Getting mergers and acquisitions right is a skill that organizations can learn. In this report, Eben Harrell (Senior Editor, Harvard Business Review) gleans insights from Leading Edge's acquisition of Boardified. He shares why the acquisition worked well, what obstacles leaders and team members encountered, and why putting time and effort into the process of joining two teams together is as important as the alignment between the organizations.

What Makes or Breaks an Acquisition [digital].pdf

Five lessons from Leading Edge's 2022 acquisition of Boardified.

What Makes or Breaks an Acquisition: A Case Study in Getting the Process Right

Trends and big ideas driving Jewish organizations and leaders forward.

Leadership

Report

Just Leading is back with a second season! 

Spearheaded by Leading Edge, SRE Network, and Jews of Color Initiative, experience this investigation into the crucibles of leadership in an effort to shift the mental models of leadership in the Jewish community, and the world at large.

Be sure to subscribe so you won't miss an episode!

Just Leading is back for its second season! In the “Just Leading” podcast, three trailblazing thought leaders—Gali Cooks, Ilana Kaufman, and Elana Wien—host intimate conversations with a diverse set of leaders within and beyond the Jewish world to examine how to bring more equity into the workplace.

In Just Leading, three trailblazing thought-leaders—Gali Cooks, Ilana Kaufman, and Elana Wien—host intimate conversations with a diverse subset of leaders within and beyond the Jewish world to examine how to bring more equity into the workplace.

Just Leading: A Podcast from Leading Edge, Jews of Color Initiative, and SRE Network

Podcast

ZSJNM Culmination Keynote 2021

Gali Cooks delivered the keynote address at the 2021 culmination ceremony for the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Gali Cooks, delivered the keynote address at the 2021 culmination ceremony for the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Keynote: Details, Integrity, and Relationships

Video

In her now-famous study on leadership, Tina Kiefer, a professor of organizational behavior at the University of Warwick, asked participants to draw a picture of an effective leader. 

She found, not surprisingly, that the overwhelming number of people – no matter their gender – drew a white man. This study points to the fascinating way in which a particular mental model of leadership shapes both how we see the world and how we might imagine our future, as well as our unconscious biases of what a leader looks like. And it begs the question: what might we as a community achieve if we work to expand our mental models of leadership?

The recent report from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) articulates a number of core challenges to attracting and retaining top talent for the Jewish nonprofit sector. In particular, it makes a strong case that without increased career development opportunities and resources for Jewish professionals, it will be challenging for them to succeed in their current roles and to advance into new leadership roles. These are indeed the very challenges that led to the founding of Leading Edge in 2014. And over the past five years, we have been working with our partners to nurture emerging leaders and to support organizations to create the kinds of workplaces that attract the best and brightest.

Through this work, one thing has remained clear: there is no talent crisis. There is no shortage of people ready to roll up their sleeves, enter our workforce, and advance to more senior roles. But all too often, our organizations are not ready for an expansive vision of who a leader is and what a leader looks like. Leading Edge believes it is in the interest of the entire Jewish community to have a vibrant sector that is able to recruit, develop, retain and advance leaders of all genders, races, abilities and sexual orientations. Doing so will require a great deal of intentionality and purpose.

Here are a few insights that Leading Edge has gleaned through our work that may help us all address challenges related to leadership development and retention.

If we want to recruit diverse talent to both join and grow in our organizations, we need to ensure that our cultures are built to empower a diversity of voices. The 2019 Leading Edge Employee Experience Survey found that while 70% of the employees surveyed believed that their organizations valued diversity, only 53% actually built diverse teams. There is a gap between our aspirations and our actions. To narrow this gap, we need, as Suzanne Feinspan articulates, to support our leaders in examining the implicit biases that we all carry and bring to bear on our work; we need to empower staff with language and skills around equity and inclusion and get board buy-in for creating inclusive organizational cultures. We need to create workplaces that promote trust, respect and psychological safety, making space for courageous conversations that honor diverging perspectives. This not only aligns with our Jewish values, but it also drives stronger outcomes because of the innovation that occurs through the meeting of diverse perspectives.

We also need to ensure that our workplaces are free of harassment, discrimination and abuse. This is something that I think a lot about as a male in a field in which 70% of employees identify as female. I am aware of – and know that I still can learn more about – the opportunities I have been given and the way in which my voice has often been privileged over female colleagues because of my gender.

We’re all familiar with the old adage “what got you here won’t get you there.”

Given the deeply networked and at times familial nature of our sector, recruitment and hiring in our field is often done in an informal and unstructured way and, more often than not, people hear about jobs through their connections. Networking to find talent can be a tremendous asset – and a tremendous liability that excludes talented and qualified candidates from landing roles because they do not hold the same kinds of relationships with connectors in the community.

Leading Edge recently published a CEO Search Committee Guide, which among other things contains extremely helpful advice from feminist leader Shifra Bronznick, founder of Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community, on eliminating bias from the process of hiring a new CEO. Bronznick stresses that search committees should run an entirely structured process, from how resumes are rated to how interviews are assessed. Assessors should rate each candidate independently before knowing the ratings from other committee members. This will help eliminate groupthink where bias thrives.

The recent study commissioned by the Jews of Color Field Building Initiative finds that at least 12-15% of the 7.2 million Jews in the United States are Jews of Color. Though we’ve seen emerging efforts to support the leadership of Jews of Color in our community, it is clear that our workforce is nowhere close to representing our community.

Oftentimes the language of “cultural fit” is used to exclude candidates from under-represented groups, such as candidates of color, from being hired. The term cultural fit, which originated in the 1980s, refers to screening potential candidates to determine what type of cultural impact they might have on an organization (e.g. do they align with the values, beliefs and norms of the organization?) While we certainly believe in the importance of cultural alignment, we also see the way in which the language of “cultural fit” may be used to exclude candidates who bring an under-represented identity or perspective to the organization. This feels all the more live in our community, where a prerequisite to being hired is often previous work in or familiarity with the Jewish community. If we think about the history of those who may have been excluded from mainstream Jewish life, it is not hard to see how focusing on “cultural fit” in hiring processes can result in maintaining a certain level of homogeneity in our organizations.

We know in our hearts that the opportunities for leadership are as diverse as the people who make up our community and we are constantly thinking about how we might support and amplify a wide range of models of leadership. We are inspired by such efforts both in our community, such as Yavilah McCoy wrote about recently and models of leadership beyond our immediate community.

People often ask if Leading Edge will create a separate area of work to tackle issues such as women’s leadership. In fact, we are embarking on a project – generously funded by the Genesis Prize Foundation and the SafetyRespectEquity Coalition – to understand and address the root causes of the gender gap in leadership in our community. However, critically, we plan to integrate the learnings and actionable items from this project into all of our efforts, rather than maintaining it as a separate line of work.

This approach, we believe, is indicative of the urgency and possibility we see now in the Jewish leadership space. Yes, we need to act now to fill the void of leadership – and the diversity of leadership – throughout the Jewish community. And yes, the talent exists to support a new generation of Jewish leaders, reflecting an expanding mental model of leadership. We are learning about effective strategies to cultivate this development in long-lasting ways, and we share these learnings to help the field. Together, let’s support the talent within our community, welcome new talent, and continue to change how Jewish leaders are supported – and who Jewish leaders are.

This article originally appeared in eJewish Philanthropy on August 8, 2019.

Leading Edge COO Mordy Walfish reflects on the importance of building a sector comprised of diverse leadership in this installment of a Jim Joseph Foundation series on Leadership Development.

A Path Forward in Jewish Leadership Development

Article

Please check it out, then share the link with people in your life who also care about workplace culture and the future of Jewish nonprofits.

This is the call of Leading Edge

Leading Edge released a short video lifting up the voices of amazing leaders in our community that provides an overview of our work, why we do what we do, and what programs we are focused on.

It turns out, there is an actual recipe for creating a leader. Start with a heavy dose of dynamic work experience, add a few dashes of mentoring, mix in a pinch of formal training and voila! You have a leader. It’s called the 70-20-10 leadership development model, and it was developed by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) decades ago.

Notice something interesting? A full 70% of this formula hinges upon the cultivation of increasingly challenging, on-the-job “work experiences.” Yet too often this key ingredient is overlooked by managers. After all, it is much easier to simply approve an employee attending a one-off, skill-building course, say, rather than meaningfully support them in leading a new program – a riskier and more time-consuming proposition.

But the latter is exactly what organizations need to do in order to successfully cultivate workplace cultures that enable individuals to develop as leaders. Unfortunately, our sector is falling short in this area.

So how might we maximize this 70%? By promoting feedback.

For the last three years, Leading Edge has asked thousands of employees at Jewish organizations about their experiences at work. And every year we are struck by a fascinating finding – our managers are well liked by those they manage, but they are not viewed as effective as they can be. Why? Because they fail to provide their employees with regular and constructive feedback.

Don’t get me wrong, we give feedback. We are very good at giving positive feedback. We are simply not adept at giving constructive feedback – the kind that helps an individual learn and stretch and grow. In other words, we are very good at offering the yasher koach – not so good at the challenging stuff.

It’s understandable. Most people, especially those who are drawn to purpose-driven professions like those in the nonprofit sector, don’t want to let people down, hurt people’s feelings, or be confrontational. And giving constructive feedback can be risky, especially if one works in an organization that blends the professional and personal spaces (for instance, when one sees their co-worker at a community event or congregation).

So how might we give better constructive feedback?

Ensure that feedback is a gift. Remember, honest feedback helps employees do their best work and grow professionally. But feedback is only a gift when it is delivered thoughtfully. While these conversations can happen in the moment, more involved discussions should be planned with an agenda so that no one is surprised by the conversation’s trajectory.

Be mindful. Only initiate a feedback discussion under calm circumstances. Set the tone by ensuring privacy and an ability to focus. Do not sit behind a computer or in a place with many distractions.

Make it timely and ongoing. Offering feedback just once a year makes the entire interaction far more intimidating (or even downright scary) for both the giver and receiver. And doing so only when the sky is falling casts a negative cloud around the whole dialogue. Provide ongoing feedback to establish a culture of open dialogue, and to reinforce positive behaviors and shift negative ones before they get out of hand.

Focus on behavior. Feedback should be about the work at hand and the employee’s approach and behavior. Use specific examples and talk about what worked and what could be improved. Share observations, but never any judgments, about the person.

Be direct. Employees deserve honest, straightforward messages. They should leave with a very clear understanding of what is being asked of them, not a sugar-coated or muddled version of what should have been said. Recap key points at the end of the conversation or ask the other person either to summarize their key takeaways or respond via email after the meeting.  

Make it a conversation. Ask for input from the other person. What do they think about the shared feedback? Would they like to take some time and come back for further discussion?

Ask for feedback. The most effective leaders and employees are those who ask for feedback. Model an openness to feedback by asking for it regularly and responding positively. This in turn will make it easier to provide feedback to others.

Feedback is the not-so-secret sauce that can super charge our professionals and organizations. Let’s learn how to give and receive it better so that our community can grow trusted leaders and benefit from their strengths.

This article originally appeared on the Mayberg Foundation Blog on February 7, 2019.

The President and CEO of Leading Edge uses findings from the Employee Experience Survey to discuss the need for feedback when developing leaders.

Feedback is the Key to Developing Leaders... And It's the Gift We Aren't Giving

In business school, I learned about the concept of “crucibles of leadership.” These are experiences in a leader’s journey that are “a trial and a test, a point of deep self-reflection that forced them to question who they were and what mattered to them.”

A few months ago, I experienced my own crucible of leadership. It wasn’t overly dramatic, as portrayed in the movies (with crescendo-ing music in the background), but it left a mark.

Last fall, the organization I lead, Leading Edge, released a report with findings from our second annual employee engagement survey. Once our report was up online, printed, and blasted out through a press release, we anxiously awaited how the field of Jewish organizations would respond.

Almost immediately, a trusted partner to our organization alerted us to a major oversight. The report, which contained six quotes from thought leaders on topics related to organizational management and workplace culture, quoted only men.

I couldn’t believe it. A cold sweat tingled across my forehead… How could this happen? How had I, a woman who has experienced firsthand the feeling of not being seen or heard, missed this? How had the team of five others who also worked on the report – including three other women and two feminist-identified men – overlooked that we had not quoted any female leaders?

I was ashamed and embarrassed. Our organization, which enables Jewish nonprofits to become great places to work and is dedicated to modeling best practices, had fallen short.

We quickly worked to correct the error. We apologized for our mistake to the trusted partner and thanked them for bringing it to our attention. We replaced several existing quotes with new ones from pioneering leaders, including Sheryl Sandberg and Brene Brown. Then we updated the report online and in print.

It was a crisis averted – but it certainly didn’t feel “over” to us. At a time when women are raising their voices to demand accountability for the myriad ways in which they have been silenced or rendered invisible, my colleagues and I could not simply reduce our mistake to carelessness.

Over the past months, I have come to understand that our oversight is a symptom of unconscious bias  – a product of long-held assumptions about who leaders are and what they look like. Consider Heather Murphy’s recent New York Times article, “Picture a Woman. Is She a Leader?” In the article, Murphy describes an exercise in which people were asked to draw a picture of a leader. The vast majority of respondents drew a man.

We know from our research and from the work of Advancing Women Professionals that women comprise about 70% of the Jewish nonprofit workforce but represent only 30% of the CEOs. This dramatic gender disparity in the C-suite is not due to a lack of talent. There is no shortage of women who are well-qualified to lead Jewish organizations of all kinds. But our society’s perceptions of leadership, and the stories we tell ourselves about who is “in charge,” continue to leave women on the sidelines.

Of course, unconscious bias is not limited to the exclusion of women. People of color, people with disabilities, and people who identify as LGBTQ are also frequently left out of our communal narratives of leadership. We need to make sure that all leaders whose identities are underrepresented – and often invisible – in our Jewish communal story are no longer an after-thought.

Although Leading Edge does not explicitly focus on gender or diversity in the workforce, we are working intentionally to integrate an inclusive lens into everything we do. Fueled by this experience, when gathering data from the field, working with CEO search committees, supporting professionals to strengthen their organizational cultures, and representing portraits of leadership in our materials, we will strive to uphold the values of diversity, equity and inclusion so that our work reflects the entire community.

I share this story in the hopes that by naming and owning our acts of unconscious bias, we can begin to chip away at the exclusion they perpetuate.

Leading Edge will continue to push its work forward. Along the way, we will make more mistakes and likely experience other crucibles of leadership. That comes with the territory when trying to find new solutions to old problems.

But when we stumble and skin our knees, when we realize we have fallen short, we will strive to learn from our missteps and be better than before.

This article originally appeared in eJewish Philanthropy on July 9, 2018.

The President & CEO of Leading Edge shares reflections on navigating unconscious bias in a leadership role.

Reflections on Leadership and Unconscious Bias

Matching Our Insides with Our Outsides: Lessons in Jewish Nonprofit Management

In this ELI Talk, Gali Cooks explores how the Rabbis of the Talmud gave us clues about how to manage Jewish organizations that reflect Jewish values.

Matching our Insides with our Outsides: Lessons in Jewish Nonprofit Management

The challenges facing the future of Jewish leadership are well-chronicled – from identifying talent, to training and retaining leaders, to ensuring that Jewish organizations are utilizing leaders to their full abilities. As we have shared, the Foundation understands the urgent need to address these challenges – and is taking action. After a strategy retreat in August, the Foundation’s Board of Directors affirmed a commitment to increase its support for talented and inspiring Jewish educators and leaders. While the Foundation has supported Jewish education leadership over its past 11 years, actions over the past several months have reinforced a more proactive, field-building and risk-tolerant approach.

An emerging leadership development strategy is taking shape and guiding critical investment decisions. The Foundation’s recent $3 million investment in Leading Edge, led by Gali Cooks, will support its growth and build its capacity as a field-building organization that invests in professional and lay leadership in the Jewish community. This gift emphasizes the Foundation’s increasing commitment to developing current and future leaders in Jewish education.

While the Foundation has spent a year and a half studying the leadership field, much remains to be learned in how best to invest in leaders and leadership development. In addition to the new Leading Edge grant, the Foundation is investing $7 million to an additional 11 organizations that submitted proposals for their leadership development initiatives following the Foundation’s recent RFP. These grants all approach leadership development through various lenses and reach various target populations, such as social justice leadership, thought leadership, early childhood leadership and education, and youth leadership.

Representatives from this new group of grantees are being invited to attend two convenings to learn from and with one another, and will participate in a cross-portfolio research study to understand common outcomes, themes, and strategies in developing Jewish education leaders. Representatives of current Jim Joseph Foundation grantees in the leadership space are also being invited to participate in the convenings and the study. To help ensure alignment with a field-wide agenda, professionals at Leading Edge will play a central role in advising and guiding key components of this important, cross-portfolio work.

Evolution of a Jewish Leadership Think Tank

Critically, Leading Edge is building on its initial success and is still evolving its early stages of organizational and governance formation. It intends to spread ideas, convene the field, and test new programs to develop current and future Jewish leaders, focusing on executive professionals, volunteer boards, and workplace culture. To help re-focus its mission, it will frame itself as a Think Tank, Platform, and Laboratory. Even in its nascent life cycle, Leading Edge has produced several important reports within its current programs, including its Great Places to Work (over 7500 responses from 92 organizations over two years), Lay Leadership Commission (a call to action led by 25 lay leaders and The Bridgespan Group), and Onboarding Best Practices (a useful guide to any organization looking for best practices in bringing on new team members). It has convened multiple stakeholders at various local and national Jewish conferences, including Jewish Funders Network, JFNA’s General Assembly, and Foundation for Jewish Camp’s Leaders Assembly. And Leading Edge recently launched its second cohort of CEO Onboarding, bringing together 14 Jewish leaders new to their organization for a year of leadership development, including executive coaching, a community of practice, an Israel Seminar, and learning with faculty from top-ranked institutions and leadership organizations in the public, private and nonprofit sectors.

In addition to focusing on professional executives and lay leaders, Leading Edge will also focus on workplace culture. Culture emanates from the top, but grows throughout an organization. Peter Drucker’s famous adage, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” is wisely heeded, and Dan Pink has taught us that motivation, autonomy, and purpose are essential drivers for a happy and productive workforce. Collaborations are also brewing. Leading Edge is working closely with JPRO to connect, educate, inspire and empower professionals working in the Jewish community, and Fund the People (a secular version of Leading Edge). The so-called “talent deficit,” Rusty Stahl of Fund the People argues, is actually a matter of talent investment deficit. Stahl makes the case that it is up to funders, working with their nonprofit partners, to lead by example and provide more financial support for professional development, leadership training, capacity support, and other items that might be swept under the “overhead” line item – an overused and underappreciated cost of doing business.

Let’s Model Successful Leadership Initiatives

Funders are pursing many forms of creative investment in this space, which we know offer significant opportunities for modeling and adapting:

Barr and Durfee Foundations, and O2 Initiatives, have made sabbaticals their place of impact. Give your leaders time off, the research shows, and they come back rejuvenated, thinking and delegating more strategically, and enhancing the skills of their senior team and board.

Packard and Robin Hood Foundations, and the Haas, Jr. Fund, invest additional money in technical support, management skills, and other flexible leadership grants. This benefit fills gaps in leadership throughout an organization to better achieve its strategic goals.

Other funders and organizations run their own fellowship programs, from the Wexner Field Fellowship, Schusterman Fellowship, and Selah Leadership Program. These are ongoing and immersive leadership programs, with commonalities including coaching, in person convenings, and a mix of focus on personal development, professional growth and Jewish learning.

Leading Edge itself offers a useful model of “walking the walk.” Their budget reflects their values, with a strong investment in professional development and staff benefits. As an organization working to change the field in how Jewish professionals are treated, valued and nurtured, Leading Edge implements internally what it wants to infuse in the field.

The foundation continues to learn from its grantee partners about the best way to invest in programs that train educators. This learning has and will continue to inform the foundation’s approach to investing in education leaders. Successful educators and successful leaders have much in common: they ask good questions, they are good managers, they have vision and they are constantly learning themselves. It is not surprising that a founding principle of the Jim Joseph Foundation is that Jewish education should be loosely defined as that which imbues leadership skills in youth. There is no doubt that as the Foundation takes on this new chapter with an increasing focus on inspiring educators and leaders, it will encounter success and failure along the way, and continue to learn from other leaders in the field.

The Jim Joseph Foundation is energized by the numerous funders already investing in leadership for the Jewish community. We are hopeful and excited about collaborating with more funding partners to build the alliance around Leading Edge to advance this essential area of work.

This article originally appeared on EJewishPhilanthrophy.com on October 24, 2017.

Leaders from Jim Joseph Foundation reflect on the Foundation’s recent commitment to increase its support for talented and inspiring Jewish educators and leaders.

Leadership Development: A Strategy Emerges, Investments Are Made

I recently got a call from a friend who graduated from a top business school and was considering three great job offers: one doing marketing with a professional sports team; one as an account manager with a tech start up; and, one doing development with a Jewish Federation. He was seeking my advice about which position to accept.

I asked him the questions my father had always asked me when faced with such choices: “Which job would you enjoy the most? Which would really allow you to grow? Which boss would make the best mentor?”

It was a no brainer. “I want to be around smart people. I want to be proud of what I do. I want to make the world a better place,” he said. Today, he’s doing exactly that at a Jewish Federation.

We need more outstanding young leaders, like my friend, who choose to build their careers in our sector because they view Jewish organizations in a positive light – filled with opportunity and support.

There has been a lot of talk over the past few years – on these very digital pages, in particular – about the dearth of emerging leaders in the Jewish nonprofit sector. Following extensive research identifying the causes of this leadership deficit, 15 foundations and federations founded the Jewish Leadership Pipelines Alliance, recently renamed Leading Edge. The research laid out our path. First, we need to do more to support and nurture talented emerging leaders who are already employed at Jewish nonprofits. Second, we have to create workplaces that attract the many talented young Jews who consider a career in our sector, but ultimately choose a different path because they perceive a lack of value in working at Jewish nonprofits.

The need is urgent. A large majority of Jewish nonprofit organizations – 75 to 90 percent – will need to hire new senior leaders in the next five to seven years.

To address both the immediate and long-term leadership gap facing the Jewish nonprofit sector, Leading Edge will launch three initiatives in 2016:

First, our Leading Places to Work Initiative will guide Jewish nonprofits in creating organizational cultures that attract and retain top professional talent – cultures that emphasize connectivity, open communication, and collaboration.

Second, our Lay Leadership Commission for Professional Recruitment & Retention will engage donors in learning about the leadership deficit, understanding the best practices for closing the leadership gap, and developing recommendations they can use in grant making to ensure a vibrant and solvent Jewish nonprofit sector.

Third, in partnership with the Jim Joseph Foundation and other funders, we will launch a CEO Onboarding Program. This program will provide new CEOs – and the board members responsible for their on boarding – with the skills and support they need to be effective leaders over the long-term and promote the overall health, impact, and stability of their organizations.

These programs are only the beginning. Leading Edge is looking at best practices from both within and beyond the Jewish community. We are listening and learning and actively partnering with those who already are exploring these issues. By creating outstanding workplaces and empowering talent to achieve their full potential, the institutions that represent the backbone of our community will be increasingly dynamic, with cutting edge programs to nurture generations to come.

Please share your thoughts on the approaches Leading Edge should consider as we work to strengthen the talent pipeline of our sector. For example, what do you value most about where you work? Do you feel supported in your own leadership development? Let us know in the comments section below.

This article originally appeared in eJewish Philanthropy on November 22, 2015.

The President & CEO of Leading Edge describes three initiatives that the organization is launching to tackle the leadership pipeline challenge: CEO Onboarding, Leading Places to Work, and the Lay Leadership Commission.

Building the Talent Pipeline for Jewish Nonprofits

What are some changes you might face—or drive—as givers?

Changing political climates, whether federal, state, or local

Local changes (e.g., closing of a key social services agency, hiring of new school superintendent)

Organizational changes (e.g., new trustees or board chair, hiring a first or new staff person, changing philanthropic strategy, influx of assets)

Many theories explain how individuals come to accept change. One, the Change Curve, is particularly accessible. Originally developed in the 1960s by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, it is based on a model of the grieving process—a model Kübler-Ross proposed could be applied to any life-changing event.

Over the years, the Change Curve has become a core concept in change management, and it is often applied in business and other organizational settings. The curve and its associated emotions can be used to predict how people presumably will react to the announcement and subsequent implementation of a significant change. Individuals will progress through the stages differently, and not every individual will experience every stage.

What happens? Shock is usually the initial reaction to change, often due to fear, surprise, or lack of information. Although typically short-lived, it can result in negative fallout (e.g., uncertainty, confusion, a scramble to hold on to resources). After the initial shock passes, denial is common. People may try to convince themselves that the change won’t actually happen, or, if it does, that it won’t affect them. Some may romanticize the past and question the need for change.

What helps? Reiterate what the change is, why it is necessary, and the effects it may have. Provide as much reassurance as possible to support individuals struggling with this stage.

What happens? After shock and denial subside, people may start to feel anger, resentment, or fear. They may resist the change actively or passively, and feel skeptical or frustrated. The lowest point of the curve comes when the anger wears off and the realization hits that the change is a reality. It is common for morale to be low, and for self-doubt and anxiety to peak. During this stage, people may have difficulty expressing their feelings, and disappointment may occur when people acknowledge the impact of what has been lost.

What helps? Planning, preparation, and more communication are key. Consider the impact on people and the objections they may raise. Address doubts and objections early with clear communication and support. Because reactions to change are personal and can be emotional, it is impossible to preempt everything, so be sure to listen and watch carefully during this stage so you can respond expeditiously to the unexpected.

What happens? Here, individuals turn the corner. They understand that change is inevitable, so they try to make sense of what it means to move forward. People begin to work with rather than against the change. And the new opportunities begin to excite them.

What helps? Make sure people are well trained, have the resources and support to execute their new roles, and are given early opportunities to experience what the change will bring. Remind everyone that implementing change takes time. Build in time so people can learn and explore without too much pressure.

What happens? Gradually, change becomes second nature. Your team or organization starts to become productive and efficient, and people embrace the improvements in the way they work.

What helps? Celebrate successes, and continue communicating and supporting the team. Regular progress reports and praise help to cement the buoyant mood. Steady support is key, because there is a risk of slipping back to an earlier stage if people feel unsupported.

Have a plan. A clear road map of what, when, why, and “so what” is critical to allay anxiety. People are much less anxious when they know what to expect.

Communicate often. Because change is about forging a new path, it will take effort and time. Throughout the process, constant communication is needed; without it, rumors begin.

Be specific. Change is scary, because it diverts from the known. One way to alleviate fear is to be specific about what the change is and how it is going to be achieved. “If you want people to change,” write Chip Heath and Dan Heath in their book Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, “you don’t ask them to ‘act healthier.’ You say, ‘Next time you’re in the dairy aisle of the grocery story, reach for a jug of 1% milk instead of whole milk.’”

Remember head and heart. Change can stir up emotions. To effectively manage change, attend to both the rational and emotional sides of a person—the head and the heart.

Amass several quick wins. Change is easier to understand when you see it. Build into the plan several quick wins that indicate the kind of change you want to bring. For example, if your organization is committed to putting people first, giving your team an hour-long lunch instead of a half hour might signal that things are changing.

Keep in mind: Organizations don’t just change because of new systems, processes, or structures. They change because the people within adapt and change too. Only when people make their own transitions—with your help—can an organization truly reap the benefits of change.

This article originally appeared on ExponentPhilanthropy.org on January 8, 2015.

As philanthropists, we will either be undergoing change or driving it throughout our time involved in giving.

Change is life’s only constant. As philanthropists, we will either be undergoing change or driving it throughout our time involved in giving. Whether you love it or hate it, are in a position to react to it or create it, it is critical to our success as change agents to understand how we experience change and what we can do to manage it.

Change: The Invisible Thread in Our Work

The field of Jewish nonprofits is not sufficiently developing and advancing the leaders it already has. 

Many Jewish organizations don’t have the value proposition to attract and retain the leaders they need.

After many years of conversations among funders about the need to invest more in Jewish professional leadership, an unprecedented collaboration between 24 foundations and federations joined together in 2013 to brainstorm how to build a robust talent pipeline for Jewish nonprofits and ensure a vibrant future for our community. This coalition, originally known as the Jewish Leadership Pipelines Alliance, recognized the urgency of the situation: a large majority of Jewish nonprofit organizations – 75 to 90 percent – would need to hire new senior leaders in the next few years, but were struggling to find the talent they needed to fill their senior ranks.

The Alliance engaged the Bridgespan Group to explore the underlying issue and develop a plan to move from talk to action. In 2014, the Alliance released this report, which outlined specific strategies needed for strengthening the pool of potential leaders for senior positions in the field.

Leadership-Pipelines-Initiative-Report-March-2014.pdf

This groundbreaking report by the Bridgespan Group investigates why critical Jewish institutions are struggling to find the talent they need, particularly at the most senior ranks.

An unprecedented collaboration between 24 foundations and federations engaged the Bridgespan Group to explore how to build a robust talent pipeline for Jewish nonprofits and ensure a vibrant future for our community. The result is this report — the founding document of what would become Leading Edge.

Cultivating the Next Generation of Leaders for Jewish Nonprofits

Guide

Data, best practices, and other resources on creating leading places to work.

Organizational Culture

Great leadership starts at the top. Explore executive leadership from search through succession.

Executives

Research and ideas on boards, board chairs, and the board-professional partnership.

Boards

Practical guides and strategies for recruiting, hiring, developing, and retaining top talent.

Talent Management

Explore resources and tools to empower you to drive change in leadership, talent, and culture.

Our library is a hub of resources on leadership, talent, and culture. For a quick-start on any topic, visit our Collections, where we’ve curated the most relevant resources around each topic.