17 Years, 7 Countries: My Notes on Global Leadership

Seventeen years, seven countries, and a lifetime of lessons. Working across Africa and Asia in global health, education, and diplomacy has been both humbling and instructive.

Here are some of my thoughts.

Meaningful Partnerships Develop in the “In-Between"

Most breakthroughs don't occur in formal conference rooms. They happened in the spaces in between- chitchats in VIP lounges before an opening, in conversations during long car rides between site visits, during coffee breaks during workshops. I remember bonding with several folks while sweltering for hours in a tent where as we waited for hours for two ministers to show up. The next time we met in meetings: kisses on the cheeks and and willingness to work together on the sticky problems. Our conversations were about our families, fashion, our latest trips. The conversations in these "in between" moments fostered connection, trust, and later turned into brainstorming sessions where we would talk about the hard things and how we could build coalitions to jointly approach a problem.

The lesson is simple but often forgotten: partnerships are forged in proximity. While email threads and Zoom calls have their place, trust is built in unstructured moments when sitting shoulder to shoulder. Showing up matters; you cannot outsource presence.

Real Power is Not in the Title; It’s in Influence

Over the years, I've worked with ministers, governors, mayors, heads of cooperation, etc. Many of these individuals are impressive and sincerely dedicated to public service, but they eventually move on, including me. The people who remain—community leaders, civil society advocates, and long-time program managers—carry the institutional memory and local knowledge essential for the success of any initiative. They understand the intricacies of community relationships and the underlying reasons why a seemingly innocuous policy change might provoke resistance. When a project stalls, it's essential to reach out to these trusted partners for the unvarnished truth.

Titles confer authority, but they do not guarantee influence. Real power is often quiet; it resides in relationships nurtured over time and in the credibility earned through consistent delivery, regardless of who holds office. I know this from experience, having been transient in each country. I arrived with and ambition and resources and left when my assignment was over. The real continuity came from local teams who guided the work long before and after my departure.

To Maintain Your Influence, Manage Your Emotions

I once witnessed a Minister of Health berate an entire conference hall because he didn’t understand the agenda. I have seen colleagues express anger and burst into tears during public meetings, later claiming it was “just their culture” or evidence of their passion. However, the whispered reactions in the hallway were revealing: people lose trust when they fear unpredictable outbursts. In a collaborative field, credibility is your currency, and outbursts can undermine that currency faster than almost anything else. I have had to let promising individuals go due to behavior that jeopardized our collective efforts. I have never seen someone recover after repeated public meltdowns.

Great Leaders Listen to Understand, Not only to Respond

One of the most transformative concepts I learned was in my coaching course: active listening to understand commands greater trust and connection. A lot of folks often listen passively while using their brain power to come up with their reply, eager to prove our point. Think about a conversation with someone who is actually understands you. You come out of these discussions with a sense of greater connection and want to work with those people more. When someone genuinely listens—reflecting your words back and asking questions that demonstrate comprehension—a different kind of conversation emerges. These interactions foster a sense of connection and willingness to collaborate. Great leaders do this in all interactions, small and large. Leaders who practice this form of listening inspire loyalty; those who only want to give their opinion rarely do.

Understanding Financial Flows is Crucial for Sustainable Interventions

I have observed brilliant innovations falter at a national scale when their proponents assumed that governments could effortlessly reallocate funds. Newsflash: it takes years because you need to understand how to change policies while at the same time, understand how a country’s finances flow and how their budgets are formed. My teams and I have had countries start taking on the procurement and financing of medicines that we were providing. It took years because countries, esp LMICS, don’t have extra cash just laying around. Budgets are formulated at least a year out. And they need to have an incentive to take some funds away from one thing to put it to another. In parallel, teams need to work on the the policies or orders in place to get things at the national level. Without laying this groundwork, pilots remain just that—temporary, and once donors depart, the gains achieved can quickly disappear. Who suffers? the patients. I am utterly heartbroken for the people who lost access to health care and services with the dissolution of USAID. Their countries will take years to fill the void and adapt.

All Progress is Local

We like to imagine scalable solutions: a single innovation that can be “rolled out” across a region. But each country has its own politics, geography and culture. Within countries, mountain villages are different from urban slums or desert communities. In public health, we target where the need is greatest, but even then there is no one‑size‑fits‑all. Change has to be adapted, negotiated and owned at the local level. That is messy, iterative work. And it’s why those long car rides and tent conversations matter so much.

Seventeen years in seven countries have taught me that leadership is less about commanding from the top and more about cultivating relationships on the ground. It is about honouring the people who stay when we leave. It is about balancing passion with patience, confidence with humility. Above all, it is about showing up, listening deeply and investing in the human connections that turn ideas into lasting change.