Florence G. Heller-JCC Association Research Center surveyed JCC leaders to find out the qualities that make an effective communal leader. Read release for results.
New York , NY , December 24, 2007 With current corporate research and literature offering scant guidance to nonprofit agencies seeking to identify and nurture volunteers who can effectively lead, the Florence G. Heller-JCC Association Research Center set out to answer the question, What makes a Jewish Community Center president effective?
The new study, Leader Among Leaders: Qualities of Effective Presidents of Jewish Community Centers, was conducted by Prof. Steven M. Cohen and Lauren Blitzer of the Florence G. Heller JCC Association Research Center and commissioned by the Mandel Center for Excellence in Leadership and Management at JCC Association. The Web-based survey, conducted during a two-week period last spring, polled current and former JCC presidents and executive directors, asking them to assess the qualities of effective and ineffective JCC presidents they know well.
The inquiry has broad policy implications for JCC Association and other umbrella organizations that offer programs on leadership development for the nonprofit and public sectors and seek to enhance working relationships between volunteer leaders and professional staff. In reflecting on the survey, Cohen remarked, We've hit upon a quality of lay leadership that hasn't been adequately recognized in the past, and that is a person's ability to motivate and manage a team of leaders to be the leader among leaders.
Accordingly, the most important traits associated with effective leadership, the study found, were a willingness to personally engage and guide others, work collaboratively with professional management, cultivate donor relations, and project and inspire a vision. It was critical, too, according to survey participants, for presidents to set clear strategic goals, be comfortable with the budget process, and have a large and influential social network in the organized Jewish community and elsewhere. Of less importance, the survey determined, was previous fundraising and leadership experience at the JCC.
In arriving at its conclusions, the study examined the influence of such factors as gender; affluence; business/management skills and experience; prior leadership roles in the JCC; involvements in other Jewish communal agencies and nonprofit organizations; formal and informal Jewish educational background; and level of Jewish observance.
Among other highlights to emerge were:
- Women are considered more talented and effective on every aspect of leadership examined with the exception of analytical/business skills.
- Not surprisingly, JCC presidents with personal wealth have the ability to make greater financial contributions and cultivate social networks with money and influence.
- Planning and preparation for assuming the presidency, as well as previous Jewish communal involvement prior to assuming the mantle of the presidency, are key to effectiveness, outstripping earlier experience on the JCC board.
- Board conflict and under-performing boards were strongly linked to ineffective leadership.
- Executive transition (the hiring and firing of an executive director) present extraordinary opportunities for strong leadership to make a lasting impact.
- Healthy finances and collaborative relationships with executive directors also mark effective presidents.
- Most critically, effective presidents are successful in motivating and inspiring other volunteer leaders.
Ann Eisen , a former executive director of the New Orleans JCC who now works for JCC Association as a consultant on leadership development, observed, When people look back on leaders they consider effective, it's usually someone who made something happen, not just served as a caretaker.' As someone who focuses on leadership development, I have already suggested to incoming presidents that they read the survey, she continued.
To access the survey through the JCC Association website, log onto www.jcca.org and click on the publications link on the Florence G. Heller-JCC Association Research Center page.
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JCC Association
is the leadership network of, and central agency for the Jewish
Community Center Movement, which is comprised of 350 JCC,
YM-YWHA and camp sites in the U. S. and Canada. JCC Association
offers a wide range of services and resources to strengthen
the capacity of its affiliates to provide educational, cultural,
social, Jewish identity-building, and recreational programs
to enhance the lives of North American Jews of all ages and
backgrounds. Additionally, the movement fosters and strengthens
connections between North American Jews and Israel as well
as with world Jewry. JCC Association is also the U.S. government
accredited agency for serving the religious and social needs
of Jewish military personnel, their families, and patients
in VA hospitals through JWB Jewish Chaplains Council.
Miriam
Rinn
Communications Manager
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