• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Social Velocity

Creating more strategic, financially savvy, and confident nonprofit leaders and organizations.

  • Consulting
    • Financial Model Assessment
    • Strategic Advising
    • Strategic Planning
  • Book
  • Clients
  • Speaking
  • Blog
  • About
    • Nell Edington’s Bio
    • Media
  • Connect
  • Tools
Home » Board of Directors » The Value of Quiet for the Nonprofit Leader

August 28, 2014 By Nell Edgington 2 Comments

The Value of Quiet for the Nonprofit Leader

FacebookTweetLinkedIn

As summer draws to a close and my own downtime ends, it occurs to me that there is a real need, in our increasingly always-on world, for leaders to find time for quiet reflection, to reconnect with their core.

And particularly in the nonprofit world, where a leader is constantly bombarded with suggestions – from funders, board members, staff, fellow leaders, Facebook friends – it is critical that she find regular solitude to analyze and plan the best way forward.

Indeed true leadership lies not in finding the lowest common denominator among a disparate group of supporters, volunteers and staff, but rather in analyzing all options and then driving the most effective way forward (even if it is unpopular). Real leadership is not about giving the people around you what they want. It is about doing what is best and what is right. And often you find that path through time alone to think.

Perhaps thoughtful, reasoned leadership has taken a hit in recent years. Our push toward social technology has created a culture of extreme extraversion and constant noise. Dave Eggers 2013 novel, The Circle, describes a world where companies like Google and Facebook have taken over. He offers a chilling view of social media taken to the extreme with destructive group think and no room for solitude.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big proponent of social media, but I also think there is tremendous value in regular, silent retreat.

And I’m not alone. Amid the broad adoption of an increasingly social way of life, we are, in certain pockets, beginning to realize that quiet has its place as well. Some politicians, finally turned off by the constant screaming of our increasingly partisan political system, have begun turning toward inner reflection to find a better way. Steven Pressfield describes the importance of getting away from it all and “letting the well fill up overnight.” And even social media mavens, Beth Kanter and Arianna Huffington have both recently begun promoting solitude and reflection.

Could it be that we are realizing that while new tools to make us more social have their place in the work of social change, individual reflection is also quite necessary. While crowdfunding and crowdsourcing and crowdthinking all have an important role to play, there is also tremendous value in a leader spending time, alone, to process the world around her and then emerge with a plan.

Nonprofit leaders are often working on large, intractable social problems. Those problems require the right way forward, not the most popular way forward. As a social change leader you must claim your very real need to turn off the noise. Amid the quiet you may just discover the necessary path. And perhaps also, the will to lead us there.

Photo Credit: Sebastien Panouille

FacebookTweetLinkedIn

Filed Under: Board of Directors, Capacity Building, Leadership, Nonprofits, Roadblocks, Social Change, Strategy Tagged With: Arianna Huffington, Beth Kanter, leadership, nonprofit, nonprofit board, nonprofit strategy, The Circle

Creating Social Change Doesn’t Have to Be So Hard.

Download my 5 Step Guide for Moving From Scarcity to Abundance when you sign up for my monthly e-newsletter -- full of insights, tips and tools.

If you are a resident of the European Union, please confirm that email is an acceptable way to hear from Social Velocity:

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Beth Kanter says

    August 28, 2014 at 7:27 pm

    Thanks for linking to my post. I believe that solitude is essential, but the real question is how to balance that with connectedness.

    Reply
  2. Nell Edgington says

    August 29, 2014 at 8:36 am

    Thanks for the comment, Beth. I think the default these days is constant connectedness, so my argument is that leaders need to carve out time for solitude, which is hard to do when there is so much pressure for constant connectedness. If everyone is always striving for connectedness, we are limiting individual creativity and leadership, which is essential to a thriving community.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Consulting Services

If you want your nonprofit or foundation to do and be more, Social Velocity can help you get there

Ready to Learn More About Working with Social Velocity?

Apply for a Consultation

My new book “Reinventing Social Change” is coming Feb 2021.

Sign up for book updates, sneak previews, and Download my 5 Step Guide for Moving from Scarcity to Abundance

Featured Blog Post Topics

  • Social Changemaker Interviews

  • Smart Strategic Planning

  • Effective Philanthropy

  • Networks for Social Change

  • The New Nonprofit Leader

  • A Groundbreaking Board

  • Reinventing the Nonprofit Sector

  • From Fundraising to Financing

Recent Posts

Reinventing Social Change Available for Pre-Order Now

Order Your Copy of Reinventing Social Change

A little change image from Matt Artz

Move From Nonprofit Fundraising to Social Change Financing

Children hugging each other

Make Money Your Nonprofit’s New Best Friend

Hand up in the sun

What Does Your Nonprofit Really Want?

Money

How to Move Your Nonprofit From Scarcity to Abundance

Categories

  • Abundance
  • Advocacy
  • Board of Directors
  • Capacity Building
  • Capacity Capital
  • Financing
  • Fundraising
  • Individual Donors
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Networks
  • Nonprofits
  • Philanthropy
  • Roadblocks
  • Social Change
  • Social Movements
  • Strategy

Footer

My new book“Reinventing Social Change” is coming Feb 2021.

Sign up for book updates, sneak previews, and Download my 5 Step Guide for Moving from Scarcity to Abundance

Reinventing Social Change Available for Pre-Order Now

Order Your Copy of Reinventing Social Change

January 21, 2021

A little change image from Matt Artz

Move From Nonprofit Fundraising to Social Change Financing

January 14, 2021

Children hugging each other

Make Money Your Nonprofit’s New Best Friend

January 8, 2021

Hand up in the sun

What Does Your Nonprofit Really Want?

December 10, 2020

Money

How to Move Your Nonprofit From Scarcity to Abundance

December 4, 2020

Recent Tweets

Tweets by nedgington
  • Consulting
  • Book
  • Clients
  • Speaking
  • Blog
  • About
  • Connect
  • Tools

© 2020 Social Velocity · Privacy Policy