{"id":67,"date":"2024-09-18T16:38:17","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T15:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/dlcc2025\/?page_id=67"},"modified":"2024-11-21T14:07:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T14:07:47","slug":"conference-theme","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/dlcc2025\/conference-theme\/","title":{"rendered":"Conference Theme"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction to our conference theme:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Increasingly, the visible political world of leadership seems to be producing populist leaders offering simple solutions based on the politics of blame and \u2018othering\u2019. This type of leadership, coupled with endless drives for efficiency and fuelled by the polarising ability of social media, seeps into our organisational lives, often leaving our values compromised and our colleagues neglected or feeling ostracised.<\/p>\n

Into this increasingly de-humanised world, DLCC 2025 aims to open a debate on developing leaders who can rebalance and heal our fractured workplaces. We believe that organisations need to be cultivating leaders who can create sustainable and inclusive cultures, organisations that afford spaces for individuals to feel trusted, valued, supported, and cared for and where there is a strong sense of identity and belonging (Benevene, Buonomo and West, 2022; Cox, 2023). We contend that an emphasis on care, collaboration and compassion in leadership (West, 2021) is increasingly necessary to help address some of these shortfalls for the good of individuals, organisations and society.<\/p>\n

Care and compassion in leadership are believed to be critical for survival and for the development of social harmony (Stajkovic and Stajkovic, 2024). For leaders this means developing practices of attentiveness; understanding; dialogue; empathy, responsiveness, caring relationships and helping (Atkins and Parker, 2012; Benevene, Buonomo and West, 2022; Stajkovic and Stajkovic, 2024). Caring and compassionate leaders are described as kind, supportive and inclusive (Cox, 2023); making time and space for \u2018human moments\u2019 in the organisation (Frost, 2003) which can assist individuals with their happiness and well-being (Benevene,\u00a0et al<\/em>\u00a02022). Shuck,\u00a0et al<\/em>\u00a0(2019) contend that compassionate leadership is an everyday practice with leader\u2019s acts based on the virtues of integrity, empathy, accountability, authenticity, presence, and dignity (2019:538). Further, they contend that compassionate leadership can sit outside the traditional hierarchical leader-follower relationships and be enacted by anyone within an organisation. This is significant in the current environment where an awareness of mental health and well-being of individuals and leaders within organisations is increasing in prominence. Compassionate leadership can come at a cost. In enacting \u2018human moments\u2019 (Frost, 2003) and taking responsibility and action during times of crisis (Maak, Pless and Wohlgezogen, 2021) a leader\u2019s own health and wellbeing can be impacted resulting in stress and burn-out (Mallon, 2022). Self-care or being able to observe self-compassion is therefore critical (Hargreaves, 2021).<\/p>\n

Whilst care and compassion in leadership have been predominately explored in relation to the health and care sector (West, 2021), it has also been discussed in business (Hougaard, Carter and Hobson, 2020); education (Waddington, 2018; Harris and Jones, 2023); gender (Imhanrenialena\u00a0et al,<\/em>\u00a02023); crisis situations such as post Covid (Cox, 2023) and as a political style of leadership (Van Wart, Macaulay and Haberstroh, 2022). Whilst definitions and components of what care and compassion in leadership consists of vary, Harris and Jones capture its essence modestly as \u201cleadership is ultimately a human endeavour that cannot be exercised without a degree of humility and humanity<\/em>\u00a0(2023:186)\u201d.<\/p>\n

This perspective ultimately links care and compassion in leadership to the wider idea of the common good, extending caring for others beyond the organisation to community (Vaughan,2017) or as a way of cultivating a sustainability mindset (Jeanrenaud, Jeanrenaud, Mabey and Knights, 2018; Ritz and Rimanoczy, 2021) in relation to business practice. We can see that care and compassion in leadership affords great potential to make a difference, whether that be through these wider perspectives; through well-being (Wan, Pan, Peng and Meng, 2022); through employee engagement (Buonomo, Farnese, Vecina, Benevene, 2021) or through staff retention strategies (Shuck\u00a0et al<\/em>, 2019). However, the question arises as to whether it is possible to develop caring and compassion leaders and caring organisations? Is this a pragmatic agenda, or a romanticised hope? Can care and compassion in leadership be the key mode of leading in all organisations, or is it contextually dependent? Hence the current focus on health and education environments, as key contexts for testing its feasibility and worth.<\/p>\n

From a leader development perspective, are care and compassion in leadership simply a list of behaviours that can be trained, or competencies to act as selection criteria? And if this is so, how can a leader intentionally become caring in their practice?<\/p>\n

Theoretically, how does caring and compassionate leadership interact with similar theories and constructs of leadership, such as servant leadership (Greenleaf, 2002); ethical leadership (Ciulla, 2003); and responsible leadership (Maak and Pless, 2006; Kempster).<\/p>\n

DLCC 2025 welcomes these and other questions about compassionate leadership, positioning it as an important phenomenon, and seeking to explore its transformative potential for leaders, organisations and individuals.<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

Atkins, P. W. B., and Parker, S. K. (2012). Understanding individual compassion in organizations: The role of appraisals and psychological flexibility.\u00a0Acad. Manag. Rev.<\/em>\u00a037, 4. doi: 10.5465\/amr.2010.0490.<\/p>\n

Benevene, P., Buonomo, I. and West, M. (2022) Editorial: Compassion and compassionate leadership in the workplace.\u00a0Frontiers in psychology,\u00a0<\/em>13<\/p>\n

Buonomo, Farnese, Vecina, Benevene, (2021). Other-Focused Approach to Teaching. The Effect of Ethical Leadership and Quiet Ego on Work Engagement and the Mediating Role of Compassion Satisfaction.\u00a0Frontiers in Psychology<\/em>, 24 June 2021,\u00a0Sec. Organizational Psychology<\/em>, Volume 12 \u2013 2021 |\u00a0https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.692116<\/a><\/p>\n

Ciulla, J. B. (2003).\u00a0The Ethics of Leadership<\/em>. Wadsworth Thomson Learning, Belmont.CA.<\/p>\n

Frost, P. J. (2003).\u00a0Toxic Emotions at work: How compassionate Managers Handle pain and conflict<\/em>. Harvard Business School Press.<\/p>\n

Greenleaf, R. K. (2002).\u00a0Servant Leadership [25th Anniversary Edition]: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness.<\/em>\u00a0Paulist Press, N.J.<\/p>\n

Hargreaves, S. (2021).\u00a0The compassionate leader\u2019s playbook: How to lead with compassion and ensure your people thrive<\/em>. Steven Hargreaves.<\/p>\n

Imhanrenialena, B. O., Ebhotemhen, W., Chukwu, I. B., Obi-Anike, O. H., and Ekeoba, A. A. (2023). Addressing virtual work challenges through women\u2019s innate compassionate managerial leadership behaviors:\u00a0the case of Nigeria.\u00a0Gender in management<\/em>\u00a038(6), 730-746<\/p>\n

Jeanrenaud, S., Jeanrenaud, JP\u00a0Mabey, C. and Knights, D. (2018).\u00a0The Mindful-Promise: Leading With Integrity for a\u00a0Sustainable\u00a0Future<\/a>. In Mabey, C. and Knights, D.\u00a0Leadership Matters<\/em>, Routledge: London. 17-33<\/p>\n

Maak, T., and Pless, N. M. (2006). Responsible leadership in a stakeholder society \u2013 a relational perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 66(1), 99\u2013115.\u00a0https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10551-006-9047<\/a><\/p>\n

Mallon, M. N. (2022). On authenticity, exhaustion, and finding a spark. Journal of Library Administration, 62(6), 832\u2013839. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/01930826.2022.2102383<\/p>\n

Milner, V. (2017).\u00a0Rekindling the flame of community through compassion \u2013 a call for\u00a0leadership\u00a0toward\u00a0compassionate\u00a0community<\/a>.\u00a0Aotearoa New Zealand social work<\/em>, 20(3), 3-13<\/p>\n

Ritz, A. A and Rimanoczy, I. (2021).\u00a0Sustainable\u00a0Compassionate\u00a0Education\u00a0Leadership\u00a0in\u00a0a\u00a0Global Society<\/a>. Sustainability\u00a0Mindset and Transformative\u00a0Leadership, p.225-240<\/p>\n

Stajkovic, K. and Stajkovic, A. D. (2024). Ethics of Care Leadership, Racial Inclusion, and Economic Health in the Cities: Is There a Female Leadership Advantage?\u00a0Journal of Business Ethics<\/em>, 189(4), 699\u2013721.\u00a0https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10551-023-05564-0<\/a><\/p>\n

Wan, J., Pan, Peng, K., and Meng, Y. (2022). The Impact of Emotional Leadership on Subordinates\u2019 Job Performance: Mediation of Positive Emotions and Moderation of Susceptibility to Positive Emotions. Frontiers in Psychology, 24 June 2022, Sec. Organizational Psychology, Volume 13 \u2013 2022 |\u00a0https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2022.917287<\/a><\/p>\n

West, M. A. (2021).\u00a0Compassionate Leadership: Sustaining Wisdom, Humanity and Presence in Health and Social Care<\/em>. The Swirling Leaf Press, UK.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DLCC 15th \u201cDeveloping Leadership Capacity Conference\u201d 2025 Lancaster University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction to our conference theme: Increasingly, the visible political world of leadership seems to be producing populist leaders offering simple solutions based on the politics of blame and \u2018othering\u2019. This type of leadership, coupled with endless drives for efficiency and fuelled by the polarising ability of social media, seeps into our organisational lives, often leaving our values compromised and our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1433,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-67","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/dlcc2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/67","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/dlcc2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/dlcc2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/dlcc2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1433"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/dlcc2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/dlcc2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/67\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72,"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/dlcc2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/67\/revisions\/72"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/dlcc2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}