By Sheri Chaney Jones, CEO & Founder, SureImpact
“Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path.” – Brené Brown
Vulnerability is the key to greater impact. As an introvert, being in the spotlight doesn’t feel comfortable for me. Couple that with the occasional feelings of unworthiness and self-doubt, my ego urges me to stay quiet. Yet, I’ve allowed my passion for impact-centric changemakers to drive me through the fear.
Can you relate? Does your passion for impact allow you to embrace vulnerability? Do you believe, like I do, that we must stop waiting? Too many people are suffering and not receiving the interventions they need. Together, let’s do something about it.
My 20 years’ experience and research in the social-good sector reveal that lasting social change is predicated on the mindset and actions of the social sector leaders. When foundations, government, and nonprofit leaders choose to embrace vulnerability fueled with impact measurement, they achieve remarkable results.
A culture grounded in vulnerability creates inspired and innovative workforces. Teams are bonded by the mission of the organization and are eager to do what it takes to achieve real and lasting social change.
Leading with vulnerability requires emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and humility. High-achieving leaders are comfortable making mistakes and empowering their teams. As a result, the organization is willing to explore creative solutions to complex social problems.
Organizations who track, measure, and manage to their outcomes and impact outperform their peers in fundraising, growth, and creating systematic social change. And the shift to increase visibility into an organization’s outcomes can produce fear in teams and leaders. This is normal. We all want to look good and are afraid of failure. This fear can stop us in our tracks. To overcome this fear, we must embrace vulnerability and work through this discomfort. We need this information to learn and confirm. If we want to create a different world for the next generation, we must use the insights to drive innovation for real and lasting social change.
The reality is only a quarter of government and nonprofits are committed to real-time measuring and managing to their impact (Impact & Excellence, 2014). Nonprofit leaders report that not enough time, staff, and expertise are why they don’t adopt data-driven cultures.
Knowing that impact measurement changes lives compelled me to embrace vulnerability and step out of my comfort zone to develop a technology platform to eliminate these “not enoughs”. I pulled together a team of passionate leaders to build an easy-to-use solution designed specifically for you. We enable you to track, measure, and communicate what your organization does, how well you do it, and how people are better off.
As a result, our technology supports and reinforces an impact-centric culture. Our partners more effectively secure the resources needed to change the world.
Although we cannot automate your commitment to vulnerable leadership, our Partner Success team will support you through every step of the journey. We provide ongoing nonprofit leadership trainings, assistance on measures selection, and implementation plans. We are always a call or email away to remove obstacles preventing you from successful use of key insights.
Every day you are not measuring and managing to real-time outcomes, you are limiting your ability to raise more money and achieve greater impact. If you know that now is the time for change, we want to help.
Sheri
About SureImpact
SureImpact’s mission is to encourage and equip impact-centric leaders, like you – leaders who are brave enough to change the world. We are fueled by our deep-seated desire to help change makers manifest their mission. We do this by helping you understand how lives and communities are transformed because of your work. Watch our SureImpact product tour to learn more.
Download our free ebook "Expanding Your Social Impact: A Guide for Using Data to Transform Your Organization