5 things I learned as a first-time manager in a predominantly-white academic library
By Anonymous
As a first-time manager in a predominantly-white large academic library, I have learned a few things on what to do, how to be, and what is required to succeed as a woman of color library manager. There are many lessons learned, but I am focusing on five lessons that I keep coming back to repeatedly. This is my experience as a first-time manager in a middle management position in an organizational structure that is all-white. The lessons learned will stay with me for a long time, but this is an attempt to remind myself (and possibly warn others) of what it takes to succeed if you're BIPOC and you find yourself as a first-time manager in an academic library setting. (Side note: My experience may not translate to every BIPOC experience in academic libraries.)
The purpose of this post is not to scare BIPOC away from management, but an attempt to make them aware that it takes a lot more than skills and experience to survive and thrive as a manager when you are racially minoritized in a predominantly-white profession.
1) Be present during the interview
Technically this is advice related to before you get the job, but it will give you critical information necessary to make the best decision for yourself. I accepted my current position out of need and desperation, and failed to ask direct and critical questions that may have pointed to red flags on organizational culture. I was excited and thrilled to get the interview opportunity that I failed to stay present during the two-day interview. (Granted, I didn't sleep well and was on the first floor of a downtown hotel with a lot of foot traffic, which exacerbated my insomnia due to excitement.)
All in all, I reflect on that interview experience and recognize that had I been present enough to ask essential questions I would have had a more realistic picture of the work environment I was about to walk into and what kind of support would be necessary to succeed in my first management position. Knowing what I now know about my current institution, the fault is not entirely mine, but I am accepting my decision. I failed to observe obvious red flags and concerns pointing to lack of support for BIPOC from white leadership.
A lot of what I have experienced all these years traces back to my hiring experience. If you're seeking a position with supervisory responsibilities, ask questions, stay present, observe managers and how they respond to your questions about conflict resolution and personnel management. Be observant of body language and nonverbal cues as they can tell you a lot about the organization’s culture and whether the environment will support you - a person of color in a predominantly-white institution - to succeed as a formal leader.
2) Believe people for their actions
One of my employees started showing signs of unreliability during their first 90 days. I made the mistake of relying on my supervisor's advice for handling the situation, and allowed them to dictate my response to employee behavior. In hindsight, I wish I had leaned into my inner wisdom and taken those warning signs seriously by taking action to address performance issues as the supervisor. Years later, it's taken me a lot of time and unseen labor (documentation!) to address behavioral issues that surfaced in those first 90 days and haven't resolved in years. (The added complication: HR works to protect whiteness in the workplace and organizational image. We'll leave it at that.) While my former supervisor is out of the picture, I'm still dealing with the challenging employee in a work environment with systemic racism due to decisions influenced by my previous supervisor.
If you find yourself in a similar situation: Trust your instinct. Rely on advice from your mentors, and don't feel afraid or ashamed to disclose challenging employee situations. The profession is quick to place blame on supervisors as "bad managers" without acknowledging that there are library workers who make the job unnecessarily difficult. Your supervisor may not have your best interest at all times (especially if they have a track record of being neutral) so best to go with your instinct in these instances. Knowing what I now know about my former supervisor, I should've never given them that level of power over my decisions as a supervisor. No matter how challenging their situation was under a micromanaging administrator, I shouldn't have allowed a white woman, who prioritized being nice over being an effective manager, to take away my positional power or influence decision-making that would directly impact my workload and mental health significantly. I didn't learn of my former supervisor's favoritism, their selective "support", and defense of their supervisor's unprofessional behavior until those things happened in real time. Had I approached our work relationship more objectively and with some boundaries, I would've known to trust my instincts and believe everyone for their first impressions. It's unfortunate that I gained that clarity only after they were no longer my direct supervisor.
3) Question good intentions in a toxic work environment
A library administrator invokes grace and good intentions during every possible contentious discussion in the toxic work environment. Their reluctance to acknowledge positional power and privilege as a white leader with power to address workplace toxicity is part of the problem. I have never had the privilege of assuming that others mean well when I have experienced different treatment from those above and below me in the organization structure simply on the basis of my physical appearance and their perception of my level of intelligence. The most amount of disrespect and condescending attitudes I have experienced and continue to experience are from my white direct reports. White feminism and white male privilege in a predominantly-white library allow them to be assertive, confident, and advocates for themselves, but rarely do I experience any respect for doing the job I was hired to do (and for holding them accountable to do the jobs they were hired to do)!
I learned early on that filing grievances would create more work for me and less time to do the job I was hired to do. With zero support from white leadership in an organization that is constantly obsessed with its image, I learned to pick my battles while being racially minoritized in a predominantly-white institution. I learned not to blindly trust people for their intentions when those invoking good intentions in a toxic work environment show lack of self-awareness of their positional power. These experiences taught me to be skeptical of intentions and focus on actions and impact in a toxic workplace, first and foremost. As for advice on navigating toxic work environments, see: Navigating Toxic Work Environments (anonymous feature article published on WOC+Lib in February 2020).
4) Do not participate in performative DEI initiatives if your presence in the organization is not valued
I have several experiences to share, but I'll keep it short by saying that if people in your predominantly-white organization don't value hiring for diversity, then the DEI initiatives being proposed are performative. I regularly observe people in management positions being reluctant to acknowledge that the institution has a BIPOC recruitment problem because of its culture, and witness excuses and blame placed on BIPOC for "not applying for our positions." I have noticed various library leaders tout the accomplishments of the handful of BIPOC librarians in the organization in newsletters and social media posts for optics and not necessarily out of genuine care for their progress or that they feel valued and welcomed.
On paper, the library's DEI initiatives look good, but in practice how people with power make structural and operational decisions reflect an absolute disregard for the humanity of people in the organization. These DEI initiatives and decisions have had very little positive impact on BIPOC in the organization. The organization continues to emphasize the importance of unconscious bias training for professional and administrative searches but the majority of the organization consists of people who have little to no knowledge of unconscious or conscious biases, or what DEI even stands for. They stay ignorant when the onus for encouraging training falls on their supervisors who also represent organizational dominant culture. The organization operates as if its employees have a shared vision and understanding of DEI, when in actuality most people seek employment at my institution out of loyalty to the organization's brand and its infamously good benefits.
I have learned to accept that as a person of color, it is not my responsibility to make my predominantly-white organization look good by offering my talents and labor towards DEI initiatives for no additional pay. If you're struggling to get off the DEI committee bus, here's your official permission to say NO to spaces that are oppressive, do not allow you to thrive, or prevent you from bringing your authentic self to do work that is meaningful to you.
5) Your success will depend on your assimilation and embracing of white culture, so be willing to leave if you need to be YOU
There is a lot to unpack here, but repeatedly I have realized that in order to succeed and have support from those with positional power in an organization with white leadership, I have to "use my white voice." (For context: read "Use your white voice : Why the ‘Sorry to Bother You’ trailer speaks to me". While I acknowledge that the contents of this article do not directly apply to me, a non-Black woman of color, much of the reflections around assimilating to white culture resonates with me). Over the years I have learned that the more I align myself with how white leaders think and act, the more likely the organization is going to reward my initiative and like-minded thinking.
I learned early on that my commitment to justice is not welcomed here (and yet the revised library diversity statement now includes "social justice"). I learned that I had to tone down my passion for equity when addressing how workplace standards differ for cis white men vs everyone else. I learned the hard way that speaking my truth is only going to frame me as the problem person in the organization, and that institutionalized racism will not make it easy for me to get the support I need to thrive as a supervisor. I have to remind myself to "leave Race out" as implicit or explicit biases cannot be brought into conversations around a white employee's disrespect towards a woman of color supervisor. I know I can leave this position in search of a better work environment, but do they really exist for BIPOC seeking management opportunities in a predominantly-white profession?
The problematic work culture, red flags, and disrespect I have experienced are not unique to my institution. If anything, I expect them to be prevalent in any large academic library setting. Perhaps it may be different if there are more BIPOC in positions of authority and speaking up without assimilating and blending in with white culture. For my own retention in the profession, I hope I will end up in a work environment that supports me being me without expectations of assimilation and adoption of predominant culture.
To Black, Indigenous, or other people of color in LIS reading this post: my wish for you is that you find your own space to shine and thrive. We are worthy of opportunities recognizing our leadership skills and potential to succeed in formal leadership roles. We deserve to come into spaces that value everything we have to offer, including our whole selves and values.
Epilogue:
The post's intended audience is BIPOC LIS workers seeking management. If you're a white LIS worker, keep reading. This next bit is for you. I hope you take the time to reflect and understand your privilege in a predominantly-white profession. I hope you take those privileges seriously to remind yourself and your white colleagues to treat people with respect for their humanity, and not reduce people to a role, especially if a person of color is in a management role.
If you're a hiring manager or supervisor of a BIPOC in a supervisory role, I hope you realize that it takes a lot more than skills and character to be successful as a BIPOC supervisor, so ask yourself: are you supporting this person to thrive in your organizational culture, or is your expectation that they will assimilate to white culture? What would success look like for this person if the groundwater is not poisoned?
If you're a white library leader, take this opportunity to move from statement-writing to action. There's been a lot of those in the past couple of years showing verbal support for BIPOC after every hate crime and racist incident in greater society, but rarely has any library, archive, or museum - or professional organization, for that matter - taken action to improve work conditions or organizational culture for BIPOC in LIS. Focus on improving your organizational culture before bringing in BIPOC, and enough with the empty statements with no action! Definitely don't ask BIPOC to write these statements or help improve organizational culture when they lack power, agency, or pay to do that level of work! White librarianship, it's past time for you to pay attention, listen to BIPOC concerns, and take our retention seriously!
Recommended reading: Statement Against White Appropriation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color’s Labor (feature article published on WOC+Lib in September 2021)