Tag Archives: Conferences

Leadership: Developing Executive Presence

Thanks to a generous grant from CALL I was able to attend the 11th annual Women’s Leadership Institute hosted by the Association of College Unions International, the Association of College and Research Libraries, the National Association of College and University Business Officers, and NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. It was an impressive gathering of women working at colleges and universities all across the country who were interested in pursuing executive leadership positions at their institutions.

The conference began with an empowering keynote from Emilie Aries, CEO of Bossed Up. Aries is a former political organizer who realized at a young age that her frantic work life was not sustainable. She transitioned into a career as a leadership consultant and now advises women on how to establish healthy, long-lasting careers. Her talk at the conference focused on how to prevent burnout. Her initial advice was something that resonated with me and I think is common among librarians who see themselves as service professionals—Ditch the Martyrdom Myth. She urged us to remember that success does not require suffering. Aries reminded us that when traveling on an airplane we are all told to put on your own oxygen mask first before helping others, and that is true with our professional and personal lives as well. Acknowledging that we still have bosses and family obligations that may require us to make occasional sacrifices, she advised, “Put yourself first. Not always, but not never.”

Aries keynote was inspiring and provided practical advice on setting achievable goals. You can watch her talk about how to set healthy boundaries and invest in sustainable long-term achievement in her popular TED talk, “The Power of No.” I also recommend following Aries’ column on Forbes.com.

Over the next three days at the conference we heard from a number of remarkable women on topics ranging from navigating organizational politics, building cultural competencies, developing a career strategy, establishing financial well-being, and assertive communication. The last topic was one that set this conference apart from other leadership events. Because the attendees were women seeking leadership roles, several speakers remarked on the struggle women face in being seen as assertive, which is linked to being considered a “high potential” employee, vs. aggressive, which is often a euphemism for being a b****. We discussed that in this country there is a mismatch between conventional female qualities and the qualities that are thought necessary for leadership. One of the most important ways to be perceived as a high potential employee and a leader is to project executive presence, a key theme that popped up in almost every talk.

Throughout the conference several presenters referenced Sylvia Ann Hewlett’s work Executive Presence, which analyzes what it means to have “executive presence”, aka to be seen as a leader. According to Hewlett, having leadership skills alone is not enough. You need to be able to project executive presence because how others perceive you is as important as your actual performance.

But what is executive presence? Hewlett breaks it down into three basic, but not entirely equal, categories: gravitas, communication, and appearance. Gravitas is the most important of the three pillars, but as Hewlett explains, also the most elusive.  It is often described as a “know it when you see it” kind of character. However, through her national study of over 4,000 professionals, Hewlett tried to learn what exactly that means. According to the senior leaders who responded to her study, the most important aspects of gravitas include confidence, decisiveness, integrity, emotional intelligence, reputation, and vision. The book is filled with examples and anecdotes of Fortune 500 leaders both displaying gravitas and the repercussions of failing to do so in times of crisis. It goes on to provide practical advice on how to exude gravitas, such as surrounding yourself with people who are better than you, being generous with credit, and learning that empowering others’ executive presence will build your own.

Having read Hewlett’s Executive Presence upon returning from the conference, I discovered that it reinforced the main themes from the Women’s Leadership Institute, and in turn, I highly recommend it to everyone. I’d also like to recommend some of the other readings from the conference:

The Women’s Leadership Institute was a rewarding experience, and once again, I am grateful to CALL for providing the opportunity to attend the conference.

TechBuzz: Report on #CALIcon16 in Atlanta

What’s the buzz?  After a hiatus, Heidi Kuehl, Lyonette Louis-Jacques, and Therese Clarke Arado are excited to be returning to the regular column scene with the re-emergence of the CALL Bulletin TechBuzz column.  The return of the column brings you a wonderful re-cap of the CALI Conference for Law School Computing by guest columnist Margaret Schilt, Associate Law Librarian for User Services, D’Angelo Law Library, University of Chicago Law School. 

Future columns will cover numerous topics of interest to law librarians, including artificial intelligence, Westlaw answers, CARA, a look at past TechBuzz topics to see if the technology or service has stood the test of time, and much more. The responses to the CALL membership survey indicated an interest in more technology related topics.  Please feel free to contact one of us with ideas you would like to see covered in the column:  Heidi Kuehl, Lyonette Louis-Jacques, and Therese Clarke Arado. Continue reading TechBuzz: Report on #CALIcon16 in Atlanta

Clouds, Collaboration and Casetext: A Virtual Review of the 2016 ABA TECHSHOW

The ABA TECHSHOW began 30 years ago. As the then Editor/Publisher of Legal Information Alert, I frequently covered this event for the Alert and other sources.

After a hiatus, I was pleased that I was able to secure a press pass for this year’s event which was held here in Chicago, March 16­-19 at the Hilton Chicago.

You’ve heard and read this a thousand times: the only thing that is constant in legal technology is change. And how the legal technology landscape has changed in just a few years! Instead of fax machines and databases, the buzz is all about cloud computing, security and collaboration to name just a few key topics. The schedule is still online. Go see the vast array of programs and click on the titles for more information. Continue reading Clouds, Collaboration and Casetext: A Virtual Review of the 2016 ABA TECHSHOW

Meeting the Global Library Community at IFLA

Cape Town, South Africa, was the destination for over 3200 delegates who converged there in August 2015 to take part in the annual World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA). An IFLA conference presents attendees with a unique opportunity to meet face-to-face with colleagues from over 100 other countries, to network and collaborate, and to consider issues and trends affecting library and information services around the world.

Photo of Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa
Table Mountain (Cape Town, South Africa)

This year, South Africa’s “Mother City” provided a memorable setting, with its striking scenery (such as Table Mountain pictured above), its vibrant mix of cultures, and its complex political history. Attendees from the United States numbered around 230. While Sally Holterhoff was the only member of CALL who participated this year, the 2015 roster of delegates included eleven Chicago-area librarians (from all types of libraries) and library association personnel, as well as another eight from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

As you might expect, a major component of an IFLA conference is educational programs, and this year’s schedule included a total of 87 of them in four days. Many IFLA programs are based on the “call for papers” model, with potential speakers submitting written papers ahead of time, a selection process, and then those whose papers are chosen appearing at the conference to present a condensed version of their papers, as part of a program (which may be two or three hours long overall). Described below (with links to more detailed information) are the two programs sponsored this year by the Law Libraries Section (one of 43 sections within IFLA). Continue reading Meeting the Global Library Community at IFLA

CALL Grantee Report from Carolyn Hersch

As a recipient of CALL’s grant to the annual conference, I attended the 2015 AALL Annual Meeting & Conference in Philadelphia. Although I am not a complete conference novice, having previously attended Special Libraries Association (SLA) conferences in 2012 and 2013, this was my first time at AALL.

Continue reading CALL Grantee Report from Carolyn Hersch

Next Year’s AALL Conference – in Chicago!

Chicago 2016 LogoIt’s never too early to start planning for the next AALL conference.  In case you haven’t heard (but of course you have), it’s in Chicago in 2016. We’re very excited to host the meeting in our home town!   “Make it New, Create the Future” is the title: a rallying cry of  Chicago leaders following the great fire of 1871 and early modernist artists (represented by the Chicago Picasso sculpture logo).

Got ideas for programs you’d like to see?  A call for proposals will go out in September, which will be due sometime in October.  You’ll see more information on the CALL listserv and blog.

Is there something in Chicago that visiting law librarians shouldn’t miss?  Our Local Arrangements Committee, chaired by Maribel Nash and Megan Butman, are busy planning great activities for the conference and you can contact them with ideas.

 

International Law Researchers Gather in Chicago

World Globe (with flags)The American Society of International Law (ASIL) held its 2014 Midyear Meeting and Research Forum in Chicago on November 6-8 at three venues: John Marshall Law School, Baker & McKenzie LLP, and Northwestern University School of Law. ASIL has “nearly 4,000 members from more than 100 nations include attorneys, academics, corporate counsel, judges, representatives of governments and nongovernmental organizations, international civil servants, students, and others interested in international law”. The Midyear Meeting was very representative, involving participants from the U.S., Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, and the UK.

Continue reading International Law Researchers Gather in Chicago

What’s Rotten About Legal Scholarship, and How to Cure It: A Georgetown Symposium

When Supreme Court justices cite Internet sources in their opinions, how do they ensure the integrity of those sources for future legal scholars? The answer, unfortunately, is not very well, as illustrated by this dose of digital schadenfreude visited upon Justice Alito.

404This was the central problem explored by a one-day conference at Georgetown University on October 24, “404/File Not Found: Link Rot, Legal Citation and Projects to Preserve Precedent.”

Over six sessions, the program identified and addressed the risks of citing to ephemeral online sources in court opinions and legal scholarship, frequently highlighting a key distinction between “link rot,” or the disappearance of a cited link, and “reference rot,” which occurs when the cited reference is no longer the same as it was when the author cited it. Archived recordings of each of the day’s sessions are available at the conference website. Continue reading What’s Rotten About Legal Scholarship, and How to Cure It: A Georgetown Symposium