Nonprofit Leaders, Take a Breath

Earlier this month, after much effort, I finally convinced a worn out nonprofit leader to take some time off to rejuvenate. But it was a battle.

Because they are often incredibly driven by ambitious social change visions, tremendous empathy for the plight of their clients, and an overly developed gratitude to their board and donors, nonprofit leaders push themselves extremely hard.

In fact, nonprofit leaders are really quite excellent at self-denial. I see this all the time in my coaching practice.

But nonprofit leaders you must give yourselves permission to breathe. And I don’t mean an afternoon off, or a weekend without checking email.

I mean a real break. A break where you start to find yourself again.

Not yourself as a nonprofit leader, but yourself as a human being with interests, connections, and passions outside of your organization. Someone who explores the world around you. Someone who realizes that you are on this earth for a very short time and while your role in social change is absolutely necessary, it is not your only contribution, nor is it the only place you can (or should) find meaning.

Because let’s be honest, the only way a pace like yours ends is in complete social change burnout. By existing only on the unending treadmill of work, work, work and ignoring your very human need to reconnect with your passions, your spirit, your family and friends you are setting yourself up for eventual breakdown. And make no mistake, without you as leader at the helm, your nonprofit’s work will grind to a halt.

So during these summer months when things are perhaps a bit slower, give yourself permission to take an extended period of time away.

And I mean really away.

Turn off your phone and your email. Step back from social media (believe me it will still be there when you get back).

Without the constant deluge of information and demands on your time assailing you, you are free to hike the mountains, get a massage, take in an art exhibit, watch your children or your grandchildren play (and join them!), explore your hobbies, read an amazing book. It really doesn’t matter what you do, just that you do something different and meaningful. Embrace the parts of yourself outside of your social change job, those things that make you fully human.

You may even consider taking it further, as philanthropic thought leader Lucy Bernholz did recently with a “digital sabbatical” where she went offline (no email or social media) for six weeks. She found the experience incredibly rejuvenating: “Without the addictive stimulation and distractions of digital life it feels like my brain grew three sizes.”

As the daily glut of information continues to increase, it becomes more important than ever to take a breather, to embrace the quiet. There is tremendous value in reconnecting with what makes us human, not machine.

And let me assure you that I am giving myself this same advice. I know how hard it is to step away from the email and social media beasts. I’m as concerned as you are with letting people down or not making enough progress.

But I am slowly coming to realize that sometimes progress is found in the quiet. And sometimes it is enough — more than enough — to just be. To sit and watch the world in all its beauty float by and have absolutely no effect on it other than to appreciate it.

If you need help finding the space to do this, check out the Coaching I offer nonprofit leaders.

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