Humanism and Compassion Applied: Post-Pandemic Conditions for Adaptation in Public Organizations

Several leadership models have been so far introduced in the relevant healthcare organizational literature. Each one of them is discussed in brief, by demonstrating its strengths, but also its weaknesses in addressing new, unpredictable challenges. We in turn elaborate on virtues-based healthcare leadership, namely compassionate leadership styles which are in a position to more effectively address emerging challenges, such as those that the new pandemics poses to health care staff and public authorities. However, the role of virtues such as phronesis, wisdom, courage, transcendence, humanity or gratitude remains underexplored in the extant literature on healthcare organizations. The paper is intended to fill this gap, by indicating potential ways of incorporating such virtues in leading more compassionate, humane and caring healthcare organizations in situations of uncertainty, in particular those accompanying a post-covid 19 ambivalent world. Theoretical and practical implications of this approach are also taken into due consideration