Submission #353 by Congregation Beth Shalom Men'S Club - Northbrook, IL (643)

I have read the General Guidelines, "Nuts and Bolts" and Program Advanced Planning (Excel Spreadsheet) Documents
Club Name
Congregation Beth Shalom Men'S Club - Northbrook, IL (643)
Succession Planning
Club Representative
Person completing form
Bradley
Shaps
Club President at time of Convention
Larry
Grossman
Club President Now
Harvey
Redfern
Club Administration

Page 1

Congregation Beth Shalom Men's Club undertook a succession planning initiative to identify the future leaders of the club and potential future Board members. At the request of President Harvey Redfern a committee of 3 past presidents was formed to establish a long range succession plan that identified individuals who are potential Executive Board members for the next 6-10 years as well as new members for the Board of Directors. The committe interviewed the entire Executive Board, many members of the Board of Directors and a number of former Board members to 1. determine each individuals interest in future leadership positions and the timeframe they have in mind for serving in various positions, 2. obtain feedback on fellow Board members and who is viewed as future leaders, and 3 identify potential future Board of Director candidates. A report summarizing the findings was presented to the President and the nominating committee.
In 2012 our current Executive Vice President, Alan Medansky passed away leaving a gap in leadership. At the request of President Harvey Redfern a committee of 3 past presidents was formed to establish a long range succession plan that identified individuals who are potential Executive Board members for the next 6-8 years as well as new members for the Board of Directors. Brad Shaps, Glen Roter and Kevin Braude developed a list of interview questions and met with most of the members of the current Men’s Club Executive Board and several additional Members of the Board. The purpose of the meetings were to identify future leaders of the club, identify positions current Executive Board members might be interested in, obtain feedback and assessments from current Board members about the performance of current Executive Board members and develop a list of names of potential future nominees for the Board.

After conducting the interviews, the committee prepared a detailed report summarizing the findings which identified individuals for various executive board positions and a list of potential future board members.

The project was very successful and accomplished the following: established a succession plan identifying the next 3 or 4 presidents and identifying potential executive board and board members. This gives the Club a roadmap of future leaders so that proper training and development can occur to ensure the ongoing success of the club.

A copy of the report is attached below



succession_planning_without_full_names.docx

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Self Assessment
This project was extremely successful. Due to the death of our Executive Vice President who was in line to become our next president there was a gap with no current Executive Board member willing to serve as the next president. Through the succesion planning process we were able to identify 2 individuals who were willing to fill the gap and serve as joint presidents. We also were able to identify and establish a succession plan for the next 2 or 3 presidents after that. Based on that a plan can be established to provide those individuals the experience necessary, by serving in various vice president positions, to succeed as President. The project also identified that there is a limited number of current Board members who are currently willing to serve on Executive Board in the future. Based on that knowledge it became clear that the club needs to identify and bring on new board members and develop them for future leadership. As part of the project we identified 25 individuals as future candidates for the Board of Directors. The recent nominating committee used the succession plan as a road map during its slating process and brought on a number of new individuals onto the Board. The succession plan serves as a starting point in future leadership development and will become a living document that will allow the club to continue plan for the future success of the club.
This project is instrumental in supporting FJMC's mission of involving Jewish Men in Jewish Life and supports the Leadership element of the tagline. This project was essential to the continuity of our club and the identification and development of the future leaders of the club. Through this project we now have the leadership in place to continue to thrive as one of the top Men's club nationally. The model we used can easily be utilized by other clubs to help them plans for the future of their club.
Original Program
Previous Submission
Yes