We may be perched on the edge of a radical shift in our relationship to our work. When Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a bill to reduce the national work week to 32 hours for full-time pay, he noted that Americans work longer hours than workers in any other wealthy nation.

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Quiet quitting. The 4-Day Week. Slow Productivity.

How can we make work sustainable?

If you’ve been following my posts, you may know that I am obsessed with how people relate to their work. While I write specifically to social sector leaders, I’m really speaking to myself and anyone else who struggles to balance their passion for mission-driven work with taking good care of themselves.

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An early coaching client was a nonprofit leader who was feeling pinched between her boss’ exacting standards and a new employee who was having trouble settling in. During our sessions, the client identified ways to communicate clearly what was expected of her new staffer as well as training to grow her technical skills. Bigger challenges were the different personalities

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A colleague recently shared her secret to success as a long-time nonprofit leader: She errs on the side of kindness with her staff. On many occasions, she hired women who were several months pregnant after they’d been passed over by other employers.

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Ever wondered why some bosses are both more likeable and more effective? Their secret may be a cluster of skills known collectively as “emotional intelligence.”

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We’ve all been there. We’re speaking with a colleague, a friend, our child or our partner about something they’re uneasy about. At some point we feel uncomfortable or pressed for time. To end the conversation quickly, we offer insensitive advice, such as “Here’s what you need to do”.

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Last time, I introduced Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies (4T) framework -- the different ways we respond to others' requests and expectations, as well as our own. Here I’ll offer ideas for getting the most from our teams by customizing how we work with each person’s tendency. First a brief story.

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The start of a new year is a great time to consider ways to create new habits to advance our goals -- and an opportune time to learn new leadership skills.

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“Trust is the coin of the realm,” former Secretary of State George Schultz said on his 100th birthday. “When trust was in the room … good things happened. When it wasn't, good things didn't happen. Everything else was details.”

One of my clients told me that the chance to move up in her career had been a key reason for taking a job a few

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I led a session recently on preventing workplace burnout. Participants -- nonprofit executives -- understood the famous Peter Drucker quote: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

Knowing it’s on them to set the tone of their workplace, they shared some of the ways they are promoting their employees' well-being:

• Invite the whole person to show up by including personal checkins at staff meetings

• Educate yourself so you’ll recognize signs of overwhelm and burnout in your team

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You may not have a boss who yells, bangs on tables or insults you. But you likely had one -- at some point -- who occasionally made you feel unsafe in other ways.

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We’ve all been there. Something we’d hoped and worked hard for didn’t pan out. We fell short.

“What went wrong? Was it my fault—or was it due to a weird wrinkle in the universe?”

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Do you sometimes feel like a fraud? Or fear being outed for lacking the abilities, experience or qualities needed to properly do your work or shift to something new?

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What do you do when your supervisor asks you to take on more work than you can manage without overwhelm? What if the work isn’t related to your core work—or is "uncompensated cognitive labor”?

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How do you respond when your boss asks you to take on more work than you can manage? How risky does it feel to ask for what you need?

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How cautious are you when learning something new? Do you prefer to feel 100% competent before trying it out in the real world or do you like to wing it and see what happens?

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What does burnout look and feel like? And what can be done to address it in ourselves and our teams?

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Many of us risk our health and wellbeing by not paying attention to our work-related stress and overwhelm. Even when we are aware of these feelings, it can be tough to admit we need help, as it might reflect poorly on us.

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What do you do when people don’t behave the way you’d like them to? Or when a situation turns out differently than you would’ve preferred?

Infographic by A Grasso Blog