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.”
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.
About the author
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.
