When Nothing Is Happening, Something Is Happening: Leading Through the Flat Middle
Progress hides during the long flat middle. The people who get good are the ones who learn to love the part that looks like nothing.
Imagine a recognizable, almost inevitable scene in the life of any serious organization: A founder or executive director is two or three years into their tenure. In the beginning, the metrics—revenue, donations, headcount, program reach—climbed rapidly. The growth was intoxicating, validating the organization’s mission and the leader's competence. But now, the line on the graph has gone flat. You pull the same levers that used to generate momentum, but nothing budges.