The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) partnered with Hult Ashridge Executive Education to develop a transformational leadership program, delivered virtually in various locations worldwide. The program has broken down geographical and hierarchical siloes, leading to wider organizational transformation.
Client story: International Committee of the Red Cross
Cultivating transformational leadership
Underpinning humanitarian efforts with a transformative and inclusive leadership culture.
Our partnership
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The ICRC is an independent organization that helps people affected by conflict, and promotes the laws that protect victims of war.
Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the ICRC employs over 20,000 people in more than 80 countries. Since 2014, the ICRC has partnered with Hult Ashridge to run the Humanitarian Leadership & Management School (HLMS), which builds authentic leadership at all levels by cultivating a transformative and inclusive leadership culture to encourage diverse collaboration.
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“Today’s world needs empowering leaders, who inspire collaboration, resilience, and psychological safety in any situation. With Hult Ashridge, we achieved significant, award-winning impact across thousands of ICRC leaders.”
Sally Al-Nakshbandi, Head of Leadership and Management School
The challenge
With years of transformation, the rapid evolution of conflict and humanitarian work, and the challenges facing a large, diverse organization, the ICRC needed support to increase engagement at a local level and provide visible development pathways for all employees to grow.
The ICRC wanted to break down geographical and hierarchical siloes to share knowledge and expertise. It wanted to transform without compromising its rich 150-year history and organizational vision, by leveraging staff diversity to deal with complex humanitarian challenges.
The learning needed to apply to people of different educational, cultural, and technical backgrounds, and seniority levels; it also had to align with internal and external transformations. Hult Ashridge was chosen as a partner due to our focus on human, interpersonal, and reflective approaches to learning and research, which aligns with ICRC's vision and goals.
The solution
This three-module program aimed to develop strong and passionate leaders who manage, empower, and inspire a diverse and high-performance workforce. Participants need to complete all three modules, regardless of their experience or seniority, setting the perfect example for decentralized and effective leadership.
Learning was delivered in Kenya, Jordan, Thailand, Senegal, and Switzerland before successfully transitioning online to become a truly global, blended program, with a positive virtual experience reported by participants.
Each module consists of separate phases, including:
Distance learning – 20 hours of reading, assessed e-learning, and coaching
Face-to-face – A five-day program of experiential learning, exchange, and reflection
Action learning sets – Conducted during the face-to-face week, participants worked in small groups to discuss challenges and go through a peer coaching process
Work-based learning – 30 hours of applying the learned skills in a workplace setting
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"I feel there has been an impact on the ICRC leadership culture and this is reflected in the staff barometer data that came out, where we realized that people who have done the HLMS modules are more positively assessed by their teams."
Balthasar Staehelin, Former Deputy Director General
Our impact
Breaking silos to unite people through a common leadership language
The program has broken down silos and enabled more effective and varied collaboration. It has united people through a common leadership language, attitudes, behaviors, and mindset, as well as supplying transformative tools and practices. It has created a more diverse network of leaders across the organization, successfully driving wider organizational transformation.
Taking part in the HLMS program is now an essential commitment for ICRC leaders and a requirement for all senior management positions, proving the importance of these teachings in shaping the leadership practices for the organization to create change for the future.
Observable behavioral change
On completion, 86% of HLMS participants report effective collaboration and 87% report improved emotional intelligence for better leadership.
Learning community for leaders
Participants feel the program creates a space for leaders to network and connect through a unified leadership language.
Real cultural transformation
The HLMS design has informed a new Leadership and Management Framework adopted by the ICRC to guide organizational transformation.
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