Aid for Aid Workers Leadership Podcast

Asking your team "how can I help?" is a great way to show your support. But knowing when to ask this question can make it more helpful to your team member - and ultimately to you as a leader too. In this episode I explore the best way to ask "how can I help you?" as a supervisor in order to empower your team and not keep them from growing.

Most of us prefer working for a leader who we feel cares for us over one who only cares about results.   Many research studies confirm the same: empathetic leaders create higher performing and more motivated teams. Chances are if you're listening to this you are already a caring leader, but there is an opportunity that many leaders overlook which is so simple and yet goes a long way when you want...

If you find yourself saying things like "my team knows not to follow my bad example (working long hours, for example)" then this episode is for you. So many humanitarian and development leaders I work with think they are the "exception to the rule".  That is that their team does not follow their unhealthy work style.   But how true is that really? From my experience, it's not. In this episode I sh...

You have a lot on your to do list.  Between all the meetings, email and your everyday obligations, things get busy fast! And yet, one of our most important priorities as supervisors can be one of the ones we delay doing the most - that is developing our team. How can you find time to develop your team while also keeping your other priorities? Listen to this episode to find out! Resources mentioned...

How have you done achieving your annual goals? Sometimes it feels like there's some magic formula that we are missing which will allow us to achieve our goals. Thankfully, that's not true. Achieving our goals comes down to one thing. And that is: how we have prioritized our time. The way we use our time compounded leads us to the results we have today. The good news is that means you can make a ch...

You're listening to this because you want to grow as a leader. One way to do that is to be aware of your mindset. Having the right mindset, or perspective, can motivate us to grow and improve. But having the "wrong" mindset can lead to the opposite of growth. One limited mindset I see in humanitarian and development supervisors is when they tell themselves "they already know" something. "They alre...

Whether you know it or not, you have a certain way of leading your team. They are used to you doing things a certain way. So if you suddenly change that without saying anything... It could be very disruptive, and unproductive. In this episode I share what I've learned about how to introduce a new way of leading to make it successful, in part by making the transition more comfortable and inclusive....

Are you the hero or the victim of your story? Sometimes we may be a victim - and not even realize it. And when we are a victim - we become helpless and hopeless. This means we don't act, we don't grow and we don't help ourselves or others. Because we see our situation as "reality" - rather than seeing it as a story that can change. In this episode I share how to recognize when you are in victim mo...

When we communicate with others, and especially when coaching, the quality of our questions can have tremendous impact on the outcome. We can have good intentions, but a question which is leading or directive can shut down a conversation and limit the creativity and resourcefulness of those you work with. In this episode you'll learn how to know if you are asking leading questions, and what to do...

There are many benefits of a proactive team. A more proactive team means greater diversity of thought, higher team motivation and more time for you to work on the important things on your to do list. Sometimes just asking your team what they think is not enough to make them more proactive and independent. There are reasons why some team members may be hesitant to offer their ideas or make decision...

We often hear the word "coach" and think it means the same, whether someone is a leadership coach or sports coach. But all coaching IS NOT created equal. Sports coaching and leadership coaching are actually very different, and in order to know which we are doing, it's important to know the differences. So we don't end up "sports coaching" our team. This is a common misunderstanding I see people ma...

Has this happened to you as a humanitarian and/or international development leader? You have a meeting with your team, or community, or implementing partner, and you think you've agreed on what to do next. You come back a week later, and find out... nothing has been done! Why is that? The more responsibility we take for our team, the community, government, implementing partner (or even your kids!)...

Do you have fun at work?  If so, how often? I think most of us can use more fun in our work and personal lives, but rarely do we stop to think about how to INTENTIONALLY create it. Having fun at work has been linked to greater productivity, staff morale, and creativity.  And it doesn't require a big budget or extra time during the week.   You can have fun while still working!  How can you?  Listen...

This week registration opens for "The Coach Approach Leadership Style" coaching course and to give you an idea of what we cover, I am sharing the top three mistakes I see new humanitarian and development leaders make when coaching, and how you can overcome them! I'm showing you how these might impact the quality of your coaching, and how to increase your effectiveness with a few small changes.   T...

Understanding how to acknowledge our team can be the difference between gaining their trust and breaking it. It's more than just saying "nice job!" or "you're amazing!" In this episode I share tips on how to acknowledge (hint, it's different from a complement) and how you can use it to motivate your team's performance and productivity.

Do you spend late nights thinking about all the things you have to do? Are you distracted worrying about future funding? Do you worry about bigger issues not within your control such as climate change or the economy? If so, this episode is for you. I share two practical and easy tips to help you overcome stress and overwhlem. So you can feel calm and focused. And focus on what truly matters - the...

What would you love to accomplish beyond what's in your job description? Not the "have to do" but the "WANT to do". Something that if you accomplished it, you would be so proud - and would make lasting impact on your team and beyond. Many of the leaders I work with have not thought about this. At least not intentionally. In this episode, I give you some ideas of what it looks like to go beyond you...

Has your organization returned to five days in the office? If so, how was the reasoning behind it communicated to you? Or maybe you made the decision for your team. I have been hearing more and more of organizations going back to the five days in the office work week. There is nothing wrong with that, but it seems that also the majority of people I've talked to don't fully understand what the rati...

There are certain behaviors that over time have become acceptable and part of being a successful leader. These include working long hours, sacrificing relationships and even sacrificing our own health. Part of this problem is that the leaders that are named "successful" by society (especially in the western world) are actually following these same toxic behaviors. In this episode I share why it is...

It amazes me how common it is to have a toxic boss in the humanitarian sector.  Unfortunately these toxic supervisors drive talented people out of the organization and do more harm than good.  If you are one of those suffering with a toxic boss, this episode is for you.  I share how to survive in this situation based on what's worked for me in the past and for others I've coached.  

When we plan our Development Plans for the year, and we want to be stronger in a certain area, we usually assume we need a training. And that may be partially true. But training alone does not guarantee action. Have you ever wondered why your team member attends a training on how to be an amazing presenter, and then still does not want to present? Or maybe they learn how to have a difficult conver...

Sometimes we get lost in the busyness of our day, and we forget what leadership really is. True leadership is not about using our power to make others follow our commands. True leadership is about inspiring and motivating others to WANT to follow us. How do we do that? In this episode, we review what it means to lead, and how to know when we are leading versus doing something else, and the best wa...

When you are coaching or learning to coach your team to better performance, you want to do it well. I see this with my students when they first start learning how to coach. They know they need to ask a series of questions to help their team think through their own problem. And so they want to know which is the RIGHT question to ask? What questions are the right questions? In this episode I explore...

Everyone has one or more moments in their life they will never forget where they were or what they were doing when an unexpected event took place.  For me it was a typical hot sticky evening in South Sudan, with a broken generator in the hundred degree heat.  I remember getting up in the night to douse my hair with water to cool down enough to get to sleep, and lying back down hearing fireworks (...

Burnout is an ongoing topic of discussion in the humanitarian and development sectors. Like others I am always seeking ways to help aid workers avoid burnout. Recently I came across a webinar by Marcus Buckingham in which he spoke of how certain people effectively avoid burnout. And I wanted to share the takeaways with you. With a humanitarian lense, of course. You can start avoiding burnout, and...