Morgana and I have been observing, studying and reflecting on the leadership challenges in large NGOs for over 18 years. In our work to develop our two earlier publications “Building a better international NGO” (2013) and “Navigating change for international NGOs” (2016) the issue of leadership – in its broadest sense – lingered uncomfortably. We often debated what was driving what. Over the past few years (though significantly interrupted by Covid), we began the journey to explore this leadership conundrum, reflecting on our practical experiences, interrogating a range of leadership research as well as speaking in-depth to a range of individuals who hold, or have recently held, key roles in a variety of development & humanitarian organisations, north and south.
We are attempting to tackle some very tricky questions, in a sector we live in and love, e.g. Why are iNGOs so hard to lead? Is the leadership capacity currently in place up to the job in 2023? What are the most important ingredients of strong iNGO leadership? How is the changing external environment impacting the type of leaders and leadership needed for a modern iNGO? How do we start the journey to get to a better place?
The intent is to provide a set of insights and tools to help strengthen both individual and collective leadership in the sector. This paper, currently in final editing stage, will be released for comment before the end this year, 2023.
It is structured into four parts:
- Taking stock – incl. candid feedback from external contributors
- Pillars of a high-performance leadership system for iNGOs
- Individual Leaders and individual Leadership in our sector
- What to do? Creating a leadership action plan for 2025–2035