Tuesday, November 6, 2018

CHANGE

     "I bark and I bark but I never feel like I effect real change."

The New Yorker captured the story of this Blog in one simple cartoon. (October 15, 2018) It is the cartoon equivalent of that which has been attributed to Albert Einstein:  "the meaning of insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result."

Yes, that's been...me. Barking and barking and barking again. Baying at the moon, as it were.

I admit it. As a fund raiser, I am an eternal optimist. I have believed that people, especially those charged with sacred responsibilities will do the right thing....will always do the right thing. Einstein would have admonished me.

Since I first began this Blog, I have made it a practice to go silent on matters related to JFNA upon each passing of the gavel from one Board Chair to the next out of what proved to be the false hope that the incoming Chair, having seen the deconstruction of JFNA under her/his predecessor, would take the bold steps necessary to force the radical surgery that would restart the organization, moving it in important directions, in critical directions...away from the sorry past to a brighter future for JFNA, for its federation members, for the "system," for our donors.

Yet, Kathy Manning was so obsessively focused on what would be the multi-million dollar disaster of her Global Planning Table, that, against the best advice from leaders far more relevant than I, she wasted her leadership years on the Rube Goldbergian-GPT; she neither wanted nor tolerated counsel -- other than her own. Michael Siegal, a spectacular philanthropist, wanted to effect change; he understood that major change was needed; change that he was unable to deliver. I shared Michael's frustration.

In the weeks before Richard Sandler succeeded Michael Siegal, he agreed to meet with me at his office in Santa Monica. He was extremely generous with his time and in sharing with me his vision for his Chairmanship. I felt that his leadership philosophy -- expressed as getting out of the way of the organization's professions and letting them "do their job" -- was inconsistent with the fiduciary, the sacred, responsibilities of lay leadership. Ours was an argument l'shem shamayim. It went nowhere. 

And, so, in each instance, my period of self-imposed silence was abandoned for the balance of each of these wonderful, committed lay leaders' whose only desire was to do good in service to the Jewish People, terms.

Now, Richard Sandler has passed the gavel to Mark Wilf. Mark can be the paradigmatic JFNA transformational change agent. His background inside the system and outside -- from Chair of the Young Leadership Cabinet through National Campaign Chair, his federation leadership roles and as the driving force behind JFNA's successful Holocaust Survivor Initiative. The Wilf Family's generous contributions to Holocaust survivor efforts are part of their and Mark's n'shama. Now, he will face his biggest challenge -- because his success as Chair is entwined with the need for a dynamic professional partner -- how quickly he will have one is wholly within his hands.

My confidence in Mark has been magnified in recent days when I learned that Chicago's David Brown will serve as the 2020 National Campaign Chair. With David's incredibly broad range of leadership roles locally and with JFNA, he and Mark hold out the promise of being the most formidable JFNA leadership team in decades. (To the extent that is damning with faint praise, so be it.)

Based on that promise, I will soon put that portion of this Blog that is commentary on JFNA on hiatus. I, with you, expect serious and transformational change. As i wish Mark only success, I won't wait long.

Rwexler















4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please keep on"barking." Whatever sunshine has hit 25 Broadway, it's you and those who have Commeted to your Posts who are responsible for it.. Mark Wilf is a good guy and a tough businessman but he has never confronted a set of tasks more formidable than those he is facing as Chair. Where will he get his advice? From Sandler, Silverman or their sycophants? That answer will provide you with some early answers. I fear he's not up to it.

RWEX said...

To my Anonymous friend who just wrote with some election results: I share your sentiment but can't publish your Comment. I hope you understand. My fear: the person you cite will now have more time to negatively meddle.

Anonymous said...

You will not be able to keep silent for long because they are pushing forward with their outrageous Global Operations Review,
Bridgespan and who knows what else, all being staged by the beaurocrats, sold to select lay people who are willing to be used, don't realize that they are being used or are just hoping to be rewarded for their "leadership." Then it will all be pushed through the so called "decision making process" and we will find that we have been mislead once again.
I suggest you keep barking and turn the heat up to the maximum extent possible before it is too late.
I suggest also looking for a mechanism to more widely distribute the content of your blog so that a much larger readership can be exposed to the issues and hopefully be convinced to say "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
You need to lead this effort to victory. It won't be sufficient if you just turn out to be able to say "I told you so" at the funeral.

Anonymous said...

Richard,
I also appreciate your intent to go silent for a while and let Mark assess the situation.
However, I also agree with Anon 11:30 in that your observations about JFNA should continue to be brought to light, not as a criticism, but as another opportunity for all JFNA leadership to be aware of things that they might not see because they are too close to the situation.
Regarding Mark, I agree with everything you said about his leadership and background, but I have to differ with you on whether or not he is not up to it. I assure you he is.
To begin with, look at his business and the Vikings (injuries notwithstanding). Secondly, his background in leadership positions at JFNA, as opposed to his 3 predecessors, afford him a cadre of colleagues and mentors that I am confident, will provide him with any guidance he needs.