The devastating Earthquake that struck Haiti in January sparked huge generosity and inevitably led to intense media interest. But almost as inevitable were the subsequent claims of a slow, badly coordinated response. These criticisms varied in their targets and validity, but many related in one way or another to the issue of leadership, and the influence that it (or the lack of it) was having on the coordination of the response (see for example here or here).

As the Haiti Learning Portal on the ALNAP website catalogues, there are a number of initiatives under way to ensure that the performance of the humanitarian system in Haiti is evaluated and the appropriate lessons are gathered, and hopefully learnt. Furthermore, it is unwise to draw conclusions from afar, especially considering that the leadership of the UN Mission in Haiti were themselves among the earthquakes victims.

However, it is within this context that initial research by ALNAP has uncovered a growing sense of unease from within the sector at what is perceived as the contracting of space for leadership in operational settings. This is coupled with a sense that bureaucratic practices and so-called ‘modern management’ principles have led to effective leadership increasingly becoming a matter of good fortune and chance, rather than organisational intent.
And this issue is no longer merely a periphery concern for the humanitarian community. ALNAP’s Pilot State of the Humanitarian System Report (SOHS) revealed that of all the challenges facing international humanitarian action, lack of effective leadership and coordination was, according to respondents, the most pressing.

When structures such as the clusters – designed to enhance coordination at a national level – were judged to be working well, respondents saw them as providing clear leadership and stronger sectoral coordination. Elsewhere however, findings from the recent ‘Review of the engagement of NGOs with the humanitarian reform process’, (summarized usefully by Anne Street in HPN) suggest that in four of the five countries looked at, strong leadership through the clusters was found to be missing.

The challenges of leadership are not confined to the UN system. ALNAP’s SOHS report uncovered views indicating leadership within NGOs may also be problematic – without, as one interviewee put it, ‘a forceful enough group of senior people running emergency responses in the big NGOs. And it’s become too managerial – not enough capacity to speak out well on the big issues’.

If we accept there is increasing concern about humanitarian leadership, we might do well to consider briefly some of the constraints and challenges facing those charged with such roles in increasingly complex humanitarian response environments.

When a humanitarian agency responds to an emergency, it necessarily moves into a space of high uncertainty and ambiguity, in turn placing severe stress on leadership functions, especially at an operational level. And although leaders in a range of sectors may face such demands, leadership in the context of humanitarian operations may be particularly intense because of the combination of extreme time pressures, media exposure, logistical challenges, the fluidity of the context, as well as the overarching humanitarian imperative that drives such work.

To address the increasing concern around leadership in the sector, and to bridge the gap between established leadership practices and the humanitarian context, ALNAP is participating in a Joint Initiative on Leadership in the Humanitarian Sector. Other members of the Initiative include the Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy (DRLA), the Humanitarian Futures Programme (HFP), and People In Aid. For our part ALNAP will be examining operational leadership, working to produce an ALNAP Study over the course of the year, including a number of field-level case studies.

We hope this collaborative research effort will further the humanitarian community’s understanding of how leaders can effect change within their organisations, as well as bring about change across organisations. And perhaps – even – move the debate from recriminations after the event to an honest dialogue on the demands of leadership.

We’re keen to hear your views and experiences, both good and bad, particularly around how to square the need for inspirational individual leadership with the demands of increased accountability and professionalization. Please feel free to use this space, or contact me directly.

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