ABSTRACT

The United Nations carried out a series of peace operations starting with Australian-led military intervention including multinational forces in September 1999. This multilateral military intervention lasted for only six months, until the arrival of UN peacekeeping forces and the establishment of a UN mission. The role of mission leaders is to focus on strategic goals mandated by the Security Council, and to achieve them by undertaking necessary operations in a timely and effective manner. For this to happen, mission leadership is expected to mobilize all mission staff as well as other stakeholders, to strive for common goals in an integrated manner. UN mission leaders in Timor-Leste had a central role in setting specific agendas and strategic goals. These goals were accomplished by building trust with internal and external stakeholders, and engaging senior staff in continuous planning and preparedness exercises, aimed at establishing varying responses to different hypothetical but possible scenarios, which kept them mentally prepared for eventualities.