Sharing Hard-Earned Lessons on Career Growth | Editor of Genesis 2 | Follow for Weekly Insights to Help You Navigate Transitions with Confidence and Purpose

I reckon most charities run on two things. A whole lot of passion, and some scramble behind the scenes.

As a not-for-profit COO, I build the operational backbone that turns that scramble into coordinated action so vision comes to life without burning people out.

In practice, that looks like:

🟢 Turning ambitious plans into clear, weekly execution

🟢 Making it obvious who does what, when, and how

🟢 Simplifying systems so the day-to-day actually feels manageable

🟢 Tightening how things are run and reported so everyone supporting the mission can trust the numbers and the decisions

🟢 Protecting the human side of the work - pace, workload, and wellbeing.

When those pieces line up, you get something rare in this sector: a team that can do more with less and stay human while they do it.

I share thoughts here on the practical side of making a difference:

Leadership, remote teams “doing the work” with limited budget, and the messy reality behind strategy decks.

The thoughts and reflections I share here are my own, drawn from my experience working across the sector.

If you’re working to make a difference and want to compare notes or sanity-check an idea, you’re welcome to connect.

If you feel behind at 40, read this.

I once got the call about a promotion.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳," they said. "𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴"

I didn't jump around or anything. But I told my wife. Started thinking about the title, the credibility, hard work finally paid off.

Three days later, the recruiter rang back.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦..."

Someone else threw their hat in last minute. The role went to them instead.
Someone younger.

For months after, whenever I check LinkedIn, there’s someone from my network was announcing a Director role. A C-suite move. Another "𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦" post.

I kept wondering what I'd done wrong.

Maybe I should've networked harder. Played the game better.

After getting off the soapbox, I realised something:

𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲.

The manager who took two years out for caring responsibilities? They understand what people 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 need to sustain performance.

The person passed over for asking too many wellbeing questions? They're building systems that don't burn people out.

I don't treat people as widgets.

Now I ask about wellbeing first. How someone's really doing, not just professionally, but spiritually, emotionally. The stuff that doesn't fit on a checklist.

I ask about family before I ask about project timelines.

When I do interviews, I spend the first 20 min just talking. Their story. Their values. What they believe in.

The career questions can wait.

Because here's the thing:

The sector doesn't need more polished CVs. It needs leaders who've lived enough life to lead with 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗵.

If you're 42 and feel like you're still climbing whilst others have made it, you're not behind.

You're building something long lasting than a job title.

What would change if we measured leadership by 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦, not what we achieve?

undefined undefined

Non-Profit COO | Aligning strategy, systems, and people so vision comes to life

Early in my career, I worked across both Injury Management and HR.

It gave me a strangely specific perspective that I still use every day in how I lead the work get done.

You see, the same staff member can look completely different depending on which system is looking at them.

𝗜 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼, 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝗷𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸.

The process unfolded exactly as it should.

Safety did what they were supposed to do and focused on 𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸:
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴?
𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵?

HR did what they were supposed to do too:
𝘋𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘴?
𝘐𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥?

Technically, we were perfect.

In reality, we missed something important.

𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀, 𝗜 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴.

The "light duties" were scanning invoices alone in a back office.
↳ Technically safe.
↳ But completely isolating.
If that was you, you'd like a spare part, cut off from the people and purpose that brought you into the role in the first place.

We were solving the injury but creating a retention problem.

𝗦𝗼, 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻.

We scrapped the scanning. Instead, we had her mentor new people on client retention. It was a role that fit her physical restrictions 𝘢𝘯𝘥 her need for purpose.

She didn't just recover; she re-engaged.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆.

Compliance keeps your organisation safe. But connection is what keeps your organisation sustainable.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱, 𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗱?

𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 

The school year starts this week in Brisbane.

Which means I've spent the last few weeks hunting down uniforms and stationery.

I was buying for two very different stages. 

🚸 One heading into high school. 

🚸 Another one still in primary and another one just starting. 

Different kids. Different needs. 

But as I drove around, I realised they all needed the exact same thing from me right now.

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆

I don't do New Year's resolutions but pick a word instead. Something to anchor decisions and set the theme for the year. 

This year, it's 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺.

If you're leading a team or work in the charity sector, you've probably got a similar dynamic playing out. 

You've got your "high schoolers" (people stepping into big roles who need room to stretch, and permission to stuff up). 

And you've got your "primary schoolers" (new people or junior team members who need clear guardrails and someone to tell them they're doing fine).

𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗼'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁.

That probably looks like 3 things:

𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱: Clearing obstacles before people trip over them.

𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱: Get out of the way so they can actually lead.

𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲: Being the person who doesn't panic when the path ahead isn't clear.

2026 is still quite new and I'm still working out what this looks like in practice.

How do you offer stability without absorbing all the stress yourself? 

How do you hold the line without blocking progress?

I'm posting this partly for accountability. 

Real leadership isn't to have a perfect strategy. 

I suspect I'm not alone in trying to calibrate this.

So: do you have a word or theme guiding your leadership this year?

Over the holidays I discovered a whole new level of conflict management… delivered by my three kids and a pile of loose change.

3 small humans, heads down, counting coins with the intensity of an external audit.

Then the boasting starts.
Then the arguing.
Then the declarations of who is "obviously the richest".

Meanwhile, I’m caught in the middle of a crossfire, finding myself as the accidental umpire. 
Trying my best to stay neutral while questioning in my head how a $2 coin can spark this much drama.

And once the dust settled, I realised how familiar it all felt at work.

Because most conflict isn’t actually about the thing in front of us:

It’s about fairness.
It’s about being acknowledged.
It’s about wanting to understand how decisions are made.

The kids weren’t really arguing over coins.
They were arguing what the coins 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥.

That’s the reminder I’m taking into the new year.

When tensions rise at work, whether it's workload, priorities, or limited resources, it’s rarely the surface issue driving the reaction.

People want transparency.
They want a fair process.
They want clarity on where they stand.

As leaders, being the “umpire” isn’t about stepping in with a verdict.

It’s about building the kind of environment where the process feels sound, the conversation is honest, and the outcome has integrity (even if it isn’t perfect).

And if I can practise that with 3 kids and a pile of coins, I can certainly carry it back into the office 😅

As we start the new year, what’s something outside of work that’s reminded you how people really tick?

Paul Chen

Talks about #wellbeing, #leadership, #whatinspiresme, and #professionaldevelopment

taplio

Paul Chen's Linkedin Analytics

Paul Chen

Performance ScorePaul Chen's LinkedIn Performance

What is Paul talking about?

Who is engaging with Paul

Paul Chen's Best Posts (last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

.css-6ytdur{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39, 43, 72, 1) 0%, rgba(33, 47, 183, 1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Paul Chen's Linkedin Analytics

Paul Chen

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Paul Chen's LinkedIn Performance

What is Paul talking about?

Who is engaging with Paul

Paul Chen's Best Posts .css-1emoo84{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:400;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);}(last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Paul Chen's Linkedin Analytics

Performance ScorePaul Chen's LinkedIn Performance

Paul Chen's Best Posts (last 30 days)