September is in full swing! I hope you are savoring what is left of summer ☀️

This is my first newsletter since July. Taking a communications break (social media included) these last few weeks was so needed. A lot shifted for me in a matter of 5 weeks, including my nervous system chilling out and my self-confidence improving. If you can get offline for a bit, please allow yourself to do it!

In the quietness of being offline, I kept wondering about my own ambition. I asked myself how my ambition fuels and supports me… and when my ambition turns into ego (I wrote more about this in my personal blog, if you’re curious).

Now that I’m back online and exposed to news cycles again, I can feel my ambition firing up. I know that my ambition is fueled by wanting to see real change in the world—I’m sure you can relate to that, Subscriber First Name. And honestly, change is happening… even in the places that I’m most passionate about: equitable support and access to wellbeing for nonprofit professionals. In fact, Fund the People’s new research on long-haul grantmaking is a powerful affirmation of this progress!

But even with tangible progress, I can still feel my ambition (or maybe ego?) wanting things to happen faster. I want more philanthropists to invest in the nonprofit workforce… now! I want to see more leaders disrupting the system. I want to see seismic levels of change in our sector. I want every nonprofit organization to have more funding than they need, and every social impact professional across the US to be earning a thriving wage.

We deserve it.

But then I take a deep breath and remember a quote that I’ve said countless times: The kind of transformation and justice we long for may not fully happen in our lifetime.

… Ouch.

That is usually the response I get when I say this to a group of ambitious people. But THIS is what hope is all about.

Recently, I shared this quote while facilitating a nonprofit strategic planning retreat. To my surprise, the room came alive. We realized that if we might not live to see all the changes we want to see in the world, then that takes a lot of weight off our shoulders…

It means we don’t have to do it perfectly, and that we don’t have to do it alone.

It means we can experiment and build the infrastructure for something new.

It means that even if we fail, we are still making change.

It means that we are allowed to rest and hand off the baton.

This kind of hope invites us to dream up the transformation we want to see, while working at a reasonable pace that doesn’t burn us out. When we show up this way, we know we’re being led by ambition for the long haul.

So, Subscriber First Name, how can you be a good steward and ancestor of a change to come? Perhaps it’s time for you to hand off the baton for a little while?

What can you do today that will help build something that might outlive you? Do you trust that you’re powerful enough to do that?

If you’re like me and passionate about creating workplaces rooted in wellbeing and care, then what are you going to start (or stop) doing in your leadership? It could be:

🫡 Leading by example with healthier behavior—like not working when you’re sick, saying no when the work becomes too much, or allowing yourself to finally attend a sound bath (hint: details below!)

💬 Taking the time to understand how your team is really doing, and asking the right questions to reveal their workplace needs

🗣️ Raising your hand and speaking out against that policy or practice that you know is exhausting, excluding, or exploiting you and your colleagues

Wherever you start, know that we can do it together. The team at Do Good Leadership Collective are experts in walking nonprofit and social impact leaders through this work. Schedule some time with us in September to help you create a plan for the Fall.

Here’s to doing the work now, with the future in mind 🩵