Leading during The Shit Show

Image description: A boy on an aerial obstacle course. Photo by chris robert on Unsplash

I am deeply concerned about the systemic issues mentioned in my last post (many caused by the current federal administration), which are causing great suffering to nonprofits and by extension to marginalized people at home and abroad. We must continue to vote and protest policies that harm people and our planet. At the same time, these systemic failures are not the fault of nonprofits, and we can’t hold ourselves as individual leaders responsible for all the pain being caused. Leaders must do multiple things simultaneously:

· Create space for ourselves and others to acknowledge and process the grief we feel for what is happening in the world. Be kind to ourselves and our team. Note: This is not the same as throwing accountability out the window or supporting team members to withdraw and not perform.

· Not take responsibility for all the needs we can’t currently meet. Nonprofits are filling gaps to the best of our ability, but the gaps are becoming yawning chasms that are beyond our capacity. As Teddy Roosevelt said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

· Speak out and encourage others to join you.

· Interrogate what we are doing in response and how we may also be making mistakes that put our organizations’ futures at risk.

This last point is an area worthy of discussion. Yes, we can be more strategic in the face of uncertainty and challenges. We can only control what we can control, and there are good and bad responses to the shit show.

Here are some things for leaders to keep in mind, and a resource to learn more in each area:

· Change is not always a bad thing, and nonprofits go through life cycles, including closure for those that accomplish their mission, lose relevance, or are unable to renew themselves. Sunsetting an organization does not have to be a failure. Learn about life cycles and reflect on where your organization finds itself.

· The economy goes through cycles, resulting in ups and downs for some of the funding sources that nonprofits rely on. All nonprofits should plan for volatility to the degree they can, including economic downturns and funding shifts. Familiar strategies: building/maintaining reserves, diversifying revenue, and utilizing contractors or temporary labor when continued funding is uncertain. I like Nonprofit Financial Commons’ Playbook for facing financial crisis and determining options.

· Strategic restructuring may be the best option. There are organizational change options that nonprofits can consider to ensure mission continuity even if their organization changes form. The mission is what matters. These include mergers, administrative consolidation, joint programming, or transferring programs to another organization. Help staff and board members understand why major changes may be needed for survival of your programs. Read this NPQ article for inspiration.

· Sunset before you spend all the money. To close an organization in an orderly and kind fashion, in a way that cares for all the people touched by the organization, requires some resources and time. Many leaders wait too long to agree that closing is necessary. Read more of my thoughts about nonprofit closures here and here.

· Attend to concerns. Our organizations and our people are more fragile than ever. Being overstretched can lead to ignoring or minimizing real problems within the organization. Interpersonal conflicts, bad behavior by individuals, or poorly-informed governance decisions can sink a ship, particularly if it is already taking on water. Attending does not mean being perfect, it means having a process in place to review and address mistakes and learn from them.

All of the above requires courage. We are facing an array of new challenges, and adapting is absolutely required for the survival of many nonprofits, or at least their core work. Adaptation should focus on preserving the mission, not the organization in its current form.

A part of being courageous will be acknowledging when a bad situation cannot be fixed. In some cases, organizations simply haven’t been realistic about what it takes to survive in the current climate. During the good times, they failed to prepare for the coming winter. Get objective help. If your finances are not sufficient and there is not a credible plan to turn things around, let your organization go in the best way you can—things are not likely to get easier in the near term.

I hope we can remain curious, learn from what is happening, and avoid blame. The vast majority of nonprofit leaders are doing the best they can in adverse circumstances. Let’s keep talking about how we preserve what matters most. In the process, we also will need to get better at letting go.

My next post will focus on what we can learn from recent nonprofit closures.