What was a British Bobby doing in Baghdad? Douglas Brand provides unique perspectives from his role as the Chief Police Advisor in Iraq, where he led the small international police contingent tasked with re-establishing an effective police for Iraq. Sometimes tragic but often amusing, his accounts of the often chaotic environment in which efforts to bring about a sense of civil order under a very dominant military presence, are a lesson in why understanding cultures, context and consequences is an important part of any leader’s preparation for ‘foreign’ ventures.
Not content with only the Iraq experience, Douglas added to his repertoire of leadership adventures in Darfur, The West Bank, Nigeria, Kenya and a sprinkling of other locations. In each place, he found that the challenges to effective development of local capability were similar, and the resistances to change pretty common too. Douglas shares these insights and some routes to solutions in Douglas Brand Speaking engagements.