Do Your Part: Sustainable Social Impact Leadership in a Time of Polycrisis with Tessa Bridge

Kim Allchurch Flick: Hello everyone. This is a very new type of podcast. This is a return guest, Tessa Bridge. And the reason this is a return is because she wrote a book called Do Your Part, so we’re gonna focus on how we can all do our part. Tessa, welcome. It’s so good to see you again. 

Tessa Bridge: So happy to be here. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: Yeah, it’s good to see you tell us about the book journey.

How, what was the spark? What has been the journey? 

Tessa Bridge: Yeah. At its heart, this is a book that I needed some time ago when I was at a place where I felt like I had overextended myself. I was doing a lot of things that I really cared deeply about, that were really a reflection of who I am and my values and how I wanna show up in the world.

And I was also. Feeling the pressure of that, right? Both the pressure I put on myself and the very real pressures of having stepped out into vulnerable, exposed leadership roles on a number of fronts at the same time. And when I was in that place, I. I was like really looking around for resources.

’cause I felt like, am I the only person on the planet who was feeling the way that I’m feeling? And there were things that I found helpful in different resources, but I never really found something that spoke specifically to the intersection of. Doing values-based, mission-based work that is really tied to your sense of self, your identity, your community, your people, and feeling like you are overextended, stretched, exhausted, and just can’t keep going at the pace you’re going.

And that was many years ago. I’ve done a lot of my own personal work. I’ve also done a lot of work with. Clients in my coaching practice since then who I have learned, have similar stories, and so I really just felt compelled to create the resource that I wanted so that hopefully people who read this book and are in that place feel less alone.

And. Can have a bit of a roadmap of what they can do and how they can understand the experience they’re having. Put some language to that and then actually take some steps to continue to show up in the way that they want and that they think of themselves, but also find some space to take care of themselves and build in a more sustainable approach to what that leadership can look like.

Kim Allchurch Flick: That sounds like a book for these times. 

Tessa Bridge: Yeah. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: Thank you very much for that. 

Tessa Bridge: Yeah. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: What problems are you solving for people with the book and what was it like to write it? 

Tessa Bridge: Yeah. I’ll start with the first part of that question, I think. The problem that I’m solving with this book is the times that we’re living in, in a lot of ways, and there is so much need.

The subtitle of the book is Bold, sustainable Leadership for Social Impact Leaders in a Time of Poly Crisis, and it felt really important to situate. In this reality of poly crisis that we’re living in, right? We have many overlapping crises that are influencing each other and happening at the same time.

And a lot of need. There’s a lot of needed action on many fronts at once, and that is a really overwhelming context to be in social impact leadership. It also requires a different type of leadership and a different leadership mentality than may have worked for many of us in the past. A lot of the folks I coach, and I have this myself, are like real doers, right?

We wanna get our hands dirty, we wanna come up with action plans. We are high achievers. We know what we want. We’re scrappy, we’re used to making it work. And that approach. Is helpful, right? It does work to a certain extent, but when we are in a crisis like this that has waves that is continuous and where there’s not really a point where we’re gonna be like, and that is now done, that mentality can actually really lead to exhaustion and burnout.

If we are constantly trying to do what we’re, what I call like getting over the hill I’m gonna just get through this and then I’ll take a rest. I’m gonna get through this, and then I’ll make sure to prioritize dinner with my family. I’m gonna make it to the next deadline, and then I’m gonna start exercising regularly, or whatever the self-care piece is that’s important for you.

If we keep that mentality of I’m just gonna push full throttle until I get over the hill, we’re gonna burn out before we get to where we’re trying to go. So the book is really trying to argue that we need to build more sustainability. Into our leadership style precisely because of the urgent moment that we’re living in, and that that is not selfish or separate from building a just world.

It’s actually part of how we build a just world. So I’m really trying to do some deep reframing around what it means to be committed, what it means to show up, what it means to be engaged so that we can get to the just world we’re trying to build. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: And you used the word poly. Poly meaning mini crisis.

Yes, mini crises. And what’s resonating with me as you talk is the overwhelm of the fire hose. 

Tessa Bridge: Yeah. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: Fire hoses. Yes. They’re coming from multiple directions. They’re domestic, they’re international, they’re local. They’re somebody else’s problem. There are a problem. And how that can be. Painful and then numbing sometimes.

And we are recording this in June of 2026, and I find that people respond to things in different ways. And sometimes it’s about timing. Sometimes I feel like I can go full throttle and be activist and then sometimes it’s just I have to get my own work done too. I’ve gotta survive, I’ve gotta be joyful for my clients and I find that with other people as well.

How does, how do you, in the book, how do you wrap your head around all these multiplicities of 

Tessa Bridge: Yes, 

Kim Allchurch Flick: of feelings that can happen to people even in any given day. 

Tessa Bridge: Yes. It’s an excellent point and it’s something I talk about head on in the book. So there’s a couple ways that I think about this. One is when we are in this overstimulated loud, often scary context.

I would argue that it is even more important as people in leadership, that we are the most grounded, the most centered that we can be, and that becomes part of our responsibility. I would argue as a leader, when we are regulated, we can make clear decisions, we can make strategic decisions. And we can create that grounding force for our teams and our organizations.

When we are dysregulated, when we are anxious, when we are overwhelmed, we bring that energy into everything we’re doing. Even if we are doing that with the best of intentions, because we are, frantically trying to get things done, and this is not a judgment of feeling overwhelmed. We are all feeling overwhelmed in many ways in this moment.

It just means it’s even more important for us to build these regulating practices. The awareness around, oh, I might be feeling dysregulated right now. I need to do something about that and prioritize that into our daily leadership practices. So there’s a chapter in the book where I talk about this concept called the window of tolerance, which some of the listeners may be familiar with, which is the idea that this is a window in which we are able to access our best thinking.

And when we are overwhelmed, overstimulated in a more fight or flight space in our body, we can go out of our window in two directions. We can go up into what’s called hyper arousal, which is where our thoughts are spiraling. We’re moving really fast. Maybe we’re like, we’ve gotta get to action.

We might be feeling panicked in our bodies. You’re tossing and turning in the middle of the night, that’s hyper arousal. You can also go below your window, which is called hypo arousal, which is that sense of shutting down, disengaging, freezing, kinda what you were talking about. Just like I just gotta put my blinders on.

I just can’t manage this. You might feel lethargic. Those are both forms of dysregulation, and so one of the things we can do is build awareness of when we might have moved outside of our windows and build tools to come back into that centered optimal space. Before we start making choices and decisions.

So even just having the understanding of that framework, the language, and then some of those strategies to come back to that center is really critical for leaders. And I would also argue it’s something we can do with our teams. Like we can say, for example, what, where is everybody? On this spectrum, how, what tools are we using together and individually to reregulate ourselves, because that is part of how we resist the fire hose that you’re talking about, is by becoming as grounded as we possibly can.

So that’s just one very practical thing that I mentioned in the book. There are many other ideas of how how to navigate this. But again, that, that idea that being grounded is part of. What we do to move through this strategically, intentionally, and not so reactively. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: And it sounds like it’s important for teams, but also important for life, for families, for friends, for 

Tessa Bridge: Yes.

Kim Allchurch Flick: All of us to think about it that way. And I also see. Other people are talking about this and consultants are trying to work this into their leadership programs, is to really talk about how reality is becoming infused into our workspace. Yeah. What does that look like, and what does it mean to actually sit and talk to each other and acknowledge, 

Tessa Bridge: yeah, 

Kim Allchurch Flick: acknowledge how people are feeling and everybody’s in a little bit different space.

Tessa Bridge: That’s right. 

And in the book, like the title do Your part is really about getting clear on what’s yours to do, what are your skills, strengths, talents, sphere of influence? What are the things that you are going to do to move forward and what are the things that maybe need to get done, but you are not the best person to do them, or you don’t have the capacity to, and the shift that I wanna invite.

Folks who are reading the book or listening to this podcast into is that this is a collective effort. Individual heroics are not gonna be the thing that get us to where we wanna go. We all have to do our part, and we have to trust that there are other people who are moving the balls that we’re not moving.

And so part of building that groundedness, both inside of work and outside of work is really getting clear on what you’re committing to and why, and then doing those things well and then all the other things that come. Making very planful choices about whether you take them on or not. Because when we divide our energy and divide our focus, we end up doing many things not that well versus when we pick the things that we are doing, ’cause we are well positioned to do them, we can really make a lot of progress, which both helps us feel the power and agency we have.

And allows progress to be made. And then someone else, or another organization or another group gets to focus on the other pieces. And I think we live in a very individualistic society where we really love the idea of the hero leader, the solitary leader who’s gonna swoop in and save the day and fight the good fight.

And we want to be that leader often, and we wanna be led by that person. And part of what. It’s actually gonna move us through this poly crisis is shifting our mentality around how these things get done to a more interdependent and collectivist approach. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: And this aligns with what I’m seeing in community and two things as a member of the A SPN, the American Sustainable Business Network on a previous podcast we had Camilla Taylor, who’s the executive director and one of.

Her points was, she was talking about nonpartisan activism and she said if you call a legislator and say, I’m a business owner, that carries some weight, so I had to get our talking points together and they created a kit to make things easier for people to sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and go through some things daily, taking the logistics.

Out of it. Yeah. That makes people maybe not take action steps. 

Tessa Bridge: Yeah. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: But making it simple wherever we are to be able to do that. I’d see that with your book, there’s some guidance for how to make things easier and also with the, i’m on the board of On Purpose, Oregon formerly B Local PDX.

So it’s more than B Corps, but we’re talking about what is common ground. How can we work with other organizations that are pointed in different directions, but share our voices. 

Tessa Bridge: Yeah. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: To do things. And a lot of this is linked arms. It’s not one liter. Yes. And I see that coming from your book as well.

Tessa Bridge: Yes, definitely. It’s building the ecosystem, right and knowing who that players in the ecosystem are. And part of it’s also who do you call when you need help in a certain area or who do you refer something to? Or if somebody comes to you with a request, can you take this on? And you don’t have the capacity or you’re not the best fit for it, you can say, this isn’t the right time for me, but here’s somebody else who could help with that.

And building that. Collective shared way of moving the ball forward. Yeah. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: I really love that thought. And what did have been the obstacles, not only to writing the book promoting a book that’s always very intense. Yeah. But what have been some obstacles along the way and. Was it difficult to research?

This was, 

Tessa Bridge: yeah. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: What were you finding? What was spoke to you what was bs? 

Tessa Bridge: Yeah. What 

Kim Allchurch Flick: was some 

Tessa Bridge: obstacles? Great question. Getting outta my own way, it’s always the biggest obstacle, right? To doing this, I was really encouraged to do this by a mentor of mine, which I’m so grateful for, and.

Figuring out like what my own approach to this would be. There is a lot of research in the book. It was really important to me to take the lived experience that I know is true because I’ve lived it and because I’ve coached people through it and to situate that sort of root that in.

Academic study around like, how do our brains work? What does burnout look like in different fields? What does burnout look like in the activist space? Who are some of the thought leaders who have really shaped the way that I think and understand the world? And tying that into that really deeply rooted experience.

I also, did interviews with social impact leaders and created case studies throughout the book because I really wanted this to feel like. A mirror that like people would, not everything is gonna resonate with every person, but over the course of the book, there will be things that I hope many of the readers will be like, that’s me, that’s me, that’s me.

Because I think part of what when we are in that stuck place of feeling like we can’t see a path. We can’t see an off ramp other than to just keep doing the thing we’re doing, which we know isn’t working for us anymore. That sense of isolation can be so like acute and painful. Creating many connection points both in the research, in the lived experience, in the stories that are in the book and in the tools really was how I wanted to build this.

Web of connection so that people realize this is a shared experience that they’re having and it’s not really about them. Another big theme in the book is around like the intersection of the societal forces and the individual pressure we put on ourselves. And so often when we are struggling.

Personally and professionally, we take that internally. We think that’s about us. We think I never should have taken this job to begin with. I’m just not cut out for this. I. Can I even do this thing? We turn that voice on ourselves and we all have areas we could grow. We all make mistakes sometimes that’s true, and we are doing powerful work inside of a system that is not really designed for us to succeed.

So when we really are able to meet, to name. What are the societal forces, these unjust systems that mean that we keep running into again and again and again? Impossible expectations, like this idea of constantly needing to do more with less, right? Or deliver on timelines that aren’t realistic. And then when we struggle to do that, we think I’m not good enough.

But is that really about us? To a large extent, it’s not. So again. Building the language and the understanding of where some of the internalized beliefs that we have come from so that we can see them and be more gentle with ourselves at three o’clock in the morning when we’re tossing and turning in bed and really say I am doing my best.

I am doing what I set out to do. I am a human being. I’m gonna learn as I go. And. That is what I commit to is continuing to show up, not in getting everything perfect and having the perfect outcome every time, and controlling everything. That’s another big theme in the book is that when we are afraid, we reach for control and that can make us very tight.

And when we’re tight, it’s really hard for us to be creative. It’s really hard for us to be flexible to innovate. To work together. All of these pieces I think have been around for a very long time. They’re not new and they’re getting amplified. The volume dial is very high because of the pressures and the high stakes of the moment that we’re living in.

Kim Allchurch Flick: Yeah, that’s so well said. 

Tessa Bridge: Thank you. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: Thank you for that and listening to it, it makes me a wanna read the book, but also step back and examine or can I calm myself down to be effective. Instead of being frantic and ruminating and things that we do. And I’ve learned my own tricks. Everybody has their own.

Yeah. I find mine in nature. 

Tessa Bridge: Yeah, 

Kim Allchurch Flick: definitely. If I get really keyed up, I’m going to go out and take a walk and 

Tessa Bridge: Yeah. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: Turn on my ebirds so I can see Yeah. Who’s chattering and 

Tessa Bridge: Yeah. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: And it helps. It really does. Even if it’s 10 minutes or an hour pulling weeds even, it’s just touching ground. 

Tessa Bridge: Yes.

Kim Allchurch Flick: Another thing is a good conversation with a friend. 

Tessa Bridge: Yes. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: Those kind of things can really help. 

Tessa Bridge: Yes. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: So is there, you mentioned case studies, is there a standout case study you might wanna summarize or mention at this point? 

Tessa Bridge: A theme in the book that we haven’t talked yet it’s about community and the role that relationships play

in both positive and challenging ways in how we show up in this. So one of the case studies in the book is is a character who is in a role that she knows is not the right fit for her, but she feels very connected to the her team and to the people she works with. And those are relationships that she really treasures.

And so she. Is having a really hard time accepting the fact that it might be time for her to move on because it feels like a betrayal of the people who she really loves and is connected to. And that felt really important to me to include because one of the things that happens in social impact work is that we get really attached to each other and that is really beautiful.

And so many of my close relationships come from organizing spaces come from, working in, nonprofit or other social impact spaces where you’re in these scrappy, in the trenches roles. You’re staying up late with people, you know their families. You’re like doing this important work together.

Your values and your relationships become very enmeshed and it can also. On the flip side of that coin lead to this sense like if I leave or if I try to set more boundaries, or if I try to show up in a different way, I’m gonna lose my community. I’m gonna lose belonging. The people who mean the most to me are gonna judge me.

And so that can be a very scary and painful. To consider. And so I think again, it’s inviting in the gentleness, it’s inviting in the gentleness with each other, like allowing each other space when we do need to step a step back or do less or just be in a season of slowing down so that we can then be in a season in the future of taking on more, having more understanding of that rather than judgment of that.

I think it also speaks to, building communities that are modeling the way we wanna be in the world, right? So the people who surround us, you mentioned having a conversation with a friend. It’s like the friends we’re having conversations with. We wanna make sure that those are people who are also prioritizing.

Bold action and sustainable leadership at the same time, right? If we are only in spaces that are expecting us to be, go, go, go all the time doing everything in high urgency, in high alert, then it’s gonna be very, very hard for us to find space to step back because it feels out of alignment with the people that we are in.

So part of what I think about in the book is. For people who are on that edge of, I just can’t keep doing this. Finding communities that are going to validate that there are ways to continue to show up boldly and bravely to continue to be engaged and also to prioritize wellbeing, sustainability, long-term thinking, not just urgency, sprints.

It’s part of how we shift the culture in our organizations and for ourselves. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: That’s beautifully stated, and every time you say something I, my brain is going off with, oh, I can see how this is so compelling and so truly important. And recognizing that people are in different spaces at different times.

Yeah. And giving some grace for that. Yeah. And we all have lives and other things to deal with. 

Tessa Bridge: Yeah. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: What, with all this, what makes you optimistic? Oh. 

Tessa Bridge: I’m an optimist. I just, find a way to be hopeful no matter what. And I do think that’s my organizing back background because I think I think we have so much more agency than we give ourselves credit for often, even in the moments where it feels like, okay, like that fire hose is streaming at us and it feels like we, we maybe are in a more reactive space, like we hold a lot of power in the sphere that we operate in, and that really does make me feel hopeful and I think in some ways. As I said, none of this is new, right? Like these are things that we have been working through for decades, if not more, and are really becoming very loud right now.

And in that I think there’s a real opportunity to do the deep learning that we need to do in order to move forward from this place in a way that it’s gonna actually really. Move us where we wanna go, right? Decouple from some of these very capitalistic individual ideas of what it means to be to produce, to create outcomes where our worth comes from.

And instead, root in a more collective, more sustainable, more term, more gentle and care filled. Human way of leading, and I think there’s a lot of hunger for that. I think people are really wanting that, and I think the leaders who are able to embody that in their own style, because it doesn’t have to look the same for everybody.

Draw people to them. And I think that’s exciting. I feel excited. And I think we have some really amazing models of that happening on the national stage, what it looks like to really embody human-centered kind, compassionate leadership. And I think we are seeing that that is both effective and that that is what people are drawn to.

I have a lot of hope. I have a lot of hope and optimism, even though we’re in a difficult moment. I think this is one of those things that is gonna help to clarify what is important to us and help us to enter the next chapter from a really grounded and clear place that’s gonna get us where we need to go.

Yeah, 

Kim Allchurch Flick: I love that. And besides reading the book, what do you hope. That people do with the book? 

Tessa Bridge: Yes. Well, like I said a huge theme of this project for me is for people to feel less alone. So I think one of the things that I’m hoping comes out of people reading the book or listening to this podcast is a resonance and a sense of I deserve to feel less bad.

I’m not gonna give up on what I committed to. I’m not gonna change what I believe in. I’m gonna keep being a person who shows up, and that doesn’t have to mean that I feel bad. So whether that’s finding a coach who can support you to work through that, whether that’s finding other activists, organizers, leaders, community groups who are embodying that, just leaning into the places that that, that don’t feel extractive and that feel.

Generative human compassionate that fill you up, that where you leave feeling more energized than when you arrived. Find those places and they exist. They exist. You might have to look in different places than you maybe have before, but they definitely exist to get that support for yourself because I think.

The more we can nourish ourselves and care for ourselves, the more effective we’re gonna be. So whatever that looks like for you, that, that’s what I’d love to invite the listeners to do. And I think this idea of getting really clear on what is yours, what is the part that you have to play here, and relentlessly doing that and knowing that you are doing your part.

And you can fall into bed at night knowing that you are doing your part and that you’re gonna keep doing that instead of expecting ourselves to do it all. And constantly feeling like we’re not doing enough. I think those are maybe some of the biggest takeaways that I want for people and for them to find the places that reinforce that and like reverberate on that frequency.

Kim Allchurch Flick: Oh, reverberated on that frequency. And I also hope for me, because this is new, I’m a neophyte podcaster, but we’re in, beyond episode 25. At this point, I’ve got the best seat in the house, and I hope that this also resonates as a way of doing what you just said, being an activist part. And sometimes it’s not my voice that matters, it’s amplifying others.

Yeah. So that’s one of the things I hope I’m contributing. And sometimes we don’t know how does it land and how will it land at a different time? But trying, 

Tessa Bridge: yeah, 

Kim Allchurch Flick: I think is part of the magic. Yeah. 

Tessa Bridge: Yeah, absolutely. You don’t know what the ripples are gonna be. You don’t know when something is gonna connect for somebody down the line or, what in this book, someone’s gonna five years from now be like, oh, I, where did I read that? And then go pull it off the shelf. Their shelf and that’s gonna be the moment that they need that tool. So all the things we’re putting out into the world, you spoke about hope. That is an exercise in hopefulness, right?

That I’m putting out something, that you are putting out something that someone is gonna need, and that resource will be there for them in that moment. And like how beautiful is that, that we’re creating that web for people? 

Kim Allchurch Flick: Oh, absolutely. So how can people reach you and how can they get the book? Yes. 

Tessa Bridge: So the book is available where books are sold.

You can get it at your independent books bookstore bookshop.org. It’s also available on Amazon. I would encourage folks to connect with me on LinkedIn. You can just look for me, Tessa Bridge. Also you can go to my website, which is. Tessa bridge coaching.com. And I really would love for folks to join my newsletter because I am doing like a mini book tour.

And so I’ll be having some events, different podcasts, different offerings and if you join the newsletter, then you will know about all of those. And so hopefully we can meet in the real world at some point, which I would love. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: And is the newsletter on tosser bridge consulting 

Tessa Bridge: com? Yeah, it’s on the website.

Yep. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: As it should be. And what else would you like to share before the final question? 

Tessa Bridge: We’ve covered so much. I guess I’ll just say, everything in this book is something that. It’s a path that I have walked and in writing it and synthesizing it and doing the research for it was really clarifying for me also about what, how all these different threads of my life up until this point have come together to situate me right in this moment.

And I really do feel like. The journeys we walk varied as they are. Prepare us for what we do next, and I feel extremely grateful to have had the experience I have so that I can support people who are in. This painful moment right now so they can feel less alone and can feel like there are things that they can do that are within their power.

Even the challenging moments, the tricky moments I really think get us to where we are. And I think this book has really helped me to see that in my journey. And so I’m just really grateful to be able to show up and support people who need it. Yeah. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: You do and appreciate it so much.

So a little shift on the final question. Yes. For you, if you could have dinner with any authors you admire living or deceased up to three, who would they be and why? 

Tessa Bridge: Great question. Okay. So all of these are people who are referenced in the book. These are, when I talked about like the thought leaders who have changed how I think about things.

There’s one author Julianne Taylor Shore who writes a book, wrote a book called Setting Boundaries That Stick, which I really recommend. I recommend it to a lot of my clients. And she talks about this concept of a psychological boundary, which is around what we let in. Often we think of boundaries as what do we agree to out in the world, but she talks about boundaries as what do we let in?

And she, she frames these questions before we let feedback in. Ask yourself, is this true and is this about you? And that has been like a really revolutionary concept from me personally, and I offer that to a lot of my clients. So I would love to invite. Also Adrian Marie Brown. Her book Emergent Strategy was really powerful for me and the concept of fractals.

And that what we do at the small reflects at the large right, the way we talk to our kids at the dinner table, the way we organize on our block, the culture we create in our organizations the way we speak to ourselves. All of that reflects into the large. And that’s something that I’ve really taken to heart and I think is infused throughout this book, that mentality.

And then the third person is Maurice Mitchell, executive director of the Work Fa Working Families Party. And he wrote this book, this article, building resilient organizations that talk talks about a lot of the pitfalls that progressive organizations tend to fall into. I referenced that also in the book and it really helped to put language to some of the things that I’ve experienced myself and also help.

Created a framework for me for situating both the individual work that we need to do with ourselves, the interpersonal work we do with each other, and the bigger macro work we need to be doing as we’re fighting for justice in our political system and in our economic system and our, in our broader society.

So I think a dinner party with those three would be really amazing if anyone’s listening and wants to come. 

Kim Allchurch Flick: Oh gosh, I’d love to be there too. Tessa, you are a delight. Thank you for the work. I do think that writing a book is difficult. I know I’ve got one in me and guess what’s never happened yet is write, actually writing it.

I admire authors. I admire you. I really thank you for being here and giving us this treasure of a book to be able to. Talk with each other about and give ourselves some ways to move forward. Thank you, so I appreciate it. Thank you everyone. This is Kim Alrich flick with the Mighty Measure Podcast, and please join me@themightymeasure.com for my newsletter as well, and have a great 

day.