Successful leaders will help to foster diversity skills among fellow leaders, library faculty and staff. Diversity skills are defined as sensitivity to diversity, multiethnic/multicultural leadership, acceptance and valuation, cultural competence, and ability to deal with ambiguity. Cross cultural leadership helps to fulfill the organizational mission (Northouse 2006, 3; Rank and Hutchison 2000).
Culturally competent leaders shall:
- Foster sensitivity, openness, and a spirit of inquiry to other world views and cultural orientations.
- Model culturally competent attitudes and behavior.
- Support diversity skills training and diversity education—including the exploration of social justice, privilege and oppression, and fear and anger around cultural diversity issues—in a safe environment that allows for discussion and reflection (Van Soest and Garcia 2008).
- Encourage and seek out leadership qualities within library faculty and staff from a variety of cultural backgrounds and support their development and retention in the profession.
- Develop and support a multiethnic/multicultural workforce to meet the needs of the constituency.
- Create opportunities for cross-cultural communities and skill development of staff.
- Support continuing education of staff to be culturally competent.
Culturally competent organizations shall:
- Provide leadership opportunities to library faculty and staff from a variety of cultural backgrounds and support them in developing leadership skills.
- Foster a workplace climate and organizational culture that is open to a variety of leadership styles.
