Why Relationships Matter with Philip Shackelford

Join us for Episode #2 of IgniteCast featuring Philip Shackelford, Executive Director of the Lee County Library.

In this episode, Philip shares the importance of being actively involved in your community and how leadership at the local level can create lasting impact. A dynamic leader and strategist, Philip is passionate about building strong, supportive teams and driving positive change that helps communities thrive.

Outside of his leadership role, Philip is also a military historian and the author of Rise of the Mavericks, which explores the Cold War history of the U.S. Air Force Security Service. The book was nominated for both the William E. Colby Military Writer’s Award and the Captain Richard Lukaszewicz Memorial Book Award.

Big thanks to iHeartMedia—our Presenting Sponsor for the entire IgniteCast podcast and the powerhouse fueling this season’s episodes! 🔊🔥 

🎧 New episodes drop every other Thursday, packed with insight, inspiration, and actionable ideas to help you grow as a leader—right where you are.

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Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:45:24
Unknown
Welcome to IgniteCast. Yes. Where ideas spark action. Brought to you by the Community Development Foundation. Your chamber of Commerce and economic development engine for Tupelo and Lee County. Thank you to our presenting sponsor, IHeartMedia, for powering this season of IgniteCast. I'm Taylor. I'm Judd. And welcome to IgniteCast. 

We're here. Taylor. IgniteCast. It's finally here.

00:00:45:24 - 00:01:04:05
Unknown
I tell you, this is our second episode, but I'm excited, Taylor, because we actually have a live guest with us today. As you know, in our last episode, it was just me and you talking, which was fun, but not as fun as not as Philip Shackelford. Well, I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you very much for having me.

00:01:04:12 - 00:01:19:28
Unknown
Yeah. Before we get started asking a lot of questions, just give us a little brief. Who is Philip? Where are you from? All those. Good. Absolutely. Well, thank you so much, Philip Shackleford. I'm executive director of the Lee Itawamba library system. Grew up not far from here, up the road in Tipah County, and, till about 17.

00:01:19:28 - 00:01:39:03
Unknown
But in high school, my dad's a chemical engineer. And so we moved with his job to Northeast Ohio when I was in high school. And, so do it. I'm doing that. Yes. Yes, exactly. So that was a little bit of a culture shock. And, and weather shock, all those good things. But, did undergrad, grad school and all that up there and then was anxious to get out of the winter.

00:01:39:03 - 00:01:52:28
Unknown
So I moved back south. So. Yeah. Great. And so you're you're kind of back home. I am I am, yeah. I spent several years in Arkansas, a library director at a two year college over there. And, then I saw this of across the screen and I thought, you know what? Just come home and say it's an interesting job.

00:01:52:28 - 00:02:07:03
Unknown
Good. Good area. I'll throw my hat in the ring and see what happens. Look at that. And you're here, Phillip. I'm here. And now you're talking to us on IgniteCast. I'm glad to be here. Yeah, yeah. It's good to have you here. Good to have you here. Yeah. Phillip. So every episode we're asking all of our guests the same question.

00:02:07:03 - 00:02:23:21
Unknown
And that is, what is the best leadership tip you've ever been given? That is a good question. And I think, you know, there's always we're always on the lookout for that next, good thing that that'll help us as leaders kind of, develop an edge or help us with, with, you know, the different tasks that we have.

00:02:23:21 - 00:02:47:03
Unknown
One thing that was kind of an opening for me, several years ago, was the concept of strengths based leadership. I was part of a leadership institute in Arkansas that took a fairly deep dive on this. I mean, the basic idea being that, we're all, blessed with certain skills and talents and attributes that, can really be our very own superpowers if we're using the right way.

00:02:47:05 - 00:03:05:25
Unknown
And so leaning into those skills that, we have a natural talent for can really, I think, transform our effectiveness not only in terms of how we lead people, but how we lead organizations. And, so I think it was, Dolly Parton that said, discover who you are and then do it on purpose. And strengths based leadership gives us a way to do that.

00:03:06:02 - 00:03:24:07
Unknown
Hey, I'm going to listen to any quote that says, "I think Dolly Parton said", absolutely. That's right, that's right. That is awesome. It's always good to quote her. So, so, Philip, so you're a young leader. And so tell us some of the challenges as being a young leader in our area. And to be honest with you, you are a young leader that really hit the ground running.

00:03:24:08 - 00:03:42:04
Unknown
Well, thank you for that. You really have. But some somewhat tell us some of the challenges you've had to overcome as sure, hey, he's a young leader or tell us a little bit about that. Well, one thing I think that, is a challenge that all leaders have to deal with, right? When you come into a new organization is, learning the landscape.

00:03:42:06 - 00:03:55:13
Unknown
You know, the industry might not be new. The role that you have might not be new. But you're coming into a new organization, oftentimes in a new community. You know, you need to build new relationships, navigate new dynamics. And that was certainly the case for me. Again, like I said, I grew up not too far from here.

00:03:55:13 - 00:04:11:15
Unknown
So I had a a certain foundation of familiarity that was certainly helpful. But I was entering the professional community as a, as a new as a new member for the first time. And I think, I just have to say, you know, my strategy with that was, like you said, just to to jump in and get involved as quickly as I could.

00:04:11:15 - 00:04:32:11
Unknown
But Tupelo, Lee County, this community has just been so welcoming. There's a lot of energy here. This is a very friendly business environment, and there's a lot of folks that really are are eager to welcome you into that community. And, you know, Tupelo, this community, Lee County, that, that, that the, the environment that we have here is obviously a community that cares a lot about the future.

00:04:32:17 - 00:04:48:16
Unknown
And that's, that's exciting to see. And not only, you know, I say it again, from my personal experience, being very welcomed, and having that having that experience, but also just the how open and interested everybody is in the Lee County Library and the things that we're doing, the plans that we have for the future, it's exciting.

00:04:48:23 - 00:05:06:09
Unknown
It's exciting to see. Let me let me touch on that a little bit. I mean, I ask you the question, as a young leader, but really, any leader going into a new environment tell us how important relationships are and really building that. Relationships are that key. I think in a lot of ways and probably ways that we don't typically think about.

00:05:06:09 - 00:05:30:11
Unknown
Right? I mean, library, the, the, the library profession is a very community focused profession. And I think that we would agree that that applies to a lot of different professions, right? Not just, the service industry or the nonprofit industry or the, the sectors that a lot of us might come from. So being able to jump in and develop those relationships and make those connections is is crucial not only for for individual success.

00:05:30:11 - 00:05:45:14
Unknown
Right. And helping, folks to get a part of that community and develop support that they need, but also the long term success of their organizations, their businesses, and the ways that those things are going to play out in the future. So, invest in those relationships. Definitely. Yeah. Yeah, that's a great point.

00:05:45:15 - 00:05:46:22
Unknown
I can agree with that.

00:05:46:22 - 00:06:06:11
Unknown
I think relationships make a big difference. It's it's having those people in your corner when you need them and always, knowing who you can go to for help with things and actually having a mentor to someone that can encourage you along the way. But you talked about the library and some of the things that y'all are do and tell us, something that y'all are doing now that pertains to ignite.

00:06:06:12 - 00:06:26:16
Unknown
That's super excited about we are too. We are too. So the Ignite Leadership Collection is a new initiative that we've just launched at the Lee County Library, in collaboration, of course, with CDF and the Ignite Leadership Conference to develop a collection of books on leadership and management that serve as a resource for, the young professionals and the leaders, in our region.

00:06:26:19 - 00:06:44:21
Unknown
You know, I mentioned that we're blessed with a strong business community here. There's a lot of great companies. There's a lot of energy here in those companies, and organizations are attracting a talented workforce to come and work and live here in northeast Mississippi. And so this collection is going to be valuable for those folks as they begin to take on leadership roles within their organizations.

00:06:44:23 - 00:07:06:09
Unknown
And as our local community, business community looks to develop and invest in the people in their teams. So this collection is, you know, it's going to be free and open to the public. Anyone with a library card can take advantage of that. And, we're excited to get it started. There's going to be a lot of good things, not just from the collection standpoint, but we're hoping that it will, support some programing, initiatives as, as the future unfolds.

00:07:06:09 - 00:07:26:15
Unknown
So we're already talking about, you know, book club, maybe some panel discussions on leadership and, and ways to, you know, bring that collection to life and get the business community involved, I tell you. And, you think about leadership. There's so many leadership books out there. Yeah. Just this what's your favorite leadership thing that you think about right now?

00:07:26:15 - 00:07:29:00
Unknown
So. And you don't have to name one. No. That's I appreciate that. I

00:07:29:05 - 00:07:45:22
Unknown
appreciate the flexibility because I kind of been diving deep a little bit this year, kind of going through a lot of different, books and explorers and different things. A couple of the standouts for me this year that I've been reading. And one of them is a reread, but one that I read, for the first time this year was I Love It Here, by Clint Pulver.

00:07:45:22 - 00:08:04:07
Unknown
And it's all about creating a supportive culture that your employees will never want to leave. Right. And kind of investing and having that strong relationship building trust, and taking care of the folks that are part of your organization so that they can, have that long term success with you. And the Culture Code by Daniel Coyle is also kind of along those same lines, right?

00:08:04:07 - 00:08:27:15
Unknown
Dives deep into organizational culture. And his take was to study high performing groups. So everything from the Navy Seals to sports teams to other organizations that really you can point to and say they have a great culture, they have a great track record of success. What makes them that way, and to kind of step back and analyze those factors and, and how the rest of us can take some of those tips and tricks to invest in our own and our own teams.

00:08:27:17 - 00:08:51:01
Unknown
That's really good. Before Taylor, ask you kind of about your involvement in the community, I want to stick to books a little bit. Sure. You're an author. I tell us a little bit, I yeah, thank you for that. Yeah. So, military historian, rise of the Mavericks kind of follows the US Air Force Security Service from, a little bit of camp, the the lead up to its inception in 1948 and then its Cold War history thereafter.

00:08:51:04 - 00:09:07:21
Unknown
The Security Service was the Air Force's answer to, communications, intelligence and communications security in the Cold War and kind of how to develop that capability, on par with the sister services in the Army, the Navy, and that kind of thing. And so it's a it's a really unique history. It's a story that hadn't been told before.

00:09:07:24 - 00:09:24:14
Unknown
And the literature is surprising and, and I say surprising in some ways, maybe not so much. It was an intelligence agency, obviously very secretive, classified, all those good things. And so being able to bring that story out, talk to some surviving veterans and about their experience, and that was really a great thing to tell me a little bit about that.

00:09:24:22 - 00:09:25:23
Unknown
I mean,

00:09:25:24 - 00:09:44:17
Unknown
you did you study military history? Was it something. So you did study. Yeah. So that was one of the things I got into, at Kent State University, which is where I did my undergrad in grad school. Both. And it was one of those things that you understood, you know, from a fairly early point when you, some of these historical topics, there's been a lot written about.

00:09:44:17 - 00:10:01:22
Unknown
Right? Whether it's the Civil War, World War Two, some historical figures of various, various, from various backgrounds. There's been a lot of material put out there in the literature. The Air Force Security Service was one that had not been touched, and if it had been touch, it was like in a footnote or in a paragraph. Right. There's not a lot out there.

00:10:01:22 - 00:10:28:22
Unknown
So, it was really interesting to understand from a very early point that this needed to be a book. Right? It needed to be out there. And so it became a matter of trying to piece together a tapestry of not only some of the literature that was out there about intelligence history, national security history, those kinds of things, but then also weave that together with, stories and experience personal experiences from surviving veterans of the security Service, many of which, you know, to their credit, are very wary about talking about it.

00:10:28:22 - 00:10:44:12
Unknown
You know, it was drilled into them years over years, not to talk about this, not to, you know, get into that. And then to open up to a grad student that they don't know about, you know, some of their experience and, and go through that process and very grateful for those that chose to make that choice on my behalf and, and really talk about that experience.

00:10:44:12 - 00:10:53:25
Unknown
Because, again, like I said, it was a story that needed to be told that hadn't really been, put out there. And, it was really a privilege and an honor to be able to be a part of that process.

00:10:54:06 - 00:11:00:20
Unknown
That's neat. That's neat. Did you ever check out your book with the library card? Yeah, that would be kind of neat.

00:11:00:23 - 00:11:15:15
Unknown
I don't think I had, you know, to do that. I think we should do that. They don't throw them off when they do that. Yeah, well, Philip, you're an incredible leader in the community. And when I joined CDF, six months ago, you were one of the first people that I learned the names of. And that's because you were at everything.

00:11:15:15 - 00:11:35:05
Unknown
You were always around. So why? Why are you so involved in your community? Why is that important to. You? Know, it's it sounds funny to say, that I network like the future of the library. Depends on it. But it's true and it's true. You know, it's it's one of those things, like I mentioned, the library profession is a very community focused profession.

00:11:35:07 - 00:11:56:09
Unknown
And an important part of my responsibility is getting out there, making those connections, building those relationships that will not only promote the library. And the value that we bring to the community, but also opens the door for partnerships and collaboration with other individuals and organizations that really care so much about helping our community grow and thrive, and really move towards the future.

00:11:56:11 - 00:12:16:03
Unknown
We like to say we like to use the phrase at the library that we are your library, and that's a big part of what we're talking about there. We're invested in the success of this community. We need a community that's invested in us. And so, yeah, a big part of what I'm trying to do is to get out there, build those relationships that we need, build the relationships that our community needs, to move towards the future.

00:12:16:06 - 00:12:37:23
Unknown
I didn't prep you at this question, but, have you had to overcome people thinking that the library is old school and that it's for older people? And. Sure, sure. I mean, I think there's always something to the library as a profession and kind of as a as a word when you hear the word library. Right? This is something that everybody has a connection to, whatever that connection may have been in their past.

00:12:37:23 - 00:13:02:02
Unknown
Right. That's we all have a connotation with, with the word library and what that might mean. And I think what I've been trying to do is emphasize, you know, we're $1 million business. We are part of the business community. We have a tremendous positive economic impact in our region, the local economy here. And so being able to tell the business side of that story, being able to kind of change the narrative a little bit away from, you know, everybody thinks of books when you think of the library and for good reason.

00:13:02:02 - 00:13:32:18
Unknown
And books are not going to weigh that. The numbers, I think, would surprise a lot of people. Books are at $30 billion a year industry. 72% of Americans prefer print over ebooks. So there's all this data, right, that supports the reason why books are still relevant and still a good thing. But being able to tell the other part of that story, right from from a another perspective about what the library brings to the community beyond, what people might think about, I think helps us, demonstrate that relevance, make those connections and build partnerships that are going to take us forward.

00:13:32:20 - 00:13:48:11
Unknown
I think you're doing a great job. Well, thank you, thank you. So as a leader, what do you think being involved in Ccdf. Oh, shameless plug here. What do you think? Sure. It's, being involved in ccdf is an important thing. Well, I think from a couple of different perspectives, right? From from, getting involved to see the.

00:13:48:14 - 00:14:09:05
Unknown
And, of course, I love being a CDF ambassador. Right. That's a, that's an important part of, of what I'm doing these days. From a couple of different perspectives. So a, of course, the relationships from being able to, to, get, get together with the business community, make connections within the business community and develop those relationships. It's a hugely important, priority, for me and for the library, but also service.

00:14:09:05 - 00:14:28:24
Unknown
Right. I think the service being able to give back is hugely important. And if we can be a part of moving the community forward, if I can be a part of moving the community forward, whether that's through ambassadors and going to ribbon cuttings and helping the, you know, helping invest and pour back into the the local business community, the nonprofit community, and lift everybody up.

00:14:28:27 - 00:14:48:17
Unknown
Then we're all going to be at a better place. That's awesome. I'll give you a chance to do a little shameless plug here. Can you tell us a little bit about some library program programing you're all very familiar with Tupelo Reads program. We're actually one of our guest on this podcast. In the future will be, Jack junior, another heavily involved that kind of tell some other things that are going on as well at the library.

00:14:48:18 - 00:15:05:04
Unknown
Well, so that's a great example of what we call our signature programs. Right. So we have a number of signature programs. Tupelo reads the Helen Foster Lecture, these things that happen on an annual basis that are our partnerships with the library and with either the city, the school or other organizations. In that way, we're also about to embark on summer reading.

00:15:05:04 - 00:15:23:08
Unknown
Summer reading is huge for libraries across the country. Last year we saw record numbers. We had over 3000 people attend, summer reading activities in both of our branches. And really, it demonstrates the, incredible demand that's out there for quality library services and a community that really loves what we do, loves and values what we do.

00:15:23:08 - 00:15:43:25
Unknown
And so, we're excited to get started on that summer reading will be kicking off in June, and, folks will have a chance to, you know, sign their kids up for, for reading challenges and do reading logs and win prizes every week and, and just help to kind of bridge that gap over the summer and keep folks involved and, and help folks, discover and invest in the joy of reading and the value that that brings.

00:15:43:27 - 00:15:59:18
Unknown
Yeah, it's a it's a lot of good stuff. That's great. Phillip, do you know how many books you've read in your life? Oh, I don't I couldn't even begin to tell you. I didn't read my first book until I was a junior in college. Oh, yeah. I'm proud the I held out a long time that you did.

00:15:59:18 - 00:16:24:27
Unknown
Giving in now and I. Very good. That is. That's awesome. That's awesome. I'm hoping you give the reward programs for the kids. I'm hoping to read enough books this summer that he actually lets me drive the bookmobile. That's that's what I'm. See, we'll talk about that. Good, good. Well, Philip, it's been so great to have you on the podcast to talk about, just all the things that the librarians do in and the ways that you pour into the community.

00:16:24:27 - 00:16:44:17
Unknown
So we really appreciate that. A great leader here with us, Philip Shackleford for it. IgniteCast. That's right. Thank you for what you do, not only being just a leader, a young leader and just what you do with the library. We couldn't thank you enough. Thank you so much for having me.

00:16:44:20 - 00:17:13:23
Unknown
Thanks for tuning in to another episode of IgniteCast, presented by I Heart Media. For more leadership insights and engaging conversations, be sure to hit subscribe! And if you enjoyed today's episode, we'd love for you to leave a review. And remember, go forth and do good things.