What This Actually Feels Like

Maybe some of this is you.

• You’re exhausted and would so love a good night's sleep, though you know that even if you could shut your mind off and sleep soundly, one night still wouldn't recharge you the way you actually need.
• Your mind won’t stop racing. You feel scattered and pulled six directions, constantly shifting from a meeting to a conversation to an email and the proposal. You crave an hour to just focus on one thing without distractions. 
• You have a staff issue that needs to be addressed, but you freeze in the hard conversation, or you avoid it for three weeks, because nobody ever actually taught you how to have it.
• You've felt your credibility slipping in real time, reprimanded, ridiculed, or just not taken seriously, wondering if you're actually cut out for leadership.
• You feel micromanaged, thrown under the bus, or just plain devalued by the people you report to. Your boss doesn’t feel like they’re on your side. You’re not always sure it’s safe to say that out loud.
• You know the time management tricks. You’ve read the articles. You still can’t execute them, because the real problem was never the calendar. It’s the guilt. The fear of conflict. The belief that saying no makes you a bad leader.
• Some days you feel like you’re falling apart at your desk and nobody notices.

​You just want to feel excited about your work again. You want respect instead of tolerance. You want a board or a boss who actually sees what you’re carrying. Mostly, some days, you just want one hour where you’re not doing this alone.​

Here’s the Thing Nobody Tells You

You could Google delegation tips or how to talk to your boss tonight and still feel exactly this stuck tomorrow.

What you’re actually carrying is heavier. It’s your inner voice questioning your every decision and action, self-doubt and feeling so alone trying to navigate it all, not to mention you're working in a sector that feeds on the not-enoughness, shortage of everything, and crisis-driven culture you didn't create and can't fix by yourself.. Underneath the person who appears to have it together, a lot of leaders I work with are stuck cycling through the same three things: pleasing everyone else first, performing at a pace that isn't sustainable because stopping feels like failing, or chasing perfect so no one ever sees their flaws.

There’s a voice telling you that you should be able to handle this on your own. That asking for help means you’re failing at the one thing you’re supposed to be good at.

You’re not failing. Getting support is you finally leading yourself the way you already lead everyone else.

I'm Kathy

I’m a leadership development coach who works with nonprofit leaders, mostly women, navigating exactly this. I’m a certified Gallup Strengths Coach and a trained Leadership Circle Profile coach, and before any of that, I spent 25 years in nonprofit leadership roles myself. Crisis mode, turnover, board dynamics, jerk bosses. I’ve lived it, not just read about it.

One leader told me I bring a massive number of practically useful tools for women suffering from overwhelm and imposter syndrome, and that I don’t sound like I’m lecturing from a textbook. I’m not. I’ve been there. That’s what shows up in how we actually work together.

Coaching and Programs for Nonprofit Leaders

Not everyone needs the same thing, so here’s what’s available, from the deepest support down to the lightest.

​One-on-One Coaching
The real work happens here. Weekly or biweekly sessions, built entirely around whatever you're facing this week: the conversation you're avoiding, the board relationship that's fraying, the version of yourself you're trying to find your way back to.
Book a call and let’s talk

A 360 Review of How You Actually Lead
This is a Leadership Circle Profile 360, a real performance review, the kind almost nobody gets. Feedback from your boss, your peers, the people who report to you, unpacked together over several sessions so you know how your behaviour and mindset are actually landing, instead of guessing.
Learn more about the Leadership Circle Profile

Character Driven Leadership Book Club
Six weeks, group coaching, a roadmap you build with other leaders who get exactly what you’re carrying. This one's about reconnecting with who you actually want to be as a leader, not just managing the next fire.
Learn more about the CDL Book Club

Mastering Confidence Book Club
For the leader who’s tired of second-guessing herself and running on fumes. Six weeks of group coaching to rebuild your confidence without burning yourself out to prove anything.
Learn more about Mastering Confidence

Leading from Strengths (Group Program)
A small cohort with other leaders, working through both Gallup CliftonStrengths and VIA Character Strengths together, so you learn to lead from what you're good at instead of constantly patching what you're not.
Learn more about Leading from Strengths

Gallup Strengths Coaching for Individuals
As a certified Gallup Strengths Coach, I also work one-on-one with leaders who want their CliftonStrengths built right into their coaching. Instead of fixing what's wrong, we spend our sessions learning to lead from what you're already naturally good at.
Book a call to talk about strengths coaching

Annual Leadership Blueprint (Group Program)
Three weeks at the start of the year to set the goals that actually stick, instead of the ones you write down in January and forget by March. We build a real plan around what you're leading through this year, not generic resolutions, and put habits in place that hold even when the crisis mode kicks back in. You leave with a clear direction for the year, so you're leading with focus instead of just reacting to whatever's loudest that day.
Learn more about the Leadership Blueprint

---

Not ready for 1:1 yet, or the budget just isn’t there this year? The Training Library is a lower-cost way to keep growing, with ongoing monthly training and other leaders in the same boat, until you’re ready for more.

What Leaders Say

“She really knows how to ask the tough questions, lovingly. Not only have I moved through a difficult time, but I’ve grown up for the better.”
Liz

“I have been reflecting on our many coaching discussions and how much they’ve contributed to my growth. There are times my conversations with colleagues start with, well, one thing I learned when working with Kathy. The sessions may have ended, but the tools have stayed with me. You still feel like a secret weapon I carry around.”
Jocelyn

“Kathy’s book club gave me a space to slow down, reflect, and really see who I am being in moments of pressure. Her guidance helped me understand the power of pausing and leading from the character I want to embody rather than from stress.”
Nonprofit Leader

You Don’t Have to Keep Doing This Alone

You're probably like I was when I was in leadership, just pushing through. You know how to work hard, persist and do what it takes. But my guess is that what you’re actually looking for is someone in your corner who gets what leading a nonprofit through constant crisis mode really feels like, and who can help you lead it without losing yourself in the process and still have energy left at the end of the day for the rest of your life. If you are asking if that’s possible, the answer is yes!

Book a call and let’s talk about what you’re facing