Compassionate leadership is the only way to keep university communities united

The pandemic demonstrated the centrality of compassion in human institutions and society. In the UK, nearly a million volunteered to support the NHS and millions more formal and informal volunteers worked through lockdowns, while health and social care staff risked their lives caring for others. Compassion is a hard-wired response to suffering and is typical during disasters. It is the glue that binds families, communities and societies together.

Universities have lost much of that glue in recent years, according to several studies showing that, even prior to the pandemic, staff were reporting high levels of stress, work overload and bullying. The reputational damage to some universities is significant. Senior managers are seen by many as more intent on moving up league tables than advancing knowledge, caring for staff and students, and benefiting society and the planet. 

One study showed a mean satisfaction with senior management score across UK higher education of only 11 per cent. This suggests both a failure and crisis of university leadership. Organisations are simply another form of human community and loss of compassion leads to corrosion of community.

How do we create cultures of compassion? Every day, our every interaction shapes the culture of our teams, departments and institutions. But the role of leaders is particularly powerful. What leaders pay attention to, talk about, monitor and model in their own behaviour communicates what they value – regardless of what their university website says about institutional values. 

To nurture and sustain compassionate cultures, leaders at every level must model compassion in their leadership. In practice, the four elements of compassion (attending, understanding, empathising and helping) must be applied in their leadership.

This means leaders attending to those they lead – giving their attention and being present. Nancy Kline’s evocative phrase “listening with fascination” describes this well. Second is seeking to understand the challenges, pain and difficulties that those they lead face. Not by imposing understanding from a hierarchical eyrie but by achieving authentic and shared understanding through dialogue. Third is empathising by feeling the other’s pain, frustration, anxiety or anger without being overwhelmed by it. Empathising provides the motivation for the fourth critical element of compassionate leadership, which is helping or serving those we lead to do their jobs more effectively. This means helping to remove obstacles and to ensure they have the resources they need such as adequate staff numbers, the right equipment and appropriate training.

We have known for more than 50 years that these four behaviours are critical to effective leadership. It is not a coincidence that they are the same behaviours that constitute compassion. These behaviours ensure connection, belonging and trust. This is not some soft-cushion, scented-candle approach to leadership. It requires a great deal more courage and authenticity than the rather superficial opt out of command-and-control.

Compassionate university leadership will focus on those who work within the university and on its contribution to society. It implies a strong focus on performance, but one where the well-being, engagement and development of staff and students are seen as essential to achieving the vision of the institution and enhancing its reputation.

In institutions with one of the most able and motivated workforces in industry, why do we often manage through command-and-control with extended hierarchies? Compassionate leadership recognises that shared and inclusive leadership in teams, departments and universities makes for effectiveness and innovation. If leadership is not inclusive, it is not compassionate.

Compassionate leadership focuses on meeting the core work needs of staff: the need for autonomy and control, voice and influence in cultures of justice and fairness rather than fear and blame; the need for belonging – feeling connected, cared for, valued and respected in our teams and institutions; and the need for competence – to make a valued contribution and to feel effective. Work overload is the number one factor in staff stress, intention to quit and undermining a sense of competence.

Universities must focus on knowledge development and benefiting society, the ecosystems and the planet of which we are a part. To sustain their reputations, they should be models of compassionate institutions for the rest of society. It is the responsibility of all of us in universities to model compassion, self-compassion and to lead compassionately to sustain wisdom, humanity and presence for all our futures.

Michael West is senior visiting fellow at thinktank The King’s Fund and professor of organisational psychology at Lancaster University. His most recent book, Compassionate Leadership: Sustaining Wisdom, Humanity and Presence in Health and Social Care, was published earlier this year by Swirling Leaf Press.  

The Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings will be published at 1pm BST on 27 October. The results will be exclusively revealed at the THE Leadership & Management Summit.