Following the exceptional 50th reunion at Harlaxton, I spent two lovely weeks touring England to visit friends, sightsee, and explore places in Cornwall where the Kitto branch of my family originated.

After a brief visit to Burghley House where I met Paul Wilde and his family for a tour and lunch, I drove to Girton, near Cambridge. Paul had contacted me about my Bowen theory research and we discovered in our correspondence he had grown up in Lincolnshire and lived in Stamford, not far at all from Harlaxton.

For a person from drought-plagued California, the drive from Stamford to Cambridge in a torrential downpour was almost a treat. Ken and Janet Sheard were my gracious Cambridge hosts. Ken had been our Harlaxton Sociology tutor. In addition to our walking tour of Cambridge, we visited their “local” The George in Girton and enjoyed a pub lunch in Grantchester at The Red Lion.

From Cambridge I made a quick trip to Stonehenge before stopping for a visit with my friend and former co-worker Tony Saffer in Castle Cary. Tony is an amazing tour guide. He took me to Glastonbury and to the canal where he volunteers to assist boaters to operate the locks.

Next, it was on to Cornwall where I visited sites associated with the Kitto family. My paternal great, great grandfather, James John Kitto immigrated to New Orleans from Cornwall in the late 19th century. His birth was registered in Launceston in 1848 and he showed up in the census in as a farm servant in Penbro in Breage according to the research Ken Stewart has done on the Kitto family in Louisiana. I visited St. Thomas Church in Launceston where his birth was registered and St. Breaca Church in Breage. While there are many Kittos in the graveyard there, it is unclear whether any of them are our ancestors. The graveyard map shows the location of the graves but there are no markers. These were not people of means. However, perhaps some members of the family did hold land that eventually became a car park!

This map of Cornwall shows Launceston at the eastern edge of the peninsula about halfway between the northern and southern edges. Because there continues to be controversy about what Cornwall is–a county, a country, a duchy, let’s just describe the area I visited geographically. Breage is much farther south and west, near Helston at the top of the Lizard peninsula with gorgeous coastal hiking including Loe Bar, a shingle bank that separates a fresh water lake from the sea.

Although I planned to spend time in Launceston on my way south, I was there on the day of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, so many things were closed. Instead of lingering there, I headed south (in another rainstorm) and adjusted my travel plans to spend more time in Launceston on the return trip. The photos of Launceston include both the stop on the way down to see the parish church where James John Kitto’s birth was registered and the other primary sight of interest on the return trip, Launceston Castle.

On the way back to London, Tony hosted me once again. This time, he took me to Wells, known for its cathedral and Bishop’s Palace and as the site where Hot Fuzz was filmed!

Last but not least, I stopped in London. Although I enjoyed seeing some of the sights, it was hot and crowded with families on summer holiday so I appreciated a Sunday outing to visit the Kott family in Sutton. They treated me to a lavender cream tea at a spectacular lavender farm near their home. A lovely day with a lovely family!

What does it mean to hold people accountable in the workplace? Must a person be in a position of authority–a manager or a supervisor to hold another person accountable for his or her actions? It is certainly important for people in leadership roles to hold employees accountable for fulfilling their job duties. However, holding people accountable goes far beyond a manager’s responsibility to set expectations with employees about job performance.

Holding people accountable involves a willingness to confront unproductive behavior directly rather than complaining to others about what someone else has done. While it may seem that the culture of an organization is what prevents people from holding each other accountable, culture is formed from the collective action of individuals. If the leader holds individuals responsible for their actions, not by holding them up as examples in meetings, but by talking with them one-on-one about expectations, the culture is likely to shift rapidly. But any member of the organization can contribute to a change in the culture by being direct with colleagues in a firm but respectful way.

Suppose you belong to a work group that has decided to use consensus for decision making. A member of the group who is your peer “checks out” during meetings and does not participate in discussions about important topics. Outside of the meetings, she makes it clear to other colleagues that she does not support the group’s position. How could you hold your colleague accountable for her actions?

What if you started by having a one-on-one conversation with your colleague about your observations? Something like, “I was surprised to learn, after the group meeting that you did not agree with the decision we reached. Is there a way we could adjust our process in the group to make it more clear when we have reached a consensus?” With this approach, you address the individual’s counter-productive behavior and invite her to participate in a solution.

This is Performance Assessment season in libraries. I see colleagues posting anguished messages on Facebook about this fraught annual ritual. There is really no need for the process to be so stressful! Earlier this week, I introduced managers and supervisors in one library to two concepts that can reduce the anxiety spike of annual performance evaluation–SMART goals, and coaching for performance.

Regardless of what forms are required for institutional compliance, there are two relatively simple changes managers and supervisors can make to reduce annual performance evaluation stress. The first change is to focus on goals that contribute to organizational strategy when planning work for the year ahead. The second is to meet regularly to measure progress towards goals.

The SMART framework encourages creation of goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. This can be a shift from annual goals that look more like a lists of tasks from employees’ position descriptions. Although the performance cycle may be annual, goals can be set for shorter time periods that are nested within the year. Remember to put the focus on those goals that contribute to the organization’s strategic mission. People are motivated if they can see how what they do connects to overarching organizational goals.

By meeting regularly, employees and managers can check on progress towards goals. During the year, if resources or priorities shift, goals can be adjusted. Consistent communication about priorities and performance will insure there are no surprises when the time for documenting performance rolls around. And by documenting the performance related conversations at regular meetings, by reformatting the information when it is time to fill out the forms, what was once a tedious job will be far less daunting.

This time of year marks the beginning of a new performance cycle for many, so it’s a good time to institute a new way of thinking about performance management. A shift to SMART goals with a plan for ongoing coaching and regular performance related conversations creates a culture of performance leadership. Not only will this change make the annual performance cycle less stressful, it will also contribute to more effective performance on the part of individuals and the organization as a whole.

In collaboration with a colleague, I have created a training module that covers SMART goals and coaching for performance. The module is designed for use in academic libraries, but could be modified for use in other types of libraries, or other academic settings such as IT organizations. Let me know if you would like to learn more!

A leader I know posted a link to a video that explained the history of the Keep Calm and Carry On poster on her Facebook page last week. Watching the video made me think about how attractive the poster’s message is. Why has it become so popular? To think that we (humans) have the capacity to keep calm and carry on even under extreme circumstances is reassuring in these tumultuous times. But sometimes it doesn’t seem that easy to do. Does leadership make a difference? I think so.

Earlier that week, I had visited the organization the person who had posted the link leads. As I watched the video, I remembered how impressed I had been by the clarity of vision that came through in the meeting I attended. This is an organization that has undergone significant budget cuts over the past several years.

There may have been moments of absolute chaos during the transition period, but what I saw and heard was thoughtful articulation of a mandate and menu of services that had been adjusted so that the organization could meet its goals with current resources. The organization is developing creative new offerings for new markets, they had stopped offering some services, and had made scope adjustments to systems they were continuing to develop and support.

I suspect what enabled the organization to go through the ordeal of cutbacks and come out the other side looking like they are thriving is the quality of leadership. From what I know of this leader (who did not attend any of the meetings, by the way) I suspect she modeled calm behavior through the organizational change process. Just as people can get stressed out at work by a highly emotional leader (especially one who is unpredictable), a clear and calm leader can lower anxiety and stress throughout the organization.

When people are calmer–less anxious and stressed, they are able to think more broadly and creatively. The organization I visited was not simply carrying on in the sense of maintaining the status quo. They had adapted to their new circumstances through creative problem solving. An external threat may have been the catalyst for change, but a calm leader enabled adaptive transformation to occur. Keep Calm and Carry On!