Caring humanitarian leadership: Exploring practices through real life experiences

Arnaud Meffre

doi:10.21153/thl2026art2328

Authors

Arnaud Meffre

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21153/thl2026art2328

Keywords:

Humanitarian leadership, caring leadership, caring

Abstract

This paper addresses the lack of research on humanitarian leadership, contributing to the field by examining it through the lens of caring leadership. Despite recent attempts, there remains no agreed-upon definition of humanitarian leadership, making this study’s approach innovative. The work begins by reviewing existing literature and defining caring, caring leadership, and caring as an organisational value. It then presents findings from interviews with 11 humanitarian professionals about their experiences with humanitarian leadership. The research reveals that caring humanitarian leadership often depends on individual leaders’ soft skills rather than formal organisational policies or intentional strategies. Humanitarian workers, frequently exposed to volatile and traumatic contexts, expect systematic caring leadership, and its absence may lead to disappointment and frustration. Ultimately, the study suggests that humanitarian organisations must renew their commitment to empowering leaders who prioritise care, integrating it as an essential value and skill within leadership and organisational practices.

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Author Biography

Arnaud Meffre

Arnaud Meffre has worked for 17 years as program and operations manager within the humanitarian sector. His career has led him to various war-torn countries where he established and conducted humanitarian operations (Afghanistan, Kashmir, Iraq, DRC, Ukraine, Somalia, Myanmar and Palestine). Arnaud holds master’s degrees in international law, international relations, and humanitarian leadership from Universities in Québec and Switzerland, as well as a bachelor’s in international law from a French university. Arnaud is now back in France and works in the inclusion sector as a regional director.

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