by Jerry Silverman
We want to thank Rabbi Feldstein for his very thoughtful dialogue about the concept of Jewish talent and the development of Jewish community professionals. This issue is one that keeps me up at night. There are few topics of greater concern to our Jewish future.
The question Lou is asking is about internal versus external. We think the question should be about internal and external, what we as a community are doing to acquire, invest in, and prepare individuals to lead our communal organizations – to create succession. We have an opportunity to find the best men and women for both professional and volunteer leadership, no matter where they come from.
There is also a more fundamental question that organizations like the Jewish Communal Service Association and our JFNA Mandel Center for Leadership Excellence are asking: How can we build a culture across the Jewish communal sector that invests in talent, nurtures and rewards continuous growth and rewards and supports upward mobility across the entire spectrum. We want to ensure that the Jewish communal field is seen as truly desirable, on all fronts. We want to create a future where great Jewish Federations and Jewish organizations act as multipliers of candidates from all walks of life, because of their bold and inspiring culture and mission. We want to create a future where people who are seeking meaning and purpose clamor to be part of outstanding Jewish Federations and Jewish organizations.
Across Jewish Federations, we have been addressing the question of talent recruitment for some time. It is the same question being asked in the corporate world: are the best candidates those who have worked in a particular organization or career path throughout their careers, or candidates who come from the outside with different perspectives, approaches and ideas?
We find that the skills and results an individual demonstrates, not the place they developed those skills, sets the top candidates apart. In the Jewish Federation world, those skills are sometimes demonstrated within the context of a single Federation, or several Federations. Sometimes they are demonstrated in an agency, nonprofit or corporation. Some skills can also be developed – Federation processes, such as overseeing a budget or managing a Super Sunday. Other skills remain intrinsic, like personal warmth and sensitivity to others, the ability to be a good listener and an inspiring communicator.
JFNA’s Mandel Center for Leadership Excellent has developed the Success Factors, a competency model that identifies skills of excellent professionals. We know by experience that if our CEOs have proficiency in four key areas – business skills, people skills, personal qualities and style, and strategic and visionary leadership – if their style fits well with the Federation, and if they have a personal passion for and commitment to the Jewish people, they have a strong likelihood of succeeding. This emphasis focuses on the skills: has the candidate demonstrated the skills – in any context – that we need for our professional leaders to be successful? As we work with search committees, we prioritize these skills and then hire to those skills. We then use the success factors for performance feedback and evaluation, for coaching, for professional development and for evaluation.
It is important not to judge people by where they worked. What is important is what skills they demonstrated, what skills, attitudes, attributes and qualities they bring to their position in the Federation, and what each person can mean for the future of the Jewish Federation.
The other key factor is balance between knowledge and experience of the Federation world, and having someone who has been successful in complex, people-oriented environments. It is up to us to create the environment where we can maximize the contribution both of Federation staff, and those who wish to bring their skills and knowledge into the Federation world. We have a responsibility to our field to invest in and develop talent within, and recruit talent from the outside. One plus one can equal three.
The transition in Federations in the next decade will be dramatic. Time is not our friend. The question is not whether we choose from the inside or outside, but of challenging ourselves to think through how we enhance our Federations and raise the bar, to take advantage of people of a wide range of backgrounds, and to continue to challenge ourselves to deliver the results that history demands.
Jerry Silverman is President and CEO, The Jewish Federations of North America.
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I was neither surprised by Jerry’s well written response nor by the fact that upon careful examination he actually makes Feldstein’s case.
The issue raised by Feldstein was simply that the complexity of the job of a federation executive in the larger cities requires not only skills that have been finely honed over a lifetime but also an expertise in the dynamics of building a Jewish community despite the diversity of the various stakeholders. To simply possess the skills outlined by Jerry would be necessary to land a job at a federation but not sufficient to lead one. The landscape is littered with failed executives who were chosen by communities whose communal leadership didn’t respect the position of federation executive to the extent necessary. In fact, with few exceptions, once these communities have chosen this unfortunate path, they rarely recover.
I am mystified why Jerry would not be able to see that successful chief executives in successful federations should serve as the leadership models into the future. These executives are innovative, inspiring, understand Jewish talent management within the federation system, motivate lay leadership, and work tirelessly to finely tune their vision of a vibrant Jewish community. Jerry must not respect the job or the successful executives currently leading their federations if he believes that on the job training is a viable alternative. What he describes is a person who ought to be a junior executive, not leading a large communal organization, and that is precisely Feldstein’s point.
There are those of us out there who made a decision to pursue a career in Jewish communal service. Some of us even earned graduate degrees with this particular focus. Many are alumni of otzma and other wonderful programs. It is irritating that none of these qualifications are even referenced in Jerry’s article. Needless to say these decisions to become “Jewish communal professionals” were made out of deep respect and devotion to the Jewish community. It is a shame and a terribly ironic that we find ourselves struggling to advance in our chosen field.
After I reprinted Silverman’s “response” to Lou Feldstein’s excellent analysis, one of the Blog’s most insightful readers offered his own, which follows:
“I was neither surprised by Jerry’s well written response nor by the fact that upon careful examination he actually makes Feldstein’s case.
The issue raised by Feldstein was simply that the complexity of the job of a federation executive in the larger cities requires not only skills that have been finely honed over a lifetime but also an expertise in the dynamics of building a Jewish community despite the diversity of the various stakeholders. To simply possess the skills outlined by Jerry would be necessary to land a job at a federation but not sufficient to lead one. The landscape is littered with failed executives who were chosen by communities whose communal leadership didn’t respect the position of federation executive to the extent necessary. In fact, with few exceptions, once these communities have chosen this unfortunate path, they rarely recover.
I am mystified why Jerry would not be able to see that successful chief executives in successful federations should serve as the leadership models into the future. These executives are innovative, inspiring, understand Jewish talent management within the federation system, motivate lay leadership, and work tirelessly to finely tune their vision of a vibrant Jewish community. Jerry must not respect the job or the successful executives currently leading their federations if he believes that on the job training is a viable alternative. What he describes is a person who ought to be a junior executive, not leading a large communal organization, and that is precisely Feldstein’s point.”
I was neither surprised by Jerry’s well written response nor by the fact that upon careful examination he actually makes Feldstein’s case.
The issue raised by Feldstein was simply that the complexity of the job of a federation executive in the larger cities requires not only skills that have been finely honed over a lifetime but also an expertise in the dynamics of building a Jewish community despite the diversity of the various stakeholders. To simply possess the skills outlined by Jerry would be necessary to land a job at a federation but not sufficient to lead one. The landscape is littered with failed executives who were chosen by communities whose communal leadership didn’t respect the position of federation executive to the extent necessary. In fact, with few exceptions, once these communities have chosen this unfortunate path, they rarely recover.
I am mystified why Jerry would not be able to see that successful chief executives in successful federations should serve as the leadership models into the future. These executives are innovative, inspiring, understand Jewish talent management within the federation system, motivate lay leadership, and work tirelessly to finely tune their vision of a vibrant Jewish community. Jerry must not respect the job or the successful executives currently leading their federations if he believes that on the job training is a viable alternative. What he describes is a person who ought to be a junior executive, not leading a large communal organization, and that is precisely Feldstein’s point.”
July 4, 2012 4:54 PM
I am very surprised by Mr. Silverman’s post, as it completely contradicts my real-life experience with the Federation hiring process. When I, as an experienced private industry executive turned synagogue Executive Director, applied for an executive position at a Federation I clearly received the message from the JFNA human resources folks that only those with Federation experience need apply.
Mr. Silverman’s post makes excellent points and seems to acknowledge both the competencies and perspective that outsiders can bring to Federations. Unfortunately, his HR folks haven’t gotten the message.
First thought that came to my mind was “How big a gift does the said external applicant need to give to be considered?” Seems to me that ‘leadership’ in many Federations often has a lot more to do with how much you give rather than the knowledge or expertise you have in the field.
The fact remains that catapulting a non Federation trained leader into a Federation CEO position leads to disaster. Why? Because no one takes the time, energy and resources to provide training for these leaders, and building Jewish community is difficult. No matter how many of the “right” skills the leader might possess, the JFNA system is not set up to train them. As many of us in the field know, those who have gone through graduate programs in Jewish communal professional leadership have received what I will call “basic training”. Former models of mentorships, where a rising star can shadow a sitting exec, only provide part of the training. It is the experience of working in several federations which prepares a leader for a CEO position. A well rounded training program would assist career changers and could impact our system significantly. We won’t be able to build a culture across the sector if we don’t invest in our professionals. When budgets get cut, it is leadership development and training that go first. So our system is continually dealing with: if only we had funds to…
I had the same exact thought as the other anonymous poster with regard to leadership positions in Jewish communal agencies being based on the size of one’s wallet. I am also disappointed that Silverman doesn’t include intensive Jewish education and/or practice as a necessary qualification for Jewish leadership. That those at the helm of an organization must lead by example is a universal truth not limited to Jewish organizations. How can we expect those in our communities to be engaged with Jewish life if we ourselves are not? Jewish communal leaders must lean less toward the “three days a year” side of the spectrum and more toward the “three days a week” side (though perhaps three Shabbatot a month is a more realistic compromise) if they truly want Jews to care about Judaism and by extension the Jewish community.
I would like to salute Jerry for replying and clarifying things the way he did. It is always a matter of form versus content. Form represented by the structure of the various Jewish organizations and content is what a person can pour into it. As we witnessed in the past few years the content that is being inserted into our Jewish organizations do not prompt growth within the communities. We continue to do the same things over and over again expecting different results – which is the definition of insanity. Inserting new blood, people who come from different walks of life, who bring in new experiences is the solution, and Jerry is exactly right in his approach. This will promote “out of the box” thinkers and it will also enable people within the system, who were trained in the “tradition” of Jewish Federation, to think differently, to re invent themselves and look at what we do in Jewish leadership in a much more creative ways. Mediocracy is the enemy of all progress and again, quoting Albert Einstein, “great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds”. Let’s not be afraid of progress, of different ways of thinking. The fact that a person had a distinguished career as a law professor doesn’t guarantee that he will be successful as a leader of a Jewish federation, but there is a good chance he will be able to adopt quite easily and will bring in a fresh approach. Maybe he can finally fill in the empty vessels with new content, attract new people. As Jews we should always remember that content is what carried our people over many hurtles and obstacles in history. I salute out of the box thinking, I salute progress and I look forward to seeing more of this refreshing attitude.
Wow! Does this mean I can get two years of my life back? After college I wanted to pursue a degree in Jewish Communal Service and a bunch of my friends and colleagues told me I should get a MA in Jewish Studies or Jewish Communal Service in order to make sure I am qualified to work on behalf of the Jewish community. At the time and still today the national Federation system was allocating money for the FEREP program (~$40,000 per year) which provides scholarship for grad school in return for two year’s of paid work in the Jewish community. I believe FEREP scholars were required to pursue degrees in Jewish Communal Service or Social Work or Jewish Studies (or a combination), now it is just “grad school”. So I said “Sure, I’ll go to grad school, if that is what I need to do to work on behalf of the Jewish community.” . . And fast forward 15 years, I read David’s note above that a law school professor is also qualified? So does this mean I can go become a Law Professor after my mediocre mind moves on from the Jewish communal sphere, of course not! I don’t doubt that people from other fields could benefit the system, but I do have a problem with Jewish Communal Professionals being deemed dispensable? In fact I am, offended by it. Many, many Jewish Communal Professionals (you know the empty vessels) do think out of the box. They have amazing ideas about collaboration, partnerships, designated giving etc. They have come up through Jewish camp, and Hillel, and synagogue life, and have been enlightened at Tribe Fest and on Taglit Birthright Israel trips. They want to represent the future . . but it seems like their fate is already sealed – they are mediocre and their ideas are empty? No, I disagree. I recommend that JFNA leadership and David talk with some of these people (you know the people who didn’t go to Law School, but have advanced degrees in Jewish Communal Service and Jewish studies), and thank them for their service and ask them for out of the box ideas!