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    • Conflict in Context

    Leadership in conflict defined by 'durability of solution thinking'

    Michael Bowers, senior director of strategic response and global emergencies for Mercy Corps, has spent more than a decade directing programs in war-torn regions. He shares his definition of humanitarian response leadership with Devex, as well as how the larger community is responding to a shortage of this talent.

    By Kelli Rogers // 24 August 2015

    There are inherent personality traits in someone who will most likely be successful working in a complex crisis. They’re easy to describe, harder to realize and even harder to capture at the right time.

    Humanitarian response leadership is about confidence and risk taking, persistence and personal resilience, according to Michael Bowers, senior director of strategic response and global emergencies for Mercy Corps.

    “It’s tolerance of ambiguity,” said Bowers, who began his career in Kosovo. “We get a lot of people stewing in that for so long — in South Sudan, in Syria, surrounded by a bombardment of challenges. It’s not just thinking quickly, it’s something that’s protracted years … with no end in sight.”

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    Read more about the current tug of war for humanitarian response talent:

    The last humanitarian response leader

    There are inherent personality traits in someone who will most likely be successful working in a complex crisis. They’re easy to describe, harder to realize and even harder to capture at the right time. Groups will end up in a tug of war over the last humanitarian response leader unless they band together to sharpen recruitment and widen the talent-finding net.

    • Humanitarian Aid
    • Worldwide
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

    About the author

    • Kelli Rogers

      Kelli Rogers@kellierin

      Kelli Rogers has worked as an Associate Editor and Southeast Asia Correspondent for Devex, with a particular focus on gender. Prior to that, she reported on social and environmental issues from Nairobi, Kenya. Kelli holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and has reported from more than 20 countries.

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