Club Leadership

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Brothers,

Looking to the future is always a very positive thing. That is always the case in FJMC International. Club succession planning is important not only at the executive and regional levels, but internally for clubs as well. How does your succession plan for the next several years look? In many cases no one wants to be president for life and several clubs fall into that category. How do you bring new blood to leadership? Many clubs stay the same course, “We’ve always done things this way.” If that is the case how do you build a strong membership base?

We need to create a strong club with successful programs that strengthen the synagogue and earn respect from the clergy and the congregation and allow existing leaders to move up to the next level.

Clubs should be looking for the following qualities:

Motivation – self and others
Ability to listen
Ability to stay organized
Ability to network
Persuasiveness/Salesmanship
Delegation
Charisma
Comfort on the Lecture – public speaking
Jewish knowledge

How can we do this? The general club membership is the foundation for successful succession planning.

Attract new members to your club
Ask potential new members what are their interests and what they want
Identify, Target, Ask and Thank
Gradual Responsibility
Begin with small tasks
Don’t overburden members
Communicate
Identify future leaders
Meet regularly
Ask FJMC for help (that’s why we are here).

Focus on an individual’s skills and interests, managing money or budgets (treasurer) , tech skills (social media manager), publicity, sports, social action (cooking for a friend, assisted living areas, ritual, etc), Yellow Candles (Yom Hashoah), construction (building a sukkah) and social activities. These are just a few.

The hardest part is the ask. How do you do that? When it’s time the ask, tailor the ask to the individual and do it in person if possible. Set the recruit up for success. Make sure mentors are in place (former presidents, board members), always offer guidance, support and mentoring. Never micromanage (no one enjoys that), and always be sure to thank the person not only privately but in public. These are just a few.

How can you make the succession plan work?

Try this approach of the Three-person leadership tree.

Current leader – takes responsibility
Past leader – offers historical view and mentoring
Future leader – helps and prepares to take over

This helps build continuity, provides support and mentoring, develops leadership skills and enhances successful programming.

SO, what does this all mean? We know succession planning is a very large part of the success of any club. Some things might work for one club but not another. For FJMC International to be successful now and in the future, we need to make sure our clubs are successful.

Takeaways:

Succession Planning is Leadership
Development
Focus on attracting new members
Offer small roles to start
Committees are foundational to leadership
Growth ladder with multi-year terms
Increasing responsibility prior to presidency
Keep former leaders involved, provide mentoring
Use the Triad approach
Personal touch of the nominating committee
Encourage your members to attend retreats and the FJMC Convention

In Brotherhood,

Marc Cohen, VP Clubs
FJMC International
Friendship • Judaism • Mentorship • Community

Published in the July 2026 Edition of Highlights – Ideas for CLub Leaders.