Progress over perfection, slowing down and joy - Envisioning a more humane nonprofit sector - Part 1
8/12/2024
““How we might come together to envision and create a healthier, more humane nonprofit sector. Consider these questions for reflection:
How might we make work work for everyone?
How might we build guardrails and model behavior that demonstrates it is ok to be human and do good work?
How might we slow down and plan for 85% instead of 110%?
How might we favor progress over perfectionism?
How might we say yes to more play, creativity, fun, joy and thriving?””
In this special episode of Nonprofit Mission: Impact, host Carol Hamilton celebrates four years of podcasting and reflects on the lessons learned from her 100+ episode journey.
The podcast, aimed at nonprofit leaders striving to build a better world without martyrdom, offers practical advice, deep analysis, and engaging conversations.
This episode gathers insights from various guest experts, focusing on key themes such as cultivating healthy organizational cultures, prioritizing progress over perfectionism, ensuring work-life balance, and infusing joy and creativity into the nonprofit sector.
The discussion underscores the importance of aligning organizational values with actions, fostering inclusive and supportive environments, and advocating for the resources needed to achieve meaningful change.
Episode Highlights
Key Lessons from 100 Episodes & Imagining a Healthier Nonprofit Sector
03:31
Carol shares ten essential lessons learned, emphasizing the importance of diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultures, the dangers of overwork, and the value of focusing on relationships and progress over perfection.
Progress Over Perfection
06:28
Pooya Pourak discusses the importance of favoring progress over perfectionism, embracing continuous improvement, and cultivating a growth mindset to drive meaningful social change.
Action Bias
09:15
Susan Kahan highlights why analysis paralysis is common in the sector. She describes the need to make decisions and take action, even if imperfect, and the value of celebrating small wins to foster progress and avoid burnout.
Setting Guardrails and Modeling
13:51
Dr. Orletta Caldwell offers practical steps for leaders to establish clear values in support of your nonprofit mission, support work-life balance, and create a culture where it's okay to be human while striving to do good work.
Planning Realistically 20:42 - 25:40
Sarah Olivieri advises on planning realistically, working within your nonprofit organization’s capacity, and using visual tools to manage workloads and avoid overcommitment.
Infusing Joy and Creativity into Nonprofit Work
25:41 - 33:18
Erin Allgood shares strategies for infusing joy and creativity into the nonprofit workplace, emphasizing the importance of building strong relationships and creating a culture of fun and innovation.
Advocating for the Resources Your Team Needs
33:19
Reva Patwardhan calls on nonprofit leaders to advocate for their organizations' needs, ensuring they have the resources necessary to meet goals without sacrificing well-being.
Important Links and Resources:
Erin Allgood - https://www.allgoodstrategies.com/
Dr. Orletta Caldwell - https://beyondexisting.com/
Susan Kahan - https://sapphirefundraisingspecialists.com/
Sarah Olivieri - https://www.pivotground.com/
Reva Patwardhan - https://www.greatergoodcoaching.org/
Pooya Pourak - https://www.matchnice.org/
Liberating Structures - https://www.liberatingstructures.com/
Related Episodes:
Episode 50 - Why more money and more staff isn’t always the answer for nonprofits
Episode 62 - Healthy nonprofit organizational culture highlights, part 1
Episode 63: Healthy nonprofit organizational culture highlights part 2
Episode 78: Renegotiating our relationship with work
Episode 98: Declining interest in nonprofit leadership
Episode 100: 10 Lessons from 100 Episodes
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Carol Hamilton: Today on Mission Impact I am celebrating my 4 year Pod-i-versary.
A couple episodes ago, I celebrated another milestone – my 100th episode. For my 100th, I looked back at the 100 episodes I have done and what I had learned from all those conversations and reflections. What I learned and took away are some nascent answers to the questions I wanted to explore when I first launched the podcast in 2020.
If you have been listening for a while, you know that Mission Impact is the podcast for nonprofit leaders who want to build a better world without becoming a martyr to the cause.
If you are new - we explore
· how to make your organization more effective and innovative. On this podcast
· We investigate how to build organizational cultures where your work in the world is aligned with how you work together as staff, board members and volunteers.
· All of this is for the purpose of creating greater mission impact.
I’m Carol Hamilton, your podcast host and nonprofit strategic planning and evaluation design consultant.
On my 100th episode, I highlighted 10 lessons that I have learned from my four year exploration into these topics. The lessons were:In order to cultivate healthy organizational cultures, the culture has to be diverse, equitable, inclusive, welcoming by design. It has to center cultural competence and cultural humility. This is a nonnegotiable
I described what we are trying to move away from - What a toxic organizational culture looks and feels like
Why overwork, perfectionism and martyrdom are so prevalent in our sector
What are we striving for instead? What a healthy organizational culture actually looks like
It is all about relationships!
you do not have to do it alone!
Find your unique contribution
Give yourself and others grace and compassion with a healthy dose of cultural humility
There is grace and power in organizational alignment
And none of us is perfect, so be human first in all things
And I ended the episodes thinking about how we might come together to envision and create a healthier nonprofit sector – a more humane nonprofit sector. And I posed these questions for reflection:
What does a healthier nonprofit sector look like?
how might we redefine the social contract of nonprofit employment?
How might we make work work for everyone?
How might we build guardrails and model behavior that demonstrates it is ok to be human and do good work?
How might we slow down and plan for 85%. Instead of 110%?
How might we create leadership roles, volunteer roles and all the roles that people actually are excited to step into and do?
How might we say no to passion exploitation, extraction, overwork and martyrdom?
How might we favor progress over perfectionism?
How might we say yes to more play, creativity, fun, joy and thriving?
For this episode, I invited my guests to respond to one of the questions above with their thoughts and reflections on what that healthier, stronger and more human future nonprofit sector might look like.
As I experience from every strategic planning project with clients, identifying the gaps and challenges is important – but having a solid vision for a better future is much more energizing and enriching.
I appreciate each person who took the time to record their thoughts so that I could share them with you today. Each guest sheds light onto one aspect of how we might build a more humane and healthy nonprofit sector.
As we investigate this topic, I am going to start at the individual level and move towards the team and organizational level and then ultimately to the sector level. I had such a great response that I am actually going to split this into two episodes. On this episode, we will look at the individual and organizational level and the next episode we will consider a broader sector level view.
I start at the individual level because ultimately that is where each of us has the most influence. In liberating structures, there is an exercise called the 15 % solutions – what is something that would make the situation 15% better. Individuals cannot create this change alone – and yet – each individual making different choices has a ripple effect.
Let’s start with considering How we might favor progress over perfectionism? I appreciated several points that Pooya Pourak makes in his comments about focusing on small wins and steps rather than waiting until that mythical time when you have all the answers. His reminder that “the aim is to create positive social impact, not to achieve flawless execution” is an important one. He urges us to “Prioritize actions that drive meaningful change over those that merely look good on paper.”
Pooya Pourak: Hi, my name is Pooya Pourak. I'm the co founder and CEO of match nice, a new kind of donation matching platform designed to inspire more giving. I'm also the host of the nonprofit lab dedicated to uncovering and challenging the status quo in the nonprofit sector. I've had the privilege of hosting Carol Hamilton on the show and a big congratulations on a 100 episode milestone for the mission impact podcast. Favoring progress over perfectionism is crucial for driving sustainable impact in the nonprofit sector. Embracing the Japanese concept of kaizen or continuous improvement encourages us to focus on making small incremental changes, rather than waiting for the perfect solution and moment. Celebrate the small wins and recognize that each step forward contributes to your greater journey. Cultivating a growth mindset is key viewing setbacks as opportunities to learn and innovate. And it also reduces the fear of failure and fosters a culture of resilience. Mindfulness and presence can also transform our approach to work. By focusing on the present task and giving it our best effort, we reduce our anxiety about outcomes and create a space for steady progress. setting realistic goals and breaking them down into manageable milestones also helps keep our efforts tangible and achievable. Remember that the aim is to create positive social impact, not to achieve flawless execution. Prioritize actions that drive meaningful change over those that merely look good on paper. cultivating compassion and patience both towards ourselves and our teams is essential. Recognize that perfection is an unrealistic standard. And it's inherent to being human to be imperfect. So foster a collaborative environment where team members feel supported and empowered to contribute and make a difference. collective effort is what often leads to the most sustainable progress. And creating moments for regular reflection and learning from those experiences will keep us on a path of continuous progress and improvement. By integrating these principles, we create a nonprofit culture in a sector that values progress over perfectionism, leading to more sustainable and impactful outcomes.
Carol: I also appreciated how Pooya made the point that focusing on progress over perfection contributes to a stronger team culture.
Susan Kahan also considers this question and she challenges all of us in the nonprofit sector – “sometimes you need to stop iterating and collaborating and that information gathering, and you have to make those decisions to move forward.”
I often talk about shared leadership and collaboration on this podcast – and strongly believe in these things. And yet if it is all talk and analysis and more talk and more analysis no action – that is not the point. Ultimately the group needs to make a decision – for better or worse – and try something!
Susan Kahan: Hi, this is Susan Kahan, the founder and principal of sapphire fundraising specialists. So I love the quote, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. And as a perfectionist by nature, as someone who was always a really high achiever, as someone who oftentimes couldn't get started, because I was nervous about something not being perfect, I've really taken this quote to heart and I think we all need to be thinking about how can we progress? How can we think about what's good enough, and not necessarily what's perfect. So I think perfectionism tendencies are so commonplace in nonprofits, we want to have as much information to make a decision. But sometimes you need to stop iterating and collaborating and that information gathering, and you have to make those decisions to move forward. And I know staff at nonprofits, and at all organizations, frankly, they want a leader, they want someone who is decisive, they want someone who tries something and admits when it doesn't work out. They all want you know, and this includes boards of directors to they want their leaders to tell them if something works or not, how it they expected it to work. And then what actually happened, and sharing what was learned along the way, how decisions were made. This could also when you think about fundraising at nonprofits, this might be having a message that you're not exactly sure how it's gonna look. But trying it because you and seeing if it works, testing different ideas, even if it's not the perfect message, there is no perfect message, there is no message that's going to resonate with every single one of your donors. But this progress over perfectionism, this could also be accepting that a meeting with a donor might not be perfect and might not go exactly how you want might not even get a yes on a gift. But instead focusing on how are you strengthening the donors relationship with the organization. And then finally, I think what we really need to do at nonprofits is highlight small wins. You know, we often hear in chronicle philanthropy and different news agencies about big, big mega gifts. And that's great. And we often celebrate when someone makes a big transformational donation to a nonprofit, again, amazing. And also, there are smaller wins that we can be celebrating that have a huge impact and US progressing forward. So maybe that's hitting a monthly revenue target, maybe that is hitting a goal of bringing in a bunch of new donors from a specific mail piece. Maybe you brought in more younger donors than you ever have before. Maybe that is where your retention rate is higher, or you're raising more money at a faster rate than last year. But you then, you know, it doesn't always translate to hitting the same goals as before. So I think just remembering that none of us individually are perfect. None of us collectively are perfect, and we truly cannot predict the future. But we can take steps forward. And that is only possible if we accept reality is, if we accept the perfectionism, it's not possible, and we highlight and celebrate each incremental step.
Carol: Susan also makes a great point that you need to learn from your actions as well – so take that incremental step, take the action – but also take a minute to consider – what worked? What didn’t and how might we shift moving forward. To focus on progress – it is a practice of tacking back and forth between action and reflection so that you are truly learning as you go.
Dr. Orletta Caldwell considered the question - How might we build guardrails and model behavior that demonstrates it is ok to be human and do good work?
This question really goes to the heart of what this podcast is about – how to do good work in the world without being a martyr to the cause. Or as Dr. Caldwell says, for “Too long we have felt like if we just kill ourselves for our nonprofits and our missions that we're doing good work. But We're not doing good work for the people we serve and definitely not serving ourselves.”
Dr. Orletta Caldwell: Hi, my name is Dr. Orletta Caldwell. I'm the CEO of Beyond Existing Enterprises and the Urban Nonprofit, an online platform for African American led nonprofits. In my journey, especially as an African American woman, I've learned that creating a space where it's okay to be human while striving to do good work, it's just not essential, it's transformational. And I've worked really hard recently in making sure that I include self care practices and make sure that the mission doesn't kill me because I am now telling women that if you I'm not fully whole, if you're not well, you can't drive the mission. So it's not just something we have to talk about. We have to incorporate it. Too long have we felt like if we just kill ourselves for our nonprofits and our missions that we're doing good work. We're not doing good work for the people we serve and definitely not serving ourselves. So what are some practical steps that we can do? To reach this, you have to establish clear values and principles. You have to, as a leader, set clear organizational values that prioritize empathy, integrity, and respect. These values, not something you just write on the wall. They have to guide all of our actions and decisions within our organization.
You have to create a culture where it's encouraged to bring your whole self to work, embracing the strengths and the vulnerabilities. One thing I tell my staff often is I lean on their expertise. When I'm in a meeting or in an event, a lot of people come to me because I'm the executive director. And I'll tell them, I don't know. I'm the executive director. And then I go find the person that does know. Because I'm realizing that I can't know it all. And if I do know it all, I'm not fully being me. And I'm not fully being the executive director that I should be. So you have to value rest and breaks. Consistently, to be at a high level. And then when you do that yourself, you have to implement supportive policies. One thing we've done is we have a shutdown between Christmas and New Year's. This is to help support work life balance, mental health and well being. I don't get involved with, I gotta take a break so I can take care of my mom. I gotta take a break, sometimes to take a nap. I allow my staff, because I said we're not, we're not factory workers, we're creative workers in what we do in our organization. So there's times that you need to just, Sit and reflect so you can consistently be creative and that's what I'm looking for and letting them work within sometimes some reasonable time management and scheduling so that they can create the good work that they need to do for their mission at a time that works best with them. I'm encouraged. You have to encourage open communication. You have to foster an environment that everybody feels comfortable to speak. You have to foster communication where people can reflect on how they can do their work best or come up with ways of handling it or perspectives that may not be your own. And what you need to do is regularly check in with your team to understand their needs and concerns and make sure it's a safe environment. Leading by example again, showing vulnerability and authenticity. My staff knows I'm not a morning person, my staff knows I'm an introvert at heart. Those have ways of, you know, reflecting how I am, and showing and being okay. Being okay to say, I don't know it all, and not everything I do is the best, and not my approach is the best. Celebrate successes and failures so that they know that if you're going to be, we're going to take those creative risk. It's okay. Sometimes they don't work, but that doesn't mean we don't want it anymore. Lead with empathy. I can't say that anymore. Take the time to understand your team's circumstances and support. Sometimes we're working hard and there's a lot of things going on in our lives. And then be committed to continuous learning. Even though we're in the nonprofit sector there's a lot of things going on right now. There's a lot of trends. There's a lot of shifts where we, the way we used to do it. So you want to encourage continuous learning. And improvement. And I know we have budgets that are very tight, but I've become very creative and finding webinars and all kinds of other things and just thinking about my staff and their needs to be able to implement that.
So, in conclusion, I want to say building guardrails and modeling behavior that demonstrates it's okay to be human, while doing good work requires commitment to empathy. Authenticity and continuous learning by establishing clear values, supportive policies and leading with compassion. We can create a an environment where everyone feels value and empowered to make a difference. I want to thank you for this opportunity. And this time that you're taking a listen to me, and I'm excited to see how we can all continue to grow and thrive together in a mission to do good work. We all love the nonprofit sector, because at the end of the day when we lay our tired heads on the pillow, we know that we've been out there just changing people's lives. Have a wonderful day.
Carol: She offers some practical steps of what leaders can do to create those guardrails and modeling working like a human – not a machine. Having empathy – articulating your and your team’s values, knowing your and your teams strengths and work ways and focusing on continuous learning.
As we shift from what can each person do on an individual level to the team and organizational level, Sarah Olivieri gives some really valuable pointers about how to plan realistically. She addresses the question - how might we slow down and plan for 85% instead of 110%?
I love Sarah’s point that when you fill your plate and schedule right up to the top and beyond – you are actually putting yourself and your team and your organization at risk. There is no capacity and flexibility to address the inevitable things that pop up and need to be addressed.
Sarah Olivieri: For those of you who don't know me, I'm Sara Olivieri. I'm a nonprofit leadership expert, with over two decades of experience working in nonprofits and helping nonprofit leaders create financially well funded, high impact organizations. And I am really excited to be talking about how to learn to slow down and plan to do less well getting more done, I have five tips for you. First, is it's really important to recognize how important it is to slow down and plan for less if you want to get more done, I've got three main reasons for you to consider. First one is probably obvious when we plan to do more than we have capacity for we end up with burnout. And that's no fun, and it really eats away at our productivity in the long run. But maybe two things you haven't thought about is when we consistently plan to be at capacity or above capacity, we're actually taking on a lot of risk. Because if something unexpected happens, and something eventually will happen that's unexpected, you have no extra capacity to deal with it. And so you're not able to properly deal with unexpected emergencies or events that come up. Another thing to consider is that if you want to grow your nonprofit, if you want to scale your nonprofit, once you get to around 80% of capacity, you're going to need the remaining 20% of your capacity in order to hire and delegate work to somebody new. If you take your work all the way up to 100% or above on a regular basis, you won't have the time or capacity to offload any of that work so that you can grow or scale further. My second tip for you is to plan consistently. My favorite way to do this is to have organization work in two weeks sprints. So they create a plan. And they divide their work into two week chunks. And then they're going to do that work for two weeks. And then they're going to have a quick meeting to review how it went, make any modifications and then start on their plan for the next two weeks. One of the most impactful things about this is learning to divide projects or goals into sub projects that can be completed within two weeks sprints. And now we have these kind of consistent chunks of projects to work with. Which brings me to tip number three, which is to plan visually. And this is where I love the concept of Kanban boards, putting work projects that you're planning to do for the upcoming two weeks into a column. A basic Kanban board has a what you're planning to do next, what you're working on now and what's already done column. When we do this, we can literally see how many projects we are putting on our plate and start to be mindful to not overload. Which brings me to tip four, which is to create a culture or a practice at your nonprofit of calling out when people are putting too much on their plate. And this gets so much easier when we're planning visually. And my last tip for you today is to enjoy the results. If you commit to doing this work in this way, you will find that by planning to do less, you will get more done. And if you use a Kanban board type approach, you will start to see little cards of that represent projects flowing from needing to be done into that Done column faster and faster and faster. And there is nothing like positive results to make everybody feel really great about working in a new way.
Carol: I am definitely an advocate of using visual means to see what is currently on your team’s plate with the kaban board that Sarah describes. Lots of online platforms have templates that make it easy for you to have a discussion with your team using that format. If you are co-located and in person – a big white board and wall can serve as well.
Having different ways to represent and visualize your projects and initiatives helps bring them alive for everyone and helps keep everyone in better alignment
Our missions are important and often people’s lives are literally on the line. Yet if we are always focused on the gaps, it is hard to bring creative thinking to bear. Fun, joy infused in the ways we work together helps cultivate the creativity and innovation everyone is looking for. A tired, burned out and depressed and confused mind just says no and loses the capacity to see the nuance. Tapping into our joyful and fun side brings the energy back to the work. Erin Allgood gives some very practical steps for bringing in more joy. And her comments echo Sarah Olivieri’s in dialing back how much you are trying to accomplish at once – dialing back to that 80 or 85% - gives some breathing room
Erin Allgood: Hello, this is Erin Allgood of All Good strategies and Liberation Nexus Lab. The first thing that I'm going to say is actually a little bit counter to probably what you think that this conversation is going to be about. The biggest thing that organizations can do to start to infuse more creativity and fun and joy within the work is to actually dial back the amount of work that is attempted to get done. The reason why this is is that I oftentimes see organizations that are just really doing amazing, awesome work in the world, they have so much impact and everything like that, but their employees are being run ragged in order to be able to, to meet those needs of the community. And one of the things that organizations can do is to just be really strategic about how they're how they're leveraging their employees, time, energy, and other resources that they have. And if an organization is trying to, I don't know, just to do right by their employees to help give them a more pleasant working experience to help keep them from burning out. Being able to look at that creativity and joy and fun as it can be a real avenue for all of that. But the only way that that is achievable, is if an organization is not so overtaxed, trying to do so many things. And so it might mean that the priorities get shifted in a lot of ways. The workloads get decreased in some capacity, there's a real look at kind of steady growth versus trying to get everything done and to meet all of the needs and to be all things to all people. And so that's one of the things that is kind of like the big picture of how do we start to infuse the creativity and joy, we just make it so that there is actual space for that to happen within the organization itself. And within the day to day, we create a culture of fun and creativity versus a culture of overwork, and, and putting out fires all the time. So some of the other ways that I tangibly that I helped to do this with organizations is I love having sessions, especially I come in as a facilitator, where people are just laughing the whole time. And the way that I'm able to do that is with really, really excellent icebreakers. I have an exercise that I do called snowballs, where folks write on a piece of paper a fun fact about themselves that nobody knows, or nobody could easily guess. And then we throw those snowballs at one another throughout the room, and then open them over the course of of our time together. And so it's an icebreaker, that, that builds throughout the day, because people start to guess who is you know, who's the rugby player, you know, in this group, who's the person who is backpacked, the Appalachian Trail, you know, whatever fun fact that folks are sharing. It gives them a sense of it gets them to connect with one another, share funny stories. And you get to revisit it throughout this session, especially if you're doing something longer than three hours, it's really nice to have to integrate a fun, fun, fun exercise like that. Another fun thing that I used to do is, when I worked in a corporate environment, I actually had a notebook that my whole team would use, where anytime somebody said something funny, it got written down within the book, anytime there was some kind of a, you know, some kind of an inside joke, there was a, you know, any kind of clips or whatever got got, like taped into the notebook, fun little scraps of paper here and there, it just, it became this, this fun living document that was continually being updated and do folks as they joined, the team could get inducted into that. And we would bring it out at Team outings and be able to look at it time and time again and laugh and revisit those memories. And it was actually, I didn't love working in a corporate environment. But this was one of the things that has stuck with me and was one of the most successful things for keeping me sane and engaged throughout that whole time that I was there. And then other things that I would recommend too, is just finding ways to to build and strengthen relationships across departments across teams, between board and staff. One of the organizations that I've worked with, they actually set it up where there were different stations at a board meeting. Each of the stations was staffed by team members from that department. And so the board members would walk around and chat with the folks at each of the different stations, and learn a little bit about what that department did, ask questions, put faces to names. And everybody came out of that meeting, just with rave reviews, they loved it, they really enjoyed it, it helps the board members understand a little bit better about what the organization did and to be able to see it more tangibly. And it helped the staff to be able to strengthen their relationships with the board members as well too, and get a little bit of face time, which is not always possible. Something like that is a really fun, exciting way to be able to strengthen some of those relationships and just have a good time. So high level, you know, takeaways don't over don't have so many things going on within the organization that there isn't enough space for folks to be able to breathe. That is how you start to create and cultivate creativity within an organization. Find ways to strengthen relationships between folks and because that is also going to be part of that, where folks are going to start to be able to have fun together with one another if those relationships are strong, and they feel they have psychological safety and trust. And then other ways to do that is just to make it easy to actually access some of those things, have awesome icebreakers ready to go have things like perhaps like a team notebook that does get your brought out from time to time, find ways to be able to capture those fun little moments and and put them into place for for that organization. And what you'll start to see over time is that the culture shifts in a real ways towards more spaciousness, more fun, more creativity and allows the organization to really thrive. So thank you
Carol: Not everyone loves icebreakers – yet opening every meeting with a check in question – 1 word about how you are feeling – 1 fun thing that you did last week – 1 thing you want to celebrate since we last met – and for cultures where this fits – the more out there and silly icebreakers – brings each person’s voice and humanity into the room before you get down to business.
And finally, we consider the question - how might we make nonprofit work work for everyone. I love Reva Patwarden’s call to action to leaders – that we all need to speak up and advocate for our organizations and for the resources we need to be able to take these steps.
And that if we don’t we remain in the situation that Danielle Marshall and I explored in episode 98 – where interest in leadership – and even the sector as a whole is declining because of our reputation for unrealistic expectations and over work.
Reva Patwarden: Hi, my name's Reva Patwarden, and I'm answering the question, how might we make nonprofit work work for everyone. So one thing nonprofit leaders can do is advocate for their organization's needs. Basically making sure that you and your staff have what you need in order to reach your goals. So, a lot of nonprofit leaders are trying to meet high and impossible expectations that don't match their resources. It is a demoralizing mismatch that leads to failure, and burnout. So by resources, I don't just mean money. I also mean time and physical and emotional energy, having a network of allies that supports your goals. That's another important resource. I believe far more people would be engaging in nonprofit work if they felt they could make a meaningful difference without having to sacrifice their well being and in the process. The sector's reputation for unrealistic expectations and poor working conditions scares people off. So one way I see leaders effectively challenging that is by being a lot noisier when it comes to saying, here's what I need in order to meet these goals and holding themselves accountable by being really real about saying, Look, either the goals change or the resources change, but right now, the math is not mapping and we need to be honest about that.
Carol: As we wrap up this special podiversary episode – the first of two, I'm filled with gratitude and inspiration. Over the past four years, Mission: Impact has been a journey of learning, reflection, and growth for me – and I hope for you as well. Together, we've explored what it means to lead with purpose, foster inclusive and healthy organizational cultures, and strive for a better world without sacrificing our well-being and being a martyr to the cause. I so appreciated all The insights shared by our incredible guests today. Thanks to Pooya, Susan, Orletta, Sarah, Erin and Reva for sharing their wisdom with us. They each remind us that while the path to progress is challenging, it's also deeply rewarding. By embracing our humanity, prioritizing meaningful small steps over perfection, infusing rest, fun and joy into our work – as well as advocating for the resources we need, we can transform our sector for the better. Thank you for being part of this journey, for your dedication, and for everything you do to make an impact. I am excited to bring you many more episodes of learning, growing, and hope we can work to make a difference together.
Thank you for listening to this episode. I really appreciate the time you spend with me and my guests. You can find out how to connect with each of the experts who shared their thoughts today, the full transcript of our conversation, as well as any links and resources mentioned during the show in the show notes at missionimpactpodcast.com/shownotes.
I want to thank Isabelle Strauss-Riggs for her support in editing and production as well as Charde Carbonell of 100 Ninjas for her production support.
Help us celebrate our 4 year podiversary by taking a minute to rate and review Mission Impact on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. It helps other people find the podcast. We appreciate it! Let your colleagues know about this resource where we empower your mission and work toward building a better world, one episode at a time.
Until next time, stay committed, celebrate those small wins, keep thriving, and remember—you're not alone on this journey.
And most of all thank you for everything you do to contribute and make an impact.
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