Lunch Is Leadership with Sarah Olivieri Lunch is the first thing to go. The calendar fills up, something has to give, and the hour in the middle of the day is the one that looks optional. Skip it enough times and you start making your biggest decisions of the week on an empty tank. In this solo episode, Sarah breaks down why lunch is a leadership decision, and exactly how to get it back on your calendar and keep it there. In This Episode, You'll Learn Why your blood sugar spikes during intense work even when you have not eaten, and what that does to your thinking What skipping the hour actually costs you in decision quality, which is the part of your job nobody else can do Why sharing a meal with one person, a new team member, a donor, a potential program partner, does something no meeting does What your team learns about work habits from watching whether or not you take the hour The recurring calendar block Sarah walks every leader she coaches through, live Who This Episode Is For • Leaders eating at the desk with one hand on the keyboard • CEOs whose afternoons feel foggier than their mornings and cannot figure out why • Leaders who want their team to stop working through lunch but have never modeled it themselves • Anyone who has told themselves that skipping lunch buys them more time Practical takeaways • Open your calendar today and create a recurring lunch block. Noon, one, eleven, whatever time you actually want to eat • Do not overthink the placement. Check it once a week, move it when it collides with something, and let it settle into a consistent time • Aim for the full hour. Sarah often splits hers, half an hour to eat and half an hour to do whatever she wants • Tell your team you are taking it, so the permission travels • Book one lunch this month with a person whose relationship matters to your organization About Your Host, Sarah Olivieri Bold, strategic, and refreshingly human… Sarah Olivieri is the go-to expert for conversations on aligned leadership, outcome delegation, and sustainable growth. She brings wit, warmth, and real-world wisdom to mission-driven founders, visionary CEOs, and change-makers who want more clarity, more joy, and more results. Most leaders hit a wall when success depends on them holding it all together. Sarah helps them change that by redefining leadership around outcomes instead of activity, empowering teams to own results that scale and freeing leaders to focus on the vision that drives them. A former director of three nonprofits and founder of five businesses, she has a rare ability to spot opportunity where others see chaos, shift stuck patterns, and build organizations that support both legacy and life. Sarah leads with the same mindset that made her an award-winning sailor: iterate on what works, stay focused in the storm, and never forget the joy of the journey. Links Website: saraholivieri.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarah-olivieri Be sure to subscribe to Inspired Nonprofit Leadership so that you don't miss a single episode, and while you're at it, won't you take a moment to write a short review and rate our show? It would be greatly appreciated! Let us know the topics or questions you would like to hear about in a future episode. You can do that and follow us on LinkedIn.
