PLN and Me
Always Stay Networking
When it comes to working in libraries, one of the biggest things I always hear about is networking. Depending on what library you belong to, public, academic, specialty, and so on, there are always dedicated conferences that allow you to work on your networking skills. The connections you make at these conferences can greatly enhance your professional career and library growth.
A Professional Learning Network (PLN) goes a step above the networking you experience at conferences. It extends to conferences, online groups, social media, your coworkers, and any other places/people who can advance your professional learning. According to Let's Grown Learners, when it comes to seeking out this kind of networking there are four major traits to find in your peer relationships.
Encourager: This is someone you can rely on to give you words of encouragement and a pep talk when you need it. They help you to realize your value and importance.
Challenger: This is someone who asks you the hard questions, and pushes you to be the best you can be. They will not let you settle for kind of okay when you could be great.
Advocate: This is someone who brings your name up, in a positive light, when you are not in the room. They remind others that you can be valuable to whatever projects/areas they are working on.
Technical Advisor: This is someone you turn to when you want things to turn out the best they can be. They are someone who is on a higher level of technicality that you can utilize to turn in your best work.
Where Do I Fall Into This?
Who am I in this professional learning network? Where do my strengths and weaknesses lie? After taking three separate personality tests, the results are in.
Openness to Experience: At a score of 54 out of 100, I am about halfway between an artistic soul and a stick in the mud. I have a balance of creative imagination, which can be seen in my love of cosplays and crafting, and a balance of rigidity which can be seen in my unwillingness to change or newcomings, sticking to what I know and feel comfortable with.
Agreeableness: At a score of 58 out of 100, I am at a moderate agreeableness. I can be swayed, if I so choose, to a difference of opinion but I can also be stubborn in my unwillingness to concede.
Conscientiousness: At a score of 67 out of 100, I can be seen as an organized, responsible, and a bit boring person. With my attention to detail and sense of commitment to my work, I am someone the higher-ups do not have to worry about.
Negative Emotionality: With a score of 71 out of 100, whew, I can be seen as a person who is pretty anxious and becomes frustrated easily.
Extraversion: With a score of 0 out of 100, I can be seen as a very introverted person. I tend to thrive in jobs where I spend the majority of my time alone, and self-accountable.
My takeaway from this quiz? I can be interpreted as a responsible, anxious, and introverted person.
Extraversion: At a score of 32%, I can be seen as an introverted person. My energy tends to drain when I have to be in social situations for very long.
Openness to Experience: At a score of 86%, I can be seen as a creative person. I am interested in art in many different mediums and have a curious mind.
Conscientiousness: At a score of 72%, I can be seen as a fairly cautious person. I am a reliable and responsible person to a degree of boredom for some unconscientious people.
Agreeableness: At a score of 81%, I can be seen as a considerate person. I take other people's feelings into high consideration and can help maintain social harmony.
Neuroticism: At a score of 80%, I can be seen as an anxious and depressed person. My emotions take on more extremes, feeling very high highs and very low lows.
INTP (Mediator): The results of this test interpret me as someone who has a lot of imagination, empathy, and idealism. I am a creative person with my head in the clouds, which can be both a good and bad thing.
Energy: With a score of 96% introverted, I can be seen as someone who enjoys more one-on-one interactions and likes to be in calming environments.
Mind: With a score of 64% intuitive, I can be seen as someone who has an open mind and likes to find deeper and hidden meanings.
Nature: With a score of 88% feeling, I can be seen as someone who is very empathetic and sensitive. I try to keep social harmony with my emotional expression and cooperation.
Tactics: With a score of 68% prospecting, I can be seen as someone very easygoing and flexible.
Identity: With a score of 88% turbulent, I can be seen as someone self-conscious, stressed, and eager to improve.
Okay... So What Does That Mean?
After taking these three personality tests, I have concluded that I am an empathetic, responsible, anxious, and introverted person. I am someone that my superiors can rely on to get a task done, but the process of getting to done can be rocky due to my anxiety and frustrations with projects I am not completely confident in. I am someone a coworker can turn to when they need a listener and words of encouragement. My empathy and compassion in both my personal and professional life lead me to believe that when it comes to my role in the Professional Learning Network, I be relied on as an Encourager. I can be the person my professional peers turn to when they need verbalization of their importance and integral work to our working environment. As someone who has often taken on this role before, it is something that I find to be very rewarding.
One personality trait that has extended across all three of my tests is my introverted way. I could argue that the anxiety that has been brought up across all three tests too contributes to the more negative aspects of being an introvert. While I do not inherently see being an introvert as a bad thing, it is an area that I want to improve in my professional career.
Action Plan Time
If I do not want my anxiety-driven introverted tendencies to impede my professional learning network there are three things I must do to improve.
Extend Myself Socially in My Career:
As someone who tends to keep to themselves when it comes to professional development opportunities, it is time to step out of my comfort zone. This means not only signing up and attending as many conferences within my profession but also making a point to be remembered (in a positive way).
I have currently signed up for two separate work-related conferences, one virtual and one in person. For my virtual conference instead of keeping my microphone muted, I will make a point of introducing myself and participating in the breakout sessions. For my in-person conference, instead of staying next to the people I know I will make it a point to introduce myself to new people and exchange business cards with at least three people.
Extend the Compassion I Give to Others To Myself:
When it comes to being an introvert in my professional career, a lot of it stems from the anxiety I feel about not being good enough. I worry about my professional relationships with my coworkers, my service to our patrons, and the quality of my work. To put it in other words, I am my harshest critic. This constant criticism I give to myself of my professional work is a disservice to myself and my environment. I will remind myself to be kinder to myself and more forgiving of my mistakes. If I make an error, I need to take a moment to breathe and tell myself that it will be okay. I can correct this mistake and strive to be better.
Extend My Horizons:
When it comes to my professional career, I tend to stick to what I know. I go to conferences that fall within my subject areas and attend webinars that only have to do with what I need to know. I want to challenge myself to go for the subjects I am less knowledgeable about. The subjects that do not immediately have to do with my area of specialty, but look exciting and new. When I only stick to what I know, it puts limitations on my learning. Does a webinar about beekeeping have anything to do with my academic library? No. Should that stop me from attending that session? Also no. Maybe one day our library could keep bees and distribute honey to our local community. You never know where knowledge will take you.
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