Reason #1- A lifeless vision- Whether you’re a stakeholder, board member, CEO, frontline staff, contributor or a customer, if you don’t believe in the raison d’etre, the vision of the organization, you will never have a passion for your connection with them. Change the vision, or bail and move on, change organizations. Find something that has a vision that grabs your heart.

The vision for the non-profit Feeding America is ” A hungry free America.” That’s an appealing picture that could stir your heart and may be enough of an energizer to move you to write them a check or check their job openings.

Reason #2- Weak leadership- Even if you love the vision, if you don’t have confidence in the leadership, you will never have a passion for your position with them. Even a magnificent vision, if it’s in the hands of weak leadership will shrivel up and become unrecognizable. So, the principle is the same. Change the leadership, or bail and move on, change organizations.

Pre-bail advice- Leave as well as possible. Long after they’ve forgotten what a great job you did, they’ll remember how you left.