The Uncomfortable Truth About Organizational Health (That No One Wants to Hear)

Most organizations resist getting help until they're already in pain. As someone who's spent years providing interim leadership and succession planning for nonprofits, I've heard every objection in the book. In this article, I'm addressing the elephants in the room.

We're fine as we are.

Are you, though? Most organizations operating at 70% capacity don't realize they're leaving 30% of their potential impact on the table. That "fine" feeling is often just organizational complacency masquerading as stability. The healthiest organizations I work with aren't the ones without problems – they're the ones brave enough to look for the problems they can't see yet.

We tried consulting before. It didn't work.

I get it. There's nothing worse than investing time and money into a process that delivers beautiful binders full of recommendations that gather dust on your shelf. That's why I don't do "traditional consulting." My work focuses on implementable changes with clear metrics for success. If you can't measure it, we shouldn't be doing it.

We can't justify the cost / We don’t have that budgeted.

What's the cost of doing nothing? Of talent walking out the door? Of missed funding opportunities? Of board-executive tension that simmers just below the surface? Organizational health work isn't an expense – it's preventative care. And like all good preventative approaches, it costs far less than the crisis management you'll need if problems are left to fester.

We're in the middle of too much change already.

Precisely why this is the perfect time. Periods of transition offer rare windows of opportunity to examine systems and rebuild them stronger. Change is happening whether you guide it or not – the question is whether you want to be intentional about the direction.

It will disrupt our operations.

The truth? Your team already knows what's not working. They're compensating for it daily, creating workarounds, and carrying the burden of broken systems. What's truly disruptive is pretending everything is fine while your staff shoulders that weight. Real organizational health work should feel like relief, not disruption.

We can handle this internally.

You absolutely have talented people on your team. But they're swimming in your organizational water every day. They are also likely already AT capacity with their workload. Sometimes you need someone who can really *see* the water you're all swimming in. External perspective isn't about superior expertise – it's about freedom from your organization's particular blind spots.

The most successful leaders I know share one quality: they're willing to look at uncomfortable truths.

If you're ready to move beyond "fine" to truly exceptional, let's talk about what organizational health could mean for your mission. Get in touch.