Conflict, Not Crisis

Conflict, not crisis. The distinction matters more than it might seem.

Crisis suggests a singular event, a problem to be solved and moved past. Conflict, on the other hand, is ongoing, systemic, woven into the fabric of how we live. And that changes everything about how we need to lead.

For years, the civil society sector has been underfunded, undervalued, and under-supported. Yet time and again, these leaders and organisations have stood as first responders to every sort of challenge. It takes a special kind of leadership to build organisations and movements on unstable ground. And I think what we’re now realizsng is that instability is becoming the default for everyone – whether in government, business, or community work. The skills that civil society leaders have cultivated out of necessity – adaptability, distributed decision-making, trust-based networks – are no longer just for those on the margins. They are the very skills required to navigate the world as it is now.

Originally written for LinkedIn on 1 March 2025. View original →