By Micol Zimmerman Burkeman, MAJE, ACC
ARJE Committee Chair
Passover is often described as a learning-centered holiday. Experiential by design, the seder uses stories, songs, and symbolism designed to engage all of our senses, allowing us to fully experience the Israelites’ journey from slavery to freedom and our consequential transition from a group of people to a people, a community. At the heart of every seder, just like at the heart of all effective learning, are questions and curiosity. We ask questions given to us in the text of the Haggadah, and we make space for the questions brought by our guests at the seder.
It is for this very reason that when we come to the section of the four children, I always find myself tense and uneasy. True curiosity, in its purest form, requires an absence of judgement; and yet, each year we are confronted with a moment when the adults in our text meet curiosity with judgment. We encounter four children who ask three indisputably sound and important questions, and who are met with adults who make assumptions about their motivations and character, and in return, offer responses filled with judgement and lacking compassion. I’ve always looked at this moment through an educator’s lens, considering what the text can teach us about the variety of ways that children learn, and how we as educators can and should respond to those needs. This year, however, I found myself viewing this text through a critical leadership lens.
What needs do our team members have, how do they communicate those needs, and how can we most effectively respond? A common misconception about effective leadership is that there is one style or approach that will work with each team member. You simply have to find the style that works most for you and your team. But everyone brings different needs, strengths, and challenges to their work, and the most effective leader is one that is attuned to their team’s diverse needs and adapts their approach in order to meet them in the most resonant way.
Sometimes, our people are seeking information and data. Like the first child of the seder, they are seeking detailed information and content, interested in clear, concrete, and tangible guidance and solutions. For them, a focus on consultation, problem-solving, resource sharing, and training may help meet those needs in a responsive way.
Other times, our people are looking to us to offer perspective and input based on our own unique experience and position. Like the second child of the seder, they are genuinely interested in what things mean to us, and in certain moments may need to know our opinion before they can begin to formulate their own. For them, a focus on mentorship and advising may help clarify their own thoughts and perspectives in a safe and supported way.
And there are times when our people want to zoom out from the concrete to the conceptual and look at the bigger picture. Like the third child of the seder who wants to know the greater meaning behind our customs, they are asking bigger, philosophical questions, seeking to expand their perspective and articulate a greater vision for their work. For them, a focus on thought-partnership and collaboration may help them articulate those big questions and goals and lead with vision and innovation.
Finally, there are many times when our people feel unable to articulate their challenges or needs. Maybe they aren’t sure about the questions they want to ask or the direction they wish to go. Maybe they just haven’t had the space to think or a person to listen. For them, a focus on coaching and listening may help them achieve clarity and find the right questions to guide them.
This model is one we’ve tried to follow at ARJE as we respond to our members’ needs. Just like in the seder, the people around our table bring a diverse set of needs, strengths, perspectives, and challenges. Through regular outreach and listening, we’ve worked to understand and address them in the most responsive and resonant ways. Through professional development offerings, network-building, individual mentoring, small-group coaching, career and placement guidance, and communal spaces for connection and collaboration, we are working hard to approach each person around our table with curiosity, attentiveness, and resonance. From the story of our people, we learn the lessons of how best to lead our people.