As NGO community we are staring into the unknown, and as Bob Johansen of the Institute for the Future, memorably, said recently: "The future will reward clarity, but punish uncertainty. Be wary of people who need certainty, since certainty is brittle". Yet, our brains crave certainty, so what to do? How to lead our NGOs during a global crisis like this?
This was one of the central topics at the recent (June 3-5, 2020) 'Leading Together' meeting of the International Civil Society Centre, a leading convening body for mid to large size transnational NGOs. I was happy to be of service to the Centre by offering a presentation on 'Leading during Crisis' and by assisting in the meeting's design and facilitation. We also tried something new: Tom Howie at the Centre and I recorded a joint episode to capture the meeting's main takeaways.
In the episode, we hear thoughtful NGO practitioners offer their takeaways: participants Jayanta Bora, Executive Director for Global Human Resources at Plan International and Aida Rehouma, Lead Global Programming at World YWCA. And, of course, we also benefit from listening to the reflections of Wolfgang Jamann, the Centre's Director and main host of the meeting.
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