Aid for Aid Workers Leadership Podcast

How to Localize Leadership Positions in the Humanitarian Context

May 10, 2021 13:13 - 14 minutes - 11.9 MB

Recently I attended the Humanitarian Leadership Conference administered by the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership. There was a lot of talk of localizing leadership positions, and the desire expressed by INGO's to do so. And yet, why is it not happening more rapidly? A study presented by Bioforce on "The State of Humanitarian Professions 2020" focused on just that - how is the way Human Resources structured preventing localization? And what role can we as leaders take in helping to natio...

Challenges Your Field Staff May Be Having with Your Leadership with Hiba Al-Mhammad, Humanitarian Leader

May 03, 2021 13:19 - 34 minutes - 27.9 MB

If you're listening to this podcast, then you probably care about if your field staff feel valued. But as leaders, there are always blindspots, or areas we do not see or even know to look for that could be counterproductive to the work we want to do. In this episode my guest Hiba Al-Mhammad shares her experience as a former field staff and what she wishes leaders around her would have known. These simple tips and reminders can help motivate your team working at the community level and sa...

Not My Fault

April 26, 2021 14:48 - 5 minutes - 4.11 MB

Have you ever sat down with your team to discuss what went wrong with a donor visit or presentation, only to find everyone blaming each other and getting defensive? In this episode I provide a quick tip you can use that will change these types of conversations from unproductive to solution driven.

Making Better Decisions as an Aid Worker Leader

April 19, 2021 12:31 - 6 minutes - 5.54 MB

Are you making the best decisions for yourself and your team? We all want to become more caring and understanding leaders. The thing is, we are also only human, and our emotions can sometimes cloud our judgement and decision making. I see it all the time - the way we make decisions around time management and performance management - our emotions lead the way, and we end up making decisions that do not serve us or our team. In this episode I present a simple way you can make clearer ...

Is It Happening to You or Because of You?

April 12, 2021 13:20 - 8 minutes - 6.95 MB

How much control do you have over your life? Probably more than you think. Many of us tend to give control over to others or our circumstances rather than take responsibility for our decisions. You may not even realize that you're doing it. But taking responsibility for where we are in life can be very empowering. In this episode I discuss how you can take more responsibility for your decisions and how to reflect on whether you like those decisions or not, so you can choose to chang...

What's Your Story?

April 05, 2021 10:36 - 10 minutes - 8.77 MB

It's easy to forget that most of what we call "reality" is actually a story. A story we make up about ourselves and others. So what's the story you're telling yourself - and how is it impacting your life and work? As we get wrapped up in our stories, we paint a picture of the world around us and those in it and call it "reality". Sometimes it is good - and many times it is bad. These bad stories can negatively impact our relationships and even how we want to be perceived - even when th...

Action Planning for Amazing Results

March 29, 2021 12:59 - 12 minutes - 10.3 MB

We've all been there. You have an amazing meeting with your team, and can't wait to see the progress you've made by your next meeting! The next meeting comes and.... nothing. No progress. And no progress means wasted time, and resources - why are you even having these meetings if nothing happens afterward? I know how it goes. I've seen it not only with my own team in the past but also with my students and coachees. The good news is I also know how you can overcome this and make your ...

Three Common Coaching Mistakes - and How to Overcome Them

March 22, 2021 12:14 - 9 minutes - 7.34 MB

We may have the best of intentions while coaching our team. But coaching can be counter productive if not done correctly - and with my students there are three mistakes in particular that are worth noting. In this episode you will learn three common mistakes coaches make, how they may impact the quality of your coaching and how to overcome those mistakes with a few simple techniques.

Are You a Checklist Coach?

March 15, 2021 13:00 - 10 minutes - 8.02 MB

The word "coaching" certainly has a lot of definitions these days. One of the most common misuses of the word "coaching" is for a type I am calling "checklist coaching." This form of coaching is usually done once or twice a year and involves a list of questions that you ask one by one. In this episode I share what checklist coaching is and four ways it differs from real coaching, which may help you to determine: are you a checklist coach, and if so, how can you move toward "real coachi...

How to be Successful Starting Now

March 08, 2021 14:00 - 11 minutes - 8.99 MB

We all want to be successful. But what is success really, and how will you know when you have it? Today I share some ways to think about success that maybe you haven't considered and how you can start being successful right now.

Why Your Team Is Not Reaching Their Goals

March 01, 2021 14:00 - 15 minutes - 12.3 MB

If your team is not reaching your team goals, it could be for a simple reason.... they understand the goals, but not how to work together as a team. In other words, they need operating values. I have put in place operating values for my own team and those of others over the years and found it very effective to increase team performance. In this episode I share how you can create operating values for your team, and ensure that they are followed in order to achieve your goals and make work...

Stepping Away from Neo-Colonialism - Five Ways to Make Local Partners Truly Independent

February 22, 2021 12:16 - 16 minutes - 13 MB

There are a lot of INGO's and UN Agencies that claim to strengthen local civil society organizations, with the goal that local partner organizations can eventually become independent. But how often does this actually take place, and what truly needs to happen in order for local partners to not depend so much on international organizations? In this episode I provide five ways you and your organization can truly move toward creating independent local partners, and evolve the role of the ING...

The Benefits of a Long-Term Perspective

February 15, 2021 12:07 - 11 minutes - 8.85 MB

We all have stories we tell ourselves about our work and lives. For example, the story you tell yourself about why you didn't get that donor funding. Or the story about your relationship with your team. Or the story about living in a pandemic. What we forget sometimes is that our stories are just that - stories. And how we tell our story impacts how we feel and consequently how we show up in our life. So how do we make a negative story a more positive one? It helps to have a long-ter...

BONUS: Relieve Stress with this Simple Resilience Exercise

February 12, 2021 10:54 - 13 minutes - 10.7 MB

If you're like me, it helps to hear what something looks like in practice over just reading questions on a page. In this bonus episode the Licensed Mental Health Counselor Kathleen Joseph shares one of her favorite exercises to do with clients to relieve stress and build resilience. You can see the activity below, but if you want to know what it sounds like in practice (and how stressed I am right now!), Kathleen asked me the questions and guided me through it in this episode. The Resili...

Managing Mental Health While Working Remotely

February 08, 2021 18:07 - 49 minutes - 39.7 MB

Do you ever feel like this pandemic will never end? Do you struggle to remove yourself from your work computer? Do you struggle with boundaries when you are working and living in the same place? Do you wish you could support your team better with their own mental health, but don't know how to do that remotely? If you said yes to any of these questions, then this episode is for you! My guest today Kathleen Joseph, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, provides advice based on her experienc...

Wanting to Fail and How to Achieve the Ultimate Personal Growth

February 01, 2021 11:22 - 14 minutes - 11.9 MB

When is the last time you failed on purpose? I mean you decided you wanted to fail, and you went for it. And maybe you failed in a way that makes you want to hide for a week afterward. But you learned from it, and kept going. Or maybe you didn't. In this episode we discuss why you may want to schedule more failures in your future, and how we can start practicing. It's not easy, but if you want to REALLY grow personally and professionally, this is the way to do it.

Three Easy Ways to Transform Your Leadership

January 25, 2021 13:30 - 11 minutes - 9.35 MB

There's no instruction manual on how to be a good leader (believe me, I've looked), but there are some simple best practices we can follow. In this episode I share three easy ways you can transform your leadership for the better. By following these three practices, your team will become more motivated, confident and less likely to make mistakes.

The Power of Language

January 18, 2021 12:53 - 14 minutes - 11.4 MB

Our native language greatly influences how we see the world, since we think and express ourselves through words. This means we are limited to our own vocabulary, which is shaped by our cultural values. As language shapes our reality, and in international development and humanitarian work we collaborate with teams from a broad range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds, it becomes essential to understand how language influences our human experience. In this episode I share three commo...

Don't Have the Time

January 11, 2021 17:03 - 8 minutes - 7.12 MB

Have you ever thought about how different cultures perceive time? I am sure you've experienced it in humanitarian and international development. You know, when you show up for a meeting on time and it doesn't start for two hours. Or you wonder why your team thinks something you know will take two days will take two hours. All of these situations have to do with our perception of time. In this episode I demonstrate some ways in which you may not only perceive time differently for cultu...

How to Create New Opportunities and Growth

January 04, 2021 14:00 - 18 minutes - 14.5 MB

Our thinking creates our reality. This means one of the most important things we can do to achieve what we want in life is to become aware of what we are thinking, and how it is impacting us. You may not even be aware how your thinking is impacting your work and life, but I have seen how certain thinking which is common amongst humanitarian and development workers greatly impacts the opportunities presented to us. In this episode you can discover: How to know if your mindset is holding y...

Why You're Not Achieving Your Goals for the Year - Part Three

December 21, 2020 14:00 - 9 minutes - 7.5 MB

Are you ready to set and actually achieve your goals this year? In part one of this series we talked about the importance of setting up the right systems to achieve goals, in part two we talked about predicting obstacles, and in this episode we talk about the importance of identity. Our identity is the way we see ourselves, and until we see ourselves as a "runner" or a "project manager" then we are not going to feel confident in those roles. I share with you some ways to start changing y...

Why You're Not Achieving Your Goals for the Year - Part Two

December 14, 2020 14:00 - 8 minutes - 7.14 MB

It's goal setting time! You probably go through some kind of goal setting process every year, and you probably don't make it to the end of the year before forgetting the goals you set altogether. It's time to come up with goals that you DO achieve in a year from now, and can look back with pride. In last week's episode I shared how the systems you set up to reach your annual goals are as important or more important than the goals themselves. This week I share a simple exercise that can ...

Why You're Not Achieving Your Goals for the Year - Part One

December 07, 2020 18:39 - 11 minutes - 8.85 MB

It's that time of the year again --- goal setting time! Maybe you're excited about that, and maybe you're not. But really, apart from being exciting in terms of thinking of the possibilities of achieving a goal, how likely is it you will actually achieve it? In this three part series on goal setting, I will share some unconventional ways to think about goal setting that will make it way more likely you will achieve them. In this episode we start by talking about the systems you set up t...

What Successful Mentoring Looks Like

November 30, 2020 16:39 - 44 minutes - 35.9 MB

Mentoring is a growing trend in the humanitarian and international development space. Finding the right mentor and establishing a healthy relationship can be beneficial to both mentor and mentee-- if it is done properly. So what does successful mentoring look like, and how can you create it? In today's episode I have two experienced guests to tell you what made their mentoring successful. Mansoor Ali, Coordinator of the MSF Mentoring and Coaching Hub, and Anäis Prudent a MSF Emergency C...

What You as a Leader Can Do About Structural Racism in Development Work

November 23, 2020 18:33 - 48 minutes - 38.9 MB

I know many of us have been discussing structural racism in development work, and how much the development world is contributing toward neocolonialism. But what can we as leaders and individuals do to start addressing it? I am excited about today's guest, Akasha Saunders, and the over 10 years' experience he brings in uniting people across race, sexual orientation, gender and religion. In this episode we discuss what we as development workers can do to start dismantling structural racism...

How to Stop Negative Thinking Before It's Too Late

November 16, 2020 14:06 - 23 minutes - 18.5 MB

As a leader, you create what you allow. This means you are responsible for your team's performance and the impact that results. But are you responsible for the way your team thinks? YES!!! As a matter of fact, that is probably one of the most important and overlooked areas we as leaders are responsible for. Because depending on the type of thinking your team has, it will create very different results. In situations where we are experiencing an emergency or a pandemic or recession i...

Money and the Limiting Beliefs that Can Limit Your Income

November 09, 2020 17:00 - 17 minutes - 14.2 MB

Money is an exchange in the form of paper or more commonly digital transactions. But if money is just paper or zero's on a screen, why does it bring up so many strong feelings? And why is it that some make money so easily while others struggle? In this episode I cover four common limiting beliefs around money that if addressed can open you to receiving more in your life, and show you that although money does not create happiness it can certainly contribute to it.

Common Salary Negotiation Scenarios and How to Get What You Want and Deserve

November 02, 2020 15:38 - 51 minutes - 47.4 MB

Salary negotiations - not easy, and yet so important. There are so many things I wish I had known as an aid worker when transitioning in my career and negotiating salary--- but unfortunately I learned the hard way and made a lot of mistakes along the way. My guest today, Monica Rockstroh, is here to help you avoid those mistakes. She is a professional Career Pep Talker and in this episode shares advice around how to navigate common salary negotiation scenarios in aid work so you get what...

Tips for Development Workers on Working Remotely

October 26, 2020 15:41 - 12 minutes - 10.3 MB

Many of us are still working remotely either part or full time, and it can be quite challenging! All the distractions of working at home, near family and unsupervised, can make it difficult to feel productive at times. In this episode I share 10 proven ways to work remotely in a productive and efficient manner. This will include tips which answer the following: - How to manage time zone differences in your work - How to maintain your motivation over time - The importance of checking...

Best Practices for Leaders as First Responders to an Emergency

October 19, 2020 14:00 - 46 minutes - 37.1 MB

What's the first thing you do when you know you're going to be deployed to respond to an emergency? What do you do once you arrive on site? What should you consider when working with an implementing partner? These are just some of the questions my guest Marianna Kuttothara, who has 9 years working for the Red Cross and currently is the Lead for Cash and Relief. In the interview Marianna shares some best practices that have helped her establish relationships, prepare mentally for a resp...

How to Manage Your Emotions

October 12, 2020 13:55 - 20 minutes - 16.5 MB

As leaders, it is important we understand how to manage our emotions so we can be thoughtful about how we respond to different situations, rather than irrational and unprofessional. In this episode I provide a four step process you can use to become more aware of your emotions and able to respond in a way that builds relationships and understanding. Resources: Pema Chodron's Don't Bite the Hook

How a Local NGO is Changing Leadership in Senegal

October 05, 2020 13:24 - 44 minutes - 35.8 MB

My guest today, Salif Kanoute, has an inspiring story on how he is changing traditional leadership in Senegal through a local NGO he co-founded called DECLIC. Salif's passion for his mission is contagious, but he also shares a lot of valuable lessons in leadership and better ways to work with communities. I challenge you to apply at least one of the best practices Salif shares in your own work, and share with us the results. How to Contact Salif: [email protected] DECLIC on Facebo...

How to Introduce Coaching to Your Team for the First Time

September 28, 2020 11:58 - 15 minutes - 12.4 MB

A common challenge my students have around coaching is how to introduce it to their teams for the first time. When working with a team that is not used to receiving coaching, it can be a bit difficult at first for them to understand, which can impact the outcome of those conversations. In this episode I go over some ways you can easily introduce coaching to your team for more effective conversations that produce results and move your team toward achieving their ultimate goals. Resource...

The Impact of Coaching Used Three Different Ways

September 21, 2020 14:47 - 28 minutes - 22.8 MB

Today I'm excited to introduce the stories of three of my students and how they've incorporated coaching in their work. I'm sure you can learn something from their journey that can inspire you to become an even better leader. The first interview is Helen Henderson, an Australian who works as a Program Manager for Marie Stopes. The second is Paulina da Torres, who is Timorese and works for a social enterprise in Timor called Agora Food Studio. And the final interview is Caroline Lunani...

How Coaching Can Strengthen Local Partners

September 14, 2020 10:58 - 17 minutes - 14.1 MB

If you work for the UN or an INGO, you may have worked with local NGO's or civil society while implementing a project. And if you have, you probably know that this can be super rewarding, but also super challenging. I always struggled with questions like: How do we strengthen our local partner's institutional capacity without taking over the process? Better yet, how do we make it sustainable so they don't stop following the procurement process just because the project ended? How can we ...

What Coaching Sounds Like - A Session with a Busy Head of Programs

September 07, 2020 14:03 - 46 minutes - 37.3 MB

There is a lot of talk about coaching these days. What I find interesting is that although many think they know what coaching is, when they start learning more about it they realize that they actually don't know as much as they had thought. I am excited to bring you today's episode in the form of a coaching session with a busy Head of Programs named Karen Janes. From this coaching session you can better understand what coaching sounds like, what types of questions are asked and the way i...

How to Challenge Your Team to Better Performance

August 31, 2020 15:54 - 11 minutes - 9.31 MB

In coaching, we often challenge those we are coaching to go beyond what they think they can do, or to get out of their comfort zone in a way we know will benefit them. If done properly, it can be very effective in encouraging someone to advance. I used challenging previously to effectively help my direct reports grow stronger and take risks they may not have otherwise. In this episode I share three common ways you can challenge your team members which I encourage you to try over the next...

Is Your Team Really Following You?

August 24, 2020 12:43 - 19 minutes - 16 MB

Of course as leaders our teams will do what we ask. After all, we are supervising them! But what happens to all those initiatives you spent so hard working on after you're gone? Will they continue on, or will they fall apart without your oversight? In today's episode I discuss how to know if your team is really following you, and what to do if they aren't. This can mean the difference between leaving behind a lasting impact versus a trail of unadopted initiatives. And if things fall...

A Case Study on Nationalizing Staff Positions and Lessons Learned

August 17, 2020 16:18 - 44 minutes - 35.5 MB

Although there are a lot of changes recently due to COVID-19 and the way we work, a trend that has been going on for some time now is the shift of traditionally expat filled positions becoming "nationalized". Today my guest Joachim Schwartz from the Civil Society Academy speaks of his experience on how the INGO Welthungerhlife has made this transition, and what he's learned along the way. In this episode you'll discover: Trends from the past and into the future regarding staffing st...

3 Things I've Learned from Having COVID-19 That You Won't Hear in the Media

August 10, 2020 17:28 - 21 minutes - 17 MB

Today's episode is a bit different. I thought I would share my experience after having COVID-19 back in early April. Since then I have mostly recovered, but I wanted to share some things that are not being said in the mainstream media, and that I wish I had known previously. I am not a doctor nor do I have a medical background. I am not recommending a "cure" or one way to overcome COVID. I am only sharing my experience and some things I have observed that should be more broadly known...

Are You Filling in the Blanks? How Curiosity Can Enhance the Quality of Your Leadership

August 03, 2020 14:00 - 15 minutes - 12.3 MB

Have you ever noticed a voice in your head that is really good at filling in the blanks? I promise you have one. I know mine has gotten really good at telling me what someone else is thinking, or what they mean when they say something. And sometimes it is right - but a lot of times, it's not. Filling in gaps with our own assumptions and understanding of the world can lead us into trouble. Especially in the international development field, where we are not only filtering what someone ...

How Cultural Biases Influence Our Roles as Leaders

July 27, 2020 18:24 - 53 minutes - 42.8 MB

Have you ever been frustrated with team members who won't bring up a problem until the last minute? What about those who won't tell you when they are not clear on what you just spent an hour explaining, which you find out when they don't turn in the revised budget you asked for? These are just a few of the scenarios which can result from cultural misunderstandings, and can lead to blocks in communication, strained relationships and poor performance. It is surprising how little we acknowl...

Five Habits to Become a Better Leader

July 20, 2020 16:24 - 13 minutes - 10.9 MB

In this episode I provide five habits you can easily practice to become a better leader in international development. You'll learn how to incorporate these habits into your work week, and how they can help you become healthier, more motivated in addition to getting better results from those you lead.

Five Easy Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Start Holding Yourself Accountable

July 13, 2020 14:00 - 19 minutes - 15.2 MB

We all do it sometimes. Despite great intentions of getting those important things done on our to do list, we find more interesting things to do. And that means we leave that proposal, or budget realignment or whatever it is for the last minute. This in turn results in stress, anxiety and maybe even poorer quality work. In this episode you'll learn five easy ways you can stop procrastinating and start holding yourself accountable. Many of these things I have used in the past with succe...

How to Communicate to Connect with Others

July 06, 2020 15:41 - 36 minutes - 29.2 MB

The way we communicate can have a tremendous impact in our work and life. Our communication style can deepen relationships and influence others to join our vision as leaders, or can isolate and create misunderstandings. The good news is being aware of a few simple differences can allow us to communicate for the better, whether it's with our supervisor, our team, donors or even our family. In this episode Farnoosh Brock of Prolific Living shares some effective ways you can immediately i...

Managing Remote Teams in Humanitarian Emergencies

June 29, 2020 17:11 - 40 minutes - 32.8 MB

It's a new challenge many leaders are facing in the time of COVID - how do I lead a remote team? My guest today Matt Ellingson has 26 years' experience in aid work, and currently is the Director of Humanitarian Affairs for Food for the Hungry. Matt has been managing remote teams in complex humanitarian emergencies for about six years, and shares with us some of his lessons learned. In this episode we cover: The most important thing you need when managing a remote team How often to com...

The True Way to Social Inclusion - Encore Episode

June 22, 2020 15:44 - 37 minutes - 34.2 MB

This week's episode is a blast from the past-- an episode I did toward the beginning of the start of the podcast titled "The True Way to Gender Equality and Social Inclusion". We often think of gender equality and social inclusion within our programming, but have you evaluated your admin, HR and communications team in order to ensure true compliance at all levels? Inspired by human rights violations during Soharto’s presidency, my guest today Ratna Fitriani has 17 years’ experience in ge...

Having Courageous Conversations with Your Team

June 15, 2020 15:54 - 22 minutes - 17.7 MB

Given all that's going on in the world right now, it is definitely impacting your team in one way or another. There are changes in different areas of their lives, and maybe more coming. It is important as leaders that we allow space for our team to be able to talk about what they are thinking and feeling in order to understand they are not alone and also feel like they have been heard. This can help morale and prevent rumors, and may even give you feedback to make better decisions. But ...

Making Wellbeing Sustainable as Aid Workers

June 08, 2020 14:41 - 35 minutes - 28.8 MB

As humanitarians we all have our stories about reaching, and perhaps surpassing, our breaking point. You know, the time when you lost it and started yelling at your team, or you slammed a door harder than you had meant to, or you find yourself sick with some parasite whose name you cannot pronounce. My guest today, Lia Hulit, shares some ways to make wellbeing more sustainable, or how to be proactive about maintaining wellbeing so we don't get to the point we are ready to eat that gallon ...

Paying Attention

June 01, 2020 14:58 - 21 minutes - 17.5 MB

Many of you are aware of what's happening right now in the US with protests over the recent death of George Floyd, another unarmed African American male killed by a policeman. This has been a reality for African American males for years, but only more recently has come to the attention of the general public. And this begs the question, how did many of us not pay attention for so long, and what else are we missing? In our own teams we can learn a lot about power dynamics and privilege by ...

Aid for Aid Workers Leadership Podcast

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