The United Nations is a unique organization, and in many ways it provided me with a range of talent development experiences. One challenge was to assess and prepare potential leadership candidates for the top jobs in country offices, called the resident coordinator or RC and the resident representative or RR. My role was to help the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) prepare a slate of three potential leadership candidates. My recommendations would be passed to the agency head and secretary general for discussion with the foreign ministry of that particularly country. Along the way, my partner colleagues and I needed to make sure that (1) the candidate slates had strong gender diversity; (2) member countries and regions were appropriately represented; and (3) candidates were highly qualified and possessed exceptional language skills. We typically rotated candidates on three- to six-year assignments to keep the positions fresh and avoid any issues of corruption or influence. A great deal of pressure was exerted on resident coordinators, as they were constantly moving into new roles and trying to develop high-performing teams at each new location.

I recently interviewed a colleague from my time at the UN, Richard Dictus, now serving as RR for UNDP and RC for the UN in Egypt, to discuss the importance of sustainability and talent development. He commented that “Corporations are major actors in sustainability, although engagement with SMEs is not always as strong in emerging economies. The role of the UN is not to tell corporations what to do, but to create ‘moments of realization’ and then to facilitate work on very specific issues with measurable outcomes.” From a talent development perspective, let us consider how Richard would be prepared for this role. His background provides context.

Richard spent time as deputy director of human resources for UNDP. It is a positive practice for senior leaders to spend time in a staff function, as this helps them gain an appreciation for the challenges and business outcomes associated with key business functions.