ADRA Leadership Framework

12 Disciplines of Leadership

Influencing and mobilizing a worldwide movement needs a catalyst - strong leadership. Jesus Christ
was a masterful leader. In the three years of Jesus' earthly leadership, He was able to create absolute
clarity of purpose for His ministry on earth. Jesus clearly unpacked the 'why', whilst He set a course of
action with the 'end-game' in mind. Jesus generated energy amongst the disciples as to 'how' they
were to achieve results by utilizing an agile and dynamic method of delivery in their own ministry. Finally,
Jesus created an environment where everyone had the opportunity to thrive personally, professionally
and spiritually, whilst keeping focused on the clear, unwavering purpose of their mission.
The ADRA D12 Leadership Framework focusses on 12 core competencies essential for leadership under
three overarching themes. These 12 competencies are a dynamic collection of core elements essential
for success in leadership:

Create Clarity
Creating clarity is an essential platform in providing a foundation for success. Understanding 'why' we
exist as an organization helps provide an unwavering focus on delivering our mission. When we know
our 'why', we can consolidate and communicate our 'where’ and ‘how’.

Values | Vision Engagement | Strategy | Communication

Generate Energy
Once organizational clarity exists, energy must by developed to drive organizational culture and
individual motivation. Creating a dynamic culture that adapts to changing circumstances is a key
component in creating employee engagement.

Culture | Influence | Employee Engagement | Management

Thrive
Motivated employees in a dynamic and diverse culture who understand why we exist and where we
are headed, are destined to Thrive! Growing people personally, professionally and spiritually is more
than just an obligation of organizations - it makes great business sense. Unleashing the strength of
diversity across all facets helps create a thriving culture that nurtures and grows our next round of
leaders.

Diversity | Capacity Development | Coaching | Wellbeing

These competencies will be developed across ADRA through a combination of practical and
appropriate methods of delivery. ADRA International, and Regional Leadership will provide specific
focus to formal development activities (10%). A leadership focused culture across the ADRA network
will assist in providing opportunities through on-the-job experience (70%) and assisted learning
activities (20%):

On-the-job Experience Assisted Learning Activities Formal Development Activities

(70%)
 Stretch projects
 Sharing information at
team meetings
 Sharing knowledge with
colleagues
 Informal discussions
(corridor talk)
 New experiences in the
workplace
 Applying new learning in
work situations
 Special assignments
 Increased authority or
control of aspects of the
role
 Exposure to other
departments or roles
 Community activities
 Reading guides and
manuals
(20%) (10%)
 Mentoring  e-learning modules or
 Coaching by courses
supervisors, peers,  Leadership forum
subordinates or online  Professional
 Internal and external development resources
networks  Seminars and
 Professional associations masterclasses
 Group based action  Induction programs
learning  Advanced study
 Informal feedback program
 Team projects  Online videos (Vimeo or
 Briefing sessions at YouTube Clip)
conclusion of project  Training events

Each leadership theme (Create Clarity, Generate Energy, Thrive) is segmented into three focus areas:

1. Organization: How the competency affects and influences the operations of the organization
2. People Management: How the competency influences the management of people
3. Self-Management: How the competency shapes personal development

The success of any program is contingent on participants buying into the need and purpose of the
program. This leadership focus can only affect real and sustainable development of leadership, if all
levels of ADRA intentionally make leadership development an everyday part of the culture. Every
level of the organization is essential in driving this culture shift.
Roles and Responsibilities:
Responsibility for leadership development rests with everyone. ADRA’s philosophy for leadership
development must be that everyone takes responsibility for developing themselves and developing
others. This doesn’t diminish the unique responsibilities that each level of ADRA has but reminds
everyone that the first responsibility rests with the individual.

ADRA International and Regional Offices

 A commitment to incorporate opportunities for personal professional and spiritual

development into the fabric of ADRA
 Career development pathways
 Consolidated network approach to leadership development
 Resource development

Leadership | Managers

 Regular, honest feedback with a focus on career and personal development

 Creating opportunities for on the job experience
 Creation of cross-functional opportunities
 Providing adequate training and development

Employees

 Commitment to personal development

 Assist in the development of others
 See opportunities for development in all aspects of work life
Leadership Competencies:

Values
Hundreds of important decisions are made every day. These decisions will invariably reflect our values
and beliefs. Our values should exemplify who we are and how we operate, as well as demonstrate
what we believe in. ADRA’s organizational values of being Connected, Courageous and
Compassionate encompass the way we operate (connected), the decisions we make (courageous)
and the philosophy for how we function (compassionate). A focus on values helps us understand our
role as a faith-based organization, highlighting the importance of spirituality in leadership.

Vision Engagement
Creating a compelling vision is a challenge but motivating and propelling that vision to the
organization is the hard part. Leaders are the catalyst for 'selling' a vision that creates clarity for
employees, governing bodies and stakeholders, which ultimately drives energy and progression
towards that vision.

Vision engagement is the process of outlining a compelling vision, and most importantly, detailing the
process needed to get there and buy-in required to achieve it. There are several elements involved
in achieving vision engagement:

• Clearly understanding our purpose: Serving humanity so all may live as God intended is what
drives us. Knowing why we exist as ADRA helps create the platform for what we are here to do.
This compelling vision is the catalyst that influences our strategic direction and engagement
with stakeholders.
• Delivering effective governance: Ensuring that governing boards are held regularly, composed
of the right people and focussed on what matters, is essential to the effectiveness of each
ADRA operation. A clear focus on strategy enables the right decisions to be made to help
empower the leadership of ADRA manage effectively.
• Strategic Planning: The strategic planning process charts a future course and then propels the
actions that move ADRA forward. It provides a roadmap that continually drives the operations
towards our purpose yet underpinned by our values.

Strategy
“A vision without a strategy remains an illusion” (Lee Bolman)
“You cannot be everything to everyone. If you decide to go north, you cannot go south at the same
time” (Jeroen De Flander)

Everyone knows the importance of strategy, yet many organizations fail to implement strategy.
Through the strategic planning process the organization must make a clear commitment as to where
the organization is heading at all levels, and most importantly, how it is going to get there. Having a
clear, communicated and collaborative strategy in place, unites all employees on the key outcomes
that will achieve the organizations goals. This can give employees a sense of engagement because
they will see how their role plays an integral part in the organization achieving its goals.

Communication
Clear, regular and open communication is the vehicle that takes an organization along its strategic
journey. Employees that know what is happening, and have opportunities to contribute, are far more
likely to be engaged in that direction. Strong leaders will communicate a clear, compelling vision as
well as the strategy to achieve it. Clear communication is also the tool required to keep all
employees connected on a regular basis. “The single biggest problem in communication is the
illusion that it has taken place” (George Bernard Shaw). A systematic communication plan is essential
for organizations to ensure two-way communication is taking place in ADRA.
Create Clarity | Organizational Topics:
 The role of ‘why’ in employee motivation and candidate selection
 The importance of ‘purpose’
 Effective governance
 Developing a clear ‘Vision’ and knowing how to cast that ‘Vision’
 Practical strategic planning
 Values as a driver of organizational culture
 Spirituality in the workplace
 Cross generational communication
 Organizational ethics
 Communicating across cultural divides

Create Clarity | People Management Topics:

 Creating organizationally aligned job descriptions
 Team communication
 Communication strategies for times of change, conflict and stress
 Values alignment in the recruitment process
 Creating a psychologically safe work environment

Create Clarity | Self-Management Topics:

 Self-Awareness (Emotional Intelligence)
 Personal prioritization
 Reconciling personal values within the organization

Create Clarity | ADRA Competency Framework:

 1.1 Deciding and initiating action; 2.2 Adhering to principles and values; 3.3 Presenting &
communicating information; 5.1 Learning & researching; 5.3 Formulating strategies and concepts.
Culture
Organizational culture can simply be defined as the ‘way’ things are done in an organization. In
more complex terms, it refers to the expectations, experiences, philosophy and accepted values that
guide employee’s behaviour, and is expressed in the self-image, inner workings, interactions with
external stakeholders and future expectations. Culture is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs
and written and unwritten rules that have been developed over time and are considered valid (The
Business Dictionary). Culture isn’t just communicated, it’s lived. Leaders must appreciate the role they
play in maintaining or evolving an organization’s culture.

Influence
The ability to motivate and inspire others to act is the distinguishing factor between a leader and a
manager. The best leaders are those who can successfully influence up, down and across the
organization, impacting business results by driving behaviour change. Influencing behaviour is not a
one-time event, but a continuous process and investment that organisations should make in their
employees. By incorporating influence training into leadership development programs, organizations
are setting their leaders up for success. (https://trainingindustry.com/articles/leadership/the-power-
of-influence-in-leadership-development/)

Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is essentially providing the right conditions for all members of an organization
to give of their best each day, committed to ADRA”s goals and values, motivated to contribute to
organizational success, with an enhanced sense of their own well-being. A truly engaged person is
someone who enjoys what they do and is fulfilled by it and sees the difference they make to the
organisation’s outcomes. Engaged employees are loyal, productive, committed and more likely to
stay long term.

Management
We have often been taught that it is more important to be a leader than a manager, and whilst this is
true in a lot of situations, we mustn’t underestimate the role of good management. Over 75% of
surveyed employees say that they left an organization because of their manager. Managing the
‘day to day’ in a methodical and systematic way is essential for clear direction for the organization
and it’s people.
Generate Energy| Organizational Topics:

 Organizational culture that drives transformation and innovation

 Cross-functional collaboration
 New Managers
 Creating a psychologically safe work environment
 Leading effective and productive meetings
 Data as a business driver

Generate Energy | People Management Topics:

 Employee empowerment
 Human Resources 101
 Creating organizationally aligned job descriptions
 Team communication
 Communication strategies for times of change, conflict and stress
 Values alignment in the recruitment process

Generate Energy | Self-Management Topics:

 Self-Management (Emotional Intelligence)

 Social Awareness (Emotional Intelligence)
 Personal prioritization
 Reconciling personal values within the organization

Generate Energy | ADRA Competency Framework:

 1.2 Leading and supervising; 2.1 Working with people; 3.1 Relating & networking; 5.2 Creating &
innovating; 6.2 Delivering results & meeting stakeholders expectations
Diversity
The critical ingredients for achieving a balance of diversity and inclusion, in the workplace and in life,
are inherent in the experience banks of everyone that we deal with. Leaders have a role to play in
unleashing the power of diversity in everyone. Diversity is not about ticking a box and claiming
diversity is present within the workforce and it’s practices. True diversity is in how you harness the
unique attributes and skills inherent in each diverse element.

Capacity Development
Personal, professional and spiritual development is not just an obligation carried out by every office –
it is a strategically important process to build the capacity of our people and organization. Capacity
development refers to the process through which individuals and ADRA obtain, strengthen and
maintain the capabilities to achieve transformative change.

Coaching Culture
A hugely important managerial competency that separates highly effective managers from average
ones is coaching. Understanding what drives each person, helping build connections between each
person’s work and the organization’s mission and strategic objectives, providing timely feedback,
and helping each person learn and grow on an ongoing basis, are hallmarks of a great coach.
Creating a coaching culture must be a focus for every country office whereby employees receive
the feedback and assistance required to help achieve their responsibilities.

Mentoring: Formal mentoring programs allow organizations to create and nurture those relationships
by matching more experienced employees (mentors) with less experienced employees (mentees) to
meet specific agency objectives while helping those individuals in the mentoring relationship to
identify and develop their own talents. Workplace mentoring is a learning partnership between
employees or occupation professionals, for purposes of sharing technical information, institutional
knowledge and professional insight with newer, less experienced employees. Mentoring is perhaps
best described as a developmental process - dynamic and unique to each person. Informal
mentoring relationships may develop in the work setting when a more seasoned employee takes a
new employee “under his/her wing.”

Wellbeing
When we fail to care for the wellbeing of our employees we fail at our duty in serving humanity. We
can’t truly serve people when we aren’t also serving ourselves and our families. Employee wellbeing
is not a stand-alone program or initiative – it must be an integrated approach to all employee
interactions. Employee wellbeing must be a continual way of operating, with ownership sitting with
everyone and responsibility resting with leaders.

Thrive| Organizational Topics:

 Diversity and inclusion

 Organizational development and continuous improvement
 Creating a culture of coaching and mentoring
 Succession Planning - 'Prepositioning your Organization

Thrive | People Management Topics:

 Professional development
 Coaching as a tool for managing others
 Staff care
 Psychological safety

Thrive | Self-Management Topics:

 Mentoring for personal development

 Stress management
 Time management
 Relationship Management (Emotional Intelligence)

Thrive | ADRA Competency Framework:

 6.1 Planning & organizing; 7.1 Adapting & responding to change; 8.1 Achieving personal work
goals