About the Leadership Institute
The Leadership Institute is a program designed for health science librarians who want to develop strategic approaches
to mobilize knowledge and enable informed decision-making at senior levels within their organizations.
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One of the biggest challenges facing healthcare practitioners and senior managers is how to ensure that data is curated,and that decisions are based on evidence and explicit knowledge.
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In this environment, health librarians are uniquely poised for leadership roles.
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The Steering Committee of the Leadership Institute is working in collaboration with Rebecca Jones of Dysart & Jones Associates to deliver a multi-faceted curriculum to address these issues and support participants to develop their
leader skills.
Structure
The program is structured in 3 parts, with 4 components:
1. The initial intensive
This 1.5 day retreat, June 2-4,
2019, introduces the
core curriculum, builds solid
group dynamics with other
participants, instructors and
mentors, and begins to explore current and
emerging challenges facing
information leaders in the
Canadian health sector.
2 . Ongoing throughout the year
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Virtual Learning & Discussion Sessions
8 online meetings (60- 90 minutes) scheduled through the remainder of 2019 and January - June 2020.
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These online meetings include presentations by leading practitioners
in health or information services to assist participants to apply the
leadership skills they have learned to specific workplace scenarios, and
will be followed by group discussions and exercises.
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3. Capstone event
This full day retreat, held the day before the 2020 CHLA-ABSC Conference in Niagara Falls, ON to focus on participants'
presentations of their projects
and receive structured,
constructive feedback. Plus - this is the graduation event!
Mentoring
Each participant is matched with a mentor. Mentors meet either online or
in person with their mentee 6- 8 times over the course of the year.
Participants may choose to discuss the topics covered in the sessions or any or all of the following with their mentors:
• Current career challenges
• Their projects​
• Any other professional questions or concerns
Curriculum
The Leadership Institute will draw on a variety of well-established frameworks for leadership, including:
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The LEADS framework promoted by the Canadian College of Health Leaders
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The Five Mind Sets for Management developed by Henry Mintzberg, renowned management researcher and professor at McGill and Harvard Universities
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The Institute’s curriculum and instructors will support participants to develop their capacity to understand themselves, the
organizations in which they work, and the broader context in which health care policy is developed and delivered.
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Specifically, the Leadership Institute will build the capacity of participants to develop an approach to leadership that
integrates the following five components:
1. Understanding of self
How perceptions, beliefs and tendencies affect behaviour and workplace performance, and effective strategies for
leveraging strengths in light of these factors.
2. Context
How to think strategically about the current and
emerging environments in which organizations operate
(both parent organization and departments); how to
develop action plans to continuously monitor and
respond to external changes that have impact on the
internal operations of organizations.
3. Organization
Analysis of functions required for information services in organizations in the health sector, with particular
attention to the critical success factors of the workplace
and how to align library services to these success
factors.
Participants will become equipped to articulate and use
their organization’s values to enhance engagement with
the library.
4. Relationships
How to develop and implement strategies to enable
multi-directional influence in organizations; this will be
enhanced by experiential learning through virtual and
face-to-face collaboration over the course of the
Institute.
5. Change
Participants will be guided to embrace change as constant and also appreciate that change and
continuity go hand-in-hand. Participants will be encouraged to regularly monitor their
environment, shape strategies responsive to evolving trends, and develop action plans to facilitate the active contribution of others in envisioning and implementing organizational and systematic strategic changes. They will understand how to better position themselves to help lead change in their organizations.