Becoming a chief librarian: an analysis of transition stages in academic library leadership

Library Trends, Spring, 2002 by Catherine J. Matthews

ABSTRACT

THE AUTHOR EXPLORES HOW THE FOUR-PART MODEL of transition cycles identified by Nicholson and West (1988) applies to becoming a chief librarian of an academic library. The four stages--preparation, encounter, adjustment, and stabilization--are considered from the micro-, mezzo-, and macrolevels of the organization, as well as for their psychological and social impact on the new job incumbent. An instrument for assessment of transitional success which could be administered in the adjustment or stabilization stage is considered.

INTRODUCTION

Whether midlife or not, job transitions are well-studied and documented phenomena in the literature of industrial psychology, organizational behavior, and personnel management. This article will examine midlife job change among librarians, particularly movement into senior academic-library administration positions such as chief librarian. The analysis will be organized primarily around the Nicholson and West model of "Transition Cycles" (1988), examining the issues around role expectations of both the individual and the institution that are uncovered in the process of job transition. The article will briefly touch on other theories associated with job change, such as "uncertainty reduction theory" (Kramer, 1996, p. 59), "social exchange theory" (Kramer, Roberts, & Turban, 1995, p. 152), and "person-organization fit" (Cable & Parsons, 2001)--"theories" that the author has now experienced firsthand.

In addition to considering the stages of transition and associated psychological and social impacts upon the individual making the change, this paper will also consider organizational impacts at the micro-, mezzo-, and macrolevels within the organization. While the examples will, in some instances, reflect personal experience with two job transitions to increasingly significant chief librarian positions, this article will not dwell on subjective analysis. Actually the opportunity to reflect on the literature on transition, together with the benefit of hindsight, has taught me some valuable lessons which I hope will be useful to readers in preparing for and accomplishing their own transitions. It comes as no surprise that there is much to master in a new senior position. The new chief librarian, like others assuming new jobs, must "build an image or role, build relationships, construct a frame of reference, map relevant players, locate themselves in communication networks, and learn the local language" (Louis cited in Kramer, 1994, p. 385) among many other things.

Additionally, this article will consider a measurement instrument for determining whether an individual is satisfying role expectations at the mezzo- and macrolevels, as a guide to increasing the organization's ability to analyze and to assist the transition. The "Report Card" approach used by the author in two universities is discussed as a sample instrument.

TRANSITION CYCLE MODELS

The Nicholson and West Transition Cycles Model has four distinct components which, as represented visually, illustrate a circular process in which completion of one phase leads into initiation of another. The four stages, which will be explored in this article, include preparation, encounter, adjustment, and stability.

While the time span of transition is not precisely articulated in the graphic, I would suggest that this four-stage period of transition could last about twelve to sixteen months if the period of preparation was compressed to a brief period of several months leading up to an actual move. There are numerous other models, such as Gabarro's (1985, p. 110) five-stage process of "taking charge" which, despite its similarities to the encounter, adjustment, and stability phases, lacks the important preparation stage of Nicholson and West. Nortier's (1995, pp. 1, 13) five-stage model of transition not only lacks the preparation stage but seems more negative, using characteristics like "reflex," "malfunction," and "confusion," which though they may well be part of transition, seem a backward means of analysis. Regardless of the specific model selected, the transition period in a new chief librarian job is one characterized by periods of significant learning as well as incremental learning, decisive action and slower consultative action, proactive planning and remedial actions.

PREPARATION STAGE

While Nicholson and West (1988) characterize the preparation stage as one of "psychological readiness" (p.8), there will be some who make career changes without investing much conscious time in this stage. While precipitous termination is not common in a tenure-based university environment, it occurs regularly in the corporate world where business failure, mergers, acquisitions, and other factors can short-circuit an individual's psychological preparation for career or job change.

The preparation stage is also one for skill and competency readiness assessment. I would suggest that librarians, whether or not they have a career plan or advancement aspirations, have, by virtue of being professionals, many of the component parts of preparedness in their working existence. As someone whose career aspiration was focused on establishing a broad-based expertise and reputation in a specialist subject area, I was recruited into a library administration leadership position without having set my sights on that specific course. Nonetheless, well-rounded preparation can occur even within a more narrowly focused game plan, and a subconscious psychological readiness may well have been developing.