The GELI Executive Leadership Programme is a 12-month learning journey, with a focus on personal leadership, leadership in teams, and leading into the future. The programme includes three, five-day residencies complemented by virtual learning and executive coaching opportunities between each residency. The content is centred on specific leadership topics, identified through extensive consultations and informed by emerging research applicable to the humanitarian/development sector and beyond. Cross-cutting themes are introduced and carried across the interactive and experiential curriculum, such as contextual intelligence, systems leadership, and responsible negotiation. The course is grounded in the principle that learning must be practical and applicable to real-life operational complexities.

Your Curriculum
Residency One: Personal Leadership. Reconnect with who you are as a leader and be challenged to evolve your leadership approach. Topics include:
- What is the Leadership Ecosystem?
- The Brain: The Key to Unlocking your Leadership Potential
- Your Leadership Purpose: How to Tackle Ethical Dilemmas
- Peer Coaching: Putting It into Context
- Overcoming the Immunity to Change
- Empathy: A Negotiation Tool
- Motivation Mindsets
- Leading “Outside Your Box:” Contextual Intelligence
- Introduction to Systems Leadership
Residency Two: Collaborative Leadership. Learn strategies to catalyse teams towards common objectives and maximize team effectiveness. Topics include:
- Navigating Your Network Using Strategic Negotiation
- Collaborative Team Leadership
- Exploring the Leadership Effectiveness Analysis 360 Team Profile
- Contextual Intelligence from a Cultural Perspective
- Building Personal and Team Resilience
- Applying Systems Leadership to Build Collaboration
Residency Three: Leading Into the Emerging Future. Hone your skills to adapt to new and emerging situations at the network and the systems-level. Topics include:
- Simulated Society (SIMSOC) Exercise
- Future-Ready Leadership
- Change, Transformation, and Strategic Innovation
- Your Own Systems Leadership Approach
- Choosing to Climb
- My Leadership Ecosystem Revisited
At A Glance
Meet your faculty

Alain Lempereur
Alain Lempereur

Buhle Dlamini
Buhle Dlamini

Cat Tully
Cat Tully

Eric J. McNulty
Eric J. McNulty

Feena May
Feena May

Ingrid Richter, Ph.D.
Ingrid Richter, Ph.D.

Linda A. Hill, Ph.D.
Linda A. Hill, Ph.D.

Lisa Dreier
Lisa Dreier

Mathias Risse
Mathias Risse

Robert Kegan
Robert Kegan

Tricia Naddaff
Tricia Naddaff
Eligibility
We welcome you to apply. Keep in mind the following qualifications:
- Have at least 15 years of experience in leadership roles at the international level, including five years of operational experience in humanitarian, development, and/or peace-building work;
- Be a current member of an executive level, country-based, inter-agency coordination platform, such as a UNCT, HCT, UN Integrated Mission, or NGO leadership forum;
- Be a current head of your organization’s country office;
- Have the intention to serve in a senior role at field-level for a minimum of five years following programme completion;
- Hold a Bachelor’s Degree, a Master’s Degree is preferred;
- Full proficiency in written and oral English;
- Open to self-reflection, learning, challenging yourself, and holding yourself accountable to change;
- Authentic in your desire to inspire others, be a role model and effect change, and lead transformation;
- Committed to being fully present and engaged throughout the duration of the programme.
Applications for the ELP programme 2022 cohort will open in the last quarter of 2022. If you are interested in receiving a notification please email us on [email protected] or subscribe to our mailing list.
Feena May, Chief Executive Officer, The Inspiring Company
GELI Lead Facilitator