TOO PERSONAL AND TOO PAINFUL TO TOO MANY

Over the course of the 1-1/2 years of this Blog, I have received many very personal e-mails and phone calls from men and women who have endured the pain of working in an environment that should be sacred but has become, instead, profane. Many Comments to my Posts have portrayed an organization suffused with pettiness, infighting and politicization. The ugliness, it seems, begins at the very top and has worked its way down the Table of Organization deep into the bowels of a small group of Senior Managers out of a larger Senior Management Team who appear to believe that "following" the boss's lead would assure their own longevity.

So, here is what we have learned. Professionals who led UJC's efforts in the Speaker's Bureau, UJC Direct, Blue Knot, Donor Acquisition and others were summarily dismissed. Some had received Service Awards, others had received "notes" from the CEO commending their "loyalty" and thanking them for it. Programs like Blue Knot and UJC Direct, cutting edge in approach and connecting UJC to donors and communities as were few others, were terminated. Many of those who were terminated, who have written to me directly, or to this Blog anonymously, have pointed the finger at, e.g., the refusal of UJC's leadership to impose a salary reduction to reduce terminations and to the Board Chair's apparent insistence on spending what is now millions on a marketing and branding study while valuable professionals and long time support staff were let go into the worst economic tsunami our system, our country, have ever faced.

Friends, we let this happen.

Rwexler