314-432-0020 JFed@JFedSTL.org
Jewish Federation of St. Louis

Leadership Resources

Board Development Resources

  • BoardSource: The leading resource, includes an extensive book store, handouts and webinars to guide the work of boards. Note: Jewish Federation of St. Louis has a membership and we are happy to help you purchase materials at the member rate.
  • Blue Avocado: Current and creative articles about effective boards.
  • Article by Jan Masaoka: On the model of individual contributions vs. board governance (2011).
  • The Associated: (Baltimore Jewish Federation) This site has a list of board resources, with a number of the handouts from Board Source. We have their approval to share. Check their materials here.

Recommended Books for Boards and Community Leadership

Board Source: Twelve Principles of Governance That Power Exceptional Boards. Washington D.C.: BoardSource, 2005. Print.

Brafman, Ori, and Rom Brafman. Click: The Magic of Instant Connections – And How They Can Transform Our Work and Relationships. London: Virgin Books, 2011, Print.

Brown, Erica. Inspired Jewish Leadership: Practical Approaches to Building Strong Communities. Woodstock: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2009. Print.

Chait, Richard P. William P. Ryan, and Barbara E. Taylor (2011). Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards. Hoboken: Wiley, 2011. Print.

Heath, Chip and Dan Heath. Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard. New York: Broadway Books. 2010. Print.

Heifetz, Ronald A. Leadership Without Easy Answers. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994. Print.

Ingram, Richard T. Ten Basic Responsibilities of Non-profit boards. Washington D.C.: BoardSource, 2003. Print.

Kouzes, James M. and Barry Z. Poser. The Leadership Challenge. 4th ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006, Print.

Scott, Susan. Fierce leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst “Best Practices” of Business Today. New York: Crown Publishing, 2011. Print.

Shapiro, Stephen M. Best Practices are Stupid: 40 Ways to Out-Innovate the Competition, New York: Portfoloio, 2011. Print.

Sinek, Simon. Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t. New York: Portfolio, 2014. Print.

Trower, Cathy A. The Practitioner’s Guide to Governance as Leadership: Building High Performing Nonprofit Boards. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2013. Print.

Ted Talks

  • Simon Sinek – “How Great Leaders Inspire Action”: One of the most popular Ted Talks of all time, 18 min. video Sinek outlines how to use “why” as the foundation for inspirational leadership.
  • Simon Sinek – Remembering the Human part of Humanity – 12 min video that challenges us to engage more face-to-face in order to build trust.
  • Seth Godin – (sethgodin.com) is the author of numerous books on marketing and one of his early Ted Talks highlights the importance of tribes and belonging.
  • EliTalks.com – Inspired Jewish ideas based on the TedTalk model.

Looking for other resources to inspire and support your staff and volunteers? The Millstone Institute team is happy to help. Contact Marci Mayer Eisen at 314-442-3810 or MEisen@JFedSTL.org.