Organisations and people who think about the longer-term aspects of their existence and leadership have a greater impact.

This session sets the global view for the MAS Module week, looking at the meta trends in the fields of work and leadership.
The session focusses on the purpose of a leader which emerges as one of the most important drivers of work motivation. The participants will be enabled to work on defining their personal leadership purpose.

Data-based systems are now blurring the traditional lines between our physical, virtual and even biological worlds.

The sheer scale, scope, and complexity of transformational advances in digital technologies (especially both emerging and disruptive digital technologies) and their impact in the world of work means that leaders must, at a pace like never before, think of very different strategies, mindsets, and cultural shifts in the way they work. Humanitarian leaders need an even stronger basis of values, ethics, and principles to work, partner, and collaborate.

This session focuses on expanding leaders’ ability to lead ethically in a way that holds the space for the multitude of aspects, and which impact in the humanitarian context in relation to the constant emerging digital transformation. Their present and future ability to lead will require an agility to identify and navigate the emerging ethical opportunities and ethical challenges of digital transformation.

The new world of work requires a new leadership style, mindset, and brain.

In this session, we will explore the current development of work environments and learn about the latest neuroscientific research to navigate successfully through these developments and initiate changes. Furthermore, this module allows participants to reflect on their leadership behavior in their work environment and to apply the newly gained insights to their leadership role.

The future is not here now, so how can we engage with it?

Humanity has been experiencing a remarkable acceleration in the rate of change in a wide range of fields, from science and technology to financial and organisational dynamics to culture and the very essence of what it will mean to be human in the 21st century.

This session will focus on recent developments to help humanitarian practitioners to work effectively with others in anticipating possible future conditions. To engage with the unknown, participants shall explore options for understanding and addressing emerging risks and opportunities and activities that nurture creativity, candour, and genuine collaboration.

To talk about 'humanity', we have to be able to talk about violence.

The session provides a science-based approach to the impact of violence and how this approach benefits humanitarian action. Such an approach allows an objective and common dialogue about the complex human phenomenon of violence and so leads to more targeted policies for security issues, preventive measures, diplomacy, education, and the application of national and international laws. In other words, talking in a consistent way about violence will lead to a consistent approach to humanitarian action.

Complexity, gut feeling and experience limit analytical decision making and may even lead to mistakes.

This session focuses on leading team decision making processes during complex and uncertain times. The participants will be introduced to a structured decision-making approach, which follows the Lucerne leadership model, and which participants can apply to their work environments.

The Lucerne leadership model is based on distinct leadership processes, which offer guidance to team members and which allow to remain agile and target-oriented, even in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environments ("VUCA").

How do we build and lead hybrid and virtual teams over time to have real impact?

This session focuses on building skills that allow a leader to build high performing virtual teams that have impact — both in terms of task and team spirit. It highlights the best practices for leading a virtual team and how to achieve an equal (if not higher) level of engagement and effectiveness when working in a virtual environment. It also focuses on how a leader develops strategies for maintaining and adjusting direction in times of ambiguity.

How does the immediate future affect different aspects of diversity and inclusion on different levels (individuals, teams, and systems)?

This session thematises how good leaders create an inclusive social environment that leverages the best of people and performance. In creating such an atmosphere, aspects of power, privilege, and identity will be explored.

Based on this, it builds an understanding of the links between diversity and inclusion, the evolution of humanitarian work, and the impact of external social shifts, so that leaders can create operational strategies to form a more diverse and inclusive environment.

How can leaders take effective decisions in complex situations?

This session aims to help participants enhance their capability to make effective decisions and lead others into taking action. It integrates all the aspects of the MAS Module week and proposes a framework to help navigate the process of taking decisions in a complex environment.