Uncomfortable Truth #4:

You Can’t Save Everyone

Trying to help everyone leads to helping no one well.

Some of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in leadership weren’t from apathy or poor planning. They were from saying yes to too much.

There were seasons where I led my team into ambitious new initiatives that, in hindsight, pulled us away from what we did best. Most of that ambition was honest and open-hearted. I saw real needs and wanted to meet them.

But I moved too fast. Took on too much. Tackled too many issues at once. And slowly, the organization’s credibility began to fray—not because we didn’t care, but because we’d lost focus on the mission we were uniquely called to serve.

I’m someone who resists complacency. I value innovation. But I’ve had to learn the hard way to ask:
Am I innovating to serve our mission; or just to try something new?
Is this a strategic yes; or a fear of missing out?

And that leads us to this uncomfortable truth: you can’t save everyone. In fact, trying to will blur your mission and burn out your team.

Why We Keep Saying Yes

This isn’t just about being too nice. There are deeper forces at play that keep nonprofits saying yes beyond their scope:

🔹 Funding Pressure – Sometimes we say yes to programs we didn’t plan for because a grant is available. Mission alignment becomes secondary to financial need. We contort ourselves into new shapes to meet the criteria.

🔹 Board Influence – Board members, especially those who give significantly, can come with strong opinions about what should be prioritized. Leaders may feel obligated to expand into those areas—regardless of strategic fit.

🔹 Internal Passion Projects – Talented staff often bring great ideas. And in a flat culture, there’s pressure to empower innovation. But without strong filters, good internal ideas can splinter the mission.

🔹 The Ego Hook – Let’s be honest: sometimes we want to be the ones who solve the problem. The one-stop shop. The hero organization. And it’s not vanity—it’s rooted in a desire to be useful. But over time, that impulse can become the very thing that wears an organization down.

These pressures don’t make you a bad leader—they make you human. But without healthy boundaries, they can lead your organization far off course.