"We know what’s required to meet the challenges facing the NHS – high levels of innovation within and between organisations. Now the key is for leaders in every organisation to make it happen by recognising that innovation takes courage, persistence and confidence.

The prize is a significant one – high-quality, continually improving and compassionate care that ensures the health and wellbeing of communities and an increasingly caring society."

Michael West, The King's Fund and author of Compassionate Leadership

Professor Michael West

Source: The King's Fund

Four key elements of Compassionate Leadership

Michael West explains why psychological safety, a “shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking”, is important for team leadership

Leaders create psychological safety in organisation through compassionate leadership. Compassion is attentiveness to the suffering of ourselves and others, with the wisdom and steps taken to relieve it. Michael’s detailed model of compassionate  leadership highlights the four key elements of required:

  • Attending: being present and listening.
  • Understanding: requiring connection, dialogue and judgement.
  • Empathising: feeling the difficulties or distress of the other or others and
  • Helping: taking wise action to address the pain, distress or suffering of the other.

Source: Health Manager

Upcoming events

"An opportunity to pause, reflect and consider together our Compassionate Leadership footprint"

See below flyer for our bespoke Compassionate Leadership Footprint programme by Affina Organisation Development, which started in January 2022! The flyer includes all information needed for expressing interest and FAQs.

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Supporting NHS colleagues to handle difficult situations with compassion

An opportunity for colleagues across the North West to take part in a national pilot training programme

"Supporting NHS colleagues to handle difficult situations with compassion” is a newly-developed training course that has been commissioned in response to a high number of requests from our NHS people who have shared that they are seeking support in how to handle difficult situations, particularly when patients present in a challenging or distressed manner. 

The training is designed to upskill colleagues with appropriate techniques and skills that will support them in handling difficult situations with compassion, whilst highlighting the importance of looking after your own health and wellbeing at this critical time.

To find out more, please view the appropriate flyer below:

Leading with Kindness and Compassion by The King's Fund

Sign up to the free online digital course from The King's Fund with FutureLearn on Leading with Kindness and Compassion now! Aimed at anyone working in or interested in health and social care in its broadest sense, regardless of sector, experience, or role.

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Find out more

Teamworking, psychological safety and compassionate leadership

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Case story

Sharing good practice and a colleague's experience of our Compassionate Leadership programme:

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Further reading

  • Effective Teamwork: Practical Lessons from Organisational Research by Michael West
  • The Psychology of Work and Organizations by Stephen Woods and Michael West
  • Compassionate Leadership: sustaining Wisdom, Humanity and Presence in Health and Social Care by Michael West 
  • Boundless Leadership: The Breakthrough Method to Realize Your Vision, Empower Others & Ignite Positive Change by Joe Loizzo and Elazar Aslan
  • Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claime Their Power, and Thrive by Kristin Neff
  • The Full Body Yes: Change Your Work and Your World from the Inside Out by Scott Shute
  • The Gifts of Compassion: How to understand and overcome suffering by Stan Steindl