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What's Your Story? Knowing Yourself Is Key to Surviving Change
by Shelley Hourston
Lynn Baird recently wrote that: "Librarians are change agents, working in an environment that requires us to be both leading and chasing change." I've been researching change and resilience among librarians, and, while few would argue that change is a central theme across our profession, many librarians I talked to admit to feeling ambivalent about "leading" or "chasing" change.
Undoubtedly, some of us feel more comfortable with change than others. Julie Renee Moore, a catalogue librarian at California State University in Fresno, is a librarian who both leads and chases change. She says: "Change happens in our profession, and it happens in ways that you often cannot predict. It is important to take the attitude that change is good. Embrace change. Change can make your job exciting and fun, and take you places you'd never imagined possible!"
For others, though, change is less welcome. Events such as job loss, personal crises such as illness or loss of a partner or child, or even the stress associated with day-to-day activities in our personal or professional lives can demand extraordinary energy and resilience. The American Psychological Association defines resilience as "the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or even significant sources of stress - such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stressors. It means 'bouncing back' from difficult experiences." But what makes some of us better at "bouncing back" than others? How can we develop the resilience that enables us to feel comfortable as the change agents described by Baird?
Perspective: The Glass Half Empty Is Also Half Full
My research and conversations with librarians from around the world reveal that perspective is key to resilience and navigating change. Sometimes, maintaining a positive perspective simply means hanging on - believing that you will get through the challenge you're facing. Resilience, however, seems to result from specific characteristics and traits that can be learned and developed.
Knowing Your Story
Recognizing that we are the authors of our own stories can help us build resilience and a degree of comfort with change. By the time we embark on our careers as librarians, most of us have experienced some negative effects of change: loss; fear and anxiety; anger; loneliness and isolation; loss of confidence; and, sometimes, resentment. It is true that many of the events that precipitate change are beyond our control, but we can control how we respond. In fact, often, this is the only thing we can control.
Framing change as a new chapter in our "life story" is powerful. Our lives are our stories. We share stories about our experiences every day, and we seek the stories of others' lives through biography and autobiography, movies, and the media. The increasingly popular use of narrative or storytelling as a communication tool in organizations attests to the power of story.
I propose that, by adopting story as a tool to explore our own strengths, experiences, and resources, we can recognize and appreciate our resilience. Psychiatrist Frederic Flach, author of Resilience: Discovering a New Strength at Times of Stress, has developed a profile of interpersonal and inner strengths which contribute to resilience. Interpersonal strengths include independent thought and action combined with a willingness to work with others; an ability to give and take in relationships; a strong support network of family, friends and colleagues; a forgiving attitude toward yourself and others; an ability to set limits; generosity; and an ability to give and receive love. Inner strengths include strong self-esteem; a sense of discipline and responsibility; recognition and development of special talents; a broad range of interests; high tolerance for distress; focus and commitment; a spiritual or philosophical framework to provide meaning for experiences; a sense of humor; and creativity.
Flach acknowledges that there is no single recipe for resilience, and that resilient people possess many (not all) of these strengths in varying degrees. At first glance, identifying evidence of these strengths in our lives can seem challenging. Using story to review times in your life when you were resilient will help to map your strengths and resources. In discussing the power of story, Stephen Denning notes that "some scientists believe that storytelling is hard-wired into our brains." He also cites psychologist Jerome Bruner’s work with young children, who at an early age "start to tell stories to themselves as part of their first efforts to make sense of their lives (Seely Brown et al p126)."
Capturing Your Story
Record your stories in a journal, either by writing directly or recording your spoken stories and transcribing them. It may be easier to tell your stories to a family member or trusted colleague. Use the opportunity to share memories and stories of adversity and resilience. If you need prompts, think about major changes in your life - adolescence, university, your first position as a librarian, or places you've lived and people you knew. Then, review your stories, reading between the lines and noting the strengths reflected in your actions, responses and decisions. What did you learn from these experiences?
Don't expect your strengths to always be clearly labeled. For example, creativity is a critical trait among resilient people, but you may not consider yourself creative. In a recent article exploring creativity and resilience among health librarians, I discovered that librarians are extremely creative, by virtue of their professional training. Often though, people don't recognize their own creativity.
Be aware that using story to uncover resilience can't be done in an afternoon. It takes a lifetime to create your story - give yourself some time to appreciate the character development. Like all good stories, your story includes drama and humor, high points and low points. Remember that you are the storyteller and ultimately, the meaning of your story is up to you. Change is inevitable, but you can decide whether you are leading change - embracing it - or following in its wake. Remember, you are the author of your story, and change is the energy that drives the plot.
References
American Psychological Association. "The Road to Resilience." (Washington, DC: APA, 2004).
http://www.apahelpcenter.org/featuredtopics/feature.php?id=6 (accessed May 21, 2006).
Baird, Lynn. "Change and Connections: Passion and Organizational
Change." Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship 6, no.1-2
(Summer 2005).
http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org/content/v06n01/baird_l01.htm
(accessed May 20, 2006).
Denning, Steve. The Leader's Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass, 2005.
Flach, Frederic. Resilience: Discovering a New Strength at Times of Stress. New York: Hatherleigh Press, 2004.
Hourston, Shelley. "Creativity and the Resilient Health Librarian." Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association Vol 27 (2005): 35-37. (In press)
Seely Brown, John and others. Storytelling in Organizations: Why Storytelling is Transforming 21st Century Organizations and Management. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2005.
Shelley Hourston is a community development librarian who also offers coaching and workshops to help information professionals recognize and maximize their skills, creativity and resilience. Contact her at http://www.shourstonandassociates.com.