Ari Segal on collaborative leadership
Done in the style of Corner Office by Adam Bryant.
Q: What is your “story” and how did you end up in Jewish education?
A: I grew up in Silver Spring, MD and attended the Hebrew Academy of Greater Washington. My parents were ardent Zionists – they always spoke about Israel in loving terms. My family was very focused on academic scholarship, in the broader world as well as the world of Torah and Jewish thought. My father taught mathematics at a university level and worked as a cryptologist for the NSA (before they started checking your emails) which contributed to a pervasively intellectual atmosphere within our home. Unfortunately, within this scholarly environment I assumed the role of the proverbial “black sheep” as a child – I loved sports, drama, student government. Anything but academics, really. Given the familial emphasis on academic success, this was a somewhat uncomfortable role to play,. In retrospect, though, I believe that experience served me well and prompted me to develop much of the EQ skill-set that I use in my current leadership capacity. Moreover, it has shaped my educational philosophy which underscores the diversity of our students and the guiding notion that our schools should not be relegated to a “one size fits all” model.
I spent the first three years of college as a computer science major – I enjoyed it but always had concerns that I might not find it as the makings of a meaningful career. At the end of my junior year, I decided that I wanted to shift career paths and do something for the Jewish community. I remembered a conversation I had with my father one day when I asked him why the Jewish community didn’t get together to help out all of the poor Jewish people and instead kept facilitating the cycle of poverty by handing out dollars during daily minyan. I wanted to know why we didn’t organize and strategize for a large-scale solution to poverty in our community. He responded that the Jewish community was doing that work; “it’s called ‘the Federation,’” he said. “But frum Jews don’t really participate in that sort of thing.” That statement stuck with me for many years, and led to my decision to work in the Federation system as an Orthodox ambassador of sorts, with the hopes of building inter-denominational bridges.
I started my MSW in Communal Organization while serving as the Youth Director at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun. Rabbi Lookstein arranged for my field placement at Ramaz and, 16 years later, I still work in the sacred field of Jewish education. I am so grateful that I began my career at Ramaz and KJ. The environment was intense, vibrant and competitive (sometimes too competitive). I learned a lot about myself and my abilities. I learned the importance of not only dreaming big but in strategizing for the actualization of those dreams, which in turn would yield newer and bigger opportunities. Sometimes the best things in life happen to us when we open ourselves to new and unexpected experiences.
I believe strongly in the importance of continuing education – whether through formal educational channels or through constant reading. I did get rabbinic ordination a few years into my tenure at Ramaz; but, frankly, I see myself as a CEO first. I subsequently attended Emory University to get my MBA because I realized that Jewish education was too important to run like a “a mom and pop shop”;I wanted the knowledge, skills, and experience to run a school as a first-class institution which adheres to the best practices of even the most lucrative, bottom-line oriented businesses. I have used market segmentation techniques in our recruitment process, “lean management” ideas to save hundreds of thousands of dollars while improving performance, and a payoff matrix to determine strategic priorities, to name a few examples. I have always loved taking an organization and helping it dream a big dream and then developing the implementation strategy to get there – but I needed some of the tools from the business world to formalize that process, which I received through my business education
Q: Tell us about your family
A: My wife Atara teaches Tanakh and AP Statistics. We have four daughters as well two adopted daughters. To make a very long and complicated story short, they moved in with us when a judge decided that their parents were unsuitable to raise them. I was in court to serve as a character witness for them and the judge turned to me and said “Rabbi – I can’t put these girls back into Juvenile detention and I can’t send them home with these parents. Can you take them?” I asked the judge if I could call my wife first; and after she agreed, in keeping with her characteristic generosity and kindness, the judge release the girls into our custody. Seven years later, they remain an integral part of our family and we thank God every day that they came into our lives. As I said before, some of the best things in life happen when you are open to new things.
My father retired and moved to Israel a year after my mother passed away in 2002. Making aliyah served as the fulfillment of a life-long dream for my parents that they lived vicariously through the aliyah of my six siblings; it is bittersweet that my father was able to achieve that, albeit alone.
Q: What is your overall management philosophy?
A: I readily admit that my Principal knows more about the scope and sequence of the curriculum than I do, that my facilities manager knows how to get the best deal on electricity and Xerox machines, and that a math teacher knows more about geometry than myself. I often say that I am not the best at anything that happens daily in a school setting; I am just the best at figuring out who is the best at everything (recruiting them when needed) and getting them to work together to achieve that potential. That, I believe, is my greatest skill.
I am able to capitalize on the talents and expertise of others to create a shared vision that encourages those different individuals to work together for a common goal that would be unattainable without outside direction and vision. My strength is in getting them to work together for the benefit of the organization.
Q: Tell us how you manage and inspire employees.
A: The importance of transparency in communicating with all stakeholders in an organization is of supreme importance. An effective manager speaks candidly with his or her staff: “This is where we are, and this is where we are going together.” That kind of openness usually helps get the wrong people off the bus immediately and provides a blueprint to the right people. In addition, you must hold people accountable. Sometimes a person is simply in the wrong job or the wrong institution. People who want to succeed care about weeding out the people who are not contributing to the organization.
When I came to Shalhevet, I knew that major budget changes were needed (we were running a million dollar deficit annually after fundraising) so I called the entire faculty together and talked about the “day school budget drivers” together in a fully frank and open discussion. I asked them for their preferences (increased student count, increased course load, lower salaries, etc) and then used that information to develop a plan moving forward.
In terms of inspiration, I have been fortunate to learn from many special role models in my life, including Richard Joel – former head of Hillel and the current President of Yeshiva University. He models the profound possibilities of engaging meaningfully with the broader Jewish community by focusing on the ideas and ideals which bind us. I have learned that inspiring leadership comes from telling a story, being passionate and developing an aspirational (and actionable) vision – I like to use the term practical idealism.
Q. I assume that many faculty and administrators have been older than you in your role. How did that go?
A. I think that an essential aspect of humanity is the desire to matter and to see oneself as part of something greater, something both exciting and profound. My own young age was certainly an initial obstacle – but I found that once I tapped into that basic human desire to become a meaningful part of a larger whole, I was able to break through and lead effectively. I found that everyone in the school I was stepping into harbored a desire to be led effectively; when I provided an aspirational vision and a reasonable implementation strategy, my colleagues quickly come on board. Finally, if you consistently demonstrate humility, honesty and the ability to listen to people, they will be happy to support you.
Early in my first stint as a Head of School , I remember attending an important faculty meeting when a veteran teacher raised her hand and asked if the suit I was wearing was from my bar mitzvah. I got a great laugh out of that. But the question came just as I was about to announce that we would be creating a new teacher mentoring program that would require more work from the teachers. I remember taking a breath, smiling and responding playfully and then moving on to the proposal. The teachers saw that I was serious about my job but that I didn’t take myself too seriously and that earned me a lot of respect in their minds; they realized that school leadership isn't just another rung on the educational ladder, it's about the ability to bring vision to reality.
Q: How comfortable are you fundraising?
A: I'm very comfortable with fundraising – I always find that if you are passionate about a cause, then you can ask with confidence and conviction and with the knowledge that you aren’t asking for yourself – you are asking for the student who has a difficult home situation or the family that just needs a bit of extra financial help or the new robotics program that will benefit all of the students. That being said, I think it is important for the HOS/CEO to focus on leadership and management as well, so I have always made sure to hire a great lead fundraising professional to set me up for success.
Q: Given that you are so passionate about Modern Orthodoxy, how comfortable are you working with people outside of the Orthodox world or in a non-Orthodox setting?
A: A strong Jewish community needs two key ingredients to be vibrant and relevant in today’s world. A strong Jewish community must seek to foster Jewish identity and cultivate Jewish literacy. In the words of my aforementioned mentor Richard Joel, we must empower ourselves to both “know and own” our story.
But, to be frank, even that is not enough. If we are to take our communities to the next level, we must also foster a religiously diverse environment which makes space for positive interactions and dialogue between Jews of all stripes. The only way that can happen is if we create a religiously diverse environment in our communal institutions. This will demonstrate to the Orthodox and non-Orthodox students alike that Torah is everyone’s to study – morasha kehilat ya’akov – “it is the inheritance of the [whole] community of Jacob”. It will teach derech eretz – goodwill and common decency between members of different denominations and between all human beings (a skill that will place them in good stead in the real world).
As part of this belief, I have always partnered with leadership from other denominations in the communities that I have worked. While I was at Yeshiva University, I participated in an interdenominational program through the Health Care Chaplaincy, and I think this shaped my views in this regard.
Finally, while I am a practicing Orthodox Jew, I don’t believe that particular path is perfect for everyone; the Jewish people need passionate Jews from all denominations. All of my interactions with lay and professional leadership have led me to believe that other denominations represent a viewpoint that I respect, despite the fact that I disagree with them; I value them as but one of many necessary instruments in the Jewish symphony.
This has sometimes gotten me in trouble with people within the Orthodox community who disagreed with this platform. I have had families decide not to come to the schools I run because we are “too diverse” – but I think that’s ok. They are looking for a homogenous student population, and we consciously choose not to offer that option.
Q. How do you assess people when you first go into a company?
A. I spend a lot of time watching and listening. I want to hear people speaking about themselves – not complaining about other people. I love when someone chooses to “own” the things that aren’t going right rather than point to external factors.
The people who see themselves as merely the helpless victims of circumstances or at the mercy of the actions of others are usually the most difficult employees; those who see themselves as owning their destiny are usually the people who turn out to be some of the very best people.
I start to give people projects – individually and as teams. I am always looking for people who get stuff done without making excuses. Then you start to identify the people who are going to be the most helpful, and you include them in the process of making some other decisions.
Q. How do you hire? What questions do you ask?
A. I found the best question that works for me is, “Tell me something that you have done in your free time.” That question gives you a lot of insight.
I also ask them to tell me about something they have failed at in the past; not so that I may expose their weaknesses but to can see how they chose to deal with a roadblock. I want to hear about something they haven’t done well and what they learned from it.
Q. Given the constant demands on your time, how do juggle all of the responsibilities?