The number one topic I’m asked to speak on is values. Yet, more times than I can count, when I ask organizational leaders about their values I often receive blank looks in response. 

Values are not just words up on the wall–they are essential to a nonprofit organization’s operations, along with a mission and vision that speaks to what we’re here to do, how we do it, and how we’ll know when we’ve accomplished our goals.

Leaving a job is hard enough for those of us with healthy coping skills and boundaries. It can be a minefield of emotional navigation for folks with a history of people-pleasing. People-pleasing isn’t just being a “yes man” and volunteering for more than one’s fair share. It’s often based in long-seated trauma. You’ve probably heard of the “fight or flight” response, but there are two other possibilities when facing danger–freeze and fawn.

When it comes to Leaving Well, I help organizations prepare for leadership gaps, but still feel strongly that you can Leave Well even when you’re an individual who has been fired or made redundant. 

Losing your job is one of the most stressful things we can experience–whether you are fired, laid off, or in some other way dealing with a loss of income and benefits. This is a time that brings up an immense spectrum of reactions big and small. You may feel depressed and disappointed. You may have intense worry, fear, or grief. You may also feel a sense of failure, confusion, and anger. All of them are valid! 

Unfortunately, many of us never learned how to acknowledge, process, and talk about difficult emotions. And if we can’t speak about what we’re going through, we can perpetuate the stress and grief of job loss rather than working through it.

I recently spoke with author Dr. Jaiya John about the individual ways that people connect in workplaces and our global obligations of mutual care between all living things. His book Your Caring Heart: Renewal for Helping Professionals and Systems and his work centers indigenous teachings about mutuality, care, and community. As a social psychologist, he has spent years visiting organizations and institutions that reached out to him for support with staff morale, burnout, and an overall sense of unwellness–this is the work that led to Your Caring Heart.

I know enough to be dangerous: When someone, typically in a position of authority, has basic competency in doing something, but they are unwilling to admit they don’t have the necessary knowledge or expertise for the task at hand.

Not only is this phrase a load of nonsense that showcases a dangerous knowledge gap, I believe that “I know enough to be dangerous” is actually a tool of weaponized incompetence.

We know about exit interviews, but they take place only at the end of an employee’s tenure and often don’t result in any cultural impact. They’re a formality on both sides. The stay interview supports your team by staying connected with them at multiple touchpoints throughout the year.

After action reviews are powerful for organizations, especially when sunsetting a program, when a project team is wrapping up their work, or when a consultant team is ending their support of the organization. Not only is this an important opportunity to reflect on the program’s lifecycle, it also provides valuable ways to understand its impact, and learn from the experience to inform future initiatives. We have to look back to look forward.

The classic Eisenhower Matrix gets a Leaving Well twist in my latest article. Organized by importance and urgency, this matrix is a great tool for prioritizing tasks and time management, whether you’re strategizing your nonprofit’s funding goals or figuring out the best time to do your laundry.

An after action review in a nonprofit is a powerful tool for reflecting on the successes and challenges of a program, enabling the team to capture valuable insights and lessons learned. Not only does it foster a culture of continuous improvement by identifying what worked well and what could be enhanced, it also ensures that future initiatives benefit from past experiences. By thoughtfully closing the loop on a program, your organization can strengthen its ability to adapt, innovate, and better serve your community moving forward.

While power is an action, a capacity, and an ability to influence, power is neutral. As individuals, based on our identities, hierarchy, assignments, and other unique power dynamics, we then are the reason that power has meaning BEYOND its neutral position. Everyone has some type of power, and it’s both important to realize and recognize that, and to assess your power inside of the context of your life and lived experience.

My annual reflection article and sharing my word of the year, that will guide as a principle and focus for the upcoming year.

My clients desire to inject equitable policies into their organization, from leaving well policies to bereavement policies. Often, I am also asked about diverse stock images to be used on websites and social media, as well as accessible policies and practices like alt text, so the same organizations can fully lean in to representing the intention of their diversity and equity policies.

Anxious event horizons represents the juncture at which the unknown meets human apprehension. As you may already be experiencing, or will as you approach the threshold of decision making about your current situation, you may experience a surge of anxiety, triggered by a range of factors such as impending change, ambiguity, or potential risk. This surge can manifest as stress, fear, or overwhelm. The term "horizon" emphasizes the boundary between what is known and what lies beyond, a space where anticipation and unease often intersect.

In a professional context, the anxious event horizon can arise during significant transitions, mergers, leadership changes, or shifts in organizational strategy. Individuals grappling with changes in job roles, organizational restructuring, or shifts in industry trends may also encounter this horizon. The leaving well framework provides support for this phenomenon.