Leadership is more than the ‘big wins’
Leadership often resembles the headline events and front-page news stories, but it is also about persistence, patience, and steady commitment
Within our community, the word ‘leadership’ is often thrown around. Leadership means different things to different people, an abstract concept commonly associated with grand titles and high-profile figures – Presidents, CEOs, celebrated politicians or even renowned rabbis. While these individuals and their leadership styles can successfully embody admirable qualities which resonate well with a wider audience, this narrow representation goes to suggest that great leadership can only be impactful in its legacy when occurring on a large scale.
For Jewish students, leadership is far more nuanced and can be explained through three essential components.
Leadership often resembles the headline events and front-page news stories: Booze4Jews, inter-JSoc (Jewish society) sports tournaments, Convention weekend, shabbatons, UJS Presidential election campaigns as well as national advocacy campaigns such as ‘Stand Against Terror’. These are the ambitious projects that recapture Jewish pride through months of planning, coordination, and intense teamwork, gaining press coverage, national recognition, packed rooms full of people, and inspiring increased engagement too. These projects teach us to collaborate under pressure, embodying ‘strength from crisis’, while showcasing the power of Jewish student leadership.
But as Pirkei Avot reminds us, “It is not your responsibility to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it”. Leadership is about persistence, patience, and steady commitment, even when the results are not immediately visible. The second component of leadership centres on everyday responsibilities. Travelling the country for events, offering welfare support, booking speakers, venues and transport – the glue that holds everything together. The UJS team and JSoc leaders know all too well the life of constantly organising meetings with MPs and university leadership, the committee training seminars, back-and-forth emails, risk assessments, security provisions and crisis management. Not always exciting tasks, but they build the backbone of everything we achieve. Jewish leadership development is less about recognition and more about reliability and trustworthiness – as is clear in the UJS Leadership Fellowship’s focus on ‘productive discomfort’, a concept I try embrace in my own leadership style.
Finally, a third type of leadership – the often-unnoticed kind. One-on-one conversations inspiring a future of activism, moments of encouragement to incoming first-year students at Fresher’s Fair as they navigate university life, a coffee catch-up with someone who’s unsure if they belong, a ‘thank you’ note to a speaker who gave their time. Small gestures, supported through UJS welfare frameworks and mentoring networks, are underestimated in power, yet they can transform someone’s experience. Leadership is not simply about accomplishments; it is the difference you make in others’ lives. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks reflected, “Leaders are made, not born; they are people who make a difference by the courage of their convictions and the strength of their actions.”
The way we behave in these leadership-focused events, campaigns and conversations can feel insignificant or it becomes normalised, subconscious and repetitive so losing personal value. As Jewish students in leadership positions, we often dismiss the importance of our actions to those on the receiving end.
Think of leadership like hosting a Friday Night Dinner. The big projects are cooking the meal, requiring preparation, financial investment, time and effort. When the dinner is ready, everyone notices, as hard work where the results speak for themselves. The everyday responsibilities are setting the tables and doing the washing up – not glamorous, but essential. But those unnoticed moments are the conversations over challah and wine. The jokes, the words of encouragement, the gestures making someone feel welcome, giving the dinner personality. The unnoticed leadership turns out to be the reason that students stay engaged, they enjoy furthering their Jewish student experience by diving headfirst into local and national campaigns, they take the initiative to apply for roles on JSoc committee or beyond, sparking a lifelong commitment to advocacy.
Jewish students are leading the way, embracing each leadership component in representing a diverse plethora of opinions and engaging in high-level critical conversations and political advocacy to put our community’s issues on the agenda. Whilst our Jewish pride and resilience is not without its complexities, the record levels of engagement with UJS and Jewish campus life shows how Jewish students aren’t just enduring their time at university – they’re shaping it, enriching their student experiences with culture, leadership, and creativity. We are leading not in spite of the challenges we face, but because we refuse to these issues define us, stepping up as a testament to the quality of our leadership. As UJS President Louis Danker has said, Jewish students are not just the leaders of tomorrow, but the leaders of today.
Leadership is about balance – understanding the impact of both the big wins and the smallest acts of support. Having a shared vision whilst recognising our individual strengths, as a leader from the front or a leader at the back of the pack, allows us to nurture the next generation. Fostering a culture of leadership means knowing when someone else is better placed to lead a project, encouraging peers to take ownership of initiatives, celebrating others’ successes. Our personal efforts plant seeds that grow far beyond what we can see, as this work can set off a chain reaction. We have a unique opportunity: by valuing every facet of leadership, we look out for those following in our footsteps, collaborating with other Jewish student leaders to maximise the impact of our collective strengths, ensuring continued communal success. This is where UJS leadership pathways are most visible – not just in who leads now, but in who feels confident enough to step forward next.
Natasha Spungin is a student at University of Birmingham and a UJS Student Trustee
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