UNITED NATIONS LEADERSHIP DIALOGUE

Photo of Secretary-General and members of his Executive Office holding a leadership dialogue on 31 October 2018.
Secretary-General António Guterres and members of his Executive Office holding a leadership dialogue on 31 October 2018.

Beginning in 2013, managers in the Secretariat host a yearly conversation with their direct reports related to the ethical challenges we face in our day-to-day work. The UN Ethics Office provides managers with a Leader’s Guide and a model presentation as well as the participants with a Participant’s Guide. The topics vary from year to year, based on the evolving focus of the Organization.

In the annual Leadership Dialogue, managers discuss with their direct reports what to do, where to get assistance and our roles as staff members in handling ethical dilemmas. The decisions we make are critical to our collective success.

Each Head of Entity leads the first Leadership Dialogue session with his/her direct reports. Following that initial session, those direct reports schedule and lead the next sessions. The dialogues have been planned to occur in a “cascading” fashion, until all managers have engaged their staff in a Leadership Dialogue.

Upon completion of the programme, respective Focal Points are requested to submit staff participation statistics for their respective Entities to the Ethics Office as soon as possible before 31 December of that year.

The UN Ethics Office provides all materials and detailed instructions.

LEADERSHIP DIALOGUE 2023

Between now and 31 December 2023, all managers in the Secretariat are asked to host a 90-minute dialogue session with their direct reports on the topic, “Personal use of social media: How is my online behaviour?” We will explore how we, as international civil servants, can use social media responsibly, exercising freedom of expression and communicating about our lives, including our work, while fulfilling United Nations obligations. Responsible use of social media is critical in an era of misinformation and disinformation. We do not want to inadvertently spread misinformation – and countering disinformation requires media and information literacy, as well as good judgment.

Each Head of Entity should lead the first Leadership Dialogue session for his or her direct reports. Following that initial session, those direct reports will schedule and lead the next sessions. The dialogues should occur in this “cascading” fashion, until all managers have engaged their staff in a Leadership Dialogue. Upon completion of the activities, respective Focal Points, nominated by their entities, are requested to submit to the Ethics Office final participation statistics for their respective Entity by 31 December 2023.

All materials needed for the 2023 Leadership Dialogue are provided in the three Documents for Leadership Dialogue 2023 links directly below. Detailed instructions for the 2023 Leadership Dialogue activities may be found in the Leader’s Guide. The Guide additionally contains feedback forms for session leaders/facilitators, Focal Points and participants to complete and submit online. To open or download the document(s), click on the link(s) provided. If you cannot download the materials, or if you have reviewed the materials and still have questions, please contact the Ethics Office directly.

In delivering this year’s Dialogue, please be mindful of colleagues who may not be comfortable expressing themselves in the language selected for the session. Embrace multilingualism, adopting the use of translators and like measures to enhance inclusion and participation.

The most important aspect is that you enjoy the session. Having been conducted since 2013, feedback on the Leadership Dialogue initiative has been very positive. We are confident that you will have a similar experience regarding the 2023 Leadership Dialogue.

DOCUMENTS FOR LEADERSHIP DIALOGUE 2023

The following three documents contain all materials needed by participants for the 2023 Leadership Dialogue:

UN Leadership Dialogue 2023: Scenario 3

See also Ethics Training Documents and Resources.

 

ARCHIVES

The following are Leadership Dialogue guides from previous years:


LEADERSHIP DIALOGUE FAQs

Q. Why should I do this activity?

A. All Heads of Entity and managers in the United Nations Secretariat are asked to host a 90-minute session with their direct reports on this year’s topic, “Personal use of social media: How is my online behaviour?” All Heads of Entity will be asked to confirm to the Ethics Office that their managers have completed their Leadership Dialogue sessions. This year’s topic will seek to remind each of us of our important role as the face of the Organization, including on social media. Our online behaviour must reflect the principles and values enshrined in the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Standards of Conduct for the International Civil Service.

Q. I am expected to lead the dialogue for my team, but I am not a great trainer or public speaker. Do I have to do this activity?

A. Don’t worry! The Leader’s Guide was designed with you in mind. Just follow the Guide that has been provided, and you will find that it is relatively easy to lead your session. We have also provided a PowerPoint presentation to help facilitate and guide the discussions. The most important thing you can do, besides being prepared, is to be honest and open with your team during this discussion. While the Guide provides practical examples under each topic, for your ease of reference, you may wish to think about examples from your own experience or that of your colleagues as this may make the session more authentic. You can also ask for the assistance of a facilitator to make the session more participatory.

Q. What if I cannot answer all the questions raised during the session?

A. The Leader’s Guide provides summary points that should address most questions that may be raised. However, it is entirely possible that your staff will ask questions or raise issues not previously considered. This is a good opportunity for the group to consider the issue and reach its own answers. For matters that you continue to struggle with, document the question(s) and consult with the Ethics Office. After your consultation, you can go back to your staff and share helpful information. You may also use the online form in Annex C to address questions raised during the session.

Q. Are the Guides available in other languages?

A. Yes. The Guides are currently available in English, French and Spanish. To download Guides in any of these specific languages, please proceed to the corresponding language version of the UN Ethics Office website on the Leadership Dialogue webpage. We hope to expand the language selection in the future, depending on demand.

Q. I can speak the language used officially at my duty station but I’m not comfortable expressing myself in it.

A. We are encouraging session leaders to embrace multilingualism in conducting leadership dialogue sessions. Feel free to approach the session leader directly or to seek the assistance of staff representatives to advocate for multilingual support in conducting the sessions.

Q. I am ready to conduct my session, but my manager has not yet done his/her session with our team. Can I go ahead with my own session?

A. The Leadership Dialogue is designed in a “management cascade” style, which anticipates that you will lead your session once your manager has conducted his/her session with you. However, you may go ahead with your session if you are ready.

Q. How many colleagues should participate in a single session?

A. Ideally, a session should comprise 10-25 colleagues. Where the number is far below 10 colleagues, it might be more beneficial and efficient to have a second (or higher) reporting officer lead the session, thereby having several units hold the session jointly. Where the number exceeds 25 colleagues, all of whom report directly to the same manager, the manager should consider splitting the sessions into two (or another number) based on any criteria that the manager deems fit. In such a case, the manager should lead all the split sessions.

Q. Can I ask another manager to do these sessions instead of me?

A. No. The purpose of the dialogue session is to allow you and your direct reports to engage in a discussion with each other about the importance of conflicts of interest and why they matter. Having someone, other than the manager, lead the discussion does not achieve the purpose of the activity.

Q. Can I ask someone from my team to facilitate the session?

A. Yes. Although managers are required to lead the sessions, they can delegate the task of facilitating the session e.g. directing the PowerPoint presentation, reading from the slides, asking for volunteers to read etc., to one of the participants. However, the manager must direct the session and cannot delegate certain tasks, such as (i) sharing a personal story during the “Opening Activity” or (ii) responding to questions.

Q. My manager has scheduled the Leadership Dialogue session. As we do this every year, can I skip one session?

A. You should not skip a session, as the topic has been different every year since the Leadership Dialogue was first launched in 2013.

Q. Our entity/office does not have a typical manager → direct supervisees set up. How can we arrange our Leadership Dialogue sessions?

A. Although it is recommended that sessions should be held between managers and their direct supervisees, this may not be always possible. In such cases, any arrangement can be made which allows for a manager or another leader to lead a session of colleagues, including those who do not report directly to him/her. What matters is that the session leader should hold some leadership role. Examples of possible alternative arrangements include: (i) a Country Representative can lead a session for a group of 10-25 colleagues who make up the entirety of those eligible to participate in that duty station; (ii) the head of a peacekeeping or political mission site office, comprising some 10-25 colleagues, can lead the dialogue for colleagues at that site office although they do not report to her/him directly.

Q. Our entity/office has undergone certain incidents in the last 12 months, and we feel that our own scenarios, based on those events, would be more impactful than those provided in the Guides. Can we use our own scenarios?
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Q. As a session leader, I feel that the scenarios proposed might negatively affect my team dynamics or prove controversial. Can I skip the session or draft my own scenarios?

A. No. While it is appreciated that colleagues can come up with scenarios that might be more impactful than those provided in the guides, the scenarios in the guides are carefully chosen, reviewed by multiple offices and redrafted several times over to address specific learning points which are at the heart of the expert office which came up with the scenarios. You could however discuss an additional scenario in addition to the minimum number of scenarios suggested for the year’s Leadership Dialogue. We would, however, ask that you first get in touch with the Ethics Office for its feedback on the additional scenario suggested.

Q. Is the Dialogue mandatory for non-staff personnel such as consultants and interns?

A. No. The Dialogue is mainly aimed at staff, but others can be included since the take-away lessons are beneficial to us all.

Q. I am a session leader, Focal Point, or participant, but I cannot access Annex C and Annex E, or Annex F. What should I do?

A. If you cannot access the Annexes, please inform the Ethics Office so we can facilitate access for you. Please do not send your feedback by email.

Q. We are not a UN Secretariat or Mission entity but would like to use the Dialogue, with slight modifications to the content to suit our Entity. May we?

A. Please contact the UN Ethics Office with some indication as to the modifications that you would like to make. We will provide you a Word version of the Dialogue and any other necessary support.

Q. Is the Dialogue required for all staff in the field, regardless of agency, or should it be undertaken entity-by-entity. Can we also include non-Secretariat UN staff in our session?

A. Feel free to include participants from other agencies and indicate in the final count, through Annex C and Annex E, how many staff members belong to which agency using the “other comments”.

Q. We are a Secretariat entity funded from the regular budget but did not receive the invitation to participate in the Leadership Dialogue. Should we participate?

A. Yes. Sometimes entities are not included in the Distribution List because they began operations after the Dialogue was launched or purely due to clerical errors. Please notify the Ethics Office as soon as possible if you have been erroneously left out. We will make necessary accommodations to ensure that your entity is not prejudiced by these errors, e.g. by extending the deadline for submission of participation statistics.

Q. Our entity has other priorities and we may not be able to submit our final participation statistics (Annex E) by 31 December. Can we get an extension?

A. Yes. However, please notify the Ethics Office first of your need for an extension. Please also note that the Ethics Office must submit its report on the Dialogue to the Secretary General in February of the following year. As such, any extensions beyond February mean that your entity will not be included among those offices that have completed the Dialogue in that report.

Q. Colleagues at our Entity have expressed interest in the current Leadership Dialogue topic and would like to have a seminar with the Ethics Office to ask further questions. Is this possible?

A. Yes. Please note however that not all topics covered by the Leadership Dialogues are within the Ethics Office’s mandate. As such, the Ethics Office will participate in any such seminars jointly with other expert offices. While this might affect availability of the requested sessions at the desired time, we will try our best to make them happen.

Q. How can I learn more about ethical standards and issues?

A. Feel free to download and view additional information from the Ethics Office website. In particular, you are encouraged to download Putting Ethics to Work: A Guide for UN Staff (pdf icon) and The Roadmap: A Staff Member’s Guide to Finding the Right Place (pdf icon).

For questions or concerns, contact the UN Ethics Office

Helpline: available on iSeek or email:ethicsoffice@un.org.