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By Tara Gohr
Running a business that supports nonprofits often has the owner scrambling — setting vision, creating strategy, providing services, managing people, welcoming clients, and coordinating projects. When every day feels like a pressure cooker, it’s easy to fall into traps that limit both personal freedom and organizational growth.
Here’s common productivity myths in leadership and shifts to change your mindset.
Myth: You should be the face of your business.
Truth: The more you hold that mantle, the more your team and your business are constrained.
Shift: Funnel opportunities for panels, interviews, convenings, conferences, presentations, and inquiries to your team. When more people represent your consultancy, it becomes a thought leader, increasing your team’s confidence, visibility, and skill set. Over time, you create a strong bench of leaders who can represent the business and carry its vision forward.
Mantra: The more valuable you are to the business, the less valuable the business becomes.
Myth: You should be the busiest person in your company.
Truth: More gets accomplished when you’re not slowing everyone else down by making them wait for meetings, decisions, or reviews. And, when your mind is not pinballing, it can percolate, problem-solve, and plan.
Shift: Delegate, timeblock, and level-set. Not every meeting needs your presence. If it does, build in some downtime/drivetime by holding it in-person, or better yet, while walking. Let your brain slow down, your body catch up, and your spirit re-engage.
Mantra: Being busy is not a badge of honor.
Myth: If you’re not generating revenue, you’re not valuable.
Truth: If you keep stepping in to help, save, or produce, you block others from learning and you’re not addressing macro issues.
Shift: Get out of the way. Don’t be the default problem-solver. If the financials aren’t working without you in the project mix, fix the model.1 Teach your team how to delegate laterally or down, not up, and give them permission to apportion client expectations.
Mantras: Your self-worth isn’t tied to output. You are worthy of time, space, and money.
Myth: This is hard.
Truth: It is hard… and it gets to be easy. If you wait for things to “get easier,” you’ve tied your well-being to something you can’t control.
Shift: Learn to deal with deficiency. Try adopting this framework: (1) Take authentic inventory, (2) Do not fear, (3) Go, (4) Do what you said you would.2 Whether you’re short on time, money, clarity, staff, or energy, these steps can bring peace. They’re especially useful when external pressures (like politics or funding uncertainty) create turbulence.
Mantra: Wait quietly, hope confidently, and just stay calm.
You don’t need more hustle. When you stop chasing productivity and start building leadership, your business becomes bigger than you, and far more sustainable.
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Tara Gohr is president and CEO of The Grant Plant Inc. in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her email is tara@thegrantplantnm.com
