The 4 Best Tools for Nonprofit Leaders Navigating Crises & Challenges
I hope you never need this post.
Unfortunately, you will.
You will encounter challenges on your journey to fulfill your nonprofit’s potential. Some will arise from external sources: disasters, financial markets, and politics. Others will come from internal sources: donors, staff, or board members.
In times when you must manage challenges that impact you personally and professionally, it can feel impossible to move forward.
How to Lead During a Crisis
I searched for resources to support your leadership and shared the best four here. They offer a holistic, structured approach to what to do and why. They invite you to:
- Lead ready to learn.
- Take care of your team.
- Tap other people’s wisdom.
- Balance what is and what will be.
My goal is that they will help you lead through tough times and emerge more resilient and robust.
1. Leading from Above the Line
Imagine a line. Above it, you’re open, curious, and ready to learn. Below it, you feel defensive, overwhelmed, and stuck.
This mindset tool invites you to name where you are—above or below the line—and then choose how to respond. Crises push us below the line (think tigers and survival mode), but leaders who consciously move above it make better decisions.
Resource:
Locating Yourself – A Key to Conscious Leadership: Video, 4 minute
Key Questions to Reset
While not part of the video, this information takes you to the next step: How do I get above the line? Important. Fears for safety, agency, and belonging drive people below the line. How can you get above the line?
Do a check-in with these questions:
- Am I safe? (Are there real “tigers”?)
- Where do I have agency? (What’s one small step I can take?)
- Where do I belong? (What communities or people support me?)
Example: A client of mine felt boxed in—no agency. Together, we found one area where he could take action, even though he thought others were out of his control. That single step shifted everything else in a day.
Use It Now: Where are you, above or below the line?
2. How Nonprofit Leaders Can Support Their Teams During a Crisis
Recovery moves through predictable stages from initial heroic energy to exhaustion and eventually—with proper support—to growth.
Research shows that 70 percent of people can grow through adversity if properly supported in disaster recovery situations.
Proper support means:
• Establishing Boundaries: Separate crisis work from personal time. Elizabeth McNaughton suggests simple physical markers, like specific “work shoes,” that go out of sight at night.
• Building a dedicated “recovery crew” for ongoing help.
• Normalizing Rest: Encourage reflection breaks even in urgent times.
The goal? Maintain a dual focus: one on immediate needs and the second on protecting your team’s long-term well-being and monitoring for burnout.
Resources:
- Supporting Employees Through Disaster Recovery: Video, 31 min
- 7 Practical Ways to Support Your Nonprofit Team Through Crisis and Beyond: Post, 3 minutes
Use It Now: Choose a clear cue to mark the end of your workday.
3. Leverage Insights from Crisis Leadership Experts
Learning from others—to avoid their mistakes—is a must-do even in good times, but it’s even more critical in tough times.
To tap into the practical wisdom of over 100 disaster recovery leaders on the human side of recovery, check out these resources from the New Zealand Red Cross. It’s not a booklet about how to distribute resources. Instead, it’s a reminder that you’re not alone and can draw on the courage and lessons of those who’ve been there—the focus on the human side of the crisis. There are patterns to learn.
Resource:
Leading in Disaster Recovery: A Companion Through the Chaos: Booklet, 42 pages
Use It Now: Recovery follows three phases: Initial Heroic Energy, Exhaustion, and Potential for Growth. Which one are you in now?
4. Balance What Is and What Will Be
This Stockdale Paradox concept, named after Admiral Jim Stockdale, is about holding two truths: confronting the brutal facts of your current reality while maintaining unwavering hope that you’ll prevail.
You might be grappling with funding cuts, public pushback, or staff burnout as a nonprofit leader. The Stockdale Paradox reminds us to face these challenges head-on while believing in long-term success.
Why it’s important? The optimist didn’t survive.
“You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.” — Admiral James Stockdale
Resource:
Read how Admiral Stockdale learned this lesson: Post, 2 minutes
Use It Now: What are the brutal facts? Why do you know you will prevail?
Leadership in Challenging Times
Resources #1 and #4 help me frame tough times in a way that places solid ground under my feet and bolsters my determination. After watching #2, I shut the bedroom door at night and leave burdens outside. And I love the richness of the lived experience of leaders who have made it to better times in #3.
I’m curious what you think: What tools or strategies have helped you and your organization navigate challenges?
For more information, download our free guide: How to Lead Your Organization to New Heights- In Just 15 Minutes a Day-it will serve you well. It works even in tough times.
