Creating a High Performance Team

The learning process begins before this day-long workshop. Internet assessments are administered to members of the professional staff - rabbis, cantor, educator, executive director, preschool director, and program director. The results offer a comprehensive analysis of the group's leadership style in 12 key areas. This analysis becomes the foundation for the day's agenda.

The professional staff also completes custom-designed worksheets that identify the strengths and areas of growth for the team. The "Professional Staff Leadership Workshop" highlights the importance of understanding the array of leadership, communication, and conflict styles that are inherent in working with a diverse group. The professional team learns specific skills, such as how to develop a shared agenda or run effective staff meetings, in order to build a highly effective team.

" I have had the pleasure of working with Steve over a number of years. He has cogently, through a Jewish lens, and with humor, facilitated a number of staff retreats, helping us to build stronger intra-group relationships, to work together with a greater understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses, and to learn how to be more effective individually and collectively. I have also worked with Steve on some leadership programs and have been impressed by the way in which he was able to pull a disparate group of individuals together to reach a consensus on some complicated matters. He is fun, light-hearted, and yet a dedicated and focused professional at all times. "

Livia D. Thompson, Past Senior Director, Central Synagogue, New York, New York, and NATA Past President

" Today's Cantor deals with a host of new issues as the vocation continues to evolve with the changing times. I have found that Steve more than understands this, as he's helped me to work through cantorial goals, staff relationships, and my personal working style. He does this all with an unassuming, open, and compassionate attitude focused on bringing out the best and most honest qualities in the clergy he works with. "

Cantor Daniel Mutlu, Senior Cantor, Central Synagogue, NY, NY

" Rabbi Steve Kaye is a wonderful teacher and coach. His intuitive grasp of the intricacies of the congregational Rabbinate and the importance of creating, maintaining, and celebrating Rabbinic vision have been very helpful to me in my rabbinate. He also is someone who understands the complex interrelationships between staff and lay leadership. The work he did with my former congregation in building a sense of team has been invaluable. "

-Rabbi Joseph Black, Congregation Emanuel, Denver, Colorado