Wed Jul 23, 2008 at 15:14:25 PM EDT
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( - promoted by Sheila Webb-Halpern)
“The Jewish communal field is staffed predominantly by women, yet the majority of [its] CEO positions are occupied by men.”
Why is this? Why is it a problem? What can we do about it? These are the questions answered by Shifra Bronznick, Didi Goldenhar and Marty Linsky in their new book Leveling the Playing Field: Advancing Women in Jewish Organizational Life.
Leveling the Playing Field is a guide for anyone interested in leading a gender equity initiative at a Jewish organization. It is steered by the assumption that creating gender equity will improve the health of Jewish communal organizations and overall workplace effectiveness. It is a strategy manual and workbook, with a lot of personal stories thrown in for good measure. And I liked it very much.
Why are the people in charge mostly men?
It’s probably more helpful to flip this question around. Why are women so often overlooked as promotable, talented people? Since nobody has yet uncovered a vast conspiracy among men to retain CEO positions for themselves, this is an awfully tricky question, lots of factors, blah blah. But here are some clues Bronznick has uncovered for us:
- The executive search process relies on a largely male network for referral and recruitment of candidates
- Leadership style is viewed differently depending on gender. For example, an “aggressive” style is often seen as positive and necessary for men but as a negative attribute among women.”
- Work-life balance and challenges of relocation impede women’s advancement significantly. While these issues also affect men, they have more of a negative impact on women.
Why is it a problem? |
| Hannah Farber :: Equity in Jewish Organizations: Why It's Important and How To Get There |
As Bronznick articulates, “An organization with overwhelmingly male leadership, despite a majority of female staff, is not likely to be operating as a meritocracy and therefore is not taking full advantage of its talent pool.” Regardless of what you think about the abstract importance of parity, if the majority of your staff is not considered promotable, something is wrong.
What can we do about it?
Given that potential change agents (Bronznick assumes) are deeply invested in the Jewish communal world and immersed in its nonprofit, all-in-the-family vibe, it is particularly important that stakeholders continue to perceive each other as good guys while they work for change. (This stands in dramatic contrast to “outsider vs. insider” change strategies created by people like Saul Alinsky; which are all about finding the “bad guys.”). Leveling the Playing Field outlines tactics for people who are inside the system and hoping to stay there. Great for Organization Kids like me, and for anyone else who’d prefer to remain employed in this economy.
Politicking, change-strategizing and initiative-leading are skills that come naturally to some people. Others need to be taught how to use them. Hardly anybody gets to learn them in the explicit form that Leveling the Playing Field offers, but since many women lack mentors, they often don’t even get to learn by mirroring their older friends and colleagues.
Leveling the Playing Field contains mentor-like advice such as:
- Think Politically (It’s all about relationships)
- Orchestrate the conflict: (“You will position yourself, not as the advocate, but as the facilitator of uncomfortable conversations about the importance of gender equity and what the organization might have to sacrifice on its behalf.”
- Revise the narrative (“Listen carefully at meetings and public events. Extract the stories and folklore from the organizational history. Are the triumphs and inspirational moments tethered only to male ‘heroes?’”)
- Create a structure for scouting and developing talent
Really, Leveling the Playing Field is a guide to making any kind of change, or advancing any overlooked group, at any kind of organization. And my only regret is that the book offers few tips for women beginning their careers or starting out at an organization. It’s true that most change can’t be accomplished until you have accumulated status and a track record, but I would have loved to get Shifra’s take on how to encourage people to classify you as leadership material during those critical early periods.
Bronznick et al provide stories that cut through some of the wearying – though crucial – organization-ese. For example, here’s a great lesson from Barbara Balser, the first woman to become president of the ADL:
“I learned that you can’t sit back and wait to be asked. You have to go to the kingmakers and offer yourself. My role as development chair had positioned me as a serious national player. At first I didn’t tell anyone that I had decided to run, so I was stunned when another individual asked me to support him fr that same position. I didn’t realize that people actually approached each others and asked for their support!”
However, my favorite story in this book comes from Maxine Epstein, a local director of a Jewish Community Federation who went after a CEO position. Inspired by an article asking “Who will fill the shoes?” of the departing CEO, Epstein made a play. Girding herself with righteousness, quoting Sojourner Truth, wholly complimentary of the all-male CEOs she sought to follow, Epstein wrapped up a pair of her blue pumps in her resume and mailed them to the current CEO’s office. In retrospect, Epstein concludes,
“I can honestly say that this dramatic act of arm-waving and quiet shouting … made no difference whatsoever. And I kind of miss my shoes.
For some reason, this sums it all up for me about the complexities of leadership. You have to be bold. You have to have good ideas. You have to ask for more if you want more. You have to have a sense of humor. But if you want to lead an organization, you probably shouldn’t mail them your shoes.
I intend to steal this book from my office. When I leave Jewish Funds for Justice next week, I will be entering another field notorious for institutional inertia and politicking. And I will be taking a copy of Leveling the Playing Field with me.
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