The benefits of earning a Master of Fine Arts to library leadership

Leo Lo

Abstract

This chapter will explore the benefits of artistic training to library leadership. As traditional corporations increasingly value creative "right-brain" thinkers, in today's new economy, I propose that training in an artistic field, for example, earning a Masters in Fine Arts in Screenwriting, is actually a good management, and leadership training course for librarians.

Keywords

Fine Arts

screenwriting

"right-brain" thinkers

creativity

librarianship

management

Introduction

There are countless articles and research on leadership qualities. Daniel Goleman, who first brought the term "emotional intelligence" into the discussion, observes, "Everyone 'knows a story about a highly intelligent, highly-skilled executive who was promoted into a leadership position only to fail at the job. And they also know a story about someone with solid-but not extraordinary-intellectual abilities and technical skills who was promoted into a similar position and then soared'" (2004). The same could be said of library leadership, which suggests that the attributes or qualities of a successful leader are different, than what we normally perceive to be the indicators of future success. We tend to associate qualities such as intelligence, toughness, determination, and vision: to be the prerequisites of a successful leader. However, after conducting research at over 200 large, global companies, Goleman discovered that, although those qualities are important, they are insufficient. "Truly effective leaders are also distinguished by a high degree of emotional intelligences, which includes self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills" (2004).

When we look at the graduate education in a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree that prepares future business leaders, or the Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS), that nurtures the next generation of library leaders; they tend to focus on the technical skills, but do not seem to offer nearly as much training in developing the so-called soft skills of a successful leader, such as those that comprise emotional intelligence.

As the economy and our library profession face unprecedented changes, Daniel Pink offers another view of the necessary qualities to solve our problems. He suggests in his book, A Whole New Mind the solutions to the complex problems in today's new economy demand a new way of thinking-a creative, "right-brain" way of thinking that more and more corporations increasingly value (2006). He proposes that in this "conceptual age", we need to complement our left-brain directed reasoning, by mastering some right-brain directed aptitudes. He lists storytelling as one of those aptitudes. "When our lives are brimming with information and data, it's not enough to marshal an effective argument [. .] The essence of persuasion, communication, and self-understanding has become the ability also to fashion a compelling narrative" (2006). He also suggests empathy as an important aptitude. "The capacity of logical thought is one of the things that makes us human. But in a world of ubiquitous information, and advanced analytic tools, logic alone won't do. What distinguish those who thrive will be their ability to understand what makes their fellow woman and man tick, to forge relationships, and to care for others" (2006).

However, since our primary education (MBA for businesses, and MLIS for libraries) do not emphasize developing those aptitudes, how do we nurture the next generation of leaders? Katherine Bell takes Pink's idea one step further, and suggests in her Harvard Business Review blog post that the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) is the new Master of Business Administration (MBA) because students hone a lot of the so-called "soft" leadership skills in the program naturally (Bell, 2008). She also suggests that creative writing can teach students persuasion and empathy, two of the aptitudes that Pink values so much:

If you can create a world, a completely imaginary world that a reader believes in, you can manage to do pretty much any persuasion that you have to do in the business world. A PowerPoint presentation is nothing after that. Also, the most important thing that a fiction writer does is put him or herself in the shoes of his characters. And that's really empathy, which is something that is absolutely crucial in business as well. You're constantly needing to think about things from the perspective of your direct reports, of your boss, of your colleagues, and, importantly, also of your customers (Bell, Ideacast, 2008).

(Bell, Ideacast, 2008)

In fact, Goleman's analysis revealed that such "soft-skills" played, "an increasingly important role at the highest levels of the company, where differences in technical skills are of negligible importance" (2004). In other words, the higher up the leadership ladder, the more important these soft skills become.

In this chapter, I will use my own personal experience in earning a MFA in Screenwriting to expand upon Bell's ideas on why a MFA program is a valuable management and leadership training course for librarian leaders, and how I apply those skills in my professional life.

My path to librarianship

When I enrolled in the graduate film program at Hollins University, I was planning to go on to earn a PhD in film studies and become a film scholar. Nothing was more appealing to me at the time than to just watch movies all day, think about them all day, and write about them. It seemed like a perfect lifestyle, especially for a shy and introverted person, which I certainly was. At that stage of my life, I seemed to have accepted that I would never enjoy dealing with "people". I lacked self-confidence, and the social skills to feel comfortable speaking my mind in front of people. Immersing myself in the movie world was actually my way of escaping the real world.

I was drawn to the Hollins MFA in Film and Screenwriting program: First, because it was a summer-only program that allowed me to do other things during the academic year. Second, because it was a summer-only program, it was able to attract very high caliber professors from top screenwriting, and films studies programs at universities such as the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), New York University (NYU) and the University of Southern California, to teach in Roanoke, Virginia for the summer. However, as it says in the name of the program, it is a film AND screenwriting program. The unique part of this degree is that students study both film studies, and screenwriting, which meant that I would have to take at least one screenwriting class. The thought of sharing my writing with everyone in class terrified me so much I actually considered not enrolling in the program!

I took that screenwriting class the first summer I enrolled. The idea was to get it out of the way as soon as possible. As in most things in life, the anxiety of something is usually worse than the actual event. It turns out I actually really enjoyed the class once I allowed myself to enjoy it. If you think about it, creative writing is a very fun thing to do. You get to day-dream and make-up stories. It is almost like you are a kid again. The anxiety inducing part, was the sharing of the story in public, and being critiqued in public. However, the interesting was, I discovered that every time I stepped outside of my comfort zone: the comfort zone got a little bit bigger. In other words, I grew as a person during that period of stress-meets-anxiety-meets-creativity. I gained confidence from that experience, and realized that I actually really loved writing. Later, I even switched my degree from the MA in Film Studies and Screenwriting to a MFA in Screenwriting: in which I concentrated on just screenwriting. In fact, my thesis screenplay got placed, and won awards in various screenplay competitions, which was something that I never thought could happen in my life before I took that first screenwriting workshop class. Even though I did not really have any desire to move to Hollywood, and become a professional screenwriter, I felt that this training in screenwriting introduced me to a whole new world of thinking, and behaving. It was transforming me into a different person, dare I say an improved version of me. However, it was much later, when I entered the librarianship profession, that I was able to realize what exactly, had I really learned, from the training.

The summer before I graduated, a visiting professor from UCLA's Film Archives and Preservation program taught at Hollins. I asked him about the program and expressed interest in it, which led to a discussion on other preservation programs, such as the highly regarded one at University of Texas at Austin's Library School. Before this discussion, I had absolutely no awareness of the existence of librarianship. When I began to do some research on it, I discovered a whole new, fascinating, and now rapidly changing profession. It has so many different facets that it almost seems like there is a library job for every personality type. As I was searching for a future career direction, it was the perfect...