In this episode of Aid for Aid Workers, host Torrey Peace speaks with Ross Coxon, Humentum’s Director of Client Delivery, about what it means to be a modern leader in the global development and humanitarian space. They discuss the challenges of leadership today and the importance of trust and coaching. Below is an excerpt from their conversation.
T: What would you say it means for someone to be a modern leader from a Humentum perspective?
R: Often people talk about management and leadership, like they’re different, but they are two sides of the same coin. Leadership is how I help the people in my team understand the golden thread of the vision, the mission, the strategy. And how they contribute to that and why what they’re doing is important.
And how do I go and talk to the other teams and the other leaders and try and find a way that allows us not to be in each other’s way?
Humentum does not have offices. Our team is across most of the world. When you’re managing your team, it’s objectives. It is work done. It’s not if you are in your seat at nine o’clock in the morning. It’s about managing by output, attitude, and values much more than it is about punching your timecard and looking busy.
T: That also requires trust. Especially in this [current] environment, which is so dynamic it’s even more important to look at what is within our sphere of influence, our sphere of control.
A modern leader needs to set an example for others in how they use their time. For example, prioritizing or setting an example of wellbeing by caring for themselves, focusing on the things that make the most impact and not the things that just keep you busy, but not productive. And this then in turn allows their team to do the same thing.
[It also means] setting an example for others in how they lead. For example, not needing to be the one with all the answers. So rather than being the bottleneck, which has to approve and make decisions, supporting those around you through what I like to call a coach approach way of leading.
T: Given all the change that’s happening right now in the humanitarian and development sectors, with USG funding, and other [challenges] happening in the world, how do you think that a modern leader can manage this uncertainty with their teams?
R: This is a seismic shift in the sector. [But] for years we’ve been saying we need to change the sector. Is this the uncomfortable event that allows us to change? Let’s not lose sight of that. Let’s hold on to that, ultimate purpose but be agile about how we fit into that and understand that you and your team are going through a moment of unprecedented change.
T: You mentioned a few things that are worth pointing out. One is empathy. Not only empathy for our teams, but empathy for ourselves in this moment. And doing what you need to do to take care of yourself in order to be able to take care of others.
R: You’ve got to be vulnerable as well with that trust. [For example,] maybe somebody on your team is better at doing a task than you. [And] that’s fine.
T: What I tell a lot of leaders when they start the “Becoming the Modern NGO Leader” course is that, especially as you go up the leadership chain and you’re supervising more people, your role becomes more about surrounding yourself with the right people and less about having all the answers. That requires trust.
R: So, as a leader, how do you allow mistakes? How do you dare to fail and, and when it goes wrong, sit with that team and understand why it went wrong, what you could do next time, and use that as a learning experience.
T: In that conversation, coaching as a way of leading is a great use. That’s what the modern NGO leader does — know how to balance the telling with the asking.
Most people do more telling than asking. A part of that is setting boundaries around how much failure is allowed. How can I set a boundary on the amount of the budget or the time? If you want innovation, you have to fail by definition.