Leadership and management are subjects that have attracted considerable interest in the library field. The library community and indeed our society are saturated with speakers, institutes, articles, books and events about the need for good management and better leadership. In this era of high technological innovation in most types of libraries, the successful library leader must exercise creative leadership and management of the library's programs, services and resources. This chapter focuses on the issue of whether heads of reference departments in academic libraries of today are managers or leaders and at the same time attempt to address the traits, skills, and competencies those heads of reference should possess. It examines the roles of the academic library department head and sees how they can lead the reference department of the 21st century to its organizational effectiveness.