Leadership – in the world and in the workplace

By Mary Heffernan
Regional Coordinator, NMC New Brunswick

Dr. Samantha Nutt, Co-Founder and Executive Director of War Child Canada, was the closing keynote speaker at the Forum and drew thunderous applause from participants.

While Dr. Nutt is humble in nature, her accomplishments throughout the world are nothing less than amazing. She is a physician with more than fifteen years of experience working in war zones. Since the beginning of her career, she has focused on providing assistance to war-affected women and children.

Through her work with War Child Canada, the United Nations and several other non-governmental organizations, Dr. Nutt has travelled to some of the world’s most violent flashpoints including Iraq, Afghanistan, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Burundi, northern Uganda, Ethiopia and the Thai-Burmese border. She just returned from Haiti where she saw first-hand the devastation caused by the recent earthquake.

Dr. Nutt, closing keynote speaker

In connecting her work with that of public servants at the Forum, she said that her experiences in countries where governments had been overthrown and/or corrupt have shown her the importance of taking pride in our public service – one that is non-partisan and trusted all over the world.

She challenged participants to ask themselves why they get up and do what they do every day. Her experiences working with and on behalf of others in war-torn countries are what motivate her daily to effect change. Although the issues and goals seem overwhelming for one person or team to achieve, she firmly believes we can all find the strength to persevere and celebrate the small victories. Regardless of the difficult environment we find ourselves living and working within, there is never a lost opportunity to affect change.

Dr. Nutt said it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the day-to-day but it’s important to be creative, and to think “outside of the machine”. The public service has contributed and continues to invoke change throughout the world. She reminded us that it takes managers who can inspire and lead others through a shared sense of public service in order to effectively lead others to change.