Route Recommendations

Dusting Myself Off.
Trying to emerge from “narrow spaces” (mitzrayim).

As Pesach 2016 comes to a close, I am reflective of the narrow space I feel I have been trapped in for a long time.  I can’t believe that I have allowed two years to go by without blogging.  Those two years have been filled with a lot of heartache and struggle due to my depression (refer to this blog post for the original story: here).  A constant questioning if I will ever find my old self again – and the truth is – I am still not sure.  But here is what I do know – that when I am in the moment of “doing my thing” – whether it be presenting a workshop/training, facilitating visioning, mentoring staff, or teaching teens – I am happy.  

I still gut check myself to ask “Am I still in the right field for me?  Do I still have a passion for Jewish education?  Do I still want to wake up every day and do this work?”  And the answer is still “100% yes” – on the days when I can wake up and get out of bed or off the couch.  It is so important that we not be afraid to ask ourselves these core questions on a regular basis.  If there comes a time when you sit and reflect on your passions and the way you embody them in your career and you don’t feel a connect or congruence, then it might be time to change careers – no matter how old or young you are.

First of all, I want to acknowledge the overwhelming support I received after my last blog post.  The gratitude I feel is immense.  With over 1000 hits to the blog and hundreds of notes, emails and texts that I received in support, I know that I can be open and honest in all my future dealings.  We are on the verge of a culture shift, but each need to engage in due diligence to let our employees and lay leaders know that we operate “safe zones” for those battling mental health issues.  Consider partnering with your local Jewish Family Service organization to provide some information at staff training and board meetings.  Be explicit that you don’t want your employees to hide these health issues and that you will do everything you can to guarantee their job security – as with other illnesses.  Provide options in your employee benefits for true “mental health” days – understanding that for some people it means a random break from the pace of the job and for others it’s a pillar of steadiness that will help them get through the next hurdle without feeling guilty.  So many people have approached me in the last month to share about their personal battles and far too many are still afraid to let their co-workers and lay leaders know what they are facing.   This culture change will require many allies to help make the shift.

There will not be an April 2014 Route Recommendation.  Instead, please read this blog post about being a professional dealing with depression. 

How many assumptions do we make around Jewish celebrations?  That all b’nei mitzvah experiences are joyous family events and that Purim is fun for everyone?  I have heard some recent stories about family trauma surrounding brit/simhat bat, weddings and b’nei mitzvah.  Think about the bride/groom who walks down the aisle without a parent because s/he lost that person young … or the bar/bat mitzvah family who buried a grandparent only days before the simcha …. or the family who is in constant battle because of a divorce trying to come together for a brit. 

What role does the community have in supporting these people/families in a unique way during these otherwise joyful occasions?  Who teaches us how to support them?  And what about the recovering addict who wants to celebrate Purim or Pesach in a sober, safe and supportive environment?  With so much emphasis on alcohol during these chagim (and even Shabbat kiddush), what words and option might we offer in order to be a compassionate community.   Consider what kinds of awareness programs your organization might need to put into place to support people through what the rest of us assume is a “joyous occasion.” 

Sometimes, it just all can’t get done.  This Route Recommendation is coming 11 days later than I normally post them because I have been sick with the flu for two weeks now and wasn’t feeling great even before that.  So much work has fallen behind as a result.  This situation has three great lessons for us buried within it.  The first, one that I often struggle with, is that not everything can get done right away.  Sometimes we need a “parking lot” for big ideas that come to us and often we need to re-prioritize the to-do list based on what our current organization realities are.  The second lesson is about admitting when we can’t do it all.   Sometimes we – as individuals or as organizations overcommit- which I also struggle with.  When we find ourselves in over our heads, sometimes the best solution is just to admit it.  Another lesson – which can be a solution for this – is to ask for help.  I think often organizations hesitate to call other organizations to ask for help.  Maybe it’s for something easy like asking to use a copy machine when yours is broken before a big meeting; or maybe it’s more complicated like asking to share an entire facility during construction.  While this item of the Route Recommendation on my to-do list loomed above me while I was sick, perhaps the best solution would have been to ask one of my amazing colleagues to “guest blog.”  

Much has been written about the “art of welcoming” but when is the last time your organization did a “Welcoming Audit?”   Did you read this article about the pastor of a church who disguised himself as a homeless man and went into his own church to see how people would act?  It’s kind of like an episode of Undercover Boss.  Here’s a chance to get dressed up in disguise or send in an undercover spy  (a “secret shopper” of sorts).  Do people get welcomed throughout your building? What does ‘welcoming’ mean in different spaces/areas of your physical building?  What does it mean if your organization is holding an event outside your walls? Are guests “welcomed” on the way out – meaning are they invited back or told that your organization hopes they return soon.   Spend a day as a spy in your own organization and see if the Jewish value of “Haknassat Orkhim” is alive and well in within your culture.

Partnerships are a two-way street.  Sometimes we engage people as “partners” but we never ask what we can do to help them, we are always thinking about how the partnership will benefit our organization.  What strengths, skills, capital, assets, etc does your organization have that you could “loan” to another organization?  Before approaching a potential partner to join you in something you are doing (or want to do), ask yourself what you might bring to that organization in the deal.  Even if the exchange isn’t immediate, by including it into the conversation you are validating the other organization and demonstrating that you care about them/their success and not just your own.

Every time I am lost in a subway station in Manhattan, I think that I should offer the City Planning folks a tour of the city through the eyes of a tourist.  I think this would help them with signage, maps, etc.   Because, honestly, what is there stinks and is less than helpful!  As someone who is a guest in a lot of institutions, I often think the same thing – that the “regulars” think that everything is obvious but as a guest, I can tell you it isn’t. Have you recently walked through your institution with the eyes of a new person who has never been there before? 

I encourage you to take a day and pretend you have never been to your building before.  Not only will this help you understand how your guests perceive your building, but it will also help you in your on-board plan for new employees.  If you feel your “sight” will be too “blurred” by your own comfort of the space, invite a colleague who has never been to your facility to spend a day with you being your “eyes.”   This might help you not only understand what signage might be helpful, but what physical space adjustments might make your organization more welcoming.

I was sitting at dinner the other night with the digital strategy director of a local Jewish organization.  We were talking about how our two organizations (well, both of mine and hers – so three) utilize social media and integrate it into a larger communications plan. We were discussing how advantageous it would be if Jewish organizations in the same community made an agreement (call is a brit) to re-tweet and to share on Facebook each other’s events and announcements.  It sends a true message to the Jewish community when the organizations which serve as its infrastructure work together for a greater good.  Reach out to the other social media professionals in your city for a community-wide gathering.  Offer some professional development, share some ideas, and make that covenant.  As we approach 5774, may this be a time for renewal for all of us.  Shanah Tovah U’Metukah.

Consider a new twist on how you market your organization. Make a list of the 10 things your organizations does best. Ask 15 potential clients/members what 5 things they look for in an organization that does work similar to yours (whatever meta-category you fit into). Are there places those two lists cross-over? What would it look like for your organization to provide training, information or programming out in the community based on those topics? For example, if you are a JCC and are great at kids’ day camp, consider opportunities to run 1-day mini-camps all over community – at festivals, at the Jewish hospital for older siblings of newborns, at day schools during breaks, etc. If you are a Foundation or a fundraising organization, consider offering family philanthropy workshops in locations around the city. Make them geographically accessible and make the program about the content, and not a sales pitch for your organization. Once you have made first contact with people, on neutral turf and with a service they can use, you then have laid the foundation for a new kind of relationship with those potential clients/members. Follow up later with an informational enews related to the topic and then further down the road, invite them into your organization/building for another taste of what you offer. It takes time to build relationships and finding unique marketing opportunities will help you in that endeavor. 

When people ask me about my approach to social media, I am confident to share that I have built my business off the back of Twitter, Facebook, WordPress and LinkedIn. Sometimes I am pressed to pinpoint a specific moment or strategy that tipped the scales. It’s an easy answer: live-tweeting conferences. If you have yet to venture onto Twitter, I apologize upfront for the lingo I am about to use and not explain – but perhaps it will encourage you to Google it or to just jump in. 

The benefit of live-tweeting conferences is multi-fold: 

• Hashtags get you noticed by people who don’t follow you. Nowadays, every conference or large meeting has its own hashtag. Not only can participants in the event keep track of the tweets coming from the event, but it allows those who are not able to attend to jump into the conversation.
• Which brings me to my next point. By offering those who can’t attend your live-tweets, you are providing a valuable free service to people. Oftentimes you can become their voice in the room – asking questions they submit via Twitter. You provide them with a “Cliff’s Note” version of the content of the conference. 
• Twitter offers you the ability to showcase your otherwise “private” thoughts in a public forum. During a conference session or a meeting (when it’s appropriate) you can also provide quick op-eds for the content that the speaker is offering. You don’t have to wait until you get home from a conference to share your thoughts. You can share the powerful snippets the speaker shares, you can offer your commentary, you can engage in a discussion about it – all live and in the moment.
• Retweets. When someone sees your live-tweets, commentary, etc and it resonates with them, they can re-send it out to all of their followers with a quick click of the cursor. Sometimes even the hosting organizations will retweet your postings. Now you have multiplied your exposure infinitely.
• Live tweeting at conferences lets others using the same hashtag know you are “in the building” which makes personal meet-ups very easy.  We all know that hallway conversations, meals or late nights at the bar is where the conference magic happens.

So, if you are trying to get noticed on a national platform for the value you bring to the field, try live-tweeting the next conference you attend. Then sit back, and watch your connections grow.

Webinar overload? In the last month, I have been on three webinars and given two. Sitting in front of our computers with 1000 other things to do often leads to significant multi-tasking. It’s so easy to dis-engage from a webinar because we don’t see ourselves as active participants. A piece of feedback I received from one participant in one I gave last week is “this is the first webinar where I didn’t ‘zone out.’” So, what might have been different between the one I gave and the countless others this person has signed up for? Participation. How often do we log into a webinar to only be spoken to and shown static slides for an hour (or more)? If we are lucky, there is an open chat box where people can introduce themselves and if there are great people also on-line we can interact with the other participants (sometimes the BEST learning/collaboration takes place in that chat box!).

Every once in a while, a presenter uses a poll (maybe one or two) during the course of a webinar. My best webinar experiences have come when the software used allows for break-out rooms and participants are given time to tackle an issue together in small groups and then are brought back to the main conversation to share and process. So this is a technique I try to utilize each time the software allows for it. Consider – is there a way to capture information from the participants ahead of time that you can use in the conversation? For example, use a survey software for registration and ask additional questions of registrants related to your topic and use the data within the presentation.

This way, the webinar directly reflects the participants’ work and opinions. If there is a whiteboard where participants can mark-up a document or contribute to the creation of something, then use it. Showing movies, using audio clips, and embedding other multi-media tools all raises the quality of a webinar. Clearly, some of these techniques are reliant on the capabilities of the webinar software used, so be sure your organization has invested in the best they can. There isn’t a perfect formula, however, the more interactive you can make the webinar you are giving or hosting (just like any presentation), the better.