What makes the best nonprofits so effective? We asked them.

Are YOU the problem?

Khali Sweeney founded Detroit’s Downtown Boxing Gym to lift up the city’s impoverished youth. But with a great mission comes great responsibility.

As he learned the hard way, one of the most challenging parts about leading people is knowing when to loosen your grip, give up some control, and allow others to help.

When Khali started DBG, he thought of himself as a one-man show. People would offer to help run the organization, but he’d shoot them down and take everything on himself. That mentality, while perhaps honorable, almost ran the organization into the ground.

“You can try to lift it by yourself,” explains Sweeney, “but it’s going to be heavy, a Herculean task
actually.”

Over time, he started relying on the support of the community and letting others contribute to the mission. And because of that decision, the community is now feeling the impact of the work more than ever before.

As a leader, do you find yourself taking on an unrealistic full load? What are some ways you could lean on your community and empower the people around you?