How Leaders Can Support the Humanitarian Reset
The Humanitarian Reset is more than a policy shift. It’s a call to rethink how our sector operates — and, crucially, how we lead.
For leaders, this is both a challenge and an opportunity: to create systems that are not only effective, but humane.
From Rhetoric to Action
Many leaders agree in principle with the Reset’s aims - more equitable partnerships, stronger accountability, better staff well-being. But turning agreement into action requires more than adopting the right language. It means leading differently.
Four Ways Leaders Can Act Now
Listen to Staff, Especially at the Margins
Create channels for candid feedback, ensuring it’s safe for people to speak without fear of retaliation.
Prioritize perspectives from field staff and underrepresented voices in decision-making.
Align Decisions With Values - Even Under Pressure
Avoid shortcuts that compromise ethics for speed or optics.
Be transparent about trade-offs and the reasoning behind them.
Integrate Staff Well-being Into Strategy
Treat well-being as a strategic priority, not a side project.
Invest in policies and practices that reduce psychosocial risks and promote healthy work design.
Lead by Example
Model the behaviors you want to see: openness, accountability, empathy.
Show that leadership is about service, not status.
The Risks of Inaction
Leaders who treat the Reset as a passing trend risk losing credibility with staff, partners, and the communities they serve. Inaction not only stalls progress - it reinforces the very systems the Reset aims to change.
The Long Game
Supporting the Reset isn’t about quick wins. It’s about sustained, values-driven leadership that shapes healthier systems over time. And it starts with the daily choices leaders make, choices that ripple outward, shaping the culture and credibility of the whole organization.
Holding space with care and solidarity — here’s to staying whole, together,
~ Kate
Thanks for reading The Olive Pages: Fieldnotes on care, clarity, and staying whole
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KRC provides coaching, psychosocial support, and organizational consulting to humanitarian professionals and mission-driven organizations worldwide. Based in lived experience and trauma-aware care, our work helps clients navigate burnout, moral injury, organizational change, and career transitions — while staying human in the process.