“Empathy. Connections. Trust. Vulnerability. These are vague concepts that don’t fit the realities of a public service operating model”. 

I recently heard a respected public servant and senior leader of a government agency say this in a meeting. While I sympathise, I disagree. It’s true that many organisations — unfortunately — don’t seem to care how their people are, or should be, feeling at work. This is also true in public sector organisations, which in many countries are facing novel challenges while having to do more with less.

In times of volatile change, f-word conversations — where we talk about how we really feel — can be transformational. But feelings can get chucked into the ‘too hard’ basket in times of change. There

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