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**ALL ARE WELCOME**
Especially prior to entering the sanctuary last night, I noticed that message on the marquis of our synagogue, which shares space with Holy Apostles Church. During most of the service last night, I kept marveling at the gorgeous, spirited people, the moving violin, piano and timbrel, along with the chorus, and particularly our soprano friend who contributed to it with her clear, perfect voice.
It was the special, GLBT Pride Shabbat service and as I wrote in Part I, it was packed. Randi Weingarten was a guest drash (sermon) deliverer and accordingly, Rabbi Kleinbaum invited all current and retired New York City teachers, among others, to come to the bimah (altar) to help kindle the Shabbat candles.
The biggest crowd of qualified kindlers I'd ever seen approached the bimah.
One of my favorite high school teachers, I'm confident, was gay, though not openly. How many of these candle kindlers were their students' favorite teachers?
Randi Weingarten's mission in her role, she said, was to help ensure dignity for New York City's students and the people who educate them. She talked about Moses' leadership and how in this week's Torah parsha (Bible portion), his hitting the rock revealed an authoritarian leadership style that had outlived its usefulness.
"Four C's"
And then she spoke of leadership in general, saying that it requires "four C's: Conviction; Compassion; Commitment; and Courage."
She gave an example of courage, saying, if I remember correctly, that when a bill was introduced to include domestic partnership benefits for teachers, one of her close colleagues said, "Please punt on this one. Don't turn it into a floor-fight."
"A floor-fight is what there will be," she said, as she was unwilling to be a "second-class citizen" in the fight for the rights of her teacher-constituency. The bill passed healthily.
Randi Weingarten made me reflect on how to apply the four C's to my own leadership, especially as I prepare to fulfill my upcoming, six-month, short-term foreign service assignment in India:
Conviction: IBM leaders in India will be well-served by further leadership development initiatives and I, in all of my humanity, can be of service to that end. There are new, mutual discoveries to be made by all of us, along with some classic best practices to promote.
Compassion: During my commute to work on Friday, I thought about how I am going to India to be of service to an already-highly-privileged group of people: managers at all levels of our company. I am not going as an NGO delegate, or with the Peace Corps. And yet, every human being needs some form of assistance. Everyone deserves compassion, no matter how privileged. Compassion is a universal, human need.
Commitment: For me, education's main purpose, ultimately, is to produce positive social change, and I suppose that in a corporate environment, I feel that it is to produce positive climate, and then cultural, change. What does that mean to me in a corporate context? Helping realize the most positive-results-producing environment through encouraging inclusive, innovative people worldwide.
Courage: While in India, and anywhere, I need to remember that no one's cultures and norms -- including my own -- are the best. I need the courage to be welcoming of learning others' frames of reference, and to share my own in a way that helps others feel comfortable whenever possible. I need the courage to do my part to ensure that all of us feel like first-class citizens.
I was inspired by Randi Weingarten's example last night. I'm interested in how adults learn to lead in a corporate environment and I loved how she urged the teachers in the congregation to, "...not just educate, but lead."
That Lump in My Throat
In Part I, I wrote about a continuous lump in my throat throughout the service. It was there because I was sad about the warm community from which I was choosing to be physically absent for half a year. What could possibly take its place? What could fill the gap? Why venture away from such a safe, lovely haven?
And in parallel, I remained perpetually on the verge of crying, wondering how anyone who would witness this loving, spiritual, kind, imbued congregation would ever wish to discriminate against, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and our loved ones. It was a miraculous scene, really, as well as a festival of sound; I wish I could let you hear the tune of the most moving piece of liturgy from last night: "Pitchu li sha'arei tzedek ("Open up Your righteous gates")...."
The song includes an amazing statement, which our synagogue uses as a sort of tagline, "Even ma'asu ha'bonim hayitah l'rosh pinah" ("The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.") -- Psalm 118:22.
This morning, I woke up early, again. I cannot seem to sleep a full night's sleep, the closer the departure for India becomes. One of the first things I did was check the online exhibition of our synagogue's history.
It was founded in 1973 and it was so important for me to imagine the early congregants, a number of whom still belong to the shul, just as I tried to imagine my mother's 1950 Hebrew University classmate, Esther from Karachi, no matter her sexual orientation. All of them were pioneers.
What could I do to be pioneering and effective in parallel in the assignment? What *will* I do?
When have you been a pioneer and based on that experience, what are your tips for success?
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