What It Actually Takes to Lead a Nonprofit Firm as a Woman

The honest version is less dramatic than people expect.

It is not a story of constant obstruction or dramatic moments of being dismissed. It is something quieter and, in some ways, harder to name. It is the accumulated weight of having to be right before you are believed. The way a considered opinion gets treated as a feeling, and a feeling gets treated as a liability. The extra step of establishing that what you are about to say is grounded, before you say it.

Over a quarter century of building organizations, I have made my peace with most of this. Not because it stopped being true, but because I stopped letting it define the terms of the game. The most useful thing I ever learned is that I do not need to argue for my credibility. I need to produce results and let those do the work.

That became the sixth principle of The Alignment Code: quiet proof beats loud claims.

The particular challenge of nonprofit consulting

Running a nonprofit consulting firm as a founder adds another layer. This work sits at an intersection that some people have not figured out what to do with. On one side are those who assume that because we serve nonprofits, the standards are lower. On the other side are those who assume that because we are profitable, we are not purpose-driven. Both assumptions are wrong, and neither goes away quickly.

What actually works is the same thing that works everywhere. Know exactly what you are building. Build it with integrity. Show up consistently for the people you serve. Stay accountable to outcomes, not optics.

The question I am asked most often is: what advice would you give your younger self? My answer is always the same. Stop asking for permission to lead the way you already know how to lead. The standards were always there. Trust them.