Welcome to the second rotation for Program Coordinators! Judges in advanced roles hold those roles for 18-month periods before rotating out or re-applying. Our lives change and the program changes. This allows the program to adapt to these changes. We need to offer opportunities to aspiring leaders with new ideas, and we need stability in our leadership corps. This approach balances those needs.

Farewell and Thank you

Before going to the results of the selection, we would like to thank Toby Elliott and Kim Warren for their work in the group over the past year. Your clarity in vision guided the group through the mists of a brand new reality. That reality will continue to challenge us, but if we lead with your examples in mind, the program will be much better for it.

We also thank the evaluation committee, who carefully reviewed and analysed the applications:

Alfonso Bueno

Kevin Desprez

Matteo Callegari

Sean Catanese

John Brian McCarthy

Sebastian Pękala

Sergio Pérez

The Process

The Spring 2017 selection process involved three questions evaluated in two steps. We asked candidates to write answers to the first two questions without revealing their identities. Our intent is evaluate ideas independently of their owners, to remove personal bias from the assessment (both favorable and unfavorable).

For the third question, we asked the applicants simply, “What should the Program Coordinators accomplish in the next 18 months, and how will you help?” This question was not anonymous. The committee received each answer with the applicant’s name, but no connecting information with the previous two questions. The committee evaluated these answers, then the average of the scores was calculated.

As we evaluated each answer, we prepared specific follow up questions for each candidate to help decide between them if the choices were not clear.

The Result

We’re very happy to announce our newest Program Coordinator: Riki Hayashi

Below are some excerpts from Riki’s application. We are confident this decisive approach will make a big difference.

“I think that feedback culture is upside down right now. So much of it is focused on how best to give feedback, and there’s no discussion about how to receive it. People clamor for feedback, saying that they don’t receive enough reviews, but when they receive an unexpected review, or feedback that contradicts their self image, the response is to attack the giver. This is creating a culture where people are afraid to give feedback.”

“Like feedback, the Judge Program talks a big talk (probably bigger) when it comes to diversity. The Judge Program is, on the surface, a welcoming and inclusive organization. However, there is a difference between merely promoting diversity as a general culture and focusing on changing the balance of representation, and this is where we need to focus more of our efforts on.

Changing the balance of representation often brings with it concerns that the bar is being lowered to let disadvantaged groups in. However, when there is a lack of representation in general, it takes extraordinary individuals to break through the glass ceiling. These people work even harder than the standard to fight against the inertia that is present, and it is my belief that reaching out to help more such people would not compromise our standards of quality.”

You’ll notice there’s a lot here that confronts and challenges us. Riki is identifying some major areas for improvement, and he has never been shy about saying “This needs to be better.” We wanted a program coordinator who would push us to be better as a program and as individuals That’s why we selected Riki Hayashi as the newest member of the Program Coordinator group.

Several other judges applied in this round, and we truly appreciate the hard work and dedication to the program they have demonstrated. We hope to continue seeing strong contributions from each of these judges moving forward.

The Program Coordinators.