Launched in 2021, the Field Leadership Labs is a program jointly offered by GELI and the UN Development Coordination Office to support leadership teams to work more effectively together. In this episode, our guest Michael brings us stories from the field and explores some of the common challenges of collaborative leadership that leaders face in different countries. Micheal Koehler is the CEO of KONU, a specialized consultancy company that is providing project management and niche leadership...

Leadership plays an essential role in setting the direction to strengthen protection within the humanitarian sector. In this episode, Gemma and Mark explore ways to strengthen and centralise that role while looking at when and in what circumstances humanitarian leadership is well placed to provide strategic direction to strengthening protection. Gemma Davies is a Senior Research Fellow for the Humanitarian Policy Group at ODI. She has over 15 years’ experience working with a range of...

“At the global level, there have been strong commitments to collective humanitarian action, especially since the World Humanitarian Summit and Grand Bargain agreement. But evidence suggests that these commitments are not always translated into reality. Why is this?” In this episode, Ed explores the intersection between collective ambitions and individual agency within the leadership space and looks at some of the factors that systematically undermine collective leadership in the system. Ed...

Since the World Humanitarian Summit, localisation-focused policies and commitments have been abundant. The collective objective was and is to strengthen leadership of local and national NGOs in humanitarian action and treat them as equal partners. In this episode, Darina unpacks the topic of localisation through the specific lens of humanitarian leadership. The reality on the ground tells us that despite these commitments, the role of national and local NGOs continues to be limited and...

“In the humanitarian sector, leadership is cited as one of the most important factors underpinning performance and effectiveness. Every major strategic and operational ambition – from addressing resource gaps to coordinating aid delivery to improving accountability to advancing localisation – demands the realization of better leadership. And yet, at the same time, there does not seem to be a clear sense of what leadership actually is.” In this episode, John talks about humanitarian...

“If you know you are not made for daring, please don’t dare lead.” In our first episode, Kate takes us through the very important topic of ethical or principled leadership. We explore the definition of “daring” leadership, a combination of moral courage and inner strength, qualities on which the exercise of ethical or principled leadership depends. Kate Gilmore is Professor-in-Practice at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Honorary Professor at the University of...

Welcome to The Leadership Lab podcast.  GELI is the first leadership development programme that brings together top level leaders from across the humanitarian and development sectors, and takes them on a journey of self-reflection and growth, to help them realise their full potential and drive more effective action for people across the globe. Our focus across all our leadership training programs is practical, applicable knowledge that can help leaders better handle challenges they...