It’s Lonely at the Top

Early in my career, I was fortunate to work for a CEO who was transparent about the good, the bad, and the ugly of leading a company or organization. During one mentoring conversation, he shared an important truth I'll never forget.

He said, "when you're the boss, no one ever tells you 'good job.' And when someone does, it can be difficult to pin down their motivations."

As I moved up in my consulting career - and eventually into executive and senior leadership roles within national nonprofit organizations - I saw exactly what he was talking about in almost every leader I worked with.

When you're not sure what people's motivations are, it can be hard to know if the praise they share is genuine.

And, if you're not hearing any positive feedback for the decisions you're making, it can be hard to know whether those choices are making a difference for your team in the way you intended.

The leaders I've seen do the best work - for their organizations, their teams, and themselves - have developed strong relationships with their senior executives and their board, as well as open lines of communication with staff at all levels.

They also have identified a couple of key external advisors who can help them navigate the challenges at hand, give them honest perspectives about what's working and what's not, and encourage them when they're on the right path.

Sometimes these advisors are peers at other organizations, and sometimes they're consultants, like me, who can jump right in to support critical needs and advance key initiatives.

Whether you think of these folks as your squad, your people, your crew, your supporters, or something else - they're the critical community a leader needs to help turn their big vision into reality.

So, nonprofit leaders - who's in your crew? Feel free to tag and celebrate your squad and supporters in this post over on LinkedIn.

If you're a nonprofit leader realizing you could use a trusted strategic advisor to support you in your journey - send me a DM on LinkedIn or reach out via our contact form so we can set up a call to talk about your needs.

And in case nobody's said it today - you're doing a great job. Keep up the good work.