10 leading information programs: 10 new insights for success: to be progressive and responsive, a RIM program needs more than a manager--it needs a leader. But what does it take to be an effective leader?

• Author: Dearstyne, Bruce W.

At the Core

This article

* describes 10 traits of an effective leader

* examines leadership challenges for RIM programs

Records and information management (RIM) programs need to be managed day-to-day to achieve results. But they also need to be led--transcending management techniques and providing implications of aspiration and achievement, growth and change, and transformation and progress. Some RIM programs are adequately managed--the work gets done satisfactorily every day--but are inadequately led and, therefore, are not really making progress and changing with the times.

Leaders set good personal examples, inspire shared vision, challenge processes, enable others to act, and encourage loyalty, initiative, and achievement through careful management of people, according to The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. Leaders are also change agents, moving programs ahead and pushing them to new heights of success. Leaders differ at least in degree from managers, whose primary responsibility is to get the work done through organizing and supervising people. Good leaders are known for their inclination toward transformation and progress, good managers for their ability to get things done. Of course, there is a compatibility between the two functions, and RIM program directors sometimes must play both roles. But understanding the role of leadership is helpful for the RIM field, which is surrounded by change and challenges, and for RIM programs, which often could benefit from expansion, change, and moving forward.

What does it take to successfully lead effective, responsive RIM programs? Actually, leadership in the field, with some exceptions, is not much different from leadership in other fields that are being buffeted by change, challenged to serve a diverse customer base with rising demands, and restricted by low or modest resources. The traits of leaders and leadership are continually analyzed, updated, interpreted, and presented in the literature as times and challenges change and the definition of success evolves. While not all experts, books, or conventional wisdom agree on the traits a leader must possess, several recently published books have identified and defined 10 key leadership traits, which are applicable to RIM.

INSIGHT 1

Optimal Personal Characteristics

Leaders are not necessarily flashy, charismatic, or egotistical. Recent studies confirm that the more down-to-earth traits of steadfastness, energy, honesty, and integrity are what really count. According to Jim Collins' book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap ... and Others Don't, leaders of companies with sustained success "embody a paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will." They are ambitious--but for their programs, not for themselves; they are often modest and self effacing; they are diligent ("more plow horse than show horse"); they credit others with success and blame themselves for failure; and they drive persistently for results.

People will respect and follow a leader only if they trust his or her integrity and ability and believe in him or her as a person. Leaders need well-developed, solid, steady personal characteristics.

In his book The Leadership Secrets of Collin Powell, Oren Harari notes that trust comes from looking attentively at a leader who

* is competent (has impressive skills and experience)

* has character (stands for something, has values)

* is courageous (takes principled stands, does not back down)

* is loyal to the program and its employees

* exudes confidence and optimism about the future

* displays selflessness and sacrifice for the good of the program

* is empathetic toward people

INSIGHT 2

Personal Perspective and Distance

In a time of challenge and change, it is essential to keep on top of things day-to-day, yet it is also important to step back, take a breath, and achieve some perspective. It is like going to a dance, hearing the band, dancing with a partner, getting caught up in the moment, and seeing the action from a narrow vantage point. The dancer is engaged but lacks perspective.

But if the dancer had gone up to the balcony and looked down on the dance floor, he might have seen a different picture. He would have seen all sorts of patterns. For example, he might have observed that when slow music played, only some people danced; when the tempo increased, others stepped onto the floor; and some people never seemed to dance at all. Returning home, he might have reported that participation was sporadic, the band played too loudly, and he only danced to fast music.

Achieving a balcony perspective means taking yourself out of the dance, in your mind, if only for a moment. The only way to gain both a clearer view of reality and some perspective on the bigger picture is by distancing ourself from the fray, contend Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky in their book Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading.

In RIM, this can be done by seeking information from many sources, attending professional conferences to hear flesh perspectives, looking at change over time, observing...