Stephanie Chiang's account of attending the CILIP Skills for Leadership: Manage, Motivate and Influence event which took place on 28 and 29 October. Thanks to CB Resourcing for funding Stephanie's bursary.

I attended the recent CILIP Skills for Leadership: Manage, Motivate and Influence webinar, courtesy of CB Resourcing, and would wholly recommend it for anyone, including those like me, who would consider themselves as still starting out in their library and information careers. One of the important lessons I got from this webinar is that leadership means something different for everybody. It is important not to assume that you are not a leader or lack the ability to lead a team, although many do. Another message that made a strong impression on me is that there will be rough patches and failures on anyone’s leadership journey, and that good leadership skills are ultimately gained through those experiences. The bottom line is that we are all human, both ourselves and the team we lead. No one does a perfect job right at the beginning and no one should expect to remain the perfect manager or leader forever! It is a constant learning process.

As a legal information professional, I felt that the webinar had a good balance of speakers from a variety of sectors. They each looked at different strategic and service priorities under the umbrella topic of leadership. I am currently studying a module on management studies on a CILIP-accredited course provider, so this webinar was very well-timed for me. It has given me a lot of food for thought I can take a step back to consider my own employer’s leadership and workplace management style and how I respond to it. I would recommend the webinar to anyone at any stage of their career, whether they are interested in taking on leadership roles or not.