Of the hundreds of COVID-related memes, cartoons, and videos that came across the transom in the early days of the pandemic, my favorite is still this one: “Because of coronavirus you are going to be quarantined,” booms a loud, deep, disembodied voice to a man awaiting instruction. “But you have a choice.” The man is ready to consider the options. “Do you….” “A.) Quarantine with your wife and child?” The
18
Jan 2021
Finding Opportunities to Exercise Leadership during the Pandemic
WIF Alum Yoav Zuckerman (Class 16)
Last April, we experienced the first COVID-19 lockdown. We were trying to make sense of the events that were unfolding across the globe and to assess the immediate impact on our organizational and personal lives. During that first lockdown, Ronald A. Heifetz, founder of Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership who established the Adaptive Leadership framework, held a Zoom webinar, trying to separate the wheat from the chaff for the hundreds
As I write this, hospitals in Los Angeles are overwhelmed. A large hospital system will not admit individuals with Do Not Resuscitate orders. Another is not performing organ transplant surgeries. The moment is bleak and I worry for our older parents and all those who may not get the care they need. Throughout this period, I have been asking myself ,“Are we okay right now?” I ask this question in
Seizing the Opportunity to Close the Knowing-Doing Gap Hermann Ebbinghaus proposed the “Forgetting Curve” back in the 1880’s, declaring that “we quickly forget most of what we learn unless we consistently apply it.” A recent Forbes article on trends in leadership development echoed his words, saying “If leaders aren’t doing it, they’re going to lose anywhere from 40 to 80% of what they encountered in learning and development programs.” This
There are times when you have the luxury of planning. You have time to methodically process, strategize, set goals with reasonable expectations, outcomes and metrics. Most Jewish professionals have been trained and have aimed to follow best practices accordingly. All of that changed in 2020. We all entered a world of unknowns, uncertainties and certainly a severe gap in the ability to predict or plan. We are all familiar with
The popular phrase “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” often is attributed, incorrectly it turns out, to Aristotle, although the great Greek philosopher said something similar that subsequently was misconstrued. More recently, the phrase also was used to explain the foundations of Gestalt theory and to aptly define the modern concept of “synergy” (i.e., an interaction or cooperation giving rise to a whole that is greater
