Aid for Aid Workers Leadership Podcast

Are you a humanitarian or international development leader who wants to make a greater impact, but without the overwhelm and burnout? If you want to create a high performance team that meets the changing demands of the humanitarian and development sector without sacrificing your well being, check out "The Modern Humanitarian and Development Leader" podcast.

In less time than it takes you to drink your po...

Why this is the last podcast episode of The Aid for Aid Workers Leadership podcast, and how my decision to end it will help you become a better leader.

In this podcast you will learn:

• Why I have decided to end this podcast after 300 episodes!!
• 3 things that most humanitarian and dev’t leaders are not aware of that prevent them from leading better

This interview is a bit different - and that is because it is not from an aid worker perspective on humanitarian leadership, but from the donor perspective!   In this interview an individual working for a large, global donor shares, well, the good, the bad and the what you should never do when working with a donor.

He has a lot of great advice for all you leaders who interact with donors whether during visits, or during stakeholder...

We’ve all been tortured by the same old “let me show you ALL my results” presentations in aid work. They all blend together after a while. So how can you make your public presentation (sharing of Baseline or Endline Results or Strategy) more memorable?

Well you’re in luck, because in this episode I share three proven ways to conduct a presentation that will leave...

The humanitarian and development sectors are changing and we as leaders need to understand how our roles are changing in order to make the most impact.  

In this episode, we dive into the essential strategies leaders need to consider for enhancing equity, resilience, and accountability in global development organizations. With insights from Christine Sow, CEO of Humentum, listeners will learn practical approaches to overcoming bure...

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 t...

Have you ever considered the way you lead others could be adding to your workload?

Just as the way humanitarian and development work has evolved over the last 50 to 60 years, so has the need to lead differently.  

In this episode you'll learn:

• How leadership has evolved in the humanitarian and development sector and current requirements of the Modern Humanitarian and Development Leader 2.0 (today's leaders)
• When to use differe...

Do you feel stretched thin by work demands, struggling to carve out time for impactful projects?

In this episode, we uncover three often-overlooked strategies for time management specifically tailored for humanitarian and development supervisors.

Here's what you'll learn:

1. Gain insight into setting effective boundaries on your time and your team's time, empowering you to prioritize tasks strategically.
2. Understand the importance...

Have you ever found yourself lost in the wilderness, not sure where to go or how to get there, surrounded by the unknown and potential danger?

Just like navigating unfamiliar territory, defining and achieving impactful goals in humanitarian and development work can feel like wandering without direction.

Without a clear vision, leaders risk inefficiency, aimlessness, and missed opportunities for positive change.

Discove...

Are you constantly overwhelmed with a never-ending stream of interruptions at work?

Whether you're a humanitarian and develoment leader in the field or managing a team remotely, the pressure to always be available might be hurting your productivity more than you realize.

In today's fast-paced work environment, the expectation of constant availability can lead to burnout and decreased effectiveness. This episode dives deep into the ...

Will you achieve your goals within a year?

Many of us "hope" we will.

But hoping alone will not get you to that promotion or to achieve that certification.

There are two things that you need to do in order to successfully achieve your goals.

And it comes down to how you use your time.

Find out more in this episode.

NEW!!!!  Episodes are now accompanied by full transcript!!! 

Please find full transcript below, or you can visit the...

Wouldn't it be nice if a time management tool could solve all our problems as humanitarian and development leaders?

Unfortuntely, it doesn't work that way.

While time management tools can be helpful, there is something else you need to address before you can use them effectively.

Something that will have a much greater impact on your time management.

It has to do with the way you THINK about your time.

After coaching hundreds of hu...

What is a common fear of leaders in humanitarian and international development when it comes to coaching their teams?

The fear of losing respect.

Losing respect because their team sees them as needing to have all the answers.

So if they start asking their teams what they think, then the team will question their authority.

I understand the reasoning behind this concern, especially in certain cultures where leadership is more directi...

When I was a leader in the international development and the humanitarian sector, I had many reasons to rush.

There is always a deadline - whether a proposal, a project need or a government request.

And yet there are consequences for being in a hurry and just trying to get things done.

In this episode I share the importance of slowing down to understand and listen, and my own experience with what happens when we do not.

For a full ...

The word "feedback" in the humanitarian and development context can create feelings of anxiety, fear and anger.

And yet, your team says they want feedback.

So what is it they REALLY want?

Most likely they want to grow, or become a better version of themselves in some way.

The problem is if we don't know how to have that conversation, we can actually create the opposite effect - that is, a team member resistant to change.

In this ep...

The best leaders adapt their leadership style based on their team's needs.

I like to think of the saying "wearing different hats" where one hat (way of leading) may be appropriate for one environment but not another.

Similarly, we shouldn't always be leading one way.

Sometimes you need to manage, sometimes you need to teach and sometimes you need to coach.

Knowing the differences, the advantages and disadvantages of each and when t...

As a leader who wants to strengthen your team, sometimes you need to teach them, and sometimes you need to coach them.

There is a time for each - either your team member needs information to take action (training) versus needing self-reflection (coaching).

I see many frustrated leaders who think they need to teach something - yet again - for someone to take action when in reality what's blocking them is something deeper, such as la...

It's that time of the year!  

If you're like many of the supervisors I know, you are probably delaying having them.

Performance planning conversations!

These conversations are one of the most important discussions of the year, but many of us see them as a "have to do" and not a "want to do".

Why is that?

From my experience, it's not that performance planning conversations are bad.

It's that we are not doing them effectively.

An eff...