To enhance our global support in a more effective and sustainable manner, Johanniter International Assistance has undertaken a comprehensive review of its internal leadership principles. The “Leadership Concept”, which was internally endorsed at the end of 2022, contains binding guidelines that outline how all staff members would like to interact with each other based on specific principles. This concept is an important part of the measures to implement the Strategy 2027.
The term “leadership” does not mean that only managers implement the new principles. Rather, it extends an invitation to all employees, regardless of their positions, to contribute to a novel culture centered around mutual care within their respective spheres of work. This entails assuming daily responsibility for upholding these principles. Managers take on the task of cultivating a work environment where employees can genuinely embody these principles.
Throughout the developmental phase, initiated in the summer of 2021, colleagues from all levels in thirteen Johanniter country offices worldwide, as well as the national office, were actively engaged in the process. Until January 2022, individual interviews and group discussions were conducted to find out how leadership had been perceived and shaped in Johanniter International Assistance until then, and what the employees' opinions were on the matter. A comprehensive evaluation of the entirety of International Assistance was conducted to assess its alignment with principles encompassing gender sensitivity, integration, cultural awareness, as well as the enhancement of well-being and protection. During the second phase, small working groups, in collaboration with the project team, formulated draft guidelines for the new principles based on these findings.
Action Plan for Everyday Life
To ensure the seamless integration of every Johanniter International Assistance worker into this process, the drafts underwent discussions and further refinement across the organization in the summer of 2022, both in meetings on the ground and at headquarters. "In total, over half of our staff participated in the development," explains project manager Patrick Mathé, illustrating the transformation process. The result is a document that describes the new guidelines in an easy-to-understand and practical way. This includes an action plan with examples from the everyday life of the staff, so that the new concept does not remain just theory and can be easily implemented by everyone.
9 Principles for Effective Cooperation
Central to the final concept, which was introduced to all employees through an interactive workshop in January 2023, are the 9 guiding principles. Each principle is composed of a succinct title and a concise explanation of its practical implications—rooted in real-life scenarios as closely as possible. Since then, the staff have proven that they want to work on all the principles. Because the innovation was received with interest by them from the very beginning. "Feedback regarding the new culture has consistently been substantial. Moreover, the kickoff event achieved a participation rate well above the average," Mathé affirms.
These are our 9 Guiding Principles:
We consider dignity and diversity as core to a person’s self-esteem.
We respect and value every person with their rights, dignity, and diversity. We are sensitive, aware, and open to educate ourselves on aspects impacting on the dignity of others, whether they are our colleagues, managers, partner organisations, communities, or people we work with.
We are comfortable with the difference that diversity brings about, value and respect it, while ensuring equal opportunities for everyone. As we value approaches and processes that involve and foster a meaningful contribution of a diverse range of people, we are curious, interested, and open for different ways and new ideas.
We are aware of the power and privilege we hold as individuals and organisation and share it for the benefit of others.
To practice leadership at all levels, we develop our understanding of power and its links to privilege in our day-to-day work. We are comfortable discussing how power and privilege works and how we can share it with others. By using power wisely, we foster engagement and inclusion, create an environment for innovation and build trust.
We invest in building trust as it enables us to engage and collaborate effectively with each other.
We actively foster trust as we strive for a safe environment where we feel confident to act without the concern of having to protect ourselves around others. Our differences, conflicts, and disagreements are about concepts and ideas, not personal attacks. This allows us to share our thoughts, ideas, challenges, and concerns without being afraid to be rejected, judged, or punished.
We are self-aware, considerate of others, and ensure our behaviour is guided by mutual respect.
Self-awareness is about knowing ourselves, our strength, and weaknesses, understanding our impact on others and acting on it by adapting our behaviour accordingly. We always consider how our own actions and behaviour will impact others as well as the organisation so that we can be intentional in our interactions and everything we do. By practicing self-awareness, we create an environment for effective and respectful collaboration.
We know that effective communication enhances the engagement and motivation of everyone to contribute to achieving our shared goals.
Communication is as much about talking and sharing information, as it is about listening to understand and consider perspectives, views, and experiences of others. We communicate with others to ensure that people around us feel informed and understand our expectations. Our communication, verbal and non-verbal, is respectful of diversity and culturally sensitive6; and our messages, spoken and written, can be easily understood, and accessed.
We contribute to creating an environment, where appreciating and enabling each other is actively practised by everybody.
We actively share our appreciation for the efforts of others in contributing to our shared goals, take the time to celebrate our successes, bring lightness and joy to our work and create space to connect and laugh with others. We strive to enable our colleagues to give their best working towards our shared goals by seeking clarity about roles, responsibilities, and expectations towards each other.
We own our decisions and actions and are ready to be held to account for them and our behavior.
Our responsibility and accountability in fulfilling our role is towards the people we work with, internally and externally. We are also accountable towards the organisation and our supporters. We contribute to the achievement of the shared goals, instead of following our own agenda and personal interests. When our action results in a mistake or our behaviour is perceived as inappropriate, we assume the responsibility to learn from it and consider it as opportunity for shared learning, development and growing.
We take care of our and other’s physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.
We proactively work towards a healthy and supportive environment by taking care of our wellbeing while encouraging and supporting others to do the same. We are aware of others wellbeing, as their needs may differ from ours and we help take the burden from them to advocate and ask for their needs to be fulfilled on their own. We plan and organize our work in such way that acknowledges the wellbeing of others and respects their situation beyond the workplace.
We are open for change and welcome it.
We recognise that there is constant change and accept and adapt to it in our day-to-day work life. We embrace change as part of our agility. We entertain innovation, shifts in technology, new concepts, and processes, as they help us and the organisation to grow and develop. We step out of our comfort zone and look forward to new developments.
Embracing the Change
For instance, the nine-member team led by country coordinator Borany Huon in Cambodia encounters the new guidelines displayed each day upon entering the office. Already, they've had the opportunity to put at least two of these principles into practice. "We recently moved into a new office. The change was not easy for the colleagues at first," says Huon. "However, as they realized the improved amenities—including a lounge, a yoga room, and a dedicated space for childcare—they've come to relish their time here. This has further solidified our team's cohesion."
Boniface Lakony, stationed at the Johanniter office in South Sudan, also highlights the organization’s commitment to the well-being of every team member. "My wife and I had twins who were premature and therefore needed medical treatment. Balancing family needs and work commitments was demanding," he says. "However, I was fortunate to be permitted to work from home and provided with a salary advance to cover the medical expenses. This support was invaluable." He will also be more conscious of supporting the other members of his team in the future.
Until the new leadership culture is really known and lived by all staff members, there is still an exciting road ahead for the HR department and all International Assistance staff. "We eagerly anticipate the ongoing progression, in alignment with the principle of 'embracing change'," says Patrick Mathé.
