The B2B Podcast Index
Lead with Heart | Philanthropy, Nonprofit Leadership, Nonprofit Management & Fundraising

E121: Breaking the Cycle of “I’m Too Busy” – Intentional Leadership & Sustainable Energy with Jen Recla

Lead with Heart | Philanthropy, Nonprofit Leadership, Nonprofit Management & Fundraising · 2025-12-09 · 37 min

Substance score

28 / 100

Five dimensions, 20 points each

Insight Density7 / 20
Originality5 / 20
Guest Caliber7 / 20
Specificity & Evidence4 / 20
Conversational Craft5 / 20

What our scoring noted

Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.

Insight Density

7 / 20

A handful of concrete, actionable tips emerge (Monday planning ritual, 'nope one thing a week,' color-coding calendar) but these are buried in significant filler, generic platitudes, and lengthy personal anecdotes. The insights-per-minute rate is low.

The biggest tip I give to leaders, this is something I use myself, is to have a planning meeting with yourself every Monday morning.
challenge yourself to, Nope, one thing a week. So for the next four to six weeks, every week on Monday or Sunday, whatever your planning time is, choose one thing that you're going to say no to.

Originality

5 / 20

The content is largely recycled standard leadership-coaching fare—intent before feedback, saying no, urgency addiction, self-compassion. The Scooby-Doo voice trick from 'The Illustrated Happiness Trap' is the one mildly fresh technique; everything else circulates widely.

Create a voice in your head like a dog, like Scooby Doo is saying these things to you. Right? And that's the reaction is you giggle, laugh at it.
every time you say yes, to something, you're saying no to something else.

Guest Caliber

7 / 20

Jen Recla is a credentialed leadership coach with L&D experience in hospitals and a Medicaid nonprofit, but she is a professional coach/consultant, not a senior nonprofit operator who has run programs, raised funds, or led missions at scale. Her practitioner depth in the nonprofit sector is thin.

my most recent role in corporate was with a nonprofit Medicaid company where I led the learning function for five years
I just have a sweet spot for caring, compassionate, Mission driven organization. So I went to created this business to step into more specific leadership coaching

Specificity & Evidence

4 / 20

Almost no hard data, named client outcomes, or concrete metrics appear. The 20-25% firefighting figure is stated without any sourcing, OKRs are name-dropped without illustration, and the primary 'case study' is a personal hiking story with two toddlers in snow.

about 20, 25% of the time. We might be doing a little bit of firefighting, but if you're doing any more than that, then there's some things that you're not working on behind the scenes.
One organization that I worked with adopted what's called an okrs. I don't know if you've ever heard of that model

Conversational Craft

5 / 20

The host frequently turns questions into personal monologues about herself (her family planning, her fundraising career, her emotions), rarely probes deeper or challenges the guest's claims, and tends to validate every response with 'yeah, I love that.' No productive disagreement occurs.

Yeah, I do that every Sunday. I plan out my meals for my family. Yeah. My meetings. I have the meeting with my husband to tell them where I need him to step in
And I always joke that I'm an expert storyteller in my head because I can make a story out of anything. Me too. Me too.

Conversation analysis

Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the verbal tics along the way.

Filler words

so109like65right25actually5you know4kind of2

Episode notes

I am so excited to welcome leadership coach Jen Recla to the Lead with Heart Podcast. Jen helps senior nonprofit leaders break free from burnout, reclaim their clarity and energy, and build teams that thrive even in seasons of complexity and change. In this episode, we dig into one of the most common and corrosive habits in the nonprofit sector: saying “I’m too busy.” Jen shares why this phrase keeps leaders stuck in survival mode, how urgency culture erodes team confidence, and how you can shift from reactive leadership to intentional leadership without adding more to your plate. If you’re ready to lead with more calm, clarity, and confidence, this conversation is for you. In this episode: 00:00:00 The Power of Supportive Leadership 00:09:07 Intentional Feedback Skills 00:15:56 Overcoming Overwhelm Patterns 00:26:34 Strategy Building in Leadership 00:29:11 Leadership in Action RESOURCES The Lead with Heart Summit is not just another conference. It's a powerful, purpose-driven experience created specifically for nonprofit fundraisers who are feeling burned out, stretched thin, and in need of real, meaningful support. April, 2026.

Full transcript

37 min

Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.

Hello Podcast fam. I am thrilled to share some exciting news. My book so Grow Lead is officially live on Amazon. This book is more than just my story of starting a nonprofit and building a peanut butter factory in Malawi. So trust me, the ups and downs of that journey are worth the read. It's also packed with practical strategies to help nonprofit leaders like you tackle challenges with clarity, clarity, courage and a whole lot of heart. If you've ever wondered how to turn your vision into reality, navigate the inevitable hurdles, and build something meaningful, whether in your organization or in your own life, this book is for you. I'd be so grateful for your support in spreading the word. Grab your copy of Sow Grow Lead in the show notes and on Amazon today. Let's keep sowing seeds of impact together. Welcome to the Lead With Heart podcast, which is dedicated to nonprofit leaders who are passionate about making a difference. I'm your host Hayley Cooper and I'm thrilled to have you join us on a journey of growth, inspiration and transformation. At Lead with Heart, we believe that leading with heart means embracing empathy, compassion and authenticity in every aspect aspect of our work. It's about putting people first, fostering genuine connections and creating a positive impact that goes beyond numbers and metrics. In the non profit world, it can often feel like we're carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders. The challenges are immense and the road can be lonely, but here you're not alone. This podcast is a community where we support each other, share our stories and learn together. Each episode we'll dive into personal and professional development topics tailored specifically for non profit leaders. From innovative fundraising strategies and effective team management, self care practices and leadership insights, we're here to provide you with practical strategies that you can apply to your life and work. My goal is to empower you, elevate your leadership and engage your heart in all that you do. I want to help you navigate the unique challenges of the nonprofit sector with confidence and resilience so you can continue to create meaningful change in the world. So whether you're driving to a meeting, taking a break, or winding down for the day, tune in and join us on this journey. Together we'll discover what it truly means means to lead with heart. Thank you for being here. Let's dive in. Welcome back to the Lead with Heart Podcast. This is your host, Haley Cooper and I am thrilled to welcome Jen to the show. She is a leadership coach, adventurer and resilience builder who helps senior nonprofit leaders ditch burnout and lead with more clarity, confidence and energy. With over 15 years of experience in leadership development and coaching, Jen has designed growth experiences that not only strengthen teams, but also help leaders navigate complexity without losing their spark. Grounded in her Gallup strengths of woo, maximizer, communication, futuristic and arranger, and fueled by her love of the outdoors, Jen brings a unique perspective on adaptability, intentionality, and sustainable leadership. We're going to dive deep into why saying I'm too busy keeps you stuck in survival mode and how to give and receive feedback that actually empowers your team and practical ways to reclaim your energy as a leader. Well, welcome to the podcast, Jen. Thank you so much for having me, Haley. So, for our listeners and for me, I would love to know a little bit more about your background and who, how you came about niching down in this specific area of nonprofit leadership. There's a big amount of nonprofit leaders, but it takes a certain kind of person to really focus on that area. Yeah. So my whole background and career has taken some twists and turns. Back in college, I actually went to school for theater and moved out to Hollywood to do the whole acting thing for three years. Yeah. And what that did early on in my life is set me up for trying something, taking risks and failing a whole lot and building resilience around that. So while it didn't work out for me, I came back to the East Coast. I'm from Maryland. Originally. I came back to the east coast with lots of skills around resilience and navigating failure. I didn't know how to translate that into a career. So I ended up temping at a hospital in downtown Baltimore and didn't love the job, but loved the person that was leading me. And that really opened my eyes to the possibilities of leadership. She was a great mentor coach. She had this balance of challenging me, helping me grow, but also caring about me as a person. And that led to me going back to school, getting my mba, stepping into operations leadership. And from my education, the best parts of my role were the coaching, the teaching, the mentoring. And so I said, well, how do I turn that into a career? And that led to a role in learning and development with another hospital. And that was really the beginning of stepping into a space of helping others grow professionally, helping to develop strong leaders, build high performing teams. And I continued working in the learning and development space for several years in hospitals. I worked for the state of Colorado in human services. And then my most recent role in corporate was with a nonprofit Medicaid company where I led the learning function for five years. And so I just have a sweet spot for caring, compassionate, Mission driven organization. So I went to created this business to step into more specific leadership coaching, leadership consulting. It just made sense with who I've been working with to step into the nonprofit space. Yeah, that totally makes sense. And I feel like a lot of people who have in. Are in the nonprofit field and find themselves coaching have taken a lot of those twists and turns. And I think it's what's important. And something I've been reflecting on this year, like you said about failure, like some of the most successful people in the world didn't get it. Like, you think about Benjamin Franklin. Right. Like he didn't create the light bulb in one go. He failed a lot. Right. And so it is important to remember that for myself, I'm speaking to myself, that failure is not the end all, be all. Isn't us really being like something about you. It's maybe sometimes the catalyst for something better. And when you were talking about a lot of people, they might not necessarily like their job, but they love their leader. Or it could be the other way. Right. They love the mission, but they might not get along with their leader. And that can make or break a decision to stay at an organization. So what are some of the characteristics that you found in that initial leader that you were like, oh, there is something here. Yeah. So I think one of the characteristics that really stood out to me is the belief in me. She would put me in situations that were scary, but she would do it in a way that she believed I could handle it. So working In a hospital, 7,000 employees, I was very far removed from the executive team when it comes to hierarchy. But she would get me in front of them as an individual contributor working on the front line, putting together reports. She would give me feedback. She'd be very specific around that feedback, actionable. But it was really the intent behind the feedback, even not as important as the delivery. It was the intent that she wanted me to succeed, that she believed that I had potential and the skills to be a good leader at the organization. So she wanted to give me those opportunities. She was a great advocate and she would ask about how my life was. She would cheer me on when I would go on races. They did a lot of running at that time. She threw an event for me when I got engaged and was about to be married to my now husband. So it was just. It was this combination of putting me in situations where I could grow professionally and also caring about what was happening outside of work. She saw me as a whole person. Yeah. And I think that's so Important. I had this conversation with someone yesterday, and his episode will be coming out shortly before yours. But, yeah, I think that's such an important piece because when people you feel seen, when you feel heard, when you feel like someone cares, you're like, oh, I actually want to show up and do my job. Right? You want to do your job regardless and do a good job. But it makes you take that extra mile because you're like, oh, I feel. Feel like this person cares about me and I care about them, too. And I think that makes a world of difference, and I love that. I think a lot of people have had to fight for spaces. Like, I know that I've had to fight for spaces with the board in boardrooms where I wasn't necessarily allowed access, but the budget was dependent on my ability to do my job. And so they were setting the number for me to achieve without any historical data or the reality of the fundraising world. Boards don't necessarily know that stuff. And so I had to fight my way into those rooms and be like, hey, you need to give me the opportunity to do something scary, speak up to the board so that we can have a better outcome. Because at the end of the day, we all care and we all want to achieve the same mission. Right? And so I think that's really important for any leader listening to create those spaces for growth within your team. So you mentioned feedback, and feedback can be a really dreaded part of leadership. And in this process that I'm trained in, EMC leadership, I talk about it all the time. Lola Gershfeld, Dr. Lola has been on the podcast. She talks about impact versus feedback, where feedback is more. So you did this and you need to change where impact is. I know that you care. This is how this made me feel. Let's say you weren't like, up to par with your stuff. So what are some of the biggest traps leaders fall into when giving feedback? Yeah, so one of the biggest traps I see leaders fall in into is walking into the conversation with unhealthy motives. Maybe I've used a great feedback model. I have the perfectly crafted message, maybe I have even role played with another leader. But my intent going into that conversation is I know I'm right and they're wrong and I'm going to prove them wrong. Or it's about shaming or blaming, pointing fingers where you truly don't believe they're going to change. You feel like you're just going through the motions. It doesn't matter what you say, that intent is going to Shine through. And so that is always the first step that I work with leaders on is make sure that you get your intent, that you're walking in believing that they can improve, that you're giving this feedback to them because you want to see them succeed, because you want to improve the customer experience for others, because you want to strengthen the relationship and trust that you have with this individual. So asking yourself, what is it that I want? What do I want for myself? What do I want for this person? What do I want for us collectively? By giving them this feedback, what is the ultimate purpose? And use that to craft your intent first, then you can craft your message. So it's the intent piece. It's so important. Yeah, I think that's. Yeah, I love that. And I think I had one of my friends, Stephanie, on the podcast a few years ago when I first started, but she talks a lot about appreciative inquiry and she's trained in that process where instead of assuming or going in to be understood, you try to understand by asking questions that lead to a generative future. So they're generative questions because you both want the same outcome. But instead of going in and being like, well, I'm right, you're wrong asking those questions because there's usually something behind the action or behavior that is affecting the way that the person shows up. So I think, yeah, going in and really having that level of self awareness of what your intent is is everything. And that leads to. You talk about moving leaders from reactive mode to intentional mode. And I think that plays a role in it too. Right. When we feel like we need to be understood, we are constantly react or we feel like someone has slighted us. We want to get into that fix it reactive mode. So could you share a practical exercise or mindset shift that can help that transition stick? Well, there's it, you know, it depends, I think, on what you're reacting to. But the first thing that comes to mind is asking yourself the story or stories you're telling yourself. What judgments, conclusions, assumptions am I making right now? Taking a step back and understanding the stories that you're telling yourself can help to lessen the emotion that's attached to them, because that's what's really driving our emotions. And sometimes our reactions is we saw and heard something. We didn't get all the information, so we filled in all of the pieces. We've told ourselves some stories about that. It makes us feel a certain way and then we act. So before getting into that reaction mode, getting back to the stories and Identifying what they are. I think that's something that can be really helpful. Another thing that comes to mind, because again, we get into those reactive places when we're stressed. Tensions are high, stakes seem to be high, emotions seem to be high. And practicing mindfulness practices, resilience practices are really helpful. There's a great book that I recommend to almost every leader that I work with. It's called the Illustrated Happiness Trap. I don't know if you've ever heard of it before, but it's based on, I think it's acceptance, cognitive therapy, therapy, act therapy. And what's great about it is it has really practical exercises you can do when your emotions are starting to spiral. And one of the exercises that it shares with you is when your emotions are starting to spiral, the stories are coming. Maybe even that inner critic is coming, coming in. Create a voice in your head like a dog, like Scooby Doo is saying these things to you. Right? And that's the reaction is you giggle, laugh at it. It takes the power away from the emotions and then you can zoom out more. You can look at a situation more objectively and be more intentional. I think it's those emotions, they get in the way of us not being able to be intentional. So if we can get to a place where we're processing them more, identifying the stories or doing simple exercises like the ones from the Illustrated Happiness Trap, that's a place that we could start. Yeah, we'll definitely link to that book in the show notes. And I'm going to be adding that to Cart. And I always joke that I'm an expert storyteller in my head because I can make a story out of anything. Me too. Me too. But yeah, I think when we talk about EMC leadership, it's about slowing down your emotions and naming your emotions, because emotions run fast. There are higher processing system that tells us when there's a threat. And so we need to be able to pay attention to what those emotions are, what those automatic triggers and thoughts are that come up and then be able to identify how we want to move forward. Because acting out of emotion isn't necessarily going to get us very far. It might get immediate, like, response, but at the end of the day, we really need to be intentional about naming our emotions because then that relaxes our amygdala and we're able to have access to our logical brain. Right. And understand how we want to move forward. It's like whenever you write an email that you're like, in the heat of the moment, it's let it sit there, maybe sleep and then go back and maybe ask chat GPT to make it sound nicer. Like you can't write an email like with heightened emotion, especially over that. Right. Because people are going to take it the wrong way. So I think what you said is so important. And I think another thing that leads leaders to be reactive is feeling constantly overwhelmed. And what do you think or what have you seen is often the real root cause to overwhelm. It's hard to pick one thing. There's two things that are coming up for me. One is our addiction to urgency. It is really hard for us to get out of urgency mode. We get that little hit dopamine when we send that email, we check that item off of our list and it might help us in the short term. But when we're in a leadership role we need to be zooming out a lot more and thinking more about the long term. So that is one thing that comes up for me and then the other piece to that is really knowing what's important. When everything is a priority, nothing's a priority and then everything becomes urgent and we tend to go to what's going to give us our bad habits. You know what, it feels really good to just clear out the email. So that's what I'm going to focus on. Even though that might not be the most important thing to do right now. And so there's some practices that I work with leaders on to help them get out of that space. The biggest tip I give to leaders, this is something I use myself, is to have a planning meeting with yourself every Monday morning. So from 8 to 8:30 or 8:30 to 9, I don't remember exact time on my calendar I have a running meeting and it is a meeting with myself to plan the week. That's where I look at all of the items that are on my calendar. I look a few weeks out, I identify what's most important for me to accomplish today and this week. What are the things that are going to move the needle and what are the things I should be noting? The things I'm not adding value to this. It's not adding value to me. This doesn't need to be talked about right now. So we can reschedule it this hour conversation really could be an email or a 30 minute conversation as well. Right. But you're really evaluating the things that you're doing and your time blocking. So those open spaces that are on your calendar, you are blocking them off for thinking time to get work done. As well. And then I color code everything on my calendar as well. So I know. Is this a meeting? Is this something that I need to show up? And I'm presenting. Is this focused work time? Is this something I need to have travel? So you're starting your week with a much more intentional focus on what are the things that are important, Important. So. And creating space for some of those urgent things that come up, because they do about 20, 25% of the time. We might be doing a little bit of firefighting, but if you're doing any more than that, then there's some things that you're not working on behind the scenes. Planning, relationships, process improvement that you really want to delve into. So that planning meeting is key. And it's something that I work with every leader that I coach. Let's get this on the calendar. So you have a process every week where you're being really intentional. Ooh, that is so good. Yeah, I do that every Sunday. I plan out my meals for my family. Yeah. My meetings. I have the meeting with my husband to tell them where I need him to step in because I have work to do or an appointment or whatever. And just having that has brought so much relief to me because before, I would just look at my calendar like a day of it. Crap. I have a meeting in an hour. How am I going to make it with it on my kid on my hip? And so writing it down and really getting that bird's eye view of my whole week has like, oh, like, I can do this. Or like you said, say no to some things and rearrange. And I would love to talk more about that idea of saying no, though, because I personally am a people pleaser and I hate saying no. And I will say yes to too many things. And then I get overwhelmed because I'm like, okay, I have three things going on at the same time, and there's only one of me. So how can leaders practice saying no? Because they really think that is a mindset block for a lot of people. Yes. What I recommend to leaders is challenge yourself to, Nope, one thing a week. So for the next four to six weeks, every week on Monday or Sunday, whatever your planning time is, choose one thing that you're going to say no to. Just the practice of saying nope is very liberating, and you start getting into the habit of it, so you're being more strategic with your yeses and no's. And I remember I was listening to a podcast where the speaker on the podcast said, every time you say yes, to something, you're saying no to something else. Yeah. And that thing you're saying no to could be your family. It could be the meeting that's really going to get you to your goal. It could be developing that relationship that's gonna help improve the performance of your team. So it's really taking a step back to say, is my people pleasing actually causing more problems? And what role model am I setting for my team if I can't say no to anything? Because it's gonna lead to burnout? It leads to people sending emails on Saturdays and working on vacations. And I talk to so many leaders who say, well, I don't expect my team to do that. When they go on vacation, I want them to go on vacation. When they go to their houses at the end of the day, I don't expect them to check emails. But then they're doing it, and they're sending the midnight emails. Our actions, they speak louder than words. So if we're not following through on the same expectations of our kids, we're sharing this model that this is the way leaders need to show up. And so if I'm in a aspiring leader, I've got. I'm one of your best people. You would love to grow this person into your leadership role. I'm saying to myself, oh, I'm gonna either need to work nights or weekends, or I'm gonna run for the hills, because I don't want that to be my story for leadership. So I think getting into the practice of no bang and reframing the impact, like, really think about the impact that you not saying no has on the people around you. Yeah, I love that too. Like, if you say yes to something, you might be saying no to something better. And so, yeah, really getting intentional about what your priorities are. And I feel like a lot of people, like, we've talked about a little bit, they're too busy. Or I had a meetup a few months ago where I was like, based on Priya Parker's book about art of gathering. I was like, you can't say, I'm too busy and you're welcome, Right? Or like, how are you? Oh, I'm really busy. I was like, you can't take that out. And people were like, oh, but, like, what do I say instead? Because, like, you know, but there's so much to unpack below what's causing you to be busy? And they just feel like that's the anthem of nonprofit leaders everywhere. So why do you believe that phrase is so damaging? Ooh, it's damaging because when we say that I think that we're equating busy with success and effectiveness and it doesn't always equal that. Are you busy doing the right things? Is it, are you saying that you're busy because you don't even know what you accomplished? Like sometimes we say oh my gosh, I'm so busy. But when we think back we're like, what actually have I been doing? I don't even know what number busy doing what and I don't even really feel accomplished. It's more stressed as well. So it's part of this, is this cultural issue of it, wearing it as a badge of honor. If I'm busy it means I'm important and if I'm busy, I'll still have a job tomorrow. I think that's a real scare for a lot of people right now. I need to look busy. I need to say I'm busy because it means I'm important, that I'm not expendable and then I'm going to hold on to the job that I have right now. So it's, it's all coming from a place, I think of scarcity and protection. Yeah. And I also think it can come from, as you were just speaking, like on the organizational side of not having clear expectations and not having clear goals. I hear that a lot from non profit leaders who are like there's a vision but the leader hasn't necessarily communicated how we're going to execute it. So I'm going to do a bunch of things that I think will keep me look like I'm going towards the vision that they want, but I don't really know if that's what they want. But I gotta look busy, like I'm doing something like I'm typing on my computer. And so how can organizations on the organizational culture side really help shift that idea of constantly needing to look busy and having everyone aligned on the same goal? Yeah, there's a couple things that come to mind. One, at the top level, at the executive level, having a clear process for how you develop and disseminate goals. So one organization that I worked with adopted what's called an okrs. I don't know if you've ever heard of that model objective. Right. But that's something they adopted as an organization. They educated their leaders and they've been following the process for the last year or two now. So it's very clear what the process is, where these goals are coming. It's something people, people can see. So I think having some kind of structure at the executive level that you agree on, that you disseminate to the organization. It's really clear that is helpful. Now, not all executive teams are at that level, or maybe they're trying to figure out what it looks like. And so for those that are in director positions, manager positions, you're getting a vision, maybe, but you're not getting clear goals. This is why I say this is your opportunity to shine, right? This is your opportunity to take that vision and translate it into what you think should be the execution and the action. So work with your team, collaborate with the people on the front lines, understand what the gaps are between where the current state is and this vision, and then come up collectively with what steps are we going to take. So instead of waiting for the strategy to come from the higher levels of leadership, create that strategy for yourself. Imagine a fundraising partner that not only helps you raise more money, but also supports you in retaining your donors. A partner that helps you raise funds both online and on location so you can grow your impact faster. That's DonorBox, a comprehensive suite of tools, services, and resources that give fundraisers just like you a custom solution to tackle your unique challenges, helping you achieve the growth and sustainability your organization needs, helping you help others. Visit donorbox.org to learn more. Yeah, and I think also talking about that too, though, is that I've stepped into a lot of roles where I'm a fundraiser. So, you know, development roles, where they're like, well, we don't have a plan or we don't have a strategy. That's why we hired you. And then no one, even the board or the leadership, really knows the history behind fundraising, what's been done. They don't really have a clear direction, and they're relying on you, which is fine. But that's where it gets cloudy, too, because you're like, okay, well, you gave me a strategic plan, so I have to align my fundraising plan with that. But that's the only tool that I have to know, like, how I'm gonna set out my tasks. And so, like, how can. Yes, it is part the Director of Development or Chief Development Officer's role to set the strategy, but there is leadership involved. So how does that, like, in practicality, reality, like, how does that conversation go about of leadership really stepping up to play a role in that strategy building? So that's where it's just getting really curious, like, asking as many questions as you can, and if they don't have the answers, who can I go to to get the answers? Who should I be talking to that's maybe not even part of the organization. Who are our partners. When I first stepped into the director of learning and Development, there wasn't a strategy for learning, and I didn't know where to start. We didn't have a lot of data. The team had been doing great with what they had so far, but it was a relatively new team. So I just started talking to people. I got meetings on my calendar with all the my peers, the directors. I got meetings on my calendar with the different executives. I got really curious, asked a lot of questions, started looking for themes, talked to the team that was already there and got as much data as I could from them. And then we collaborated based on the information that we know, based on these overarching strategic priorities. Let's put together what our plan is, and then we present it back to the executive team to get feedback. So that was the process that we used, and it wasn't 100% perfect. We still shifted every year. We would check in and shift some things, but it was really going out, building relationships, getting really curious with as many people as we could that could start painting a bigger picture of what's working and what's not. Yeah, I think that's so important to not only build those relationships, but also get that buy in into the strategy moving forward. And you've mentioned finding daily lessons in the outdoors that apply to leadership. Can you share a story of an outdoor adventure that shaped how you approach resilience or adaptability in your coaching? There is one situation that's coming to mind. So I have two kids. They're 8 and 10 right now. And this was years ago. I think my son might have been 18 months or 2 years old. My daughter was around 4 years old at the time. And it's May. It's Memorial Day in Colorado, which Memorial Day in the Denver area. Pretty nice weather. But we were out in the mountains. And where my husband had chose hiking for us was a pretty simple hike. I think it was maybe two and a half miles, pretty flat. But when we got up there, it was covered in snow because we were at 12,000ft. And neither of us knew that was gonna happen. So we said, okay, well, we'll just hike for a little bit. We'll see how far we can get. We each had. We were carrying the kids in different packs and we'll see how far we can get. So we got halfway and then there was snow. The path was not clear for us to walk. So we had two choices. Do we keep going, thinking or believing? That there was a path on the other side. Maybe we just. This part wasn't connected, or do we turn back around? Well, being the adventurous people we are, we decided to go forward. So we pushed through the snow, and we pushed through the snow, and it was up to our hips at some point. We were not in snow gear. It was cold. We had two small children. I think we're a little stubborn. So we kept going. We made it. We were freezing. Our kids were crying. The thing that really stands out to me is our top priority where our kids. So equating this to being a leader. Your top priority is your people. So when you are going through some. Something tough, something uncertain, which I know a lot of nonprofits are dealing with right now, your team, they're looking to you. They're looking to your reaction. They're looking to how you handle it. So this is really a moment to role model. Doesn't mean that you can't also share that this is tough for me too. But you're role modeling how you navigate this situation. So that was for the kids. When we're walking, we don't want to scare them. We don't want to cry. It was a lot of, everything's okay. Mommy's here, Daddy's here. We're going to get through this. We can see the car. It's not much longer. So it's just a lot of encouragement, a lot of empathy, compassion. Those are all things that you also want to share with your teen. And letting both kids cry, if they needed to cry, it wasn't, don't cry. It was, it's all right. Let it out. Let the emotion out. With your teams, maybe it's not crying, but if they have some emotions they want to share or some concerns, giving them the space to do that and making sure they feel heard, it doesn't mean you need to solve everything in that moment. But just knowing that you're there to help guide them and coach them through the challenging times, that's something that really sticks with me. I love that example. And I think, yeah, leading with vulnerability and validating people's experiences and emotions are so important, because if you shut them down, they're gonna show up another way. So they're gonna show up either way. And so when you're validating them, they're gonna show up in a more constructive way. And I think also when you were talking about. I've learned this in parenting too, like, when I'm calm, cool, and collected, so are my kids, because they thrive on my near neurons so like how my mirror neurons, if I'm anxious, they're going to be anxious. Right. If I'm calm, they're going to be calm and they're going to rely on me to guide them. And I think what you said is perfect of like how that plays into leadership. Yes. We can show emotion, we don't have to be scared of that, but how we react, people are going to mirror that in how they react as well. Yeah. You're showing them that it's okay, it's okay to be frustrated, it's okay to be stressed in this situation and know that you've got this community around you, you have a support network that's going to help you get through this. Yeah. So if someone's listening to this, they've come to the end. What is one lasting piece of advice that you would give to them? I think that self compassion is so important. As leaders. We're really hard on ourselves sometimes. The people around us are really hard on us too. And I think you just continuing to show up and trying to do the best you can is what's really important. Say no, take care of yourself, take breaks, walk away from the computer when you need to. Just remember that you're human too. Hmm. So good. If you wanna learn more about the work that you do, where can they find you? Sure, they can find me on jenrecla.com that's my website. And then I'm very active on LinkedIn. That's another great place to connect with me. I'm constantly talking about leadership, sharing as many tips as I can to help people just get through navigating their workload and building high performing teams. While we will make sure to link all of that in the show notes. Thank you so much, Jen. I have truly enjoyed this conversation. Yeah, I really appreciated the invitation today. Thank you. Hey, before you go, want to watch? Yes. Watch the best moments from the Lead with Heart episodes. We're sharing the most powerful highlights and takeaways over on our brand new YouTube channel. Yes, we are on YouTube. Just search for the savvy fundraiser on YouTube and hit subscribe so you never miss a moment of insight and inspiration. The link is in the show notes as well. Thanks for listening and as always, keep leading with heart.

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