Aug 18, 2026 · 35 min · 10 segments
95% of nonprofit leaders say they are burned out. Not tired. Not stretched thin. Burned out. And one in three is actively thinking about leaving the sector for good. In this episode of A Modern…
Annette ErosGuestTosha AndersonHostI, I used to have a rule of thumb when I founded my firm, and I was definitely in that, uh, wear multiple hats.
I mean, still little, little bit in that space, but m- much more so in the beginning, right? I think a lot of nonprofits, uh, leaders relate to this even still.
I would always think of myself, like if I'm spending more than 15 hours a week doing a particular role, responsibilities it could be grouped into, like that's my next full-time hire.
Um, because I love what you said earlier about competency masks some of these problems.
And just because you can do it doesn't mean you should do it, doesn't mean it's sustainable.
So even if I enjoyed doing it, right, but it wasn't the things that you describe, being the visionary and setting the culture and, and building external relationships and things that a typical CEO would be doing, um, that to me always triggered, like that's the next ... thing I need to get off my plate, so that if I can remove those 15 hours off my plate, it might take someone else 30, 40 hours-
But, um, that then frees up 15 hours for me to go do something else, and then usually something else will come to surface [laughs] that takes up 15 hours of my time that I should be delegating to someone else.
Um, which brings me to, I think, the, the interesting point with the non-profits in a, in a w- world where we have the luxury of, of having the funding to, to fill a full-time position.
That's not always a reality, right? So a lot of organizations bring in consultants to help with certain things, but we're talking more today about the concept of a fractional leader.
How is a fractional leader different than a consultant solution that some organizations might bring in?
It's interesting, um, because I, you know, I, I had a traditional non-profit consultancy, say 15 years ago, that did-
... did the typical strategic planning, ex- executive search, you know, those types of things that bo- the boards will give you permission to spend money on because they are traditional.
Um, but when I thought about, um, kinda relaunching my consultancy, I thought, you know, to my most recent experience, and I just said, what, what did I really need?
You know, what did I need to get me through those growth periods, those crisis periods? Um, and it, and it, it wasn't somebody coming and digging into everything and giving me this plan that would never have any-
... hope to, you know, activate because it was, it wasn't meeting us where our need was.
I, I used to have a rule of thumb when I founded my firm, and I was definitely in that, uh, wear multiple hats.
I mean, still little, little bit in that space, but m- much more so in the beginning, right? I think a lot of nonprofits, uh, leaders relate to this even still.
I would always think of myself, like if I'm spending more than 15 hours a week doing a particular role, responsibilities it could be grouped into, like that's my next full-time hire.
Um, because I love what you said earlier about competency masks some of these problems.
And just because you can do it doesn't mean you should do it, doesn't mean it's sustainable.
So even if I enjoyed doing it, right, but it wasn't the things that you describe, being the visionary and setting the culture and, and building external relationships and things that a typical CEO would be doing, um, that to me always triggered, like that's the next ... thing I need to get off my plate, so that if I can remove those 15 hours off my plate, it might take someone else 30, 40 hours-
But, um, that then frees up 15 hours for me to go do something else, and then usually something else will come to surface [laughs] that takes up 15 hours of my time that I should be delegating to someone else.
Um, which brings me to, I think, the, the interesting point with the non-profits in a, in a w- world where we have the luxury of, of having the funding to, to fill a full-time position.
That's not always a reality, right? So a lot of organizations bring in consultants to help with certain things, but we're talking more today about the concept of a fractional leader.
How is a fractional leader different than a consultant solution that some organizations might bring in?
It's interesting, um, because I, you know, I, I had a traditional non-profit consultancy, say 15 years ago, that did-
... did the typical strategic planning, ex- executive search, you know, those types of things that bo- the boards will give you permission to spend money on because they are traditional.
Um, but when I thought about, um, kinda relaunching my consultancy, I thought, you know, to my most recent experience, and I just said, what, what did I really need?
You know, what did I need to get me through those growth periods, those crisis periods? Um, and it, and it, it wasn't somebody coming and digging into everything and giving me this plan that would never have any-
... hope to, you know, activate because it was, it wasn't meeting us where our need was.
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