Aid for Aid Workers Leadership Podcast

A philosophy I am aspiring to live by right now is to take more responsibility in my work and life.  That means recognizing that the results in my life and work are consequences of the choices I have made.  Sometimes we confuse what is within our control and what is outside of it, meaning we do not always recognize how much control we have over certain outcomes (health, professional advancement, e...

Over the last few months I took the advice of some time management books and tried batching.  Batching means implementing similar tasks in one block of time. I am surprised by how much this simple act has freed up my time! For example, I used to spend 8 hours on producing one podcast episode, but after batching I can do about three episodes in four hours! There is much to be said about batching ta...

Maybe you've heard of a Mastermind Group.  Maybe you've even thought about joining one.  Well I can tell you from my experience, I have found them so valuable I have formed two myself and all three of my Masterminds have been invaluable in terms of giving me great advice during difficult times, encouragement when I have struggled and celebrations when I have done well.  Not only this, I have learn...

Whether it's managing email, determining which working group meeting to attend or balancing time to respond to our team's needs, as aid workers we need all the help we can get to be able to make deadlines and maintain a work-life balance.  Of course there are a ton of resources on how to increase productivity - but what are some of the best tips for aid work?   My guest today has figured out quite...

In this interview Edna Morris, with forty years' experience in the male dominated restaurant industry, shares some great advice to apply to our field in many of the patriarchal contexts for men and women.  For example when Edna was told by several men that the role she had taken at a new job should be for a man, she shares how she handled this situation in a way which earned her respect. She also...

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 experi...

  Just when you think you've established a healthy eating routine as an aid worker... you have to travel to the field.  Whether it's the community or a field office, eating healthy can be challenging when traveling outside of our home base.  I have struggled with eating healthily in some very rural areas, but it is possible.  In this episode I share with you six tips that will help you to maintain...

ENCORE EPISODE (FROM 2018): This episode is includes advice my husband Shannon and I have based on 32 years' combined experience in the aid worker and humanitarian field.  In this episode you can learn: Best thing you can do for your health when living in a difficult environment Our best advice for surviving long distance relationships (we have five years experience) Daily habits that made the mos...

We all have our strengths as leaders. You know, the areas in which you feel come naturally to you. Maybe you even enjoy working on them. It could be managing budgets, or helping local partners, or writing proposals. Whatever it is, when you spend more time in that area, you are more productive. And when you work in areas in which you're not as strong, well... things.... slow.... down... So why not...

As humanitarians unfortunately we are likely to have experienced burnout at one time or another.  And it was just this experience that inspired today's guest Dr. Gemma Houldey to do a thesis on the same - a look at the systemic issues in the aid world causing burnout. As part of a way organizations can address the burnout of national and international staff, Dr. Gemma has also published a book (se...

We've all had them in humanitarian work.  Given that we spend the majority of our time working or with colleagues, they can make life difficult.  And we hope we will never be like them. That's right, I am talking about difficult supervisors. The kind that make you go "ugh". I know I have had my own moments where I behaved in a way my team probably didn't agree with. And that of course impacts team...

What's a very effective and often overlooked way to increase staff wellbeing?   Allowing them space to talk about things that are important to them, and asking questions to help them move forward. In other words, having a coaching conversation. In this episode I discuss the many ways coaching can increase the wellbeing of your team, and some powerful questions to use for just such a conversation....

The past few years have brought many changes - one of which is remote work.  I know several supervisors who have not met their teams in person, and still don't know when that will happen! So since we are working remotely, how can we build trust and an organizational culture?  My guest today Hawa Kombian is an Organizational Specialist who provides some practical ways leaders can do just that - uni...

We all sometimes have perfectionist tendencies.  Most humanitarians want to do great work!  However, when this desire to do great work makes us more stressed, prevents us from turning things in and keeps us paralyzed, perfectionism can ironically lead to imperfectionism. None of us need added stress in our lives, and we all want to get things in on time, so how can we overcome the need for "perfec...

How open is the communication with your team?  Do they say everything that's on their mind, or are there certain things which turn into gossip and you hear second or third hand?   From my experience, it is very rare to have a team that tells you everything.  There's always something left unsaid, that can potentially build and escalate into an issue that if unresolved can lead to staff turnover, lo...

Wellbeing is a big topic of the humanitarian world these days, and rightfully so.  I mean, why is it an organization which specializes in helping people find it so difficult to help its own staff? My guest today, Melissa Pitotti, has some answers.  And they may not all be what you think.  Melissa works for the CHS Alliance.  She recently helped conduct a research study called "Leading Well" which...

If you're listening to this podcast, chances are you enjoy learning.  And that alone is not a bad thing.  But when learning becomes a distraction or way to procrastinate, or even overwhelming, it can become unhelpful.  And that is good to be aware of - because then you can turn it into helpful learning! In this episode you'll learn: - What makes learning helpful versus unhelpful - Why we sometimes...

We all have those days in humanitarian work.  The ones where you're not motivated to do anything.  When you feel like nothing is going your way.  When you want to quit. These up's and down's are normal in humanitarian work.  But sometimes you need that extra boost to get you out of that funk and back to your productive, motivated self.  In this episode I share eight ways you can feel better about...

I remember when I sent my first email.  I waited in excitement as the dial tone sounded, and the email I just typed blinked from my outbox... such a magical moment! Since then, email has become more of a source of anxiety than excitement, as many can probably relate.  And when people misuse email, it becomes even worse.  Not only does the misuse of email cause delays, conflicts and lower productiv...

One of the requests I frequently receive in leadership coaching is to help humanitarian leaders build their self-confidence.  The hope is that by having greater self-confidence, they will be able to do more and grow more.  This is great, but I have also found there's a lot of confusion around what self-confidence is and where it comes from.  And knowing these things is the key to developing greate...

"I can't use coaching because I am not a supervisor." This is something I hear frequently from aid workers. But my guest today, Jenny House, will tell you it's not true.  Although she wasn't quite sure how she would use coaching once she learned it, since taking my digital course Jenny has totally changed the way she worked with her colleagues.  And making an impact in their lives and work doesn't...

What type of questions do you ask yourself and others - high quality, helpful questions or low quality, helpless questions?  Often we don't stop to think about how the questions we choose can impact ourselves as humanitarian leaders and our teams.  For example, a high quality, helpful question can help you or someone on your team move forward and create solutions.  A lower quality question can cre...

"Society is putting the burden on people with disabilities to educate the world on being more accessible - and that is ableism." - Haben Girma, Disability Rights Advocate Call me ignorant, but I had never looked at it this way before:  that what is making people "disabled" 80% of the time is the environment they are working and living in.  In other words, change the environment, and the person sud...

If you want to find out where your limited thinking is limiting you, then just look at the places in your work or life that are not where you want them to be.   Our thinking is very powerful, as it creates our emotions, our thinking and our behavior.  And so if you have thinking or beliefs that limit you, then it will be difficult for you to advance and achieve your goals. In this episode I discus...

When ordering food at a restaurant, depending on where you are ordering something like "chips" or "biscuits" or even "cookies" or "crisps" can bring something different than what you expected. This is only one relatively harmless example of how working in different cultures can be confusing and at times, frustrating.  Ordering the wrong food is unfortunate, but there are a lot of other unfortunate...