Changing organisational culture through compassionate leadership

Compassionate and inclusive leadership has been shown by research to have wide ranging benefits, not only for the workforce but for the organisation as a whole and by extension the people they care for. In stressful environments, people who work in supportive teams under compassionate leadership have been shown to have lower levels of stress, increased staff engagement and satisfaction which results in better outcomes for consumers. This episode will explore some of the actions that leaders can take to address some of the workforce issues facing the aged care sector and to lead with compassion to create positive change.

This episode features Professor Michael West CBE. Professor West is a Senior Visiting Fellow at The King’s Fund, London and Professor of Organisational Psychology at Lancaster University, Visiting Professor at University College, Dublin, and Emeritus Professor at Aston University, where he was formerly Executive Dean of Aston Business School. He has authored, edited and co-edited 20 books and has published more than 200 articles in scientific and practitioner publications on teamwork, innovation, leadership, and culture, particularly in healthcare. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, the American Psychological Association (APA), the APA Society for Industrial/Organisational Psychology, the Academy of Social Sciences, the International Association of Applied Psychologists and the British Academy of Management. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and an Honorary Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery. He was appointed a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2020 for services to compassion and innovation in healthcare.

To learn more or to sign up for the Governing for Reform in Aged care program visit: https://gfr.agedcarequality.gov.au

If you are interested in reading further about Professor West’s work in compassionate leadership you can read his book “Compassionate Leadership: Sustaining Wisdom, Humanity and Presence in Health and Social Care”.