Comments on ED Role May 2012

This entry is in response to Carol Silverman’s comment/question below:

Hi friends, Re: executive director description:
I was wondering why familiarity with the Balkan music was not mentioned. I’m not advocating REQURING it but it does seem like familiarity either with the Balkans or with music should be considered. It seems like omitting it sends the message that it won’t even be weighed among applicants. However, perhaps the position is only administrative and not artistic/programming??
Thanks for listening, Carol

Our response/dialogue:

Hi Carol. We assumed that if we expected them to dance on tables at parties, that would require some familiarity with Balkan dance and culture…..

Joking aside, your question is a good one. As you can see in our job description we put the focus on meaningful experiences as a leader, as a strategic planner, and as a not for profit professional, as we feel these are the things we need for the organization to thrive, and what we want the ED to do – plan, lead, and manage our organization. We originally crafted our description with the assumption that we would circulate it – and get responses from – people who are in our direct or extended community, and who we know have at least a familiarity with the balkans. At a certain point, we also decided that we were going to broaden our search, and were not going to make familiarity with balkan music, dance or culture either a prerequisite or a qualification. It’s a long shot, but it’s possible that we may attract an extremely talented applicant who has the qualified experiences we need, who doesn’t have a familiarity with the focus of our mission, but who really wants to become deeply engaged in the world of balkan folk music culture and dance. And they certainly will have to do that to credibly represent our community and organization.

So while familiarity with balkan music dance and culture is not a precise requirement, it clearly plays a very important role in the ability of our future ED to get up to speed quickly and gain credibility and trust with our community. It will definitely figure in our assessment of candidates’ fit for the role.

Thanks
corinna