Library Leadership through a Lens of Popular Culture: Buffy

Leadership in libraries is a fluid and interesting area. How do we know we are doing a good job? How do we know things are going well? What kinds of models do we use to lead?

There are scholarly theories and ideas that you can use, and will make you stronger. But I also like to use models that are closer at hand, as you develop your own leadership style. Pop culture is a very viable structure that will give you some ideas you can use – and let’s face it: it’s easy to understand and makes the sometimes tough problems of leadership easier to implement.

For many of us in Library and Information Science, Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show has been a model in all kinds of library service and practice – and leadership is a great example of how useful Buffy can for us! There are a few different types of leadership that are shown in this show, and any or all may be applicable to you in different situations.

Buffy: The obvious first leadership example. (Her name is right there in the title, after all!)Her leadership is based on a few different factors. First is superior skill. She is The Slayer, she is the only one born to this knowledge and skill set; though she has to train to keep up her skills and to learn new things, but she was born with her essential leadership skills.  You may find this in libraries, where people work to build skills that make them better leaders. Another source of her leadership power is her title. Having that title, inherited so it cannot be challenged, gives someone authority; but it may not give enough to ensure people follow. A librarian who is seen to have inherited a managerial job, or to have been awarded it for the accomplishment of hanging around a long time without much else to recommend them for it, is not one people will follow. Be like Buffy – combine a nice heredity gift of authority with some solid training and building up of new skills!

Willow. Another great example of a leader, and one that many librarians can relate to. Willow’s leadership authority primarily comes from her status as an expert. In early seasons, she is the self-described book nerd and computer geek, who enthusiastically embraces research both in paper formats and online. She represents the changing of the information sources from paper to digital, and presents both a challenge and an assistant to Giles in this. Later she wants to become more valuable to the team, so she becomes an expert in magic. More than any other character, she symbolizes the leadership of expert power. People who know things, people who can make things happen, and people who can encourage others to do things – these are leaders everyone wants to have leading them. Managers can emulate Willow by bringing their expertise to their jobs. No one person can know everything and be good at everything, not even Willow. Instead, find the areas you are passionate about and really develop your skills there.

Giles. He combines a few different sources of leadership. First of all he has the title of Watcher, which comes with the knowledge and skills a Slayer needs to know; so he has a positional authority immediately. When Wesley arrives on the scene a few seasons later, we have a clear distinction between someone who can effectively utilize those skills to motive their staff, and someone who relies too much on just positional authority without being able to back it up in the field.  People see the difference between managers who just talk and those who can do things – and they make the decision to follow or not accordingly. Giles employs a contingency theory of management, shifting his leadership strategies both over time, loosening up the overt micromanaging as the team gets older and more skilled, and working with different members in different ways. In his career as a store owner, he has a much different relationship with Anya than he does with other members of the team – because he sees how different people need different strategies to encourage them to get things done. Though not a perfect example of a leader (no one ever is), he is pretty darn close!

Zander. As the perpetual nice guy with no discernable talents, Zander actually brings a strong leadership skill to the team:  Followership.  Part of leadership involves knowing that other people are more skilled or knowledgeable in an area, and the ability to step back and let them direct your actions. This is something that many of us who are naturally drawn to leadership positions can struggle with, and something people naturally drawn to back-of-the-group positions need to overcome at times. But every team needs people who set aside their own vision and their own self-interest to make the bigger picture happen. Be like Zander when you support your experts in their work, without insisting they follow your lead at all times!

Take these Buffy lessons into your practice as a library and/or archive manager, to make your work stronger! Share your experiences or insights below, so we can all learn more Buffy lessons!