Last week saw the launch of ALNAP's latest Study 'Leadership in Action: Leading Effectively in humanitarian operations'. Margie Buchanan-Smith, the report's lead author delivered this presentation which provides a useful overview of how the study was conceived, conducted and its key findings. The study includes a number of recommendations for humanitarian agencies, individual leaders and the sector as a whole. Some of the most important proposals for the way forward are summarised here:
- If leadership is to flourish beyond a few courageous individuals, the risk averse culture within humanitarian organisations has to change.The model of effective leadership that emerges from this study is a model of leaders creating an effective team around them rather than the heroic individual leader.
- There is an urgent need to invest more in national leadership and to recognise the leadership skills and potential of nationally recruited staff.
- The humanitarian system should attempt to understand and address the constraints that women face to taking on leadership roles in the field.
- Leadership development should be part of career development and start early rather than be a 'bolt-on' for more senior staff.
- Humanitarian agencies should avoid a 'one size fits all' approach to leadership, which reduces the art of knowing what to do in specific contexts to a rigid list of skills.