Leadership Wellbeing Is the Missing Strategy for Charity Leaders

Leadership wellbeing rarely gets treated as a strategic priority in the charity sector, even though the research says it should be. Charity Recruit’s February virtual boardroom brought coaching psychologist Alex Nunn in to explain why, drawing on 20 years working across homelessness and mental health charities, six of them as a senior leader herself.  

Hosted by Emily, the session moved from the scale of the problem through to practical techniques leaders can start using the same afternoon. 

“The pressures you face as a charity leader are systemic and not personal and they are not your fault or your responsibility.” 

Why Leadership Wellbeing Is a Systemic Issue

Nunn opened with figures that set the tone for the whole session. Research from Mental Health UK found that 91% of adults experienced work related stress last year and separate research from the Fair Collective put the figure at 85% among charity leaders specifically reporting an impact on their mental health. Years of austerity, the disruption of the pandemic and a habit of absorbing work other sectors could not sustain have all piled pressure onto an already stretched workforce. Nunn was clear that framing this as a personal failing of resilience misses what is actually going on. 

Building Leadership Wellbeing Through Psychological Flexibility 

Rather than one big fix, Nunn offered three small daily habits that build what she calls psychological flexibility: 

• Pause before reacting – count to five before replying to a question, or wait half an hour before answering a message marked urgent 

• Get clear on your values – notice when a negative reaction flares up, since it usually signals a values clash worth naming 

• Reframe negative self-talk – shift from “I’m bad at this job” to “I’m noticing I’m having the thought that I’m bad at this job,” creating distance from the thought itself 

Nunn linked these habits directly back to why so many leaders resist them in the first place. 

“Nearly every leader I’ve worked with has told me it feels selfish to look after their own wellbeing, but once they see it makes them more effective, it stops feeling like guilt and starts feeling like permission.” 

Why This Hits the Charity Sector Harder 

Nunn pointed to something specific about charity work that makes boundaries harder to hold than in other industries. Purpose and identity are tightly bound up with the job itself, so stepping back can feel like letting the mission down rather than simply managing a workload. Compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma add a further layer that most other sectors do not carry in the same way, which is part of why burnout symptoms such as exhaustion, procrastination and a slow loss of confidence build up quietly before anyone notices. 

Wellbeing at the Top Shapes the Whole Organisation 

The session closed on culture. Nunn was direct: however a leader manages their own pressure, the team below copies it, whether that means working weekends or genuinely switching off. Clear values, honest disagreement, realistic expectations and protected time for rest all trace back to how the person at the top behaves day to day. 

In Summary 

Leadership wellbeing is not a personal indulgence; it is a structural issue that shapes how well charity organisations function. Small, repeatable habits such as pausing before reacting and reframing negative self-talk build the resilience leaders need to model a healthier culture for everyone below them.