Creating more and better jobs is central to reducing poverty and driving sustainable growth. In countries like Burundi, this depends on sound investments and on the ability to deliver results–ensuring that projects translate into real opportunities for people, from improved services to expanded economic activity. Strengthening how projects are implemented is therefore critical to advancing the World Bank Group’s jobs agenda.
In Burundi, the World Bank Group supports a portfolio of 15 national and 3 regional projects across education, health, energy, social protection, digital, infrastructure and job creation totaling $1.108 billion. These investments are designed to improve lives and expand economic opportunities, including by laying the foundations for job creation. While teams were equipped with ample resources and skilled members, discussions revealed that the main opportunities for improvement lay in enhancing coordination and collaboration, not technical expertise. Recognizing this opportunity, the country team launched a leadership development initiative, with operational support from the Coalitions for Reforms (C4R) Global Program, to help project coordinators work more effectively across institutions and move projects forward.
This was a novel approach for the country team. Instead of focusing capacity-building efforts on procurement or financial management, the initiative centered on training project coordinators on navigating change and collaborating across institutions. Stronger leadership and coordination are essential to ensure that investments deliver results at scale–translating into better services, stronger institutions, and ultimately more and better jobs. Although many coordinators had been in management roles for years, this was the first time they had received structured training on the people and change management dimensions of project delivery.
The first step was to understand what the team leaders felt they needed through interviews and self-assessments where they ranked their confidence in their own abilities on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). A few key challenges emerged:
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- Team leaders felt underequipped to support transitions and understand resistance with change management skills scoring lowest in the self-assessment (baseline average: 3.36/5).
- They mentioned feeling isolated when making decisions in a complex environment with numerous inter-institutional dependencies and unclear responsibilities.
- Constraints related to multi-stakeholder coordination were highlighted (baseline average: 3.4/5), along with the lack of ownership of projects by certain stakeholders.
- Team leaders also mentioned experiencing difficulties with the shift from expert to leader roles, resulting in insufficient ability to delegate effectively (baseline average 3.7/5).
- Challenges in managing disagreements and influencing without hierarchical authority were also frequently mentioned.
These insights made it clear that solving technical issues would not accelerate project delivery unless leadership challenges were also addressed. Based on this assessment, the team turned to the Leadership for Results (L4R) Program, an approach that has been used since the early 2000s to build implementation capacity through short, outcome-focused cycles, coalition building, and iterative problem solving. Earlier applications in Burundi had already demonstrated tangible gains within 60-120 days, including cutting textbook delivery times to about 60 days, boosting HIV screening within 100-days cycles, and scaling from 2 pilots in 2006 to 246 initiatives by 2012 across all ministries. In this new context, the program aimed to equip coordinators with the tools to lead with clarity, confidence, and a spirit of collaboration.
How the L4R Bootcamp Addressed the Key Gaps
The L4R Program focused on adaptive leadership, communication, and project management delivered through a three-day immersive bootcamp. The format emphasized experiential learning, role-playing, and peer coaching to help participants tackle real implementation bottlenecks in their own projects. “Learning so much in such a short time surprised me. It was both dense and very structured,” one participant reflected. The program did not just teach leadership: it created space for reflection, vulnerability, and growth.
The bootcamp generated strong engagement and visible progress. Participants were invited to identify three obstacles in their professional practice and build personalized roadmaps to address them. Tensions surfaced during role plays at times, mirroring real-world challenges, but were resolved constructively.
One participant spoke of newfound clarity: “I discovered the three roles of a leader: personal, team, and systemic.” The program also strengthened team cohesion and trust. Communication improved, and participants began to see leadership not as authority, but as influence and accountability. “I want to continue aiming high while encouraging teamwork and celebrating collective victories,” said another. These testimonials reflect a mindset shift from managing tasks to leading change.
These shifts were backed by measurable change in the feelings of participants about their own ability to drive success. After the program, participants self-assessed significant improvements across all leadership categories, with average growth ranging from +8% to +22%. The largest jump occurred in change management skills (+0.75 points), particularly in the ability to manage transitions and adjust work practices gradually.
Participants reported significant improvement in their own ability to lead after the Leadership for Results program
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Following the bootcamp, participants entered a three-month online coaching cycle to consolidate learning and implement their action plans. The continuation of online exchanges after face-to-face sessions created a safe environment where they could have open discussions and receive candid feedback under the guidance of a session facilitator. This approach fostered openness and trust, enhancing the overall effectiveness of the learning experience. “Every problem can be solved; you just have to look at it and apply the tools: Method U, Generous Listening, Toxins, CODEV, SCAN, etc.” one participant commented.
What’s Next: Sustaining the Momentum
Beyond providing training, the L4R program has the potential to be a catalyst for change. Consistent with C4R’s integrated approach, the L4R program helped teams in Burundi to form coalitions, build trust, and deploy change management and strategic communications, turning collective action into faster delivery within rapid learning cycles. By investing in leadership, the World Bank is helping coordinators translate vision into action and projects into impact. Participants even requested that L4R be extended to technical experts and additional project teams. As the program expands, it offers a compelling model for countries navigating complex reforms: empower the people who lead, and results will follow.