Hugh Ballou: Greetings! Welcome to the Nonprofit Exchange. I’m your host, Hugh Ballew. I’m also founder and president of SynerVision Leadership Foundation. We create synergy because we’re clear as leaders on our vision. So, SynerVision is how I put that together. It’s like in music—we have ensemble, we have synergy—and non-musical.

I’ve hosted these conversations with leaders transforming organizations and communities for over 12 years. Today’s conversation focuses on something that many nonprofit leaders, and I think all leaders, overlook. We often talk about strategy, fundraising, governance, and operations. But beneath all of that lies something even more powerful: the inner game of leadership.

Our guest today helps leaders explore how their internal patterns, beliefs, and levels of awareness shape the way they lead, make decisions, and build teams. Today’s topic is The Inner Game of Leadership: Rewiring Success from the Inside Out. Our guest, Dr. Ron Stotts, works with leaders who want to expand their awareness, break through internal barriers, and unlock greater levels of effectiveness and fulfillment.

Ron, welcome to the Nonprofit Exchange. Tell us—what do you mean by the inner game of leadership, and why do so many leaders struggle because they overlook this?

Ron Stotts: Thanks for having me on the program. Glad to be here. The inner game of leadership is recognizing the internal operating system that drives how we think, react, decide, and lead.

Most leadership trainings focus on skills and strategy. But the truth is, your leadership results are produced by your state of awareness, not just your strategy. Two leaders can have the same plan, same resources, even the same team, and still create different outcomes. The difference is their internal operating system.

My work upgrades that operating system so leadership comes from clarity rather than pressure—awareness rather than fear. The old model is pressure, control, and effort. The new model is success through awareness, alignment, and expanded capacity.

Hugh Ballou: How does inner awareness help us produce external results?

Ron Stotts: Your inner awareness determines your level of thinking and how you see, experience, and react to everything. If you’re trying to prove yourself or over-controlling, you’re operating from fear. That limits your thinking.

Someone who is comfortable with themselves and aligned in their nervous system sees opportunities instead of problems.

Hugh Ballou: Talk about some of the subconscious patterns that quietly drive leadership behaviors.

Ron Stotts: Whatever you used in childhood to take care of yourself was brilliant then—but it becomes a saboteur later. The perfectionist, the over-analytical person, the emotionally distant person… all of these patterns sabotage leadership. They create unsafe environments, reduce cooperation, and decrease productivity.

Hugh Ballou: Say more about how inner awareness influences external results.

Ron Stotts: When I was Executive VP of Inner Game Corporation in the 80s, we helped AT&T transition from a monopoly to five for‑profit organizations. The top leaders created fear—people were afraid to think outside the box.

In a profitable organization, you need communication, cooperation, and collaboration. If people don’t feel safe sharing ideas, results suffer and tension increases.

Hugh Ballou: Nonprofit leaders often go on autopilot. The nonprofit world is difficult—rules, volunteers, expectations. Thoughts?

Ron Stotts: There’s a big emotional component because the mission matters. If you haven’t healed your past and become confident and authentic, you’ll try to please people, worry about what others think, and lose presence.

When you’re not present, your sympathetic nervous system takes over, your brain shuts down, and you become left‑brain dominant instead of whole‑brain integrated.

Hugh Ballou: Talk about common internal barriers that limit leaders.

Ron Stotts: Early in leadership, people push hard and try to be who they think they need to be. That works for a while, but eventually they hit a glass ceiling. Their instinct is to try harder, which leads to burnout—for themselves and their teams.

You see control patterns, decision fatigue, strained relationships, and limited creativity because they’re operating from stress instead of confidence.

Hugh Ballou: How do we avoid getting tangled in anxiety or worrying about whether people like us?

Ron Stotts: Children seek unconditional love and develop strategies to get it. Those strategies become adult patterns—pleasing, hiding parts of themselves, overdeveloping logic while neglecting emotional intelligence.

Without integrated right and left brain function, the amygdala runs the show. That means fear drives decisions instead of confidence.

Hugh Ballou: Let’s talk about rewiring success from the inside out.

Ron Stotts: Your brain develops pathways over time. If your pathway says, “When stressed, stop breathing and go into control mode,” that becomes your default. But that’s actually being out of control.

Your level of awareness becomes the ceiling of your leadership impact. You must identify limiting beliefs and where you shut down instead of opening up.

Hugh Ballou: How do we recognize and shift those patterns?

Ron Stotts: Everything—emotions, situations, difficulties—is an indicator. If you’re doing anything other than breathing and being curious, you’ve hit a growth edge.

The question is: do indicators shut you down, or do they help you breathe, stay curious, and see the next best step?

Hugh Ballou: What is Big Mind?

Ron Stotts: Most people operate predominantly from the left brain. First, we integrate the whole brain. Later, Big Mind emerges—when you can breathe, trust, quiet your mind, and access higher wisdom and bigger ideas.

Neurologically, you create an “alpha bridge” that gives you access to all brainwave frequencies. Leaders running major organizations don’t have time to be frantic. They must be present, curious, and able to access the most supportive response.

Hugh Ballou: Why is breath and mindfulness important for leadership?

Ron Stotts: Breath is the earliest indicator of your internal state. When you stop breathing, your sympathetic nervous system activates, your vagus nerve shuts down, and your thinking diminishes.

Breathing regulates your nervous system and restores access to higher thinking. I use it constantly—if I catch myself not breathing, I breathe into whatever is happening.

Hugh Ballou: How do these principles apply to nonprofit leaders preparing for a board meeting?

Ron Stotts: Board meetings can be stressful. If you feel discomfort or anticipation, breathe. A few slow breaths regulate your nervous system and expand your emotional awareness.

I teach the STOP process:

• S — Stop
• T — Take several deep breaths
• O — Observe your emotions, the situation, and others
• P — Proceed with the next best step

Hugh Ballou: Ron, tell them where they can find you.

Ron Stotts: Go to https://ronstotts.com . There’s material you can download to begin your inner journey and learn more about my work.