Friday, September 25, 2020

"...EITHER GET BEHIND THE CHAIRPERSON OR GET OFF THE BOARD"

In a recent article in The Forward -- Infighting, turnover buffet the Joint Distribution Committee...-- on the continuing, perhaps growing, balagan at the top levels of the Joint we wrote about in our Post Whither JDC?, a minority of Board members appear to be continuing a battle they already lost when Mark Sisisky was elected the organization's new President. I'll leave this imbroglio to others suggesting only that all Board members and the new President engage in the introspection demanded of us at Yom Kippur.

Instead, I want to reflect on the demand by one Joint Board Member as demanded, according to a transcript of a contentious Board meeting: "Mark is the president, you either get behind him, or you get off the board." I have heard the same demand made of me back when I served of the JFNA Executive, and my objections to a given action were made at a meeting in private. These are not a demand for achdut; these are nothing less than a demand that a non-profit Board member: never dissent. This is not prescriptive for democracy; it is the precursor to autocracy.

Organizations have choices of what they want to be -- but one of those choices should never be to demand total obeisance to those in power. What should be...always...is total obeisance to the organization, its values, its purposes. And that obeisance demands expression, even dissent, when the emperor has no clothes. 

Friends, achdut is not a matter that can be demanded; it can only be created through open debate. It can't be imposed. And, when and where attempts are made to impose unity; those fail. They failed at JFNA, they failed at the Conference of Presidents and they will fail at JDC. 

Any Board Chair/President who demands that the organization's Board act in lockstep with him/her on all matters, in doing so has planted the seeds of organizational collapse. If good faith "dissenters" are forced into some form of ostracism; soon Boards become dysfunctional and institutions die. Non-profit leadership demands a certain amount of flexibility; an understanding that "I am not always right" -- a willingness to seriously consider dissenting views. 

So, to that JDC Board member, whose demand frames the title of this Post, I'd suggest a possible corollary: If you cannot tolerate good faith dissent, you should resign.

Rwexler



5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Richard

Can I suggest that the dissenters you discuss are not acting in good faith. They are a tiny few that refused to accept Mark as the new President, ran an unprecedented and hostile campaign to unseat Mark, lost but continue to try and undermine him.

The very fact that you can share the quote of the person you criticize is evidence that these hostile dissenters taped a confidential and closed board session and then released that tape to the media. In their anger and attempt to unseat the duly elected President, they have continually leaked stories to the media which damage the reputation of the JDC and its fund raising efforts. They do not care that their efforts to hurt Mark hurt the organization far more.

Their claims are all spurious, from the disbandment of the original search committee which was beset by numerous procedural and ethical breaches, to the claims of lack of transparency and good governance. The new CEO has been in place for only seven months, and this small group of under 10% of the board has been unrelenting since day one to unseat the him.

So, before leveling claims, please understand that the board member that was so incensed was referring to the unrelenting effort to re-litigate the election

Anonymous said...

Anon 6:53 is wrong. The original search committee was tampered with and undermined by the President. There is no new CEO -- just another interim, who is also leaving, to be replaced by another interim CEO. The parade of foolish decisions, angry recriminations, shouts and insults, all come from the top.

Anonymous said...

The fish always stinks from the head first. This battle has been brewing. The current lay leadership is the problem. The strength of the Joint has always been the staff in the field. They are unhappy, frustrated and disenchanted. Your first respondent cleary a JDC insider should ask themself why is all this has happened. Try looking in the mirror first.

paul jeser said...

Robert - from your city -

A BEAUTIFUL HAYOM T’AMTZEINU
preceded by an inspirational message from Chicago’s Mayor!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CKssFrkO-o

G'mar Chatima Tova!

paul jeser said...

Robert????? I meant Richard! Yikes! Sorry! :-)