MSD Team Leader competencies

There's plenty of guidance on how to do MSD, much less on how to lead an MSD programme well. Yet leadership shapes everything: team culture, adaptive capacity, whether results last.

The MSD Team Leader Competency Framework provides a practical, research-backed benchmark for the skills that matter most for MSD Team Leaders - whether your role is called Programme Manager, Project Director, Chief of Party or Chief Technical Advisor.

Download the MSD Team Leader Competency Framework

Why MSD Team Leaders (TLs) matter

MSD TLs form the programme team, set the strategy and reinforce the culture.

Their approach to strategic portfolio management combined with their approach to promoting a learning culture and adaptive management dictate how everyone else in the programme team enacts their roles.

TLs need to buffer external pressures to create space for the team to learn and adapt, and they have direct authority over how resources are deployed to achieve inclusive and sustainable results.

Having leaders with the right skills and mindset makes the difference between short-term results that fade and sustainable market system changes. Leaders influence whether teams are empowered, learning and autonomous, or compliant, risk-averse and close-minded.

For these reasons, the BEAM Exchange and the Canopy Lab worked together to develop and test a leadership Competency Framework for MSD TLs.

The MSD Team Leader Competency Framework

Based on research with 65+ experienced MSD practitioners, the MSD Team Leader Competency Framework identifies four competency domains that make successful MSD TLs.

Developed with financial support and technical inputs from the Canopy Lab, building on initial research from the BEAM Exchange, the framework provides a practical benchmark for assessment, development and recruitment of MSD leadership talent.

The four domains of MSD leadership

Managing a portfolio of interventions: deal-making, experimentation and capacity building within a broader vision of systemic change
Shaping the team's learning culture: culture, motivation and capacity
Creating the space to operate: politics, relationships and expectations
Adaptive operations: making Finance, Procurement and HR more flexible and 'fit for MSD'

Moving beyond the 'hero TL' myth

MSD programmes operate in complex, constantly evolving environments. No TL arrives fully formed with all the answers. The reality is that even experienced TLs are constantly learning and adapting to: the country/culture, the donor, and the specific dynamics of the team they are working with.

Implementing organisations who recognise the scale of the challenge invest in leadership development as a way to manage risk and to increase the programme’s chances of success.

More broadly, effective support systems create better outcomes for multiple stakeholders: programme teams are more dynamic and high performing, programmes create better results, and both implementers and donors can join in celebrating the success.

How to use the framework


Team Leaders	Initiating self-assessment and professional growth: Benchmark your skills against proven competencies Identify personal development priorities Kick-start learning process
Coaches or mentors	Prioritising support needs and structuring conversations: Use as a roadmap for structured coaching conversations Prioritise specific competency domains for improvement Well-developed prompts spark learning and reflection
Donors	Improving design and evaluation of MSD programmes: Inform programme design and team structure requirements Evaluate implementation quality beyond just results
Implementers	Managing performance and recruitment: Structure performance reviews around key competencies Inform recruitment and succession planning Build institutional capacity for MSD leadership

Download the full MSD Team Leader Competency Framework

Additional resources

Brief: What support do MSD leaders need to thrive?
Core MSD Competency Framework - while not role-specific, the competencies emphasise what front-line technical project staff need to do when implementing an MSD programme.

Acknowledgements

Developed through collaboration between The Canopy Lab and the BEAM Exchange, with inputs from the DCED's MSD Working Group.

Direct inputs to the framework itself:
Tim Sparkman, Holly Krueger, Mike Klassen, Julian Peach

Feedback and review of the framework:
Harald Bekkers, Maryam Piracha, Richard Rose, Sergio Rivas, Meseret Tefera, Ben Taylor, John Rachkara, Andrew Panton

For feedback or enquires, contact: mike.klassen@beamexchange.org

MSD Team Leader Competency Framework

A competency framework for improving the performance of MSD Team Leaders