggle with work-life balance? Work-life balance is a hot topic in all fields of work at the moment it seems, including librarianship. Many people I chat to outside of the profession are bewildered about this - don't librarians just deal with enquiries and switch off when they're not at the library? Well maybe some do, but none I know. Most librarians I know do indeed spend some time doing customer facing duties such as answering enquiries, recommending resources, and teaching information literacy skills sessions. But in order to do any of these activities competently, there's a lot of behind the...
15 Jul Falling out of love with traditional presenting
Back in 2009 a terrified version of myself, along with a group of others who were apprehensive if not terrified also, presented my first conference presentation. It was the New Professionals Conference in London and I had to stand on a stage in front of over 100 people and share a presentation I'd written. I say "had to" but actually I'd chosen to. I wanted to share my experiences using social networking (a relatively new thing back then!) and encourage other librarians to join me in blogging and tweeting. I wanted to experience public speaking at a professional conference to...
03 Jul CILIP Conference 2015
Posted at 23:13h
in Events, Professional Organisations, Reflection, Uncategorized
by Jo Alcock
0 Comments
I haven't blogged about a conference for a while, largely as I tend to tweet any highlights, and I prefer to write reflectively rather than descriptive as many of my previous conference blog posts were. However, this week I attended CILIP Conference 2015 and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to blog some of my highlights as I reflect now it's over. It's caused me to think about things differently, and really opened my mind to some things I hadn't previously fully appreciated. The keynotes The keynote sessions I attended were varied in terms of background and topic, as well as...
05 May Clore Leadership Short Course
Back in February I attended one of the Clore Leadership Short Courses, a two week intensive residential course for people in the cultural sectors to reflect on, and develop, their leadership skills. For anyone who has discussed it with me since, I apologise - I feel a bit like I've been indoctrinated into a cult and have been extolling its virtues and encouraging everyone to experience it for themselves. It really was incredible though. I've been interested in leadership for a long time, and have learnt a lot through reading, attending courses and events, and reflecting on my own behaviour....
04 May Mentoring for CILIP Professional Registration
Posted at 11:00h
in Chartership, Professional Organisations, Reflection, Uncategorized
by Jo Alcock
1 Comment
On completion of my Chartership, having had such an excellent mentor (a CILIP Mentor of the Year no less!), I knew I wanted to mentor other candidates myself. I completed the CILIP mentor training, which I found really interesting (I particularly welcomed the focus on a coaching approach to mentoring rather than a focus on the CILIP Professional Registration process), and soon found myself with some willing mentees. Everyone works at a different pace, so some of my mentees are taking a longer term approach, but my first mentee submitted her portfolio last month so I thought I'd share my...