World renowned expert on the psychology of work, Professor Michael Leiter, from the Centre for Organisational Research & Development (CORD), Acadia University, Nova Scotia, Canada, is the guest speaker at tonight's RCSI Institute of Leadership Lecture Series. The lecture will be delivered to 80 healthcare professionals and academics at 6pm in RCSI, Reservoir House, Sandyford, Dublin 18.

Professor Leiter's talk will focus on civility, respect and work engagement. Civility and respect are fundamental interpersonal skills to promote an engaged and flourishing workplace for employees, customers and other stakeholders. Designed workplace interventions in the area of civility and respect have been shown to have a lasting impact, bringing about improvements in job satisfaction, organisational commitment, trust and burnout. 

Professor Ciarán O'Boyle, Director of the RCSI Institute of Leadership, said: “It is a great pleasure to host Professor Leiter to the RCSI Institute of Leadership. His presence is timely in that both the Institute and RCSI are increasingly focusing on developments emanating from positive psychology and positive organisational behaviour.”

Professor Leiter's ground-breaking research on job burnout and work engagement has produced widely acclaimed books. He consults with organisations and researchers around the world in a concerted commitment to improving worklife quality. Together with co-author Dr Christina Maslach, he coined the term ‘work engagement’ as the antithesis to burnout. He is a Professor of Psychology at Acadia University in Canada and holds the Canada Research Chair in Occupational Health and Wellness. 

Professor Leiter has conducted research and provided consulting services regarding approaches to improving work engagement with healthcare systems, educational settings, and government.

The RCSI Institute of Leadership is Ireland's only third level institution dedicated exclusively to developing the leadership and management capacity of healthcare professionals. While the Institute is an academic institution, it maintains close connections with the world of healthcare delivery. Its Masters programmes are characterised by flexibility, speed of response, customer service and a blended learning approach that allows students to learn while continuing to work. The Institute has campuses in Dublin, Bahrain and Dubai and it also delivers programmes in Abu Dhabi, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Sub-Saharan Africa.