Instilling Harmony, Building Trust: An Integrated Approach to Managing in Libraries as Women of Color

Abstract

This chapter aims to explore what person-centered management looks like for people of color, and in particular, for women of color. While they may strive to bring a person-centered approach in how they manage and support their direct reports, there is also the inverse consideration of how they can apply that person-centered approach inwardly towards themselves—especially as one of, if not the only person of color within their units or libraries. For example, while managers may aspire to create an environment that does not require, but rather invites authenticity from their direct reports, they are also navigating what that looks like more personally and how their own identities are shaping their experience as managers within predominantly white spaces. In other words, while they may hold a positional seat of power, they are still operating within libraries and organizations where their identities and perspectives are often divergent from the dominant culture in which they exist. From their direct reports, to other peers, to administrative leaders above them, their daily interactions will continue to be mediated through the lens and historically minoritized identities that they hold—identities of which those around them from the dominant culture may not always be cognizant or sensitive.

How, then, does a manager of color invite authenticity and transparency—both from others but also themselves—and how can they determine what aspects of their identities they are able to bring in any given space? This chapter, written by three women of color, will explore these ideas further, including finding strategies for navigating these conditions while remaining true and kind to oneself; in doing so, it will also encourage other managers of color to consider not simply how to find a balance between their work and personal identities, but rather, a harmony between them. By demonstrating person-centered, compassionate, and open-minded self-awareness within themselves, they can bring a more integrated version of themselves to their work, as well as serve as a model and hopefully transfer these values to those they are managing (whether up, down, or all around them).