What True Leadership Looks Like in Times of Change for NGO Supervisors

Do you ever find yourself waiting for your organization to finally change - to take wellbeing seriously, to stop glorifying overwork - before you feel ready to lead differently?

If so, you’re not alone. Many NGO leaders feel trapped in outdated cultures and exhausting work habits, hoping that once their organization “catches up,” things will improve. But what if waiting is exactly what’s keeping you stuck? In this episode, you’ll learn why true leadership begins when you decide to go first - and how courage, not permission, is what drives meaningful change in teams and organizations.

By listening, you’ll discover:

• The surprising reason most NGO leaders hold back from creating change - and how to overcome it.
• How to use courage to lead differently, even when no one else around you is ready.
• Practical ways to take small, bold actions that inspire others and begin transforming your team and culture.

Press play now to learn how one courageous choice can break old patterns, spark real change, and set you apart as a modern NGO leader.

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FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

What True Leadership Looks Like in Times of Change

[00:00:00] Find out what true leaders do to create change in today's episode.

Welcome to the Modern Humanitarian and Development Leader podcast. The podcast helping humanitarian and development supervisors make a greater impact by taking control of your time, leading more inclusively and empowering your team all the while avoiding stress, burnout and overwhelm. I'm your host, leadership coach and former aid worker, Torrey Peace. Are you ready? Let's get started.

Hello, my aspiring modern NGO leaders. I hope you're having a wonderful week. And today's episode, you're gonna discover why waiting for change keeps you stuck, and what every NGO leader [00:01:00] must do instead; how courage sets real leaders apart, and the surprising truth about why most people avoid it. And finally, the first step turns to transforming your team and organization even when no one else is ready to follow. So, do you find change and your organization to be really slow? If so, you are not alone. Many leaders tell me that, you might hear, for example, senior leaders talk about staff wellbeing and work life balance or healthy workplaces.

There are so many new initiatives, many discussions, maybe even a new policy or two. But in practice, things look pretty similar. People are still burned out, still overworked and still afraid to say No. I know I experienced this myself [00:02:00] when I was working in an INGO and they talked about all the changes they wanted to make, but the problem was we were just beginning and right now many organizations are in the messy middle. And that means, many times we haven't yet quite seen the change or the full vision that organizations want.

You might be thinking at that point, okay, once things change, once the culture catches up with the vision, then I'll stop working on weekends. Or once my organization takes wellbeing seriously, then I'll speak up. But what if waiting is exactly what's keeping you stuck? In the humanitarian and development world we love talking about wellbeing and healthy culture. But the truth, our organizational culture, as I said, hasn't quite caught up with our [00:03:00] vision. So we keep waiting for change to happen around us, but that's not how change works, and it's also not how leadership works.

Change starts when someone decides to go first. So my question for you is, why can't it be you? Most leaders that I know, the many leaders I have that take my course, this is where they struggle the most. They don't go first because they feel it's not normal. That no one else around them is doing it. No one else around them is yet practicing these ways of better wellbeing or these Coach Approach Leadership Styles.

And so they feel like they are going against the norm. And what they tell me is things like, oh, my organization's culture won't allow this, or [00:04:00] that's just how things are in this country. So in other words, talking about the country culture and so nothing changes. And being a modern NGO leader or being a leader in general means redefining what's normal.

It means helping to create your own vision of what you think is possible. It means you, by definition, as a leader, are leading the way. That people are following your example, even before anyone else believes it's possible. That's what leadership is. It means to go first. So once you have Clarity, and that's something that we discuss a few episodes back, as part of the first step in becoming a CLEAR leader, the CLEAR Leadership Model, you have to take action.

But [00:05:00] action is where many leaders get stuck. They tell me, oh, it's too hard, no one else understands what I'm trying to do. Or no one around me is doing these things, so how can I? But that's where we need what I call the Three (3) Cs of a Modern NGO leader: Courage, Commitment and Community. And today we are gonna focus on the first one, Courage.

So courage isn't just about being fearless, it's about taking action with fear in service of your vision. It is choosing to take action that isn't yet the norm; action that you don't yet see being practiced around you. That might go against your organizational current culture or your country current culture.

It's having the strength to say, I'm going [00:06:00] to lead differently because I know this will get us in the direction that we want to go. I am gonna give you an example. I'm going to be the example for others, even when others keep working the same way. It's the courage to say no to extra work, to set boundaries on your time and to coach your team instead of doing it all yourself.

That's courage and that is true leadership. Because when you act with courage, you show others what's possible, you create the change that everyone else is waiting for. And believe me, being in front as a leader and creating this change is it takes a courage, but it's way more exciting than waiting around for change to happen.

So one leader in my course, " Becoming the Modern Humanitarian and Development Leader", experienced this change [00:07:00] firsthand. She was caught up in what I call High Performance Syndrome: working long hours, micromanaging her team and trying to do it all. But through the course, she defined her Leadership Impact Goal.

She got clarity on the vision she wanted to create. The change she wanted to make. And then she took action, which aligned with that goal, which led her towards it, and did not always go with what everyone else around her was doing. She had the courage to delegate, to coach her team, to focus on what really mattered and what happened?

Her supervisor began noticing. Her team started to take more of a lead and follow her because she was setting an example. She was being a true leader because she had courage and together they [00:08:00] transformed how they worked. It starts with someone and why can't it be you? That's how organizational change happens.

One courageous leader at a time. So, your organization might say that they want a coaching culture, or they might say that they want empowered modern leaders, but what many don't realize is, you are the one to bring that vision to life. You are the example that others are waiting for. They want your permission.

When you go first, you give it to them. And you create that change and empower others to do the same. That's what being a modern NGO leader is all about. You don't wait for change. You create it. So here's your challenge for this week. Think about one area that you've been waiting for things to change. And then, take one [00:09:00] small, courageous action toward that change. It could be saying no to something that drains your energy. It could be setting a boundary around your time or simply sharing your leadership vision with your team. Remember, you are the culture you want to create, and it all starts with one courageous step.

And yes, in the beginning it might be uncomfortable because those around you haven't caught up yet. But if you keep going, I promise you they will start to see how many benefits you're getting from making this change, and they will start to do as well. So a reminder of today's takeaways: that waiting for change keeps you stuck, real leadership begins we need to decide to go first. That courage is what sets modern NGO leaders apart. It's not about being fearless, it's about taking aligned actions, even when it feels uncomfortable. And finally, [00:10:00] that meaningful change starts small, one courageous decision, one boundary, and one honest conversation at a time.

All right, and next week we're gonna dive into the second C of Modern Leadership, Commitment. We'll talk about how to stay consistent when courage fades, and how to keep moving forward even when you're the only one walking the path. Alright, until next week, keep evolving.

Bye for now.

Are you the type of leader that tells others what to do, or do you let them figure it out for themselves? Understanding your leadership style is a first step to deciding what's working for you and what's not. To find out your leadership style, take my free quiz, What is your leadership style? You'll immediately find out your default style, how it may be impacting your team, and a [00:11:00] few practical ways to become an even better leader.

Just click on the link in the show notes, www.aidforaidworkers.com/quiz. Fill out your quiz and click submit. So what are you waiting for? Go to www.aidforaidworkers.com/quiz and discover your leadership style now. Your team will thank you for it.