In 1972, I was a counselor-in-training at Herzl Camp in Webster, Wisconsin. If you also found your Jewish essence, your neshama, your soulfulness, at camp, this memory might resonate. One steamy midwestern August afternoon, a charismatic and beloved senior staff person tapped me on the shoulder and directed me to teach the camp song to a dining hall filled with new campers. In that moment, I was assigned a mighty important leadership challenge with no time to weigh my options. A few minutes later, I sprang into action and taught the beloved camp rouser.
Later that evening, the senior staff member who had allowed me no time to process his invitation explained that he had not wanted to give me the chance to say no. Looking back, it is no surprise that he saw in me what I failed to see in myself. This was a time and place where summer camp leaders were loud, funny, and charismatic men, and I needed help seeing myself in this coveted role. Fortunately, I met the moment. While there is a longer conversation to be had about pushing an unsuspecting adolescent into leadership, being given permission to lead has proven to be a crucible life moment for me.
Leadership by invitation is not unusual, neither decades ago at summer camp nor today across the landscape of our many Jewish organizations. We keep an eye out for those in our communities who have the “it factor,” individuals in possession of a sometimes undefinable “know it when we see it” quality of leadership that mixes measures of poise, magnetism, confidence, and an uncanny ability to connect with everyone. Though we frequently do, it is a mistake to confuse leadership with charisma, which is a complex, double-edged quality that can be deployed for the common good or for personal gain. It is a mistake to rely only on instinct, to look only for the “it” to identify who should assume leadership positions in Jewish life.
Leadership is not the ability of one person to release energy or generate enthusiasm in front of a crowd but quite the opposite. Leadership is better characterized as the capacity of one person to carefully consider and understand how to thoughtfully unleash the potential of others. It is not the province of the loudest or funniest or even the smartest person in the front of the room. Leaders intentionally and sensitively bring out the best in others around the room. It is not about being seen; it is about sacred seeing.
In this exploration of leadership, I consider the ability to successfully manage transformational change, a core feature of effective leadership, within a community or organization. I identify key skills, reliable frameworks, and dependable practices for those exercising leadership in the Jewish community, with the hope that these ideas will provide some guidance in the tireless pursuit of rising to meet our considerable challenges. Central to successful leadership is ongoing study of the field itself, rigorous practice of acquired skills, meaningful feedback, and a trustworthy cadre of truth-telling peers.
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B. Elka Abrahamson is president of the Wexner Foundation.
This is a paid post. (JEWISH REVIEW)’s editorial team had no role in its production.
