David Miliband
Appearances
Redefiners
Redefiners Rewind: Insights and Takeaways from 2024
Survival comes top, but I'm also very committed to the idea that if the humanitarian sector just chases its tail, if it neglects innovation, it's never going to succeed. So we try to work for the medium term, not just the short term. I think that's part of what it means to be strategic. I'm a great opponent of the idea that culture eats strategy for lunch.
Redefiners
Redefiners Rewind: Insights and Takeaways from 2024
And I'm a great opponent of the idea that strategy is only something for corporate boardrooms, not for NGOs. I think good strategy is about what you're trying to do and how you're trying to do it. And my view is that we're stronger for being a strategy-led organization.
Redefiners
Redefiners Rewind: Insights and Takeaways from 2024
I want to give a very simple answer to that, which is not intended to be glib. It's to do what we say. The biggest eroder of trust is whether what you say and what you do are not in line. And so when I say we want to treat our partners as experts who we are in alliance with, the tell is whether or not you do that.
Redefiners
Redefiners Rewind: Insights and Takeaways from 2024
When I say that we want to ask our clients what they think and we want them to be able to report when things are wrong, if they don't or if we don't react properly or we don't allow them to, then that's the trust problem. eroder, in the end, the biggest eroder of trust is whether words and deeds are aligned or misaligned. And that's how we build trust.
Redefiners
Redefiners Rewind: Insights and Takeaways from 2024
Hope is not a strategy. It is a matter of temperament. And I think you can either fuel hope or drain hope. I gave a lecture in Cambridge in November where I tried to address the question I'm asked endlessly, which is how do your teams stay hopeful or optimistic in the face of all the crisis they've faced? And I confessed, I give the same answer every time.
Redefiners
Redefiners Rewind: Insights and Takeaways from 2024
I'll give the same answer to you, which is if you look at the statistics, you get depressed. If you look at the people, you have hope.