Tara Fitzpatrick-Navarro, CEO of USTA Mid-Atlantic Foundation: Transforming Communities Through Innovation, Inclusivity, and Accessibility.
Here’s what nobody tells you about success: It has the potential to make you dangerously confident.
During the pandemic, tennis had an unexpected boom as people sought outdoor activities that allowed for social distancing. Our foundation—with a mission of making the sport accessible to all in the Mid-Atlantic—emerged feeling unstoppable, and I responded by launching five new initiatives at once. Looking back, I now see we were nearing maximum capacity, but at the time, my confidence felt entirely justified.
The warning signals were there, but I was so focused on tracking program growth and financial health that I missed the human cost unfolding right in front of me. My team’s language shifted from “we’re excited about this opportunity” to “I’m working on getting this done.” I brushed it off as natural ownership rather than seeing it as my team struggling while trying to stay professional.
That shift from collective to individualistic language is the most reliable early warning signal I’ve learned to watch for as a nonprofit CEO. When team members stop saying “we” and start saying “I” and “my project,” they’re paddling frantically like ducks underwater while appearing calm on the surface.
I can’t point to a single moment when I realized our language had shifted, because it happened gradually. During our one-on-one check-ins and team meetings, I began to notice people describing their work in terms of “I” and “my” rather than “we” and “our.”
At first, I didn’t think much of it. It was only later, in reflection, that I recognized it as a sign of strain. When that happens now, I try to pause and ask questions like, “What can I do for you?” or “How can I support you?” Sometimes the best support I can offer means helping an employee see a path forward when they’re too deep in the weeds or simply taking one decision off their plate to reduce overwhelm.
Why Success Can Create Blind Spots
The cruel irony is that thriving organizations create perfect conditions for leaders to miss these signals entirely. When programs are growing, funding is strong and your board is enthusiastic, every opportunity feels too good to pass up. I’m ambitious by nature and wired for innovation. When our foundation was excelling at our core mission, my instinct was to expand.
Even with genuine psychological safety in your culture, enthusiasm from leadership can override necessary caution. My team didn’t want to dampen my excitement by raising concerns that seemed minor compared to our success.
Watch For Early Warning Signs
Once you train yourself to recognize the “we” to “I” shift, you’ll start noticing other telling signals—for example, the board member who once challenged ideas but now stays quiet or the donor who keeps rescheduling meetings. Together, these actions paint a picture of organizational stress building before it shows up in formal reports.
The gap between when these signals first appear and when leaders notice them represents the difference between prevention and crisis management. By the time something makes it into a board report, it’s already embedded in your culture.
Catching these signals doesn’t require elaborate systems or complicated dashboards, but rather relatively sustainable and straightforward practices built into your existing routines. One approach that works for us is dedicating time each week to noticing behavioral patterns alongside performance metrics.
How To Respond When You Catch The Signal
Recognizing warning signs only matters if you’re ready to act immediately and with genuine care. When I notice someone shifting into individualistic language or showing signs of strain when speaking up in meetings, I don’t wait for our next scheduled check-in. I reach out directly and create space for an honest conversation about workload and capacity. I make it crystal clear that I’m asking because I care about their well-being, not because I’m evaluating their performance.
The framing matters greatly, as employees need to know they won’t be penalized for admitting they’re overwhelmed. That’s why we live by “fail faster.” Sometimes the conversation reveals that redistributing one project or extending a deadline makes all the difference. Other times, it uncovers deeper issues about unclear priorities or misaligned expectations that need real intervention.
Either way, responding quickly stops minor stressors from snowballing into crises that hurt employees and organizations.
Learning To Pace Growth
In the years that followed the pandemic, we took on several new opportunities, many of which still shape who we are today. The mistake wasn’t in pursuing them, but in the speed and volume at which we did. We were moving so fast that we didn’t always pause to ask whether the timing was right or if our team had the capacity to sustain everything at once.
Success can make you feel like you have limitless energy, but I’ve learned that even good growth can be excessive if it comes without rest and reflection.
When you’re in a position of strength, saying “not now” or “not us” feels counterintuitive, but that discipline protects your team and core mission from the burnout that can undermine everything you’ve built.
I’ve become more intentional about inviting voices into decisions before I’m emotionally committed to a direction. I’ve learned to recognize when my enthusiasm creates pressure my team feels but won’t name. Most importantly, I’ve learned that what we can sustain depends entirely on keeping our people healthy and engaged.
I’m still ambitious and drawn to new ideas. Now, I’m more aware of the long-term impact on our organization and pause long enough to consider what our team can sustain before diving into the next big opportunity.
Leadership requires noticing blind spots sooner rather than eliminating all of them. Your team is already telling you what they need through the smallest of shifts in language and behavior. I’m still learning to catch these signals earlier and to ask better questions. What I now understand is that the cost of missing them is too high, and that the fix is often far simpler than we think.
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