Archive for the ‘Leadership’ Category

 

The Relationship between Sight and Vision

Posted on: October 24th, 2012 by Hayim Herring
The Relationship between Sight and Vision

photo from: alban.org

In last week’s Alban’s Weekly Newsletter, Alban Field Consultant, Linda Rich, wrote a thoughtful post on the use of the metaphor of site and seeing to capture the multifaceted roles of today’s rabbis. In the coming weeks, as we read those weekly torah readings (parshiyot) dealing with our founding matriarchs and patriarchs, our first leaders, the use of the Hebrew word for “seeing” is especially pronounced. For example, God commands Abraham to journey to a land that God will make show him (Genesis 12:1). Likewise, at the end of his life, Abraham is commanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac on an unknown mountain that God makes visible to him on the third day of his journey. Sarah sees Yishmael interacting inappropriately with Isaac (Genesis 21: 9), causing Hagar to flee to the desert with her son. When she runs out of water, she can’t stand the sight of Ishmael perishing from thirst (Genesis 21: 16), and although a well of water is in front of her, she doesn’t see it until God opens her eyes (Genesis 21:19). And Rebecca is able to perceive which of her twins is the most fit heir to traditions of Isaac and Abraham (Genesis 27). Our roots began with visionary leaders, and Rich’s article reminds us that rabbis are heirs to that tradition.

Paradigm Shift For Jewish Involvement

Posted on: September 24th, 2012 by Hayim Herring

Paradigm Shift For Jewish Involvement

photo from: thejewishweek.com

This article originally appeared in The Jewish Week.

In the old days, that is, until about a decade ago, when people wanted to do contribute good to society they looked for a non-profit organization whose work appealed to them. They volunteered for a project or committee, and veteran volunteers mentored them about how the work was done. If they were passably good at their volunteer service, they would move up the ranks, possibly even becoming president. They might repeat this pattern over the course of a lifetime, serve several organizations and, in turn, “teach the ropes” to new volunteers.

In this model of involvement, there was a right way and a wrong way to get things done and one year’s program often served as the next year’s template. This pattern of involvement created predictability for organizations but, over time, unresponsiveness in addressing new community problems.

This serial pattern of lifelong involvement was widespread in the Jewish community, and I still observe some baby boomers in my own community continuing it. For example, there was frequent overlap between those who volunteered for federations and Jewish Community Centers or synagogues and Jewish camps. Organizations often recruited successful volunteer leaders from other organizations into their ranks, a logical practice but one with positive and negative benefits. On the one hand, organizations were more secure in knowing that someone with trusted leadership experience would act responsibly. Yet, this informal rotation of leaders from one organization to the next created the appearance of a privileged club and also fostered a narrower sense of communal vision.

But the days when individuals became leaders of one established organization after another are coming to an end. When Gen Xers and Millenials identify an issue they want to get involved in, they don’t perceive a need to work through a volunteer organization. And why would they? They know how to be their own marketers, fundraisers and communicators, and they can mobilize a global community around an issue on their terms and time frame.

An outstanding book by Beth Kanter and Allison H. Fine captures this shift in how younger generations volunteer and work; it is appropriately titled, “The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change.” Just imagine how the next generation will be able to apply social media tools that are native to them to help contribute good to the world.

Boomers at least have feelings for Jewish organizations. They aren’t always positive, but when boomers talk about them, they evoke some emotion. With younger generations, Jewish organizations don’t elicit a response because they are often just plain irrelevant to them. They have no need for them because they are empowered to act individually by the web and social media.

Having lived in the interactive era of Web 2.0 for not quite a decade, we have an understanding about the nature of online community, the need for a vital organizational web presence and the requirement of interactive and dynamic communication with constituents. While still in its early evolutionary stages, I’d like to suggest that we are already in transition to a Web 3.0 environment. Web 2.0 meant that Jewish organizations needed to replicate their bricks and mortar presence online. Bricks and mortar and bytes and click ran parallel to one another. Web 3.0 means that defining principles of online social media, like collaboration, co-creation, improvisation and empowerment must now be practiced in the physical world. In other words, the characteristics of the web that enable individuals to self-direct their lives must now flow back into all organizational spaces: in someone’s home, on the web or inside institutional walls. This is definitely another paradigm shift for organizations.

What are some of the implications for Jewish organizations? A Web 3.0 environment demands that leaders possess an exceptionally crisp understanding of their purpose, their capabilities and the values that inform their work. Because unlike boomers and older generations, today’s and tomorrow’s generations expect to self-direct all aspects of their lives. They often believe that there’s a better way to take care of business then by respectfully following the status quo, and they are often correct. So if Jewish organizations hope to have even a chance of tapping into these generations, they will have to know their mission well and then make space for younger volunteers to work in the way that they are accustomed.

With 5773 nearing, it’s natural for those of us who live and breathe Jewish community to reflect on how to engage younger generations not just in episodic causes but also in a deeper, consistent life of Jewish community. I still believe and hope that younger generations will come to appreciate that while they have the power to perform tremendous individual good, the impact of collective action transcends what they can accomplish on their own. That’s why it’s worth asserting the value of community, as national leaders like UJA-Federation of New York’s CEO, John Ruskay, continues to do. Time will tell whether younger generations will reach this conclusion. But at a minimum, those of us who have been around for some time can recognize that we’re in the early stages of the next organizational shift and lead by embracing it.

Rabbi Hayim Herring is CEO of Herring Consulting Network, a firm that “prepares today’s leaders for tomorrow’s organizations by advancing future oriented solutions for nonprofit leaders. He recently authored “Tomorrow’s Synagogue Today: Creating Vibrant Centers of Jewish Life,” published by The Alban Institute.

Paradigm Shift For Jewish Involvement

Posted on: September 9th, 2012 by Hayim Herring

 

In the old days, that is, until about a decade ago, when people wanted to do contribute good to society they looked for a non-profit organization whose work appealed to them. They volunteered for a project or committee, and veteran volunteers mentored them about how the work was done. If they were passably good at their volunteer service, they would move up the ranks, possibly even becoming president. They might repeat this pattern over the course of a lifetime, serve several organizations and, in turn, “teach the ropes” to new volunteers.

 

In this model of involvement, there was a right way and a wrong way to get things done and one year’s program often served as the next year’s template. This pattern of involvement created predictability for organizations but, over time, unresponsiveness in addressing new community problems. (more…)

What’s on Your “Not to Do” List?

Posted on: September 7th, 2012 by Hayim Herring

What’s on Your “Not to Do” List?

check list

Some people are natural born list makers. And for those who are spiritually inclined, there is a Jewish spiritual practice of making a list each day of personality attributes that require work and reviewing them each evening. It’s like creating a spiritual “to do” list, certainly a timely practice before Rosh ha-Shanah.

In essence, this is what good leaders do. They set goals for themselves and then review their progress on a regular basis. And we can’t expect other people to set the most meaningful goals for us. It is our job to lead our lives and not someone else’s.

After reading a blog post by international management consultant Peter Bregman, titled, Two Lists You Should Look at Every Morning, I realized that we actually should be keeping two list: things that we want to focus on and things that we want to let go of. Bregman calls this first list, “Your Focus List” (the road ahead) and he calls the second list “Your Ignore List” (the distractions). I completely agree with Bregman’s suggestion, but I would call the first “to do” list, “Where Do You Want to Go” and I would call the second “not to do list”, “What Are You Willing to Leave Behind to Get There?” Bregman suggests that the first list might have questions like, “What are you trying to achieve” and “What makes you happy?” The second list would have questions like, “What are you willing not to achieve” and “What gets in the way of your being happy?”

Bregman notes, “some people already have the first list. Very few have the second. But given how easily we get distracted and how many distractions we have these days, the second is more important than ever. The leaders who will continue to thrive in the future know the answers to these questions and each time there is a demand on their attention they asked whether it will further their focus or dilute it.”

In the spiritual realm, the practice is to review these lists daily because they take constant focus and attention. And the same is true in the world of leadership. Good food for thought as we approach the holidays.

B’shalom,

Rabbi Hayim Herring

The Results Are In: Top Five Most important Rabbi-Board Evaluation Criteria

Posted on: June 22nd, 2012 by Hayim Herring

Thanks to all of those who responded to the two questions about evaluation that I asked in my prior post:

And the results are in!

The Results Are In: Top Five Most important Rabbi-Board Evaluation Criteria
survey results

 

Thirty-seven people responded to the first question. While I don’t have any background information on those who responded, here’s how you answered (in rank order):

  1. Develop and communicate a vision
  2. Build, inspire and lead a staff – volunteer team
  3. Identify, develop and support lay leaders
  4. Promote and lead spiritual formation for church (synagogue) members
  5. Interpret and lead change.

And for the second question about the existence of rabbi-board evaluation, to which 36 of you responded:

Clearly, more context is needed to interpret these responses. But, here are a few observations from this non-scientific survey.

Respondents value the leadership qualities that one expects of all leaders: visioning, building a team, supporting volunteer and professional talent and leading change. Unsurprisingly, helping people develop their spiritual lives also ranked within the top five criteria. Taken together, these criteria suggest that a 21st-century rabbi needs sound working leadership knowledge and ability in general, and specific expertise in helping people develop their spiritual lives. No surprises here.

But what was equally interesting to me are the criteria that ranked lower, like managing conflict. How do you lead change (ranked high) unless you know how to manage conflict? Another example: rabbis work exceedingly demanding hours and they are poor health insurance risks because of job stress and lack of self-care. However, respondents ranked rabbinic self-care as relatively unimportant for evaluation purposes. Finally, while congregations complain of declining membership, those who responded ranked congregational outreach near the bottom of the list. That may be because the phrase “mission outpost” is not synagogue nomenclature and was therefore misunderstood. But my guess is that even if it were phrased differently, outreach would still not rank within the top five criteria, because reaching out to the broader Jewish community is not something in which many congregations invest resources.

Moving onto the second question, approximately 60% of respondents reported that there is no evaluation for the board. And, about 30% said that evaluation is simply off the radarscope for the board and the rabbi. Both of these responses are problematic because having an evaluation means that there is at least some implicit vision of what constitutes success. When there is no understanding of success, that’s when misunderstanding about roles, expectations and responsibilities emerge.

I am inclined to do more research based on the feedback that you’ve provided and will keep you updated. Thanks, again, for your input!

Rabbi Hayim herring

 

Fresh Views on Evaluating Rabbinic and Congregational Performance

Posted on: June 13th, 2012 by Hayim Herring
Fresh Views on Evaluating Rabbinic and Congregational Performance

Photo: vancajay, on stock.xchng

I’m currently reading a book entitled, When Better Isn’t Enough. Evaluation Tools for the 21st-Century Church. The author is Jill M. Hudson and the publisher is The Alban Institute. The title is a bit of a misnomer and could more accurately be, Performance Evaluation for the 21st-Century Church. New Criteria for Ministers and Church Leaders. But with a title like that, why would ministers be interested in reading the book? After all, as all members of the clergy know from often-poor experience, performance evaluation, review, or whatever you wish to call it falls under the rubric of, “Never put off today what you can put off forever.”

Hudson lays out 12 criteria for evaluation. They are, the ability to:

Look at these questions! They reflect a vision of ideal attributes of a 21st-Century church. Hudson’s insight is that most evaluations are still rooted in the needs of a 20th century church and her book is about guiding lay leaders and clergy to work collaboratively on assessing their joint performance based on new criteria that better reflect the work of today’s church.

Hudson’s insight is true for the Jewish community as well. From what I’ve seen and heard, most synagogue evaluations are also stuck in a bygone era. Over the next year, my hope is to conduct some research on how congregations evaluate rabbis. I can use your help as I begin to explore this topic and would love you to respond to the questions in my Evaluating Rabbinic and Congregational Performance Survey.

Take the survey >>.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Rabbi Hayim Herring

Interview with Rabbi Marcie Zimmerman

Posted on: May 23rd, 2012 by Hayim Herring

In writing my book, Tomorrow’s Synagogue Today. Creating Vibrant Centers of Jewish Life, I interviewed a number of rabbinic colleagues. They possess a lot of wisdom and writing my book was one way to bring that to a broader audience. If I had greater resources, I would’ve interviewed more. Fortunately, through my blog, I’m able to continue the process of learning and sharing. And in that spirit, I’m trying something new.

Going forward on a regular basis, I’ll be interviewing thought leaders about the state of the synagogue and the American Jewish community in general. Some of these leaders appear in my book, while others are new. My hope is to generate a deep conversation in which we can enrich our work with new approaches and ideas by learning from one another, and I invite you to be part of it.

This week, you’ll be watching an interview of Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman, Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As we are local colleagues, I’ve had the pleasure of working with her for many years and she is a visionary leader-a phrase that I use carefully. I asked Rabbi Zimmerman how it is that her congregation, which is a well established, urban congregation is growing larger and younger.  Those are certainly not the trends of many congregations. You can hear what she has to say and read more about the subject in Tomorrow’s Synagogue Today.

Cantors Are and Always Have Been FULL Clergy Partners

Posted on: May 14th, 2012 by Hayim Herring

I want to apologize to my cantorial colleagues for my imprecision in my blog post on May 6, 2012. In that post, I implied that cantors are less than full-fledged clergy. That is not what I meant to say and I feel very badly for that mistake and the upset that it caused my cantorial colleagues. For the record, I’ve always considered cantors full partners in synagogue work and had the pleasure of having a cantorial partner for a decade when I was in congregational life. Given my views and experience, you can imagine how mortified I was when Cantor Steve Stein, Executive Vice-President of the Cantors Assembly, rightfully called me to account, for which I’m grateful.

My inaccuracy was a reminder about the exponential risks of causing hurt in our wired world. The purpose in my post was to highlight the recent change that Hebrew Union College made from “investing” to “ordaining” cantors, and a similar change under discussion at The Jewish Theological Seminary. Regardless of title, cantors have been and will continue to be full-fledged clergy and in synagogues where cantors and rabbis work as partners, it is incredibly positive for them and the congregation.

I’ve invited Cantor Stein to share the long-standing efforts that the Cantors Assembly has made to re-imagine the American Cantorate. And I thank him for taking the time to educate me and the broader public on these efforts. Rabbis, educators and all synagogue professionals can learn from the vision of the Cantors Assembly.

Rabbi Hayim Herring

I am grateful to Rabbi Herring for affording me the opportunity to share these thoughts on behalf of the Cantors Assembly. Our organization and profession has been keenly aware for some time that what synagogues are seeking relative to the role their Hazzan plays in the daily lives of congregants, along with the style of music worshipers want to hear during services, has changed dramatically.  We further recognize the vulnerability of our sacred profession as a result of the genuine economic challenges facing our congregations.

Moving forward, we believe that synagogues will somehow find the money, as they have always done, to engage what is known in sports as an “impact player.” This is an individual capable of genuinely enriching and uplifting the lives of congregants through her/his talent, creativity, knowledge, charisma and dedication.

We have approached the current challenges in a number of ways.  Some of those steps are as follow:

1) A growing number of colleagues are leading “Friday Night Live” type services in their congregations.  Methodology and repertoire for doing so are covered in sessions at our annual conventions as well as through our extensive and growing continuing education program.

2) Students enrolled in the H.L. Miller Cantorial School at the Jewish Theological Seminary are encouraged to simultaneously earn a Masters degree in Jewish education.

3) Cantors in the field and those currently enrolled as students are increasingly focusing on pastoral studies to enable them to be of greater assistance to their rabbinic colleagues in caring for congregants.

4) We are beginning to envision the Hazzan as the synagogue’s artistic director with further training in areas such as Drama and Storahtelling.

5) We have engaged an outside consulting firm to interview Rabbis and synagogue lay leaders to elicit their input relative to how the Hazzan can be most effective and helpful.

These are but a few examples of the ways in which we have begun to fashion a new vision and direction for the Cantorate.  To be sure, the challenges are significant.  But, rather than fear change, we embrace it as an opportunity to expand the ways in which we touch the lives of the countless adults and youngsters it is our good fortune and privilege to serve.

Hazzan Stephen J. Stein

Executive Vice President, Cantors Assembly

Leaders Awaken Hope in Those Who Believe in Them

Posted on: April 4th, 2012 by Hayim Herring
Seder Plate

from "tastytouring" on flickr

In my last blog post (“Don’t Imprison Your Hope for Change“), I raised the issue of how leaders in organizations sometimes impose restraints upon themselves that they later come to believe to be beyond their control. In other words, they actually participate in making themselves prisoners of their own inability to change their organizations.

If that’s correct, this observation also has a bearing upon one of the critical tasks of leaders. And that is to awaken the belief in the possibility of fundamental change in those who follow them. According to one rabbinic tradition, the Israelites are not ready to be redeemed by God  until they first demonstrate some initiative of their own. They have to perform some action that awakens their belief in the power to help shape their own destiny.

Great leaders do not impose their personal views on their constituents. Rather, they awaken the belief in the power of change in other individuals, and guide them toward a new future with love, support, challenge and patience.

Chag Kasher v’Sameach,

Rabbi Hayim Herring

Don’t Imprison Your Hope for Change

Posted on: March 29th, 2012 by Hayim Herring
Rusted Chain

from Peter van den Hamer on Fotopedia

What is the psychological process by which people who are free allow themselves to become subjugated by another? Sometimes the answer is clear: you wake up one morning and see a military patrol rolling down your street. But that’s not the case that interests me for the moment. What I would like to understand better is how people who are free gradually surrender some of their freedoms so that after a period of time, they can no longer recall what it means to be free.

That is one of the questions I’m thinking about as Passover approaches.

Classical rabbinic sources are replete with hypotheses on this question.  After all, the Israelites did not become slaves overnight.  Their enslavement was a process that took place over a long period of time until the erosion of freedom was complete.  There were clearly external forces that limited the Israelites’ freedom. But there were also inner forces that enabled their acceptance of these limitations.

Often, organizations and individuals confuse external restraints – those that are beyond their control – with inner restraints that they impose upon themselves.  They attribute their powerlessness, their inability to change their situation, to forces outside of themselves even though they still have more ability to act then they choose to admit.  They internalize these external restraints and over time may even make themselves prisoners of their own fears of using the power that they have to change their situation.

Whether you are a volunteer or professional leader, here’s a question to think about as you prepare for Passover: what situation in your organization do you actually have the ability to change, because you now recognize that what you thought were external constraints are actually self-imposed?

Chag Kasher v’Sameach,

Rabbi Hayim Herring