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Arielle Lechner (Photo courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia)<\/p>\n Arielle Lechner (Photo courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia)<\/p>\n
The role of an upper level executive can be complex and time-consuming, making it hard for those individuals to know if they\u2019re getting the most out of their own efforts and those of their employees. That\u2019s where Arielle Lechner comes in.<\/p>\n
Lechner is an executive coach and founder of the company NewPo, which helps leaders see issues or opportunities they might be overlooking and enables them to reach new heights.
The Pennsport resident is also an involved member of the Jewish community, volunteering her time outside of work as a board member of organizations like the Hebrew Free Loan Society of Greater Philadelphia and NextGen at the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, where she recently became the board chair.<\/p>\n
Lechner believes strongly in filling leadership roles and raising the performance of others, as well as the need for young people to be involved in their communities.<\/p>\n
She is a member of Society Hill Synagogue.<\/p>\n
What is executive coaching and the role of NewPo?<\/p>\n
NewPo is my executive coaching practice that I\u2019ve been growing for about seven years now. It\u2019s short for new possibilities, which is effectively what I believe I help my clients do. I work with tech leaders: startup CEOs, growth-stage company CEOs, C-suite senior leadership folks, and I really just help them with the leadership challenges, the internal challenges, the cultural challenges of what happens when your company starts growing.<\/p>\n
What is NextGen?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an affinity group within the Jewish Federation in the greater Philly area, pretty much for people from 22 to 40, and it\u2019s focused on rising leaders and the growth of the leaders of tomorrow in our community. We\u2019re focused on increasing philanthropic gifts among younger folks, but we are also focused on engaging them socially, through events, through meaningful learning opportunities.<\/p>\n
Tell me about your involvement with NextGen at the Federation.<\/p>\n
A couple of months after Oct. 7, I\u2019m just making myself sick with what I\u2019m seeing online. I wanted to channel that energy into something productive that was in real life and just get off social media. And we were also planting roots here in Philly, and my husband hadn\u2019t really been involved in the Jewish community and couldn\u2019t really tell me what the situation was. So, I turned to Federation, and I did a leadership program with them, a fellowship called Pathway, which then led me to joining the NextGen board last year, and then, after serving on the board for a year, I was asked to step into the chair role.<\/p>\n
What does the importance of being in a leadership role mean to you?<\/p>\n
Being in a leadership role means you are helping to set the vision of what we as a team are trying to accomplish, and then making sure the people who are on this team or a part of this group, whether it\u2019s in a company or NextGen, have the resources and tools and support they need to do their job. The way I think about my style of leadership is, let\u2019s set a vision and then let\u2019s help people figure out what\u2019s getting in the way of them fulfilling their part and creating that vision.<\/p>\n
And how does that mentality translate to the Jewish community?<\/p>\n
I really believe that we need to take, as young leaders, an active role in creating the future and community we want to see and that we want to exist in a couple years from now, when current leaders are no longer here. I think it\u2019s really important for young folks to be getting involved, and to be giving not just their dollars, but their time and energy to whatever piece of that gets them activated.<\/p>\n
Between your volunteer work and your company, how do you balance all your responsibilities?<\/p>\n
It was all easy before I had a kid. I had a son last year, and I\u2019m pregnant with my second. I would say, it helps that I work for myself. There\u2019s pros and cons to working for yourself, but one of the pros is you\u2019re in charge of your schedule. There are certainly moments in my life where I told myself I had no space for volunteering. But I think as I\u2019ve gotten older, I really believe that the value of something isn\u2019t just what you\u2019re paid to do. A lot of valuable work that\u2019s needed in the world is unpaid. And I see that the work I do with Federation and NextGen is extremely important. And so, I make time. I\u2019m very good at saying no to what\u2019s not going to further my goals right now, whether it\u2019s work stuff [or whatever else]. I guess, it\u2019s ruthless prioritization.<\/p>\n
What do you find important about volunteering in the Jewish community?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not from the Philly area. I grew up in Montreal, Canada. I went to university there, and I only moved to the U.S. a little over 10 years ago. I think my experience there was, I\u2019m someone who went to Jewish school, Jewish summer camp, I did Jewish trips, and I very much grew up in a community where, if someone didn\u2019t have the means to do some of these things, there was community support to ensure they had access to those same opportunities. And as someone who\u2019s living in Philly, I want to live in a community that\u2019s able to do that for other people. And so that\u2019s, I think, a big reason.<\/p>\n