A Leadership Reflection on Boundaries, Capacity, and Sustainable Impact

Before you say yes to the next request… extra holiday event, last-minute project, or those “quick favors,” take a moment and ask yourself one question: What is my bandwidth right now?

In prevention, we talk a lot about community capacity, but rarely our own. Overextension can feel normal in this field because we care deeply and want to help. But when our system is overloaded, our leadership suffers (and our teams feel it). Boundaries are not resistance. They are strategy.

Recently, in an email conversation, Dave talked with Hope Fiori from TASC's Center for Health and Justice around this topic and it triggered some deeper thinking.

Three Truths About Bandwidth

As we head into the holiday season and the usual year-end rush, these truths matter even more.

1. Bandwidth changes daily.

Leaders need simple rituals to check in. For Dave, that looks like a short floor-breathwork and stretching reset after work, limited evening phone access, using Calendly to protect time, and creating more space for family in the mornings.

2. Bandwidth awareness protects your team.

When you are stretched thin, communication slips, follow-through falters, and pressure builds. Clear boundaries help reduce silent stress and set a healthier pace for everyone.

3. Bandwidth shapes your impact.

You cannot build systems change when your own system is exhausted. Ask yourself what work deserves your best energy today, and what can wait.

Practices To Try This Week

• Audit your week: What fuels you and what drains you?

• Protect two commitments that really matter to you (work and family, for example) and release two others, especially as holiday and year-end requests stack up

• Name your capacity out loud so your team understands what is real.

• Use tools like templates or scheduling links to set expectations.

• Treat boundaries as part of leadership, not an exception to it.

Closing Thoughts

You are allowed to have limits. You are allowed to protect what makes your work meaningful. Your bandwidth is not a barrier. It is a compass.

If this resonates, check out The Center for Health and Justice. Their work around deflection and trauma-responsive systems is shaping the future of safer, more connected communities.

Keep Rockin',
Your Friends at DJC