Emergency Leadership and Management Program

 

Overview of the ELMP program

The ELMP is an exciting program that will help develop your leadership skills and equip you to lead emergency teams, manage risk and advance CARE’s humanitarian mandate.

Rationale for a leadership and management program in emergencies:

With emergencies happening more frequently and in a more complex manner, our senior staff have to:

·          Lead and manage crises much more frequently than in the past

·          Manage complex situations characterized by chaos, rapidly changing circumstances, and a high level of insecurity

·          Lead teams under high pressure, inspire a shared vision, and empower others to act

·          Negotiate a complex humanitarian landscape with multiple actors 

·          Adhere to high standards of quality and accountability and achieve results rapidly

The Emergency Leadership and Management Program (ELMP) focuses on building both the leadership and management skills required to minimize disaster risks and to prepare for and respond to future emergencies.

 

Purpose and objectives of the ELMP:

 The overall purpose of the ELMP is to strengthen the leadership capabilities of CARE’s senior managers in relation to emergency response management.

 The main objectives are to:

·          Increase knowledge of the multi-faceted humanitarian landscape, and the leader’s role in advancing CARE’s humanitarian mandate to respond to emergencies, and reduce risk and vulnerability;

·          Equip participants with the right leadership knowledge and skills to effectively handle uncertainty, manage the complexity of emergency operations including safety and security dimensions, while meeting accountability expectations;

·          Enhance participants’ abilities to lead emergency teams effectively, balancing mission and team dynamics, and self management under conditions of stress.

 How the course is delivered:

 The ELMP is a mixed method learning program, consisting of the following components:

·          Pre-workshop study and assessment – this involves a combination of readings, audio presentations and assignments (such as self assessments, case studies and online courses) to provide background information that are applied in the workshop. This requires approximately eight hours of work over a six week period.

·          Five day experiential face to face workshop – the workshop draws heavily on the experience of participants through simulations, role-plays, small group work, individual presentations, and plenary discussions. Opportunities are available for reflection, coaching, feedback, and leadership development.

·          Post-workshop self-directed action learning – this includes practical application of knowledge and skills gained during the program through opportunities such as emergency deployments, coaching and mentoring of colleagues and on-going learning assignments.

 

 

What will you learn?

The program includes both management and leadership components and draws on participants’ own leadership experiences, actual field examples, CARE’s emergency management tools, and existing leadership frameworks. The four cross cutting themes below are covered throughout the program:

 

Cross-Cutting Themes	Focus	What you’ll get out of it
Leadership in emergencies	Presents situational leadership, emotional intelligence, decision-making, and negotiation as four indispensable elements of effective emergency team leadership. Participants will apply these elements in a number of emergency challenges, as they are asked to balance mission goals and team dynamics and manage constraints. The aim is to reflect on the leader’s role in - and techniques available for - obtaining high team performance in emergencies.	§       Understand leadership styles and how you use them §       Strengthen your emotional intelligence and learn strategies to manage yourself and lead your team in times of stress to obtain high performance §       Build your decision making and negotiation skills for complex emergencies
CARE’s humanitarian mandate	Explores what CARE’s humanitarian mandate and principles mean in practice, including examining what taking a long term view of our humanitarian work means for emergency preparedness and response and long term risk reduction.	§       Strengthen your understanding of CARE’s humanitarian mandate, where it has come from and how it informs operational activities §       Enhance your ability to provide practical leadership on applying CARE’s humanitarian mandate to help reduce risk and vulnerability
Managing emergency preparedness and response	Reviews critical issues and success factors within emergency preparedness and response management, to ensure participants understand and implement good practice procedures. This includes a particular focus on integrating safety and security dimensions into emergency operations.	§       Understand CARE’s key emergency protocols and how to implement them §       Enhance your ability to operate in insecure environments and make informed choices using risk management techniques §       A better understanding of – and how to participate in - the humanitarian coordination system.
Quality and accountability	Identifies the critical quality and accountability issues as outlined in CARE’s Humanitarian Accountability framework and what it takes to provide leadership on accountability in emergency response and to ensure high quality programming in complex environments.	§       Knowledge of –and how to apply - CARE’s Humanitarian Accountability Framework §       Strategies to overcome the challenges of putting accountability into practice