Drash for Installation of New Board of Management at Temple Shalom, 19 July 2013

The Challenge of Board Leadership

You have surely noticed that the challenge of leadership is one of the recurring themes in my speaking and writing.  Of course, this is because in the years of my military service I wrestled with these challenges.  But also in the years when I have not been serving, it has become clear that leadership is one of the biggest challenges in life generally.

          When we invoke the word ‘leadership,’ we are often thinking about positional leadership.  One leads because one occupies a position:  in the military, in government, in business, or in congregational life.  But we notice a huge discrepancy.  Those thrust into positions of leadership often do not lead.  And those who are not in positions of leadership…are often the greatest leaders.

          This is true because of the nature of leadership.  Leadership is not telling other people what to do.  That is…bossiness.  And I’m not putting down bossiness…at least not completely!  If it weren’t for bosses, most of us would wander around aimlessly, not knowing what to do from moment to moment, hour to hour.  Collectively, we would accomplish very little.  Bosses surely fulfil an important function by coordinating the actions of various people towards a common task or set of tasks.

          But leadership is something far more precious, far more sublime.  A leader sometimes directs the actions of others and sometimes does not.  But the constant of leadership, is the drawing from a well of values.  A true leader acts in concert with his or her values.  And the most important value is integrity.  It has taken me a lifetime to truly learn this lesson.  If there’s one lesson for which I will be remembered after I’ve left this place, I hope it is in the importance of integrity.  One who would aspire to leadership must act with integrity.  If he doesn’t, nobody will accept his leadership.  This, no matter what position he holds.

          From many of the episodes of the narrative contained in the Torah, I draw lessons in leadership.  I think that the meta-message of the Torah is about the importance of leadership.  Whether applied to relationships between siblings.  Or between parent and child.  Or between king and subject.  Or between God and His people.  As each new page in the Torah unfolds, we’re confronted with lessons on the importance of leadership.  And of leading with integrity.

          In the military, because of the nature of the military, poor leadership can and does lead to death and suffering.  That’s why the penalties for failure of leadership are harsh.  And those who aspire to leadership in the military in particular, do well to understand the unforgiving nature of the responsibility of leadership there.  But really, the same could be said for those in other endeavours.  In law enforcement.  In piloting aircraft.  In serving as captain of a yacht.  In all of these and other endeavours, there is a dimension of responsibility for life that cannot be denied.  Those who cannot bear up to the stress of that responsibility, wisely choose occupations and endeavours where there is not such responsibility.

          But the difference in the burden of leadership between those responsible for life and those not, is merely one of degree.  That’s why the leadership principles one learns in the military are applicable in any walk of life.  That’s why leadership is a ‘portable’ quality, and one who possesses it can assume leadership in any environment.

          The congregation is a more forgiving laboratory for learning leadership than, say, the military or…the Wilderness of Sinai.  Nobody’s very life is at stake in the event of a failure of leadership.  But that does not free us from the responsibility to lead well and effectively.  Is our purpose in organising and sustaining this congregation holy as we say it is?  If so, then the results of our leadership matter.  And the results of poor leadership are to be avoided.

          Tonight, we install and consecrate a new Board of Management for our temple.  It is my prayer that some of the lessons of effective leadership have taken root in the hearts and minds of these, the members of our new board.  Because our congregation will be best served it the new board leads.  They may manage.  They may direct.  But our congregation will only thrive if they find it within themselves to lead.  May they be given the strength and inspiration to do so.  And may we all be blessed as they succeed.  Shabbat shalom.