1. Leadership: Starting Where You Are
WCPL Intern Shelby Fields
May 2016

2. Observations: Leading in a Group
L2 Committees, Meetings, Conferences
L1 Quartiles: Services and Programs
Branch Level Committees: Hospitality, Facility review, Merchandising and Display etc.
Production and External Customer Focus
Lack of “Siloed” work due to L2 communications
and training and promotional activities.

3. Observations: Leading as an Individual
L2 Quartile Leaders
L1 Program and Service Leaders
LA responsibilities and duties: Volunteer, CSW, Pages, Service/Program Assistance
Lateral Leadership Opportunities
Creative Space and Support
Self-Motivated Drive
Currently Supporting Emotional Intelligence and Internal Customer Approval

4. Taking A Step Back
Turnover will cause change. Multi-level co-workers in generation, experience, and preferred methods.
Overall structure will maintain duties but internal communications may suffer if not addressed.
Workplace tension impedes creativity and goal of a welcoming environment.
Taking a preventative step to create a positive sharing space for ideas and collaboration is key to development of the overall team and workspace.

5. What to Implement? Emotional Intelligence (Sterrett):
Intuition, Character, Integrity, Motivation, Communication and Relationship Skills
3 Secrets to Raving Fans (Blanchard and Bowles):
Decide, Discover, Deliver + 1%
Internal and External Customers
12 Questions (Buckingham and Coffman): Creating a successful environment for all. Successful is not synonymous with perfect.
Four of Seven ALA Competencies for Leaders: Emotional, Social, Intellectual, Communication

6. Twelve Questions
Developed from a 25 year study from The Gallup Organization surveying over one million employees from varied fields and industries.
What do employees value? Related to retention and business productivity.
I know what is expected of me
Materials and Equipment are available
I am given the opportunity to do what I do best everyday
Recognition in the last 7 days
Supervisor/Someone at work cares
Encourages Development
Do my opinions seem to count

7. Tools to Succeed
Discover your filter or True Color both as a person and as applied to your position.
Focus on the strengths of others in a conscious way.
Lateral leadership is powerful. Leaders look outward and can be informal sources of mentorship and nurture within a workplace.
Provide interpersonal connections and a supportive environment to better equip peers for day to day interactions and advancement.

8. True Colors
Becoming familiar with “filters” and personalities can be difficult in a fast paced work setting.
The True Colors Personality Test can be a useful tool or icebreaker for both informal or formal settings.
Original basis on Hippocrates’ four humors: Sanguine-Orange, Melancholic-Gold, Phelgmatic-Green, Choleric-Blue.
Don Lowry developed True Colors based on the works of Myers, Briggs, and Keirsey.

9. True Colors Applied
Understanding the motivations of others and discussing these differences breaks through barriers.
Communication and pairing of complementary traits can be beneficial to overall productivity and harmony.
Activities can provide insight to incoming staff and administration.
The version passed out is simplified and adaptable to staff meetings or dispersal prior to a gathering.
True Colors helps to address the “gray” area of empathy, understanding, and support inside of a business modeled atmosphere.

10. Questions ?

11. Resources
Blanchard, K. H., & Bowles, S. M. (c1993.). Raving fans : a revolutionary approach to customer service (1st ed.). New York: Morrow.
Buckingham, M., & Coffman, C. (c1999.). First, break all the rules : what the world’s greatest managers do differently. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Leadership Traits | New Members Round Table (NMRT). (n.d.). Retrieved from
Sterrett, E. A. (c2000.). The manager’s pocket guide to emotional intelligence : from management to leadership. Amherst, Mass.: HRD Press.
True Colors Personality Test. (n.d.) via Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta. Retrieved from conference/Documents/True%20Colors%20Test.pdf
True Colors Descriptor Analysis. (n.d.) via Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved from