Event Details

We are delighted to present to you a brand new Public Lecture Series. The 2020/2021 Public Lectures Series will include a mix of fully online and hybrid events and we look forward to welcoming you in person and virtually.

About the Lecture

What role should kindness and compassion play in leadership? Many of us are acquainted with the idea of leaders as ‘strong, effective and tough’, but should we be expecting more?

After an exceptionally challenging period where kindness and compassion have made the headlines more than they perhaps ordinarily would, Lancaster University brings to you a two-part hybrid public lecture hosted at the Health Innovation Campus and streamed online. Our two speakers, Professor Mike Thomas (Chair, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS FoundationTrust) and Professor Michael West (Professor of Organisational Psychology, Lancaster University) will explore what compassionate leadership involves, how we can become compassionate leaders and how we can overcome challenges that might prevent this culture being embedded in our places of work.

What will you learn during this lecture?

⭐ What compassionate leadership is and its positive impact.

⭐ Why compassionate leadership is important.

⭐ Ways in which we can learn to become compassionate leaders.

⭐How we can work to overcome the barriers to embedding compassionate leadership in our organisations and our own working practices.

This lecture will be followed by a Q&A session during which you will have the opportunity to ask questions of the speakers

Please note that we are running this event in a hybrid format where attendees can join in person or online.

To join in-person, register using this link

The in-person event will take place at the Health Innovation Campus, Sir John Fisher Drive, Bailrigg, LA1 4YW. There is free parking available on site and the event is accessible to wheelchair users.

To join online, register using this link

You will receive a Zoom Webinar link closer to the event. Automatically generated subtitles will be available for this event. You will be able to participate to the Q&A session via the Zoom Q&A function.

About the speakers

• Professor Mike Thomas, FRSA is Chair of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT), and a non-executive Director of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust. Mike has nearly forty years’ experience in the NHS and the Higher Education sector, having worked in a range of senior clinical and management roles. Prior to joining UHMBT, Mike held management posts across several UK universities including Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Chester and, most recently, Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Organisational Leadership at the University of Central Lancashire. In the NHS, Mike was a Mental Health Clinical Specialist and Psychotherapist specialising in Eating Disorders, Differential Diagnosis, and Trauma work with military veterans. Mike has co-edited three best-selling textbooks, (two on mental health, one on compassionate leadership) and has published over 70 articles and chapters as well as holding membership of regional and national policy-making bodies. Mike’s most recent book, Kindness in Leadership (co-edited with Gay Haskins and Lalit Johri) was published in 2018 and was one of the first books to explore both the concept and practice of kindness in leadership.
• Professor Michael West CBE is 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. Michael is supporting Health Education and Improvement Wales to develop the national health and care compassionate leadership strategy in Wales. He led the review for The King’s Fund into the mental health and well-being of nurses and midwives across the UK, The Courage of Compassion: Supporting Nurses and Midwives to Deliver High Quality Care (2020). His latest book (2021) is Compassionate leadership: Sustaining wisdom, humanity and presence in health and social care.

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