What Humanitarian Leaders Can Learn From Taylor Swift?
Explore surprising parallels between the pop star’s career and effective humanitarian leadership. From her fan-centric approach (like community engagement) to adaptive strategies and team loyalty, Swift’s methods mirror principles such as listening to affected populations, investing in local staff, and innovating while staying true to core values. The post challenges humanitarians to seek inspiration from unconventional leaders and reminds us all of the importance of cross-sector learning.
LEARNING CULTUREHUMANITARIAN LEADERSHIP
Makram Soua
8/8/20251 min read
When I first saw Harvard Business Review's podcast titled "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘵," I was skeptical. What could a pop superstar possibly teach humanitarian leaders? But as a graduate of the University of Lucerne's MAS in Humanitarian Leadership (a pioneering International Committee of the Red Cross - ICRC partnership), I've seen how transformative cross-sector learning can be.
The podcast revealed Swift's career as a masterclass in principles we humanitarians know well:
𝟭. "𝗙𝗮𝗻 𝗢𝗯𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻" = 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆-𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽
Swift treats her fans like Bezos treats customers – as "𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥" partners. This mirrors our imperative to center affected communities, not just deliver to them but with them. Her 3.5-hour Eras Tour sets remind me of how the best field teams go beyond mandates to truly listen.
𝟮. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝘀 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
Swift’s constant evolution reflects what we call 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 – anticipating change before crises hit. Like her re-recording strategy to reclaim creative control, humanitarians must challenge systems even when current models "work."
𝟯. 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆
Her seamless genre shifts while staying true to her songwriting core parallel how agencies like ICRC balance innovation with adherence to Fundamental Principles.
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀
The humanitarian sector often looks to private sector for leadership models. But Swift’s success proves inspiration can come from unexpected places:
- Her "𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻" 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴y (targeting teen girls in country music) mirrors finding undeserved humanitarian needs and crisis contexts rather than flocking to respond to the same needs at the risk of duplication.
- Her 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆 (20+ years with key collaborators) reflects the power of investing in national staff and relying on their deep contextual knowledge, cultural understanding, and community trust.
- Her "𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴" 𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘂𝗺𝘀 is akin to our community feedback mechanisms. By actively listening to affected populations, organizations can adapt programs in real-time, avoid unintended harm, and prioritize the most critical issues.
If a pop star can teach us about stakeholder engagement and adaptive leadership, where else might we look? Sports coaches? Chefs? Artists? As humanitarians, we pride ourselves on empathy – let’s extend that curiosity to learning from unconventional leaders.
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
