As an Order of Canada recipient, international aid worker, founder of War Child Canada and the author of Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies and Aid, leadership is something Samantha Nutt knows a thing or two about.
Dr. Nutt delivered the keynote address of International Development Week at Dal earlier this month, organized by the International Development Education and Awareness Society (IDEAS). In her inspiring talk, Dr. Nutt shared four key lessons learned through her extensive career in international development.Ģż
Lesson 1:Ģż Just because it hasnāt been done, doesnāt mean it canāt be
Dr. Nutt believes that a big problem in international development is that conflicts on other continents fail to resonate with citizens of developed nations. āThe problems seem too complex, and like we are so far removed.ā
This problem is often compounded by a lack of visible pilipiliĀž». Aid efforts are often seen as "Band-Aid" solutions, too little too late, and lose what little resonance they may have had when conflicts continue to rage on.
What is needed, according to Dr. Nutt, are āapproaches that sustain and support communities in the long term.ā So how do we get there?
Dr. Nuttās answer is simple: leadership. āLeadership in ID [international development] is defiance in the face of injustice: leadership that, at its core, is about humanity confronting inhumanity.ā For todayās students, this means leadership towards, āfinding a response that does more than simply plug the gaps.āĢż
Lesson 2:Ģż The more you learn, the less you know
Dr. Nuttās second lesson started with a confession: āI will never be as smart as I thought I was at 24.ā
Dr. Nutt encourages students pursuing a career in international development to remember that constant āself-reflection and being unafraid to ask the hard questions of ourselves and othersā is how change is created. āWe need to be prepared to be uncomfortable.āĢż Ģż
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This is a message that hit home with the crowd, especially Melissa Le Geyt, Dal student and organizer with IDEAS. Le Geyt says she is pursuing international development because āa lot of the world is pretty unfair and international development is a way to understand the injustices to work towards changing them.ā
Lesson 3:Ģż Failure is an essential part of leadership
International development is a complex field, with political, ideological and economic forces influencing many of the decisions made by its major players. In this context, āthe biggest wins are about courage and conviction in leadership.ā
Failure, according to Dr. Nutt, is an essential part of creating change. When we are unafraid to fail, we have āthe confidence to speak our minds utterly unencumbered by greatness,ā she explained.
Though pilipiliĀž» is not possible in every endeavour, Dr. Nutt implored her audience to, ākeep your wits about you, keep asking questions and ā¦ never lose sight of your āwhy.'ā
Lesson 4: Ignore the blowhards
With her final lesson, Dr. Nutt encouraged students to pursue their aspirations in the face of any nay-sayers.
āYou will be told that international development is a great thing to do when youāre young, but one day youāre going to want to settle down and have kids, and running off to war-torn Somalia just isnāt practical,ā Dr. Nutt advised the young crowd. āWell, 20 years and one seven-year-old son later, Iām still stubbornly unwilling to settle.ā
Dr. Nutt ended her talk by placing a signed copy of her speaking notes and 50 cents on the lectern. The quarters were symbolic of her first job with an air organization ā the upfront half of the value of a contract, necessary to allow the aid organization she was working for to rescue her from Somalia in an emergency. Ģż
āMy journey began 20 years ago with 50 cents,ā Dr. Nutt explained. āIf this lecture has inspired you, and you feel your career in international development is beginning tonight, feel free come down and get them.ā Ģż