Aid for Aid Workers Leadership Podcast
300 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 months ago - ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsHow do I lead a team in international development to better performance, while maintaining my wellbeing and making an impact in the community? Using her 12 years' experience in international development as well as professional coaching background, host Torrey Peace answers these questions and more in The Aid for Aid Workers Leadership Podcast. Here you'll find a mix of mini trainings and step-by-step guides, as well as best practices from other aid workers and a healthy dose of coaching from Torrey herself. If you're ready to become the leader you admire, then tune in weekly and start broadening your impact!
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Episodes
Four Ways to Keep Good Habits as Aid Workers
May 06, 2019 15:58 - 25 minutes - 20.4 MBMaintaining good habits is not easy - especially because as a rule we don't see the rewards for good habits until the future. In other words, we have to wait to experience the benefits of our hard work. This can be challenging when there are so many immediate temptations - such as that piece of cake, or watching Netflix, or taking a nap... In this episode I share four ways you can keep the habits you want, derived from James Clear's book Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results. I...
How to Adapt to Different Cultures in Aid Work
April 29, 2019 18:11 - 41 minutes - 33 MBKnowing how to adapt to a different culture can mean the difference between acceptance and productivity versus rejection and stagnation. My guest today Johan Romare shares from his 28 years' experience working in diverse cultural contexts some practical lessons learned in how to adapt to local cultures. In this episode we cover: Some of Johan's hard lessons learned during his first years in aid work How to think about communication in different contexts The "bottom line" when it comes...
Five Ways to Really Enjoy Your Vacation
April 22, 2019 12:00 - 22 minutes - 17.8 MBLike many of you, although I enjoyed my time as an aid worker working with my team, I also really enjoyed my vacation time. However also like most of you there were times when I returned from vacation more tired than before I took it. It is really important we are able to recharge and decompress when on holiday, especially with the type of work and intense environments in which we work. In this episode I share five ways based on my experience I have found made my vacation time much more enjo...
How Being Vulnerable Means Becoming a More Effective Leader
April 15, 2019 19:16 - 27 minutes - 22.2 MBBeing vulnerable as a leader can earn you more respect and trust with your team, and also make it more likely you will find out about any problems on the horizon before they become too great. My guest today, Lane Bunkers, shares how being vulnerable has helped him in his 30 years working in international development and some ways you can do the same when working with your team that will make your team feel more motivated to follow you.
Three Easy Ways to Improve Your Relationship with Your Supervisor
April 08, 2019 18:48 - 17 minutes - 14.1 MBWhether it's more freedom to focus on things you've been wanting to work on, or more opportunity for professional growth, it never hurts to have a better relationship with your supervisor. In this episode I share three ways you can help your supervisor to help you. These are things I applied myself and found very effective in not only creating a positive relationship but also positioning myself as proactive, trustworthy and responsible.
How to Maintain Your Health, Survive a Long Distance Relationship and Our Most Significant Habits in 2018
April 01, 2019 09:00 - 30 minutes - 24.6 MBThis episode is a continuation of last week's, which includes advice my husband Shannon and I have based on 32 years' combined experience in the aid worker and humanitarian field. In this episode you can learn: Best thing you can do for your health when living in a difficult environment Our best advice for surviving long distance relationships (we have five years experience) Daily habits that made the most impact in our lives in 2018 Habits we hope to maintain in 2019 Books that ha...
Learning from Life in War Torn Countries, Staying Sane Under a Curfew and Other Lessons
March 25, 2019 17:22 - 32 minutes - 25.9 MBWe've done it! Now 50 episodes in the making! To celebrate this milestone, the next two episodes feature my husband Shannon and myself as we talk about our combined 32 years' experience in the aid world, lessons learned, and some crazy things that have happened along the way. Among other things, today we cover: Our most rewarding experience in aid work Lessons learned from living in war torn countries The top three qualities we admire in a leader Advice I wish I would have receiv...
Simple Ways to Network for Better Job Security
March 04, 2019 12:27 - 35 minutes - 28.6 MBToday’s episode is something that is SO important and so simple and yet many of us are not taking the time to do properly. And that is networking in a way that will ensure your future job security. My guest today Raina learned this the hard way after a career break when she found that the way she was networking before she went on break has not allowed her to jump back into the aid world. As you probably know, the old saying “it’s not what you know it’s who you know” definitely applies t...
Unconventional Ways to Make Your Weekly Team Meetings More Effective
February 24, 2019 13:32 - 16 minutes - 13.1 MBToday I am sharing six proven and unconventional ways to make your weekly team meetings more effective, and more interesting! They are proven because they are things I tried and found made my meetings go from dull to engaging, and from dragging to productive. I purposely focused on ideas you normally would not think of to make meetings more effective, and so I think there will be at least one or two that you have never tried or heard about. These tactics are easy to apply and will make yo...
How to Get the Most Out of Your Time Spent in Meetings
February 17, 2019 18:07 - 15 minutes - 12.5 MBThis is one of the things I enjoyed the least about aid work--- the number of ridiculous meetings we have to attend. Of course some meetings can be very productive, but let's face it, most of them are at least a partial waste of time. Because I have heard this is a challenge for so many of you, I am doing a two part episode on meetings - so you can free up more time during your week to focus on other more important things. In this episode we focus on how to get the most out of the meeti...
Overcoming Complacency in Aid Work
February 10, 2019 18:10 - 9 minutes - 8.02 MBSometimes we need to look again at the assumptions we make when working in difficult environments. Are the obstacles we perceive really impossible to overcome, or are we in the habit of not thinking of ways to make them possible? For resources mentioned please visit www.aidforaidworkers.com/podcast/44
Simple Ways to Reduce Stress and Prevent Burnout in Humanitarian Work
January 11, 2019 19:08 - 36 minutes - 29 MBLet's face it--- in international development we are faced with a lot of stress in our day to day work. This stress is only compounded when we go home and the generator is broken, there is a curfew for security reasons, or we develop malaria after last week's field visit. To add to this stress further, as humanitarians we put even more pressure on ourselves to do our best because we know by doing so we can help more people. My guest today Elizabeth Whelan has tried a variety of methods t...
What Ten Days of Silence Taught Me About Leadership and Aid Work
December 16, 2018 18:00 - 16 minutes - 13.1 MBI have always wanted to do a ten-day silent retreat and hadn’t thought through all of the challenges involved. Sitting for 100 hours? Not talking for 10 days? My goal: to have a clearer mind, perhaps figure out my purpose in life, and a bonus would be enlightenment. To some of you this may sound like a nightmare, to others intriguing. This episode I am dedicating to all of you, so you can decide for yourself if this is something you think would be worthwhile during one of your R&R’s or at...
Running a Zero Budget Program
December 02, 2018 18:00 - 30 minutes - 24.7 MBIn today’s episode Virginia da Graca and her colleague Nuno Delicado share a tremendous challenge they faced which we all fear--- that is, having less funding for programming. But in this case, their funding wasn’t just slashed a few thousand dollars--- it actually went from an annual budget of $77,000 to zero--- yes, ZERO. Being in this situation made them challenge assumptions about what operating costs are absolutely necessary. It also forced them to come up with creative solutions ...
Five Things I Would Definitely Do Again As a Leader - Part Two
November 18, 2018 18:00 - 18 minutes - 14.9 MBOver the last few weeks I have had some time to reflect over the struggles I had as a humanitarian leader in Timor and what was effective in overcoming these struggles. In this episode I share three of the remaining practices that I would do again as a leader to make a more united and motivated team. Also I am giving away a freebie to those signed up for Supplemental Sundays by November 24th which provides an easy way for you to show donors and other stakeholders you are serious about your ...
Five Things I Would Definitely Do Again As A Leader - Part One
November 04, 2018 14:07 - 16 minutes - 13.2 MBSo I am back from my break and transition to Kenya, which has already provided some interesting animal encounters! During this break I have had some time to reflect on some of the most effective things that had the biggest impact in terms of team motivation and allowed me to build a strong high performing team when I was Country Director in Timor-Leste. The result is this two part episode which outlines five things I would definitely do again as a leader working in the humanitarian sector....
Taking A Break....
August 26, 2018 08:20Sometimes you need to slow down, which I plan on doing with new episodes until mid to late October. I have a lot of great ones coming, so if you want to find out when the next one is released, the best way is either to subscribe to Supplemental Sundays here or to subscribe to your Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. Thank you for your support--- Ate logu!!!
How to Make the Impression You Want
August 12, 2018 10:08 - 34 minutes - 39.7 MBFirst impressions count. But second, third and ongoing impressions also count--- especially when we are interacting with donors, community members, in government meetings or with our supervisor. Of course we all want to make a good impression on these and others in our life - but do we? My guest today, Gerry Sandusky, has over 30 years' experience in TV broadcasting and almost as many teaching people how to give the best impression of themselves to others. In this episode, Gerry shares ...
How to Promote Dignity Within Our Teams
July 29, 2018 12:14 - 32 minutes - 25.7 MBAs development leaders we may think it is a given we are promoting dignity within our teams - I mean, we work for humanitarian organizations, of course we promote dignity, right? In today's episode Tony Castleman will make you think with a dignity lense about not only your own behavior but also some of the other ways (interactions, systems, processes, and norms) which can unknowingly impact the way your team interacts and ultimately if people feel valued. Tony and his team had their own...
Five Obstacles I Wish I Had Overcome As A Leader - Part Two
July 15, 2018 01:16 - 24 minutes - 19.7 MBTo receive Supplemental Sundays bi-weekly email please sign up here! This week is part two of a two part series I am doing on reflecting on my work and lessons learned in Timor as I transition out of my role as Country Director there. In today’s episode I share three more obstacles I faced as a leader and some suggestions on how you can overcome them or prevent them altogether. These include regular receiving feedback from your direct reports, relinquishing control and ensuring others ...
Five Obstacles I Wish I Had Overcome As A Leader - Part One
July 01, 2018 12:05 - 24 minutes - 19.5 MBTo receive Supplemental Sundays bi-weekly email please sign up here! I am excited for a big change in my life, but it signifies a big transition in terms of leaving Timor and an amazing team and a country program I have put my heart into building over the last four and a half years. I have taken some time to reflect what I have done well as a leader during my time here, and what I could have done better. Today I want to focus on what obstacles if I had overcome them would have made my t...
Get Rid of Those Monkeys! How to Delegate in the Aid Worker Context
June 17, 2018 10:38 - 39 minutes - 31.8 MBThe art of delegation in the humanitarian field can be challenging, considering the wide variety of backgrounds of those we manage. Perhaps you have heard of monkey management, a popular article from the Harvard Business Review which explains delegation in terms of monkeys (tasks) and how those monkeys have a tendency to jump onto the backs of their managers. This upward delegation burdens you as a leader and can create bottlenecks in decision making, in addition to demotivating staff. My...
Adaptive Management and How to Create a Learning Culture
May 20, 2018 13:28 - 32 minutes - 26.2 MBWe have a lot of jargon in our industry, and recently it is becoming more and more common for donors and organizations to talk about "learning cultures" and "adaptive management". But what does that really mean, and how does it relate to our day to day work? My guest today, Guy Sharrock, has almost 40 years' experience in development and 17 of those in monitoring and evaluation and most recently learning. In this episode, Guy defines the elements of a learning culture and some practical ...
How to Measure Trust with Partners and Communities
May 06, 2018 16:07 - 29 minutes - 23.5 MBThe success of the work we do everyday with implementing partners and communities is directly related to the amount of trust we have in these relationships. And yet I bet few of you reading this have developed a way to incorporate trust with communities and/or partners into your monitoring and evaluation frameworks. There are many reasons for this - trust is difficult to measure and its definition can vary depending on the cultural and historical context. But with strong trust, we can re...
Five Ways to Incorporate "Deep Work" Into Your Routine
April 15, 2018 22:12 - 13 minutes - 10.5 MBDo you ever feel like you are in reactive mode, responding to what is going on around you during your day but not having the time to work on tasks that require focused and undistracted thought time? Making time for focused time or “deep work” as Cal Newport claims in his in his bestselling book, is linked with innovation, greater productivity and staff morale. But deep work isn’t just something you can do right away, it requires advanced planning and preparation. This episode will give y...
"How I Unknowingly Participated in Illegal Border Trade" and Other Stories from the Field
April 01, 2018 12:13 - 16 minutes - 13.3 MBIf you want to receive similar exclusive stories each week, please enter your email on the Supplemental Sundays page here. Sometimes you just need to get through the week. You know what I am talking about - that week where nothing seems to be working, like when you found out that proposal you spent long hours writing was rejected, or perhaps you were late to an important government meeting - an hour late. All of these things can leave you wondering why you chose this career to begin with...
What You Need to Know About the Future of the Humanitarian Sector
March 04, 2018 13:45 - 36 minutes - 29 MBThe majority of us participate in humanitarian response at some point in our career or even in "non-traditional" contexts - whether it be from a flood, drought, civil unrest or landslide. The traditional model of sourcing funding through governments can be cumbersome, and the consequence costly. My guest today Sean Lowrie is the Director of START Network and has some forward thinking ideas around where the humanitarian sector is headed and what International NGO's will need to do in order...
How to Create Conditions to Inspire Innovation
February 04, 2018 12:39 - 38 minutes - 31.2 MBAs covered in Part One, Saul Guerrero and his team were searching for a way for their organization to continue to add value to the work in less developed countries in order to not become obsolete in the future. During this quest they not only came up with an innovative idea which has generated enough revenue for the team to become independent within their organization but also lessons learned in creating the conditions which allow for such innovation. In this second episode you will learn...
How Trying to Predict the Future Led to Increased Growth, Flexibility and Better Morale
January 22, 2018 11:01 - 36 minutes - 29 MBUp until now the humanitarian sector has only had to "respond" to emergencies in various countries. We have had the luxury of not having to change with the pace as the private sector, which has led to complacency with the same way of doing business. But what will our business look like in five, ten or fifteen years in an ever changing environment? One change to the political climate or donor regulations and our "business" could be at risk. My guest today Saul Guerrero was working with Act...
The Way to True Gender Equality and Social Inclusion
December 19, 2017 14:35 - 36 minutes - 41.6 MBWe 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 gender equality and social inclusion in Indonesia. Ratna shares how her current program KOMPAK is ensuring they “walk their talk” by including gender equality and social inclusi...
Ways to Avoid Hurting Your Organization's Reputation and Making Costly Mistakes
December 19, 2017 14:18 - 35 minutes - 40.9 MBThere is a lot of scandal in the world these days, but one shocking is how the #MeToo movement has included accounts from the aid world. Okay, I am not living under a rock and I know that these things happen, but how can we minimize risk of sexual harassment and exploitation in the aid world? I think a great place to start is by creating a values based organization, and the cost of not doing so can be reputation leading to loss in respect, funding and of course potential legal disputes. ...
Simple Ways to Create Scalable Behavior Change
December 10, 2017 09:24 - 36 minutes - 42.4 MBMost of what we do in our work is centered on behavior change for broader impact. Examples may be behaviors that lead to increasing maize yields, preventing communicable disease, or saving money for the future. This is challenging in itself, but add to that donor’s tendencies to want scale and it becomes even more so. I have seen projects that do two-hour trainings on hand-washing or some other behavior and then move on, expecting that this training alone will change community mentality....
Divided We Beg, United We Stand - A Human Rights Approach to Development
November 26, 2017 12:45 - 33 minutes - 38.9 MBWe all have the best intentions in development work. Sometimes however we think we know what the community needs, only to come back a few years after a project ends to see that for whatever reason, the farmer group has dissolved or the water pump is broken, or malnutrition remains. Claudio Schuftan has over 35 years' experience in the health and nutrition sector and has determined the "traditional approach" to development is not enough. In this interview Claudio presents the human rig...
Our Unintended Bias - How to Communicate More Effectively with Illiterate Populations
November 12, 2017 06:28 - 35 minutes - 40.5 MBDon't miss out on more ways to broaden your impact! Subscribe to the bi-weekly newsletter here! According to the 2016 UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization survey, 40% of adults in low income countries are illiterate. This does not take into consideration the number of innumerate adults, which can be higher in some situations. It is important to remember that as you are reading this you have an unintended bias toward communicating and interacting with literate people. H...
A Tool to Overcome Your Obstacles to Effective Development Planning
October 28, 2017 22:13 - 17 minutes - 19.6 MBIf you want to see where staff dream of traveling in the world, a good place to start is by looking at the list of training in their development plan. Development Plans are intended to list the professional development needs of the staff so if those needs are met they may perform their best. However, in the past I have been guilty of approving my direct report's Development Plans that are more of a training wish list that may or may not align with their current role (the top three: "Learn...
Performance Planning to Motivate and Unite Your Team
October 15, 2017 21:59 - 29 minutes - 33.6 MBIf you want to broaden your impact in your life and work, subscribe to the podcast here! In the past every year around this time was quite painful, because I knew I had to come up with my Performance Plan goals. It’s not that it is a hard thing to do, but something about planning what to accomplish in a year always made me feel overwhelmed. And now, as a leader with a team relying on me to set the direction for the year, it can seem even more overwhelming. Performance Planning here i...
Leadership for Impact
October 01, 2017 06:34 - 54 minutes - 63 MBI love it when I meet like-minded people who challenge the standard way of doing things. After all, if we want to achieve more impact, by definition we have to change the way we are doing things now—or at least question them. My guests today are founders of the social enterprise “United Edge”, and they happen to be in Dili doing a training among other things on “Leadership for Impact.” Matt Kletzing and Daniel Bevan have a combined 15 years’ experience working for a variety of humanitari...
How to Make Your Projects More Human Centered
September 18, 2017 09:49 - 56 minutes - 129 MBAn introduction to Human Centered Design and some methodologies you can use to empower communities in designing and implementing projects.
How to Motivate Staff
September 03, 2017 07:54 - 48 minutes - 111 MBAdvice for Leaders on How to Motivate Others
Challenging the Way We Think About Community Engagement and Aid Work
August 21, 2017 09:43 - 35 minutes - 81.8 MBAriana Almeida returns to share her questions to others around how to ensure proper community engagement within the constraints of the current system of international development.
How to Change Your Behavior to Achieve the Change You Want
August 04, 2017 06:41 - 37 minutes - 87 MBInterview guest Ariana Almeida provides some tools she learned from Harvard classes around how to create behavior change - within yourself.
How Are You Impacting Your Team's Wellbeing?
July 23, 2017 08:15 - 30 minutes - 70.9 MBPractical tips on how to improve your team's wellbeing
How to Minimize Risk and Keep Your Staff Safe
June 25, 2017 07:23 - 36 minutes - 83.3 MB“Don’t wait for a crisis to think about security.” – Maurice McQuillan, Security Advisor
Recruiting High Performers that Fit Your Organizational Culture
June 12, 2017 23:19 - 42 minutes - 48.7 MBA former aid worker shares his success with recruitment based on organizational culture fit without using the traditional interview process.
Lessons in Empowering Staff and Breaking Down Managerial Barriers
April 29, 2017 12:19 - 52 minutes - 60.3 MB"It’s important to recognize there are many parts [outside of work] that make up a person I happen to manage for a period of time." - Susan Marx, Country Representative of The Asia Foundation, Timor-Leste
Increasing Staff Engagement Through Team Building
April 02, 2017 04:47 - 31 minutes - 36.6 MBWhat is an easy way to increase staff morale, decrease gossip, and allow for more communication in your office?
Leading During an Emergency Response
March 14, 2017 22:07 - 26 minutes - 30.2 MB"The Most Difficult Experiences Can End Up Being the Most Rewarding." - John Shumlansky, Country Director
Stress Management Tips for Aid Workers
February 26, 2017 07:15 - 53 minutes - 60.7 MBProven Tips to Manage Stress in International Development
How to Downsize and Nationalize Staff Positions
January 28, 2017 07:23 - 52 minutes - 60.3 MBI was incredibly inspired by this interview, and I hope you will be too. Samaresh Nayak is Country Director for an International NGO, and over the last five years has managed a massive downsize within his country program (from 295 to 90 national staff and 13 to 4 international staff). He also has made significant process around "nationalizing" key senior positions within his organization. In this episode Samaresh shares his experience and advice around downsizing and the process he followed,...
Why Staff Leave
January 08, 2017 09:22 - 32 minutes - 37 MBHow to Detect and Prevent Staff Turnover in Aid Work