photo by Lara Herscovitch
One of the exercises in CLP is about identifying and clarifying our own personal values. We each identify our top 5 values, writing one each on 5 index cards. Then we have to drop one… and another… until we are forced to choose our number 1, top value. What is your current One right now and why?
When I did this in CLP, I was left with “learning,” and I’m really starting to understand how much that’s always been an external thing for me. I thought I was objectively taking in information and synthesizing it, and becoming a more informed, smarter, better person. CLP and some important people in my life helped me realize how much I was missing by looking outwards first instead of inwards. So that’s gotten me to somewhere like “self-awareness” or “introspection,” which I know will make the “learning” and everything that comes after it a lot more meaningful. I love that both processes will continue as long as I’m on this earth.
What is one big, burning leadership question you are wrestling with these days?
How to effectively lead within and across organizational and generational differences. I see a lot of organizations and institutions – profit, nonprofit, religious, political parties – struggling to connect with my generation and to democratize in general, but missing what feels like a deeper shift that’s been happening. I’m so interested in it because I’ve spoken to so many people who are adamant about the need to engage and bring the next generation of leaders into the fold. And I agree. But then I see those same institutions act in ways that push younger leaders away. So, how do we change? Do we? Or do we just say no, we’re here to do what we came here to do decades ago, and we still believe fundamentally in how we do it?
Are the differences in style or substance or both?
I think it’s both. And I don’t pretend it’s easy. Organizations know they need to connect to the “next generation” but don’t want to change to a more inclusive style and vision – because that might jeopardize relationships with their current, more cautious supporters or members who prefer an older-school, incremental and hierarchical or power-over style. How do you respect and honor the people who got you where you are while appealing to a new generation with different perspectives, motives, hopes and fears? How do you build a coalition across that difference that is even stronger than the sum of its parts?
I think sometimes people want it to be a style thing – the package, not the substance. But it’s not as simple as putting ads on Facebook. That can come off as really disingenuous. People are smart enough to see when a corporate Twitter account is trying to market to them using Millennial/Gen Z speak, but is actually selling destructive things, not the things we care about. And sure, it’s partly about style. But it’s also going deeper and asking who are we as an organization, and how does that connect or not connect to the age group or people we want to reach.
Can you share an example?
The most recent one that comes to mind is the way a political party might show that yes, we can tweet in your vernacular, while at the same time passing rules to make it harder for people to primary challenge their incumbents. So it’s like, yes, we want all this new blood and these new ideas, but not if it’s going to challenge what we already have. It’s frustrating to watch. I get that if they upset their more moderate supporters they won’t have enough to be competitive. But it seems to me there has to be more give there, to show that it’s not just rhetoric.
If we’re looking at two basic kinds of structures – old school that’s based around institutional power and hierarchy, and a flatter, more social and connection- or movement-based, the latter always feels more honest to me. I’m excited by the kinds of organizations that are really connecting with and giving voice to people on the ground, where they’re at, advocating for them and with them. Letting people tell their stories, and inviting everyone to join and really create something together. The new book about the Parkland kids brought me to tears, they’re so passionate and not cynical. They’re intensely attached to what they’re fighting for.
But I know it’s an unfair comparison, because there’s a utility in both styles. Maybe at the end of the day, the goal is to synthesize those two types of operations, create a fusion of new-school power and old-school power – know how to raise money, and have deep media and political connections but without losing heart, authenticity and voice. Or maybe they’re mutually exclusive, I’m not sure. But if it’s possible to have both at the same time, once that happens, it will be a force to reckon with.
What inspires you, gives you hope these days?
I find hope from the size and energy of the political action and engagement that has come together in the last couple years. I think a lot of people who thought politics was unimportant to them personally have been disabused of that notion and I look forward to an engaged citizenry that refuses to be apathetic. That Parkland book I just mentioned – those students inspire me. They looked at an issue that I had grown completely resigned and despondent about and said, “f*** that, we don’t accept this.”
This work of transformational change is hard. Stepping in, stepping up, over time, can be draining – physically, intellectually, emotionally, psychically, spiritually. How do you recharge, restore, take care of yourself, rekindle your fire?
I find something new. Sometimes it’s a new place, far away or just down the road. Sometimes I have couch-surfers from around the world come crash at my apartment and tell me about their homes and travels. Sometimes it’s a new book or topic that opens up an entirely new part of history or humanity that I had been completely unaware of. It helps me put things in perspective and gets me excited to learn more about the world around me.
Also, related to my core value of “self-awareness” and “introspection,” I am an actor and am really happy to have gotten back to it recently. Theater has always challenged me to go inwards and connect with a part of myself that is necessary for a compelling performance. It makes you say, ok, what does this feeling mean? Experience it. Explore it. Sit in it. Understand where it comes from, and understand people who are different from you and how they might respond. That act of having to inhabit another human being and how they see the world is really fun.
Can you share an example of that process?
Last October I was in a production of the Rocky Horror Show, playing Brad Majors. It’s so much fun to play that character, even though he is a total asshole – which you need to yell whenever you hear his name. I like being the “straight man” who’s not afraid to make a fool of himself, dancing around in stilettos and fishnets. And, playing a character who’s a total jerk is also so much fun. In day-to-day life, how often do you get to explore different parts of yourself, especially the ones you’d rather not sit in because they’re unpleasant, or selfish, or mean. But we all have those parts. So it’s a safe space to jump into and play in. You have to get to a place where everything the character does is completely justified, and everyone else is insane. It’s actually nice when people come up after a show like that and say, “what a jerk, I couldn’t stand you.” And you’re like, ‘great, that’s because I really believed in how I felt, so that came across.’
When did you start acting?
When I was nine or ten; I played Simba in The Lion King at summer camp. I was very comfortable on stage, and had a lot of fun. I went to the Music Theater of Connecticut, and played Geppetto in Pinocchio. My big break as a child actor was when I was 12; I was cast as the paper boy Joe Crowell in Our Town at the Westport Country Playhouse. Paul Newman was the stage manager, Jane Curtain was in it, all these amazing actors. It gave me a real look into how it all works. I continued in musicals through high school and college, majored in Theater and English at the University of Vermont. I played Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, the beast in Beauty and the Beast, we did a wide variety of plays and musicals – Godspell, Cabaret, Brecht, Restoration Comedy, A Doll’s House. After college I did the apprentice program at Williamstown Theatre Festival, and saw how many talented people were doing such great work. Every actor’s advice was, if you can imagine yourself doing something else, do that; it’s constant rejection.
I did pursue it for a little bit in New York, and then realized I could imagine myself doing something else. I traveled to China and taught English for about a year. As much as I loved the travel and experience, I really wanted to come back home and get to know America better. By then – 2014 – it was really clear how divided we are, and I wanted to understand it, figure out how to build bridges across difference. I joined AmeriCorps NCCC, and was based in Vicksburg, Mississippi – on Confederate Avenue. Our projects were in disaster relief, building houses and maintaining national park trails, in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina.
After that work, I wanted to come back home to Connecticut and apply what I had learned in a place where I have more credibility, because it’s where I’m from – as opposed to being seen as an outsider. So it’s great to be back in one place, where I can now combine my work with acting again. It’s like a muscle I used to use that I’m realizing is still there.
Introduce us to someone you are/were close with, who shaped (or shapes) you and how you view leadership and possibility for a better community/world?
My grandmother is a Holocaust survivor. She recently came to Connecticut to share her story with some middle school kids because she feels like she has a responsibility to use that awful experience to educate and do whatever she can to prevent similar atrocities in the future. She also has never let that experience define her; she lives a really full life surrounded by friends and family. Her strength and perseverance are constantly helping me put problems into perspective and realize I’m capable of more than I know. That she has lived such a meaningful, joyful life from that foundation, has given me a lot of the optimism I have.
What do you recommend to us, in each of these categories:
- Reading – Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi and Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, were all revelations for me this year.
- Listening – Love me some podcasts. Radiolab, Scene on Radio’s “Seeing White” series, Invisibilia, Alone: A Love Story (thanks Rebecca for the rec).
- Eating – Kati rolls from Ali Baba’s Fusion on Dixwell Ave. in Hamden. The cauliflower one is my fav. Also roasted brussel sprouts, just olive oil and salt.
- Watching – Pose, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Good Place.
- Laughing – I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson on Netflix made me laugh harder than I can remember. It’s very dumb but sometimes that’s just what you need.
- Wildcard – Can’t stop listening to Lizzo.
Interview with The Circle’s Creative Director & Editor, Lara Herscovitch (Cohort 10). To reach Lara directly: thecircle@clpnewhaven.org or Lara@LaraHerscovitch.com
Learn more about Andy (and share some book recommendations) on GoodReads
To get in touch with Andy directly: afriedland@adl.org