Israel:
We delivered three programs in Israel in March and April. Two of the programs were at the Leo Baeck Education Center in Haifa. Founded in 1938 as a preschool, it was the first Reform Jewish institution in Israel. Today, Leo Baeck’s mission is to promote the spirit of Progressive Judaism and tikun olam; to cultivate tolerance while instilling a sense of commitment to Jewish tradition; and to build a constituency of progressive Israelis. Leo Baeck could be thought of as a community of communities since it encompasses a highly regarded junior and senior high school, the Lokey International Academy of Jewish Studies, and a Community Center with a staff of 200 that serves the diverse constituencies of the larger Haifa area.
At the Community Center, we offered our basic program designed to create a new level of relatedness among the senior staff and to give them the tools to more effectively shape their own future. The director and 14 department heads took three days from their incredibly busy schedules to do this. As professional social workers at the top of their field, these managers had been to many, many training programs over their careers. Halfway through the first day they shared their astonishment at how different, how challenging, and how invigorating the Mastery Foundation’s work is. Several weeks later, they sent us an email saying they were benefiting from what they had learned and would like to talk with us about further programs.
In 2005, we had offered this same program to the entire staff of the Lokey Academy, so on this visit we had a follow-up day where they worked to apply the distinctions in language on specific issues they were dealing with. Some of the staff had breakthroughs in their communication with each other, and the report — a month after the program — was that communication and conversation among the staff have improved overall. Our working partnership with the Lokey Academy is becoming a regular highlight for Mastery’s team.
Anyone who works with others knows it is no small thing to bring an entire staff or work group to a new level of relationship and communication. As important and challenging as that is, however, it was still a jolt when we encountered the drama and energy of a large group of Bedouin teenagers assembled to work with us on their own capacity as leaders.
Last July, at the invitation of the Rabin Center, we had delivered a two-day, leadership program in Tel Aviv to 40 young people from the Bedouin city of Rahat. On this trip, we drove to the Negev to do a follow-up day with them in their hometown. They were clearly honored to have us as their guests, and they used the opportunity to show us their hospitality, share their culture, and express their appreciation and affection for us.
There were 55 young men and women in the room, ranging in age from about 10 to 19 years old. Of the total group, probably no more than a third had participated in the 2005 program. Some of last year’s group were away at school or graduated from the young leader program. But the older members of the program had been working with new members, teaching them what they had learned, so it was possible for us to work with the whole group with very little review.
Leveraging what is known as the "World Café" technology, we began with everyone seated in groups of four or five around small tables covered in white paper. One person at each table acted as the host. We gave the groups four rounds of topics or questions to discuss and packages of crayons so they could draw or diagram their discussions. Between rounds, we asked them to report on their conversations and then asked everyone but the host to move to a new table. These are the questions they discussed:
- Share an experience of good leadership - your own or someone else’s. There was a lot of agreement that being a good leader was about being strict, disciplined, and authoritarian with others. This is the most visible leadership model that they see every day in their homes and communities.
- Share an experience where you made a difference as a leader. It was a delight to hear about the possibility of leadership in teenage lives that ranged from encouraging a friend to quit smoking, to taking the lead in school projects, to taking action in the local community.
- Share an experience where you tried to lead and it didn’t work. Interestingly, this topic provoked a conversation at most tables about failure. Several tables reported that a good leader was one who assessed the risk and if failure seemed likely, the leader would not even try. The conclusion they made is that a good leader is someone who never fails.
- What possibility do you see for yourself as a leader in your community? They had some wonderful answers: this one will be a councilman, this one will lead the soccer team, and this one will lead her class. Suddenly, the room had the electricity of possibility, the shared sense that something can show up in the future that does not come from the past.
After lunch, we began working with some of the distinctions of leadership we taught them in the 2005 summer program as they applied to specific situations they chose. We engaged them with the idea that there is a kind of leadership that everyone can display, and it consists entirely of speaking and listening.
The final question they discussed was: What is the possibility you are going to bring to this situation? We asked one person at each table to report this to the entire room, and we helped them rephrase answers given from a context of problem solving to a context of creating possibility and a place to stand for themselves as leaders. For example, one table addressing a situation of supporting someone who was dealing with a personal problem said, "I think the thing to do is be a friend, show them respect, and listen to what they have to say." Rephrased in the context of possibility, we would say, "As a leader, I am the possibility of friendship, respect and love."
As this happened with each group, the effect was visible on the faces in the room. You could see them brightening as they tried on the idea that, yes, maybe I am that possibility. Even as their memory of this day fades over time, the experience of possibility changes them. So as they continue to work with the Rabin Center coordinators, they will naturally step up and take on more responsibility for their own actions and a greater leadership role with their peers and in their community.
For the Mastery Foundation team of Allan Cohen, Debbie Frieze, Barbara Knox, Dan Brownell, and Ann Overton, being guests in Rahat was an experience that rivaled that of the formal program.
We had a fabulous lunch of chicken, rice, and vegetables, which was served family style to all 75 of us at the meeting. The Americans were surprised when we discovered one woman had prepared it, but in a culture of large weddings and family celebrations, cooking for 75 is apparently no big deal!
After the program, several of the young women did a fashion show of Bedouin women’s dress, which is elaborately embroidered and stunningly beautiful. Then a group of young men exhausted themselves in a spectacular display of traditional Bedouin dancing.
A member of the Rahat city council attended the entire day and listened intently to everything. At the close of the day, he presented us with a lovely tray as a gift from the city. He also made a point of letting the young people, who had criticized the council earlier, know he had heard what they said and took it seriously. He then shared with everyone that, in his experience, there is no such thing as being a leader without taking risks or without failing. He said, "The reason I am a successful leader in this community is because I do take risks, and I am willing to fail." It was a great demonstration and lesson in leadership, and all the more meaningful because it came from him and not from us.
Then, before we could leave Rahat, we were taken to a farm on the edge of the city where our hosts prepared tea and coffee for us in the traditional way, roasting the coffee beans on the open fire in a tent, grinding them by hand, and serving us the thick, strong drink. It was a wonderful end to a great day.
This program for the young people of Rahat, sponsored and supported by the Rabin Center, is a great example of a relatively small investment that will generate enormous returns in the future. Exposing these young people now to an experience (and not just the concepts) of leadership, engagement, responsibility, and citizenship creates new possibilities for them and for the future of Israel. They really do see themselves as leaders, and they openly express their enthusiasm, their energy, and their hunger for new ideas.
The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community are cornerstones of democracy and a critical part of the real and difficult work of peace building. We are honored to be partners with the Rabin Center in this effort, and we look forward to our next leadership program with them in July.