by Rebecca Honig Friedman

Even for those of us who no longer run on a school schedule, summer time comes with a sense of possibility and renewal, a chance to recharge our batteries and take stock of the previous year’s work — while lying on the beach, perhaps.
As such, it’s the perfect time to seek advice from a professional in how to move forward.

Deborah Grayson Riegel, MSW, ACC, is a coach, trainer and speaker who, with her company MyJewishCoach.com, helps Jewish organizations and individuals achieve personal and professional success “without the tsuris.”
According to her official bio, Riegel’s workshops and speaking programs “are in high demand with North American Jewish organizations, Fortune 500 companies, national and local government agencies, and small start-ups, and her one-on-one coaching has propelled Jewish professionals across industries and interests to get farther, faster.”
Riegel’s list of credentials in the Jewish organizational world and the world of general corporate coaching goes on and on, but here are some highlights: She is on the faculty for both the Wexner Heritage Program and Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical school; a popular conference speaker for both the American Society of Training and Development and Training Magazine’s Conference and Expo; a member of the National Speakers Association and the Association of Jewish Community Organization Professionals; a graduate of Coach U. and a Certified DiSC® Practitioner; holds an M.S.W. from Columbia University; and she even blogs.

We picked Riegel’s brain about her work, the challenges facing women in the professional Jewish world, and got her advice on how to overcome them. (Check back later in the week for her self-assessment quiz to get your career in shape.)

JEWESS: So what exactly does a professional Jewish coach do?
DEBORAH GRAYSON RIEGEL: As a professional coach, I work with individuals, teams and organizations that are looking to actively, strategically and passionately move from the “here and now” towards achieving a compelling goal. At its most basic level, coaching is about helping people get clear about what they want and need, getting a timely and attainable plan up and moving, and giving them the support to take risks, make big changes, and succeed.
What makes me a Jewish coach? Well, the simple answer is that I’m Jewish, so nu? I also have both formal and informal Jewish education, as well as over a decade of experience working in and consulting with Jewish organizations, so I know a few Jewish things. Also, as a coach, I often respond to your question with another deeper or more angled question, which is pretty Jewish. That being said, my role as a coach is to support anyone in finding and following his or her own unique path to personal and professional success. If your goal is to change your spiritual or religious life, then I can support you in achieving that.
If Jewish practice, culture, and/or traditions are important to someone’s life, then they may become an important part of our coaching work. If “Jewishness” or Judaism aren’t core to reaching a particular goal – or aren’t core to a client’s life – then it doesn’t come up in the coaching. My coaching is non-denominational and non-judgmental.

What are the common issues women who seek your coaching face?
Many of my female clients are challenged with work-life balance issues (which may include issues related to parenting, dating, health and exercise, and general time management challenges), taxing supervisory relationships (as either the supervisor or the direct report – and sometimes in both directions), as well as the ongoing desire to aggressively advance professionally without sacrificing relationships.

Having worked in both the Jewish organizational world and the corporate world, what challenges do you see facing women in Jewish organizational life in particular?
Women, like men, have two fundamental needs in the workplace: to benefit and to contribute. If we’re going to spend approximately ½ of each day working, we want to know that we are going to get something out of it (a paycheck, benefits, professional development, social relationships, a good feeling, etc.) while we are putting something into it (our time, our energy, our passion – a.k.a. blood, sweat and tears.) Many of my clients who work in Jewish organizations feel that their contributions –- and the personal and professional sacrifices associated with making those contributions day after day, year after year — are outweighing the benefits. They simply are not reaping the benefits in the same way or at the same level as their male colleagues. The challenge for them is that they want to keep working in the Jewish community, but they have to come to a place where they need to reclaim and raise the stakes on reaping those benefits.

Why do you think women in the professional Jewish world aren’t reaping the same benefits as their male counterparts more so than women in the general professional world? What can women and men do to correct the situation?
Shifra Bronznick (www.advancingwomen.org) is the go-to person on issues of gender inequality in the Jewish communal world. My expertise is on coaching individuals and teams, as well as volunteer and professional skills training — Shifra’s is on changing organizational culture.

What’s the most important bit of advice would you give women trying to move up the career ladder?
Women often believe that they will be rewarded for their total honesty in letting others know where they have skill or competency gaps. This candor may be prized in our personal relationships, but it doesn’t serve us well in trying to advance professionally. Focus on selling your strengths, skills and attributes, throw a pair of Spanx over your “flabby” areas for development, and stop talking about them!

If you could choose any character from the Bible, male or female, to be your boss, who would it be? And who would be your last choice?
The best boss? I’d like to learn from the best…is Hashem an option? What I particularly appreciate about Hashem is the commitment to “tzimtzum” — the willingness and ability to constrict his/her powers and presence so that we have the opportunity to practice free will, learn and grow. It’s a refreshing alternative to the micromanager!
As for the worst boss — too many to name.

Posted on July 21st, 2008 Filed under: Interviews |