New developments in peace leadership

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a viewpoint on leadership development in the conflict transformation and peacebuilding fields, highlighting a need for the inclusion of some new topics to address contemporary leadership concerns. Design/methodology/approach The author provides experiential reflections on developing global leaders in the peacebuilding field. Findings This paper illustrates the importance of developing peacebuilders, currently used methods, and describes prospective topics that may enhance learning and effectiveness. Practical implications This paper offers suggestions for academics and practitioners on new ways of teaching leadership development to those professionals in the field of peacebuilding. Originality/value The author describes challenges and opportunities in leadership development for peace professionals in a global context.

Public leadership to foster peacebuilding in violently divided societies

“…Leonardsson and Rudd (2015) note that local people are the 'primary architects, owners and stakeholders of peace' Additionally, civil society leaders can play a key role as an intermediary between citizens and government in 'enabling community voice from different publics' (Pagani et al 2021, 41). Ricke-Kiely (2016) argues that 'peace is perhaps the most important field when it comes to leadership ' (p. 197). There are many instances of violent divisions around the world, from the storming of the United States Capitol to Ukraine and more but leadership, and particularly leadership processes, for peacebuilding (after the conflict subsides somewhat) is still a relatively under-researched area that deserves serious academic scholarship (Miller and Whitney 2016;Ryckman and Braithwaite 2020).…”