Librarians’ Perceptions of Successful Leadership Skills of University Libraries in Sri Lanka : With reference Western Province Universities

Abstract

Leadership skills are the strengths and abilities of individuals which help the oversee processes, guide initiatives and steer their employees toward the achievement of goals. Leadership skills are an essential component in positioning executives to make thoughtful decisions about their organization's mission and goals, and properly allocate resources to achieve those directives. Valuable leadership skills include the ability to delegate, inspire and communicate effectively. Other leadership traits include honesty, confidence, commitment and creativity. Librarian should have Leadership Skills. The purpose of this case study was to explore Librarians’ perceptions of successful leadership skills in the 21st century. The data gathered from selected University Librarians consisted of demographic information and responses to six open-ended interview questions. From the Data analysis, several significant themes emerged regarding successful library leadership skills in the 21st century at two levels: foundational and interpersonal. At the foundational level, technical and knowledge skills form the building blocks for the next level of interpersonal skills. Persuasion and collaborative skills are interwoven with these interpersonal skills, both of which are at the core of the postindustrial paradigm of leadership. These two levels of skills, with an emphasis on persuasion skills, should form the basis of succession planning programs for next generation librarians. Implementing such programs could lead to increased leadership diversity, greater job satisfaction, improved job performance and effectiveness, all of which help retain librarians and ease staff shortages.