If you are spending too much time answering questions, solving problems, and dealing with crises big and small, you are not spending time leading, delivering, or building.
The goodwill of your team, your Board, and your donors may be at risk.
It’s normal for organizational growth to surface gaps in the support systems and structures- but that doesn’t mean they have to hold you back.
Justin Colvard,
Country Director, Haiti
John smith
Lawyer
John smith
Lawyer
Overwhelmed? Everything is a priority? Know you love your job but
dread going to work each day? In a new leadership role and your
supervisor is remote and not available for anything other than
the house on fire? New culture and everything you try seems to
backfire? Just need someone who is neither your boss nor a
colleague from another NGO to talk through a situation or
serve as a sounding board?
Leadership positions, especially Country Director, Chief of Party,
or similar roles, can often leave you feeling isolated. Depending
on where you are located, it might be that almost everyone you know
is from another organization, requiring restraint in what you share
with your peers- even though they understand your situation so well.
Typically, supervisors are remote and expect you to handle all but
the most serious situations on your own. (Or your supervisor is not
available or supportive in the way you need.) Isolation and exhaustion
from the hundreds of final decisions for which you are responsible
every day can lead to burnout and loss of creativity and tact.
Years of managing teams with diverse cultures, ethnicities,
religions, and socio-economic backgrounds, at times in
conflict with one another has only strengthened the belief
that:
1- everyone has potential to thrive and contribute;
2- teambuilding and morale in our field takes constant,
deliberate effort.
Trying to get the most out of your team while under pressure
to produce program results in a short time period, under
security restrictions, or when your staff themselves are
impacted by a crisis (or all of the above at the same time!)
is exhausting and can sometimes feel like a luxury we don’t
have time for. However, while building a team takes time
and effort, losing team cohesion and morale can happen
swiftly at great cost to your program’s success and reputation.
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