Wouldn't it be great if we knew exactly what a community wanted without talking to them?

If we knew what the community wanted, we could skip all the design meetings, all the planning and just get started with implementation.

It would be great.  But it's not reality.

Although we may want to rush, when we fix things quickly now we can make them harder in the long run.

The same goes for supervising our teams.

We may think we are fixing things when we quickly tell our teams what to...

Sometimes creating a more diverse and inclusive environment in the aid sector seems like a huge task that's going to take time.  And there is some truth in that.

That said, there are things we as humanitarian leaders can start doing immediately with our existing teams to create more diversity.  Things that we may not normally consider.

My guest today Saraounia Mboka-Boyer has 13 years' experience in international development and lived in Africa 16 years.  She calls herself an...

How often do you tell yourself or hear your team say "I Don't Know"?

"I don't know how to do a donor presentation."

"I don't know how to write a strategic plan."

"I don't know how to manage my time."

It sounds like a reasonable thing.

To not know how.

But often times, we use it as an excuse.

An excuse to not take action.

And so we are stuck and stay the same.

And nothing happens.

It's important to know when we are using the "I Don't Know" excuse, and how we can overcome it.

So you can move...

Have you heard of the TV show Undercover Boss?

It's where a senior manager for a large company disguises themselves and then works alongside their staff on the ground.

What usually happens is they find out all the things going right, but also those going wrong.

And what's interesting is the people on the ground know what's going wrong and know how to solve it - but don't have the power to change it.

It makes me wonder how these senior managers could empower their teams more so they are able...

Whether it's due to a pandemic, working in a field office or across continents, remote work is a reality as a humanitarian leader.

But with working remotely comes a sense of distance - not just phsyically but mentally too.

So how do we close the gap and unite our teams given the challenges of remote work?

In this episode Chenai Kadungure and myself provide some ways you can unite your team despite the technical and distance challenges that come with working at a distance.

Resources...

Office gossip can be very damaging to a team and organization, not to mention the reputation of yourself and others! Gossip can lead to low staff morale, feelings of mistrust, and even problems with staff retention. It is therefore essential that we understand how to recognize gossip, what it is and why it happens. In this episode I share this as well as five ways you can turn the toxicity created by gossip into an opportunity to reinforce a culture of trust, open communication and respect...

In 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...

We all engage with communities on some level in our work.  But the difference between meaningful engagement and mediocre is the difference between the community adopting new technologies or maintaining behavioral practices beyond the life of the project versus a full stop.

So how can we more meaningfully engage with communities?  Lucky for us, Deb Cummins of Bridging Peoples has significant experience in this area and provides some practical advice you can start using next week to...

Today's episode is a little different - it covers three stories, two of my former direct reports and one colleague, who all experienced changes in their work and lives due to coaching.  I hope their stories will inspire you to understand how much coaching can help move you forward in a way that a normal conversation cannot, even in the context of international development.

Thank you to Yane Pinto, Matthew Will and Renee Lambert for sharing your stories.

I am excited to introduce two of my former students, Brenda Kamboga and Bronwen Moore.  In this episode they share what they learned in my coaching course, The Aid Worker's Guide to Successful Coaching 101, and how it changed their perspective in how they approach their teams and at home.  You might be surprised by what they have to say, and some of the advice they give in starting your own coaching journey.

This episode is brought to you by my digital coaching course, The Aid...