Chris Welch: I joined Management Sciences for Health as a temporary employee shortly after graduating from college. I very quickly realized that this was a group of people that I wanted to work with for as long as possible – they were focused on the mission (strengthening systems to improve peoples' health) without losing sight of the people they worked with – in both the US and in the countries we supported. I had a few opportunities to leave MSH over the years, but each time I chose to remain with the people and mission that I had come to love. I have been fortunate enough to go out and work with teams in about 15 countries, which has been amazing. I have learned about so many different cultures and seen how much we all share while also grappling with a never-ending array of challenges.
Chris Welch: I always go back to the Tao of Leadership: "Go to the People. Love them. Learn from them. Start with what they have. Build on what they know. But of the best leaders, when their task is accomplished, the work is done, the people will all say: WE HAVE DONE IT OURSELVES." Practically speaking, I think that this means that we should always try to combine the best local practices and knowledge with international standards, building the plan together, and absolutely not imposing things from outside. A good plan must be developed with local ownership, not just local input.
Chris Welch: I have worked in many countries from Afghanistan to Uganda and never found one without strong local leaders. That is not to say that there was always a local person who met the donor's requirements for the role, or that the strong local leaders were willing to accept a role within our NGO. In those cases we would bring in international staff, but we could almost always find local leaders to coach or mentor, as we fostered leadership at all levels. Each person that I worked with had strengths and weaknesses; my job was to ensure that the full project team had the complementary skills to achieve our stated goals.
My role for the last decade was to ensure that each team I oversaw could achieve their goals – and do so without always relying on staff from outside. I worked with each project's leadership so that I could provide that team with what they needed.
Chris Welch: I think that the most essential skills are: Adaptability, Emotional Intelligence, and Grit. This world is changing more rapidly than ever before, so we each need ADAPTABILITY to be ready to pivot to new opportunities, new funding, and new technologies that will disrupt the way we have "always" done things. As the world continues to change, we will have to work with different partners, new staff, etc., and high EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE enables us to work effectively with people from different backgrounds. Finally, we need to have GRIT to remain focused on the important goals – saving lives, treating people with respect, and being a good steward of funds – while everything changes around us. This is not remaining fixed on a certain way of doing things, but instead being ready to pick ourselves up again and again when new challenges knock us down.
Chris Welch: I have several core beliefs, but the heart is the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Treat everyone with respect. Know that each person brings their own experience, knowledge, and skills to the discussion. Always try to understand what matters to them so that you can have a win-win solution.
Chris Welch: I just finished The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann. The Wager recounts real-life events during the British imperial period – and it reminds us of many important things: what we can survive; the importance of continuing to do our best, no matter how difficult the situation may be; and the necessity of listening to all sides in a dispute. (The survivors of the shipwreck return to civilization in several groups months apart, telling VERY different stories of the events that transpired.) There are a few important leadership lessons that I took away:
Chris Welch: There are two main ways that I get inspiration: the beauty of nature and watching teams of people working together to achieve something important. I have been to many inspiring locations, from Niagara Falls and Bryce Canyon in the US to forests full of lemurs in Madagascar, so my ideal would be to see them all at once from the International Space Station. Failing that, I am happy to just go to my neighborhood park and get absorbed in the simpler beauty of my local flora and fauna. There are many places to see extremely high functioning teams – from the pit crews at a Formula 1 race to any professional sports team – but I get really inspired watching a team provide quality health services in an overcrowded, underfunded health facility. That's a time when we can see people doing great work together for an incredibly important purpose.
Chris Welch: How could I possibly summarize over a year in Bangladesh in a short paragraph? If I were writing this after my first time, I would say that it was overwhelming to the senses – so many people, such a riot of color every time you open your eyes, the smells of the food, the constant car horns, etc. After 5 visits, I would probably talk about the dichotomy between technical knowledge and practical management approaches (I didn't understand the implications of working in an environment where it's most important to work closely with the individuals in power, making rigid plans unworkable). After 22 visits, I have so much appreciation for the wisdom of the people I've worked with, their resilience through all kinds of challenges, and love for the challenges that arise every time. For any newcomer, I would remind them that you are almost never alone in Bangladesh, given that you have approximately half of the population of the USA, but all in an area smaller than Iowa, a mid-sized state. Prepare to be overwhelmed, and then to start the life-long process of learning.
I remember good discussions with each of the 12 Line Directors for the National TB and Leprosy Program that I worked with, with the Honorable Minister as we discussed how to make South Dhaka a Zero TB City (work that, unfortunately, still has a long way to go), and with our Health Systems 4 TB (HS4TB) team as we strategized how to help the MOHFW procure TB services themselves, rather than rely on funding from development agencies. A more challenging memory was trying to keep my team together after the attack on the Holy Artisan Bakery – I was recovering from emergency surgery in Thailand and the international project leader decamped to his home in the middle of work planning (it was pure luck that he wasn't at the Bakery when it was attacked, so his fear was understandable!). We were able to come back together, but at the cost of our international partner and that project director.
Interview conducted by Monaemul Islam Sizear
I studied math and astrophysics in college and discovered my love of public health while working with MSH in their Boston, MA office. I have worked in almost every department of MSH since 1994, spending a few years learning each part of the business, before I settled into my love – project management and oversight. I worked with about 30 countries on behalf of MSH and spent time with my teams in 15 of them, including at least 5 visits each to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Malawi. For the last decade, at least half of my time has been spent working on tuberculosis, but I always tried to keep at least one major project in another technical area, be it integrated health care, supply chain, antenatal care, or MNCH. I am married with two children, both currently at university.
