Paper short abstract:

This paper will critically examine the organizational cultures of CSOs and explore implications for leadership effectiveness for today's global challenges. Through sharing current cases & literature on critical leadership studies, a set of practical actions will be proposed for CSO implementation.

Paper long abstract:

With significant change and turbulence impacting organizational life across the globe, it's critical to note the importance of leaders recognizing and effectively managing culture in workplaces (Collinson & Tourish, 2015). With a growing frequency of global challenges requiring different approaches to our work, this unique environment invites us to deeper examination of the often underrecognized organizational dynamics at play. From competing values to managing change, a new cultural mandate is far-reaching for leaders to consider across civil society.

Organizational culture, according to Schein (2010), comprises "the basic tacit assumptions about how the world is and ought to be that a group of people share and that determines their perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and their overt behavior." At the heart of these cultural elements, it is impossible to ignore competing values throughout CSO networks. Through a myriad of norms on power and constructions of place across borders of nations and groups, this reality is present in our complex world of organizations.

Alvesson and Spicer (2014) suggest that organizational culture should be studied reflexively and "examine the patterns of power and domination associated with leadership and...broader ideological and institutional conditions." How can CSOs best navigate different perspectives and values in a growing system of global actors? Which ideological and institutional conditions impact leadership effectiveness, especially across the North-South divide? These and other critical questions will be explored as contributing realities in these CSOs positioned at the heart of responding to our world's most pressing problems.

Paper short abstract:

In 2020, Christian Aid is closing its Philippines programme. This paper reflects on Christian Aid Philippines’s ’humble’ yet strategic leadership style: enabling, convening and brokering; investing in organisational capacity; and contesting and developing concepts to make them useful in the Philippines context. Through drawing on reflections and inputs from a range of stakeholders (Christian Aid partners, academics, government, business and international actors) it explores what is needed, organisationally and individually to “lead from behind”.

Paper long abstract:

In 2020, as part of an organisational restructure, Christian Aid is closing its office and programme in the Philippines. As part of the closure process I interviewed and held focus group discussions with diverse stakeholders (including civil society partners, academics, businesses, government and international agencies), seeking to understand what Christian Aid Philippines has contributed through 20 years of different initiatives.

Time after time, those I spoke to identified that the way Christian Aid Philippines worked had been crucial to its contribution:

“It is the humble way you work, not seeking profile or visibility, but you keep issues on the agenda, get things moving, work in partnership and play a practical role when needed.”

“Christian Aid are quietly in the background: a convenor, influencing us, taking on risk; respecting, fostering and supporting us, not undermining, competing with or absorbing us, but building capacities for the future.”

(All quotes from interviews with external stakeholders, January 2020)

These discussions described a specific type of leadership: one which has enabled Christian Aid Philippines to support the ongoing agendas and plans of civil society partners, rather than sub-contracting them; and one which has invested in institutional capacity, bringing partners together with unlikely collaborators – to meet challenges with a ‘whole of society approach’. This has meant acknowledging that while CSOs can be part of the solution to intractable development challenges, they cannot be the whole solution, and that the role of government and business is also crucial.

Part of Christian Aid’s leadership role has been convening and brokering, creating space and opportunities for collaboration. But equally important has been thought leadership: a focus on ideas and analysis, and on contesting and developing concepts, taking sector-wide trends and making them meaningful and useful for national practice. Examples of this include the way the Philippines humanitarian sector has responded to and given meaning to the concept of localisation, or the way that Christian Aid worked with faith actors to address concerns raised under the banner of safeguarding. Reflection on the relationships between an INGO and national CSOs also shine a light on the nature of equality and justice within the sector.

This paper explores what is needed at organisational level to enable such leadership, and how this has affected staff recruitment, internal organisational culture and practice, and the formation of relationships with others. It argues that this type of leadership requires strong contextual political analysis and clarity of purpose about what needs to be addressed; a positive vision of change; and an ability to adapt, respond to opportunities, change course, and move on when something isn’t working. But none of these requirements would have been met without individual political acumen or the ability to form strong trust relationships. These were the necessary prerequisites for ‘leading from behind’, at times with unlikely bed-fellows.

Paper short abstract:

This paper seems to assess the role played by globalization and leadership institutional in Africa as actors in the global world as well as a review of the past in order to design the future.

Paper long abstract:

Problems faced by Globalization and Leadership institutions in Africa, is one of, if not the main reason why I find interest in this topic. My argument is that, The new wave of global institutional leadership is marked by the globalization of markets and finance, the unipolar domination of a single liberal development model, cultural standardization, the internationalization of education systems and global networking through communications and information systems, raising great expectations as ideas, products, unique values and thoughts of progress and emancipation flow back and forth while, at the same time presaging great danger, serious threats, inequalities, oppression, exclusion and marginalization of many regions in Africa, leaving conflict, civil war, exacerbated idiosyncrasies and destructive identities in their trail. Globalization holds out hopes for the expression of diversity, essential to humanity, but also threatens to destroy diversity through worldwide totalitarianism that it is likely to impose at any moment. As Future issue to be address, a critical review of Africa's situation starts with the desire to redress matters, give hope to the rising generations and ensure a genuine takeoff in the context of integration at the world level. The African culture in its broadest sense, must be central to development, to change and to integration into globalization. At the same time, textbooks must contribute to the development of a pluralist and tolerant approach to the teaching of history in order to meet young people's new expectations. This could be possible solutions for new leadership and global challenges in Africa.

Paper short abstract:

The paper analyses elements that allow the definition of third sector and discusses the experience of a non-governmental organization based in Brazilian countryside through a literature review and interviews examining its concepts, roles in capitalist society and leadership formation.

Paper long abstract:

The paper analyses elements that allow the definition of third sector and discusses the experience of a non-governmental organization based in a city in Minas Gerais, Brazil. A literature review and interviews were conducted to explain the understanding of what is called the third sector and its roles in capitalist society. As intermediaries between social demands and the state, third sector organizations assume complementary functions in the public policy field and social action, even though they may contribute to processes of resistance and social change in the context of capitalism. The article describes and discusses the elements of the construction of a local actor's identity, pointing out that the way the organization used to intervene in the municipal social space made it visible and socially relevant, despite having distanced from the construction of alternatives for social transformation. Furthermore, from the case studied, we found that given some informalities in the organization the management is centered in the figure of the CSO founder. The Institute counts with City support (structural and financial) and some private initiatives. However, even 18 years later the foundation was inaugurated, this person is a reference for the children assisted as well as for the community and the policy makers.

Paper short abstract:

Based on team research in India, this paper proposes new terms of engagement between Northern and Southern CSOs in advocacy collaboration. Showing contextualized agency as a basis for CSO leadership, it argues that collaborations can 'Start from the South', while doing justice to complementarities.

Paper long abstract:

When it comes to civil society organizations (CSOs), a long-term goal in the field of international development is to create conditions where responsibilities and leadership increasingly lie with Southern CSOs. If Southern CSOs are to do more leading, their contexts, understandings, and ambitions must move more to the centre of programmes and collaborations. But what could that mean in practice? Over the past two years, we researched this question through seven studies engaging a wide array of CSOs in India. Seeing that mechanisms for starting from Southern capacities, perspectives and diversities are largely missing in the development industry, we developed an understanding of CSO agency as the capacity of organizations as interpreting and acting entities working from certain perspectives, capacities and rationales, to act on the basis of diverse analyses of possibilities and constraints, from different approaches. We propose this contextualized agency as an important new angle from which to understand CSOs' advocacy roles and advance Southern leadership. We recommend advancing Southern leadership by 'Starting from the South', rooted in the contextualized agency of Southern CSOs. Our recommendations are to put programming upside down, and to think of Northern CSOs as part of relatively Southern-centred networks rather than leads in linear North-South relations. From these starting points, we offer a framework operationalizing new terms of engagement between Northern and Southern CSOs through five practical recommendations to Northern CSOs and donors.

Paper short abstract:

This paper presents the framework and initial analysis of research on the nature of NGO-led village development in Egypt. Aiming to comprehend its processes, actors, interventions and effects. In addition to the various perceptions of the government, the NGOs and the people of the development.

Paper long abstract:

Rural Egypt, where 57% of Egypt's population live (CAPMAS, 2017) is suffering from poverty (Müller-Mahn, 1998). Several measures have been taken towards poverty alleviation: the government on its side made several trials to enhance the rural situation, NGOs also have played a significant role in promoting rural development. However, despite the disappointing results and the rise in the poverty rate, as assessed by aggregate poverty measurement (CAPMAS, 2017) (Elnour, 2012), it is remarkable to witness the continuity of the development ideas implemented by or through NGOs. The general approach to village development appears to have institutionalized a specific set of procedures, with clear prioritization of physical over human development interventions. Finally, the intended beneficiaries' perspective is not highlighted in development planning. Further, because of the issues surrounding the availability of data and dissemination platforms, as well as the political sensitivity surrounding the discussion of poverty in Egypt, there is insufficient data around the subject and published research is mostly quantitative (McGann, 2007; Assaad & Rouchdy, 1999).

This paper is based on research which aims to unpack the nature of NGO-led village development, comprehending its various processes, actors, and its effects on the intended beneficiaries. The proposed overarching questions are: what is the role and impact of NGO-led rural development in Egypt? And what are the various perceptions of the actors to the development? This paper presents the initial findings and analysis from qualitative fieldwork, using in-depth semi-structured interviews with NGO managers, field workers, government officials, policy makers and the beneficiaries.

Paper short abstract:

Expectations from NGO leaders are higher than for others. They must combine ethical and technical competence to achieve development goals. This paper explores responsible leadership, ethics, enterprise and impact. Semi-structured interviews reveal distinctive challenges and concern for genuineness.

Paper long abstract:

According to a non-profit sector leader in a developing context (Nigeria), "leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build an inspiring vision, and create something new. Leadership is about mapping out where you need to go to "win" as a team or an organisation; and it is dynamic, exciting, and inspiring". Yet, expectations from leaders in this sector are often higher than for leaders in the rest of the private sector. To start with, the sector is a high-trust arena due to the social motivation of its entrepreneurs and innovators. Secondly, due to the importance of their roles to society, CSO and NGO leaders are often held to higher standards since their ethics can drive or hinder the achievement of development goals. In addition, when trust is broken in the non-profit sector, as it sometimes is, this causes serious development setbacks. For these reasons, leadership training for this sector has to be robust for technical competence as well as for ethical competence, since good intentions are not enough; they must also be effectively carried out. This paper explores the ingredients for responsible leadership in the non-profit sector and the networked interfaces between ethics, enterprise and impact. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions on themes of ethics, enterprise and impact with leaders in the sector (health, education, and impact investment initiatives) reveal what their distinctive challenges are in a developing context. A strong concern for genuineness as a leadership dimension emerges from the interviewees.