vision/mission

Practical Application Assignment

·        Write your own personal vision statement and mission statement. Then, share it with your mentor. Discuss ways that it will guide you to achieve your professional goals.

Is it normal that I see a gap between what i would see as my personal mission and my professional one?

maybe the vision could be the same but really, not even...

Here are a few words to start me thinking on, and I will keep the focus on my professional life...

success

help

generosity

intelligence

understanding

knowledge

clarity

questions

love

more to come

Leadership

I got promoted to Public Services Manager at MPOW this week.  I sought the position for a lot of reasons, but a passion for public service was definitely at the top of the list.  Combine this with my recent enrollment in the Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute and the loss today of one of the greatest hockey players that ever lived has put leadership and what is at its core on my mind.  A lot.

Jean Beliveau played hockey in th NHL from 1950 to 1971 and had 10 Stanley Cup rings.  That is TEN, you read it right.  But what people mentioned the most today on all my satellite TV and radio channels from home was how much of a gentleman he was.  The giant mark he made on his country, on his contemporaries and so many generations after, was how perfectly he conducted himself always.  At work, on the ice, with everyone he met, from co-workers to journalists, to politicians to people on the street, everyone wished they were like him.  He never made great speeches or told people what to do, he just demonstrated exemplary behavior.  He is reported to have signed autographs carefully so folks could read it.  Some of his greatest adversaries on the ice became life long friends and cried on his death bed last month.

There are many such people to admire around us, people who do the right thing, show grace and respect for everyone, but few embodied this as well as he did.

Respecting others enough to give them the best of yourself everyday,  realizing that everything we do matters to someone, is not only powerful in itself, it is also contagious.

I really hope that by carefully making the right choice in my day to day work, I can begin to help, even before the new projects and the speeches start. 

teamwork mechanics

random thoughts...

teams help have/make everyone accountable for the project success
success need be well defined

teams break down traditional vertical hierarchy
but individual accountability still exists, in a different order

we are all either responsible for something,
or responsible to help someone else with something
both are very important in teams
it is very important to know the difference
...it is often hard for managers to be in the position where they are responsible to help someone and to let them lead; if that person is "under them" in the traditional up and down hierarchy which still exists at the same time as teamwork dynamics are introduced in the organization.

et vice versa...

The biggest change

I can't believe I forgot to take pictures of the sorter, the biggest change of all.

Here are a few.  I'll post a little movie soon.

It's small and sooo quiet and seems very efficient.

Change is good!

Here it is folks, after months of hard work and a last super push of 55 hours last week, we will be re-opening one of our locations on Monday with a new RFID sorter, new selfcheck models, new information desk, re-organized public computer space and so much more...

take a look a the nice pictures :
the new hold shelf/selfcheck

the new security gates/entrance:

sorter return, book display:

Beautiful 1st impression:

Self service: return, checkout:

Light footprint, re-configurable info desk:

again, self service area:

new table for the copier:

New layout and chairs for the public PCs:

 Busy corner, new books, DVDS:

Future content creation /maker area:

Quiet Reading area:

Reference, student support:

the view from the back of the room looking at the entrance:

It was a lot of work and I hope it comes together happily tomorrow.