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What if professionals came together to fuel their leadership with timely, relevant, and meaningful skills?
Born from the success of Leading Executives, Leadership Lab borrows the core components of that program and adapts them for a wider pool of executives. The findings from our surveys and the field’s ongoing needs drive the focus of Leadership Lab offerings.
Leadership Lab: Collaborating With Your Board
Our pilot cohort will explore clear expectations, communication strategies, and concrete tools for strengthening the board-professional partnership. You’ll come out of the Lab with a robust action plan you can use to drive work with your board. This program is a great fit for senior-level leaders across the sector who directly manage the organization to board relationship. You do not need to be a CEO or Executive Director to be eligible.
WHO
Leadership Lab: Collaborating With Your Board is designed to serve:
- Executives who are excited about strengthening their work with their board, invigorated by the option to learn in community, and ready to participate in a pilot program.
- Members of the leadership team and/or executive team of their organization.
- Those who are working with an established governing board of 10-30 members.
- Leaders who have been stewarding their organization’s board for 1-5 years.
Working with the board does not need to be 100% of their role, but it should be a significant portion of how they spend their time.
WHAT
Over the course of six months, cohort members will experience:
- Learning: All sessions are engaging, purpose-driven, and virtual but interactive. Through an orientation, four Virtual Connections, a culmination and two optional office hours sessions, cohort members will explore what it means to effectively steward their board, communicate clearly, and leverage tools and resources for a stronger staff-board partnership.
- Coaching: Cohort members will meet in a subgroup for up to four hours with an executive coach to learn together, problem-solve, and develop their Action Plan. Individually, cohort members will spend up to five hours in one-on-one leadership development coaching with the same executive coach.
- Ideation and Strategy: The Leadership Lab will culminate with each cohort member’s Action Plan. This plan will be rooted in program lessons and outline a clear project, approach, and timeline for strengthening their organization’s board.
- Connecting: Over the course of this program, participants will forge valuable connections with peers from across the sector. When it is completed, they will be part of Leading Edge’s dynamic and growing alumni community.
WHEN
Leadership Lab: Collaborating With Your Board | |
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Duration | Winter 2024 - Spring 2025 |
Orientation and kickoff call | Thursday, November 21, 2024 3:00 - 4:00 pm ET |
Virtual Connection 1 | Wednesday, December 11, 2024 2:30 - 4:00 pm ET |
Virtual Connection 2 | Wednesday, January 8, 2025 2:30 - 4:00 pm ET |
Virtual Connection 3 | Wednesday, February 5, 2025 2:30 - 4:00 pm ET |
Virtual Connection 4 | Wednesday, March 5, 2025 2:30 - 4:00 pm ET |
Culmination | Wednesday, April 2, 2025 3:00 - 4:00 pm ET |
Optional Office Hours | ○ Thursday, January 23, 2025, 3:00 - 4:00 pm ET ○ Tuesday, March 11, 2025, 3:00 - 4:00 pm ET |
WHY
Leadership is a process, not a destination. The Leadership Lab creates the conditions for program participants to test their thinking, get real-time input from peers and mentors, and stretch into the complexities of their roles. As Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks reminded us: "Leadership demands two kinds of courage: the strength to take a risk, and the humility to admit when a risk fails."
COST
Organizations whose leaders participate will contribute a fee of $1,000 toward program costs. The program cost includes all program materials, orientation and culmination calls, four Virtual Connections, optional office hours, four small group sessions, and up to five hours of one-on-one executive coaching.
We are happy to work with accepted organizations to provide program cost subsidies if the program fee makes the Leadership Lab inaccessible. Please reach out to Abby Crawford (Vice President, Leadership Programs) at abby@leadingedge.org with any questions.
Applications are closed.
Please check back for future dates.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Leadership Lab: Collaborating With Your Board?
The Leadership Lab is a six-month, intensive learning opportunity for professionals who work with boards. During this pilot program, cohort members from across the Jewish nonprofit sector will engage in whole-group, small-group, and individual learning with a singular goal: to strengthen the board-professional partnership at their organizations. Program participants will spend time learning from expert faculty, executive coaches, Leading Edge staff, and each other. Specifically designed for professionals who steward boards as a significant portion of their role, the Leadership Lab will culminate with the design of clear action plans that cohort members will use in their organizations. This process of taking theory into practical application is the hallmark of the Leadership Lab.
Who is the ideal Leadership Lab applicant?
In addition to meeting the eligibility requirements (see “Who” above), the ideal applicant is:
- At the right moment in their trajectory to fully engage in and benefit from this program;
- Ready to tackle the challenges they are facing in their leadership;
- Self-aware, eager to learn and open to new ideas;
- Working in strong partnership with their board/volunteer counterparts and senior leadership;
- Invested in cohort learning and building connections with fellow program participants;
- Ready to digest, reflect on, and internalize new lessons for working with their board.
We are looking for participants who are open to self-reflection and change, have the time and space to step back from their daily work, and are excited about contributing to a cohort. Outside of that, we welcome a diverse range of applicants. Being open to learning from and with people with different viewpoints, identities, experiences, and contexts is key to success in the Leadership Lab. We strongly encourage People of Color, women, and other people with marginalized identities to apply.
What kind of organization is a good fit for this program?
Because this program is focused on collaborating with boards, financially independent organizations with a governing board and at least three full time employees are the best fit for our pilot Leadership Lab program. Please contact leadprograms@leadingedge.org if you have any questions about your organization’s fit.
Do I need to be Jewish to participate in the Leadership Lab?
We welcome leaders of any religious practice or background. Several past participants of our cohort-based programs have not been Jewish. Applicants must be leaders of a nonprofit organization in the Jewish nonprofit sector.
What if I’m not the CEO or Executive Director, but another member of the senior leadership team?
That’s great! The Leadership Lab: Collaborating With Your Board is designed for staff members who directly steward the board-professional relationship. Sometimes that’s the CEO, and other times that role is filled by another member of the team, such as the Chief Operating Officer or the Director of Strategy. If you have any questions about whether or not this program is the right fit for you or your role, please reach out to leadprograms@leadingedge.org.
I am a co-CEO. Can I participate in the Leadership Lab?
We welcome organizations that use a co-CEO model. In such cases, we require that both CEOs fully participate in the same cohort to maximize the experience and impact of the Leadership Lab for you and your organization’s mission.
What are the components and skills of the Leadership Lab: Collaborating With Your Board program?
The Leadership Lab focuses on frameworks for strengthening the board-professional partnership for your organization. The curriculum is designed around our five competencies — leading self, leading people, leading change, leading results, and leading community — with a focus on providing participants with an understanding of their individual role in shaping board relationships. In addition to faculty-driven learning, participants will workshop specific challenges with their executive coach and peers. You will come away from the Leadership Lab with an action plan to drive positive change in your board-professional partnership, which you will design and implement after the program concludes.
The Program includes:
- Orientation session
- Virtual connections (four sessions)
- Office hours sessions (two, optional)
- Culmination session (All sessions are engaging, purpose-driven, and virtual).
- Executive Coaching: Five hours of one-on-one coaching, plus more in small groups
- Action Plan: A clear project, approach, and timeline for strengthening your organization’s board
What will be covered in each Leadership Lab session?
The Leadership Lab curriculum focuses on supporting cohort members as they explore clear expectations, communication strategies, and concrete tools for strengthening the staff-board partnership. Topics will include:
- Who are we as professionals in relation to our boards?
- Roles and responsibilities of board leadership and professionals who work with boards.
- Building and maintaining a strong partnership with your board.
- Best practices in governance, fundraising, and strategic planning.
What kind of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) content will the Leadership Lab cover?
We strive to foster a learning atmosphere that is inclusive of different identities and perspectives. Our gathering norms guide us in creating a safe, brave, and respectful environment. We infuse a DEIB lens throughout our learning curriculum and rely on cohort members to deeply examine their personal identities as they relate to their leadership of their teams, organizations, and boards.
What information will I be required to provide in my application to the Leadership Lab?
You will be required to provide:
➖ Contact information
➖ Organizational information (including staff size and budget)
➖ If you are not the CEO, we request confirmation that the organization’s CEO is aware of and supportive of your interest in this program
➖ An acceptance of the Leading Edge Gathering Norms and Participant Agreement
➖ Video responses answering:
- Why is the Leadership Lab: Collaborating With Your Board the right program for you at this time in your leadership?
- What do you need from fellow cohort members, and what do you bring to the Leadership Lab cohort learning experience?
- Choose one of the following:
- What are the current strengths of the board-professional partnership at your organization?
- What projects do you want to explore for your culminating Action Plan?
- What is a current change that you’re navigating with your board, and how will the Leadership Lab support your efforts?
Is there any pre-work or between-session work for Leadership Lab?
Readings, case preparations, and other assessments will be required by both the faculty and individual coaches throughout the Leadership Lab program. You will also be responsible for scheduling and holding sessions with your executive coach as well as developing your Action Plan.
How many people will be accepted to the Leadership Lab?
Cohort size is determined by the applicant pool to ensure that we can optimize cohort-based learning. Leading Edge staff will work to design and build a community of learners who are best positioned to explore program topics in a safe and open environment. Our Gathering Norms and our Community Agreement directly inform our cohort building process.
Can I participate in this program if I have completed another Leading Edge program?
- Alumni of past cohort learning programs are welcome to apply.
- You may not participate in two cohort-based learning programs simultaneously. If you are applying for multiple cohort programs with Leading Edge, please contact leadprograms@leadingedge.org to discuss how best to sequence the opportunities.
- If you or your organization are participating in our Focused Engagement Survey, Employee Experience Survey, or After-Survey Action workshops, you may do so at the same time you are a part of the Leadership Lab.
Can I participate in this program if I am in another leadership program at the same time?
You may not participate in the Leadership Lab if you are in another cohort program simultaneously, whether run by Leading Edge or another organization. Our programs can be time intensive, and we have found with past cohort program participants that being in multiple programs is difficult. If you have questions, please email leadprograms@leadingedge.org.
I have another question not answered here.
Please email leadprograms@leadingedge.org and a member of our programs team will respond to any questions.
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