19. Torrey Peace of Aid for Aid Workers

Embodying change: Transforming power, culture and well-being in aid organisations

This episode is dedicated to humanitarians around the world on World Humanitarian Day.

Melissa and Torrey Peace of Aid for Aid Workers Leadership Podcast do a podcast exchange about people-centred leadership.

In this conversation they cover:

• The importance of empowering the people closest to the problem, as they know best how to solve those problems. This relates to high performing teams as well as to the localisation conversation.
• Three common limiting beliefs that hold leaders back and what to do about them:

1. “Leaders always have to be available.” Actually, leaders are more effective when they – and their teams – schedule and protect regular, uninterrupted time for focused work.
2. “Leaders have to have all the answers.” On the contrary, no leader has all the answers. A coaching approach that supports individuals in solving their own problems can bring profound results to management relationships as well as partnerships.
3. “Setting boundaries is selfish.” In reality, saying “no” when someone asks you to do something that doesn’t work for you or the organisation can protect the quality of work. It is okay to say no!

• Topics that are currently in demand in the aid sector from Torrey’s vantage point as a coach, podcast host, teacher and blogger:

1. Time management
2. Well-being
3. How to set boundaries
4. How to be more inclusive
5. Decolonising aid and nationalising positions

• Creating cultures in which people and partners feel comfortable speaking up.
  • Ask for feedback and take action on that feedback. We don’t have to call it feedback, as the word itself can be triggering, but consider methods from compassionate communication to connect and improve.
  • Make the organisation's values come alive by being clear on what they are and what they look like in action and revisiting them often.

With twelve years experience as a leader in international development Torrey facilitates rising and established leaders in the aid world to achieve optimal fulfillment in life and work through creative solutions that align with their organization’s values as well as their own. Torrey coaches leaders and shares learning through her blog, through a podcast, and through a digital course to teach supervisors in international development how they can coach their teams.

To learn more, check out:

- Aid for Aid Workers: https://www.aidforaidworkers.com/

- Write to her at [e-mail]

- Check out these Aid for Aid Workers Leadership Podcast episodes:

• How to Measure Trust with Partners and Communities
• Is Your Leadership Style Preventing Community Engagement?
• A Case Study on Nationalizing Staff Positions and Lessons Learned
• Stop Being Inconsistent and Start Aligning Your Values to Your Actions in Aid Work
• The Leader’s Role in Promoting Well-being in Humanitarian Work

***We would like to give a special thanks to the Initiative’s supporters: the CHS Alliance members, the Government of Luxembourg, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (DFCO) and the Netherlands. Thanks to ICVA for collaborating in this joint project engaging leaders. And thanks to Ziada Abeid for editing the show.***