Rebuilding Self-Trust in Nonprofit Leadership - A Case Study
She Didn’t Need Another Pep Talk. She Needed Evidence.
When I worked with Brenda (named changed for privacy) last year, she wasn’t looking for motivation.
She was exhausted. It was the big push before Giving Tuesday. Work was stacking and a major announcement was coming down the pipe. And underneath all of that was she was navigating real life behind the scenes - a long distance relationship, kids, a divorce that was super challenging.
And through all of that she didn’t have much time for herself.
In one of our sessions, I asked a simple question: Who are you?
Her first answer wasn’t about her. It was roles.
Mother.
Partner.
Team player.
Reliable.
The person others can count on.
When I asked how she would describe herself, she hesitated. When I asked how others would describe her, the words came faster:
Reliable.
Creative.
Consistent.
Never gives up
Then she said something that was worthy of a pause… she said,
“Why can’t I give myself the grace I give others?”
That’s where the real work started. An honest truth she hadn’t said out loud before.
As we continued to move out of her mind and into her body, she realized something else. She admitted how hard it was to be in her body unless she was focused on making it smaller. Can you relate? (I sure can).
As I helped her turn into her body, we explored how strength showed up for her and where it lived and she she recalled wasn’t a polished leadership story.
She went to a memory from years ago. A difficult and traumatizing experience with her ex-husband that threatened his safety and her ability to care for three kids with no financial certainty.
The word she used to describe that experience wasn’t resilience. It was panic.
Panic in her gut.
Tension in her chest.
Heaviness. Nausea.
The phrase she replayed was, “I don’t know what to do.”
When I asked what she needed in that moment, her answer wasn’t confidence.
> It was clarity and assurance. It was safety.
And when she finally said to that past version of herself: “You are safe. We made it through.” Her body responded before her brain did with a giant sigh of relief.
That’s where the shift happened.
Not pretending the panic never existed. Not forcing positivity or trying to build more confidence. It was about learning how to acknowledge her experience and how to reframe it so it had less power over her. By letting those feelings be present without them driving the car.
By the end of the session, she said: “I did survive it. I learned from it. I just wasn’t giving myself any credit.”
If we had simply worked on a resilient mindset she wouldn't have felt the shift, she only would have thought it. That’s the power of nervous system work and exactly what we do Get in Formation.
It builds awareness and empowering evidence you feel, not just think.
It helps leaders embody what they already intellectually know. It turns “I can do hard things” from a statement into a lived experience. It replaces “I don’t know,” with embodied awareness. It builds stackable moments of safety and self-trust.
Brenda didn’t need to become more resilient. She needed space to recognize her own strength.
If you’re the one everyone counts on, and you’re tired of not counting yourself in that equation, the next round of Get in Formation starts March 25.
Find all the details below to grab your seat. Register for Get in Formation here.
If you found this blog after registration for this round closed check out the Coaching page for current support and guidance.
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I’m Sara (she/her), the leader behind this mission, and I want you to believe in your power to make a difference. Just as a circle has no end and no beginning you too have the infinite potential to evolve, transform, and create change in your community and I want to help you achieve it.
