Many of the leaders I work with are building something from the ground up. A new organization, a new role without a clear job description, or a new campaign. Building something from scratch can be daunting and it's not for the faint of heart, and you’re probably doing it mostly alone. I know this feeling well. In today’s article I share some wisdom that I wish I had known years ago.

Seasonality is expected, inevitable, and healthy. Sometimes we will have high energy, lots of creativity, and produce at high levels. Sometimes we will need to slow down, rest, and recuperate. This is true in our leadership and in our organizations. The constant production-mode of capitalism makes us think that we can be producing all the time and that we can forever be sprinting. But that isn’t true or sustainable.

When you're in a leadership role, it can feel like everyone is watching, judging, and waiting for you to either save the day or mess it all up. You have to keep it together even when you feel unsure and afraid. It's intense!

In today’s article I write about navigating the exposure that comes with public leadership, and how to keep showing up without letting it cost you your whole sense of self.

You trust yourself when you're crushing it, when you have the answers, when you're being the badass everyone expects you to be. But what about when you're uncertain? When you need help? When you're tired? When you make a choice that disappoints someone? That's when the trust falls apart.

I love and believe in organizing and activism. It's a key part of who I am, how I spend my time, and how I move through the world. I also know how harsh we can be to each other and to ourselves in leftist and progressive activist and organizing spaces.

In today’s article I talk about some of the well-intentioned reasons this happens and what we can do to protect and direct our energy to both meet this moment in history and build something more durable, more easeful, and more joyful.

Being uncomfortable is part of life and part of leadership. But not all discomfort is the same.

You are a person who follows through, who doesn't give up, who rises to the challenge. You think of yourself this way and you have the track record to prove it.

But the approach that has served you in the past isn’t working now. This isn’t a moment to “power through," it's a moment to lead differently.

You take a lot of pride in being able to "figure it out" and "get shit done" but it has become self-fulfilling. People keep asking you to take on more, and one day you looked around and thought, how did I get here with so much on my plate?

If you lie awake asking yourself "Am I doing this right? Am I making enough of a difference? How can I possibly keep this up?" my upcoming book is for you.

Do Your Part: Bold, Sustainable Leadership for Social Impact Leaders in a Time of Polycrisis publishes June 15th.

Do you ever feel like you don't deserve to be where you are? Do you look around the room and think, I don't belong here?

It's easy to feel like you're not good enough or that you're in over your head, especially for those of us who haven’t had straightforward or traditional careers or leadership journeys.

When everyone is all in and no one is sure who's in charge, things get messy fast. The org chart doesn't always reflect who actually has the power, the skills, or the decision-making authority. And that gap, if you don't name it, becomes a tinder box.

Running for office means walking up to strangers every single day and essentially asking, "Do you like me?" And then at the end, they literally vote on it.

That kind of exposure brings everything to the surface, and if you're an empath or a people pleaser, you absorb all of it.

This dynamic isn't unique to candidates. Across leadership, people are watching, judging, and talking about you. The exposure is real, and it takes a real toll.

We put leaders on a pedestal and then wonder why they burn out.

We expect perfection, and feel personally let down when they make a mistake or even just disagree. We dehumanize them even as we lift them up as saviors.

This isn't just bad for the leader, it weakens our organizations and our movements. And then we wonder why fewer people want to step into leadership roles.

My clients are powerful, competent, and doing important work to build a just world.

From the outside it looks like they have it together but inside they're often struggling. They lie awake at night wondering, "Am I doing this right?" "Am I making enough of a difference?" and "How can I possibly keep this up?"

"I'm surrounded by people but I still feel alone."

The loneliness of leadership isn't about being alone. It's about feeling like no matter how many people are with you, the outcome rests on your shoulders.

The higher the stakes, the louder that voice in your head that tells you you aren't doing it right and you're going to let everyone down. That internal pressure is sapping your resources and distracting you from what actually needs to get done. More on working with your skills and strengths, rather than against yourself, in today's newsletter.

Perfectionism and excellence look similar from the outside, but they come from different places. Over preparing and trying to control every outcome isn't a high standard, it's fear.

When you're in so much overwhelm just trying to get through today, a steady, sustainable reality is almost impossible to imagine, let alone plan for.

Missing a deadline doesn't just feel like a professional failure, it feels like you're failing the people you serve.

When your job IS your values in action, both failure and success feel personal. This is called identity fusion, and it's why nonprofit burnout hits differently.

The intense relationships we form in mission-driven work can be both our greatest strength and our biggest challenge. 

At their best, these bonds feel electric. But that same intensity can blur boundaries and normalize unsustainable patterns like working endless hours to avoid "letting down" colleagues or endlessly strategizing in ways that don’t advance the mission.

We don't need to choose between deep connections and sustainability. The most impactful work comes from joy and possibility, not fear of losing belonging.