Dr Phil James

Abstract 

How leadership with a culture of care is inspiring

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Much time and attention is given to how leaders need to adopt different styles and approaches depending on the context of what they’re doing. That’s all well and good, but often that assumes there’s some sort of trade-off between driving strategy and showing compassion for other people. My difficulty with that way of thinking is that it places a lot of emphasis on the leader as separate to other people, with special abilities to detach from what is going on to steer and control things from an abstract perspective. It’s become normal to think of organisations as machines designed to deliver outputs: profits, healthcare, widgets, coffee, entertainment – you name it.

But for me, organisations are not machine-like at all, but places where people come together to get things done. Take away the all the trappings for just a moment – the job titles, the marketing hype, the mission statements and the uniforms. What’s underneath are the things we lose sight of: power, politics, emotion, identity and people not operating like cogs in a machine but, well, like people. If we see organisations as multiple ongoing conversations between people, how might we respond differently to our challenges as leaders? Outside of ‘the people stuff’ what’s left, in actuality, for us to do, as leaders? What does that tell us about our ethical responsibilities? And is there such a thing as a ‘leader’ at all?

Let’s talk about what’s often neglected, the invisible and the taboo. Let’s challenge the seductive rhetoric about transformational and charismatic leadership rhetoric. Let’s ask how leaders can possible begin to inspire if it’s not about nurturing a culture of care.