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Most leaders have had to navigate conflicts to survive and grow within their organizations, but few have ever faced the kind of front-line experiences that Winnie Byanyima has overcome.
As a Ugandan, she navigated the postcolonial turmoil in her country to get a place at a top-tier university. But she and her family soon took refuge in the UK via Kenya as they were forced to flee the persecution. He resumed his studies at the University of Manchester, excelling in subjects dominated by men in aeronautical engineering and environmental sciences. He then turned down a scholarship to the US to return to Uganda and enter politics.
“I’m a nomad,” she says. “I’ve delved into different things as a curious person passionate about social justice.”
As a political activist and community organizer, when the government of Milton Obote deviated to the dictatorship of his ousted predecessor Idi Amin, Byanyima joined the Ugandan clandestine guerrilla movement to help overthrow him in favor of Yoweri Museveni.
After a period representing the Ugandan government abroad and working for international organizations focused on women’s rights, she was appointed head of Oxfam International in 2013. There she led efforts to “decolonize” l ‘charity, which had been co-founded by “very privileged” women. to Oxford and moved its headquarters to Kenya.
She also helped oversee her response to sexual abuse scandals, before being appointed two years ago to lead the United Nations Joint Program on HIV / AIDS (UNAids). His focus on fighting the virus had been pushed back by internal harassment concerns.
Byanyima remembers growing up angry and scared under the repressive government of Amin. “I saw that my friends were picked up at school and came back after a week with their heads shaved, a sign that they were sorry for the loss of their father and that they had not even been able to bury him,” he says.
“A woman did not know what she could do. Any soldier could take you out of the street, marry you and your parents, you won’t dare say a word ”.
His mother, teacher, and father, an opposition politician, inspired the belief that “social justice is something you stand for, enjoy, do for yourself and for others, pay a price, and move on.” . He criticized the regime with classmates, while living “with fear that my father might die and then with fear for me.”
As a student in England, she remembers overcoming prejudice, including an occasion on which her teacher summoned her after she had obtained the highest grades. “There was always surprise at how well you could do it. You were supposed to be African and you were a woman. You can’t be that good.”
He joined the political debates, but was disappointed with the narrow focus on the UK. “While Greenham Common the protesters were worried [US] nuclear weapons, they killed us in Uganda with small arms, “she says.” Radical feminists talked about bodily autonomy, but I thought, ‘When will they get to the issues of political liberation, end dictatorships, and fight poverty?’ they never did. ”
Back in Uganda, he tried to fight corruption and exploitation. She ran as a parliamentary candidate against an acting minister from her own party, who she felt did not work well enough for her constituents. “Male candidates held large rallies on a podium,” he says. “I walked into slums, into people’s kitchens and talked to women.” He won convincingly.
Alongside values, he reflects on other important leadership skills. “To understand people and how to work with them. You need to know what you can deliver, what you need from others and what they need from you. “
Another important quality is endurance. “You have to adapt,” she says. “Everything throws you something new and you have to be able to fall and get up quickly. I’ve had my falls many times. “
While at Oxfam International, he encouraged his move from the humanitarian aid agency to the campaign group, giving a bigger voice to branches in developing countries. “They loved us more for the work we did to help communities get on their feet. But that just wasn’t enough. Most of the poor were in middle-income countries. The issue was inequality. “
To bring about reform, he tried to influence world elites at the World Economic Forum in Davos, in the Swiss Alps, heavily armed with evidence and arguments. This provokes reflection on another leadership trait that he believes is essential: authenticity.
“I would go into a room with 30 to 40 men in black and gray dresses and some corporate women in black dresses,” she says. “In my country we bring green, yellow and red. The default is to combine and be less threatening. But why be a little different? It would overcome my fear and continue with my message in the sharpest way. It is powerful to be different. I never hesitate to be myself.
The latter part of his tenure at Oxfam was overshadowed by allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation by front-line staff, even after the Haiti earthquake, though overseen from his UK office. and prior to his term.
The charity was criticized for a slow response once the claims came to light. But Byanyima says he convinced his board to appoint an external commission to examine what has gone wrong, make recommendations, share them publicly and implement them.
Then in 2019 he won the race to run UNAids, which was also under pressure to reform after allegations of staff harassment. He highlighted his experience in crisis management and the need to focus on campaigning and working with community groups.
He also took advantage of his experiences of HIV, which devastated Uganda. The disease killed his brother, who she said eventually died not from lack of treatment, but from stigma, which had deterred him from attending a clinic regularly.
Four decades after AIDS has been identified and continues to kill up to a million people a year, it focuses on community activism to lead the response and mobilize governments to introduce more enlightened policies.
Some argue that agencies like Oxfam and UNAids require strong technical programs to deliver services, as well as activism and community campaigns. For Byanyima, based on his own skills, the priority is on the latter.
Reflecting on his own management approach, Byanyima says: “It confronts power, analyzes who owns it, builds structures where it is shared more and gives voice to everyone. It’s a kind of servant leadership, where maybe you stand behind you to let others lead and see yourself as a facilitator of others. “
Three questions for Winnie Byanyima
Who is your leadership hero?
Michelle bachelet. She has values, cares about social justice, and is a feminist. He was the victim of a brutal dictatorship that turned his pain into public service; a doctor who worked in the public health system and studied military strategy to understand the minds of those who had killed his father. She was president of Chile, fought inequality, advocated for the reduction of inequality in Latin America, and reformed education and health systems. When the time came to relinquish power, he respected the constitution. He lives a simple life and his leadership style is humble. This is the kind of leader I respect.
What was the first leadership lesson you learned?
My father always insisted that one must defend what is right and pay the price if necessary. Don’t follow what everyone else is doing. It’s not about being popular, it’s about values and doing what’s right.
If I weren’t a CEO / leader, what would it be?
I love gardening and community organizing, working especially with young people with learning difficulties.
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