MEET THE TEAM
Together We Bring Over 60 Years of NHS & Leadership Experience
Jane Cryer and Nicola Harker are Co-Directors of Compassionate — lived-experience leaders who have worked inside the NHS and public sector, not outside it looking in. They have felt the emotional cost of leadership first-hand, and now guide others through it with courage, clarity and compassion.
CO-DIRECTOR
Jane Cryer
NHS Leader · Organisational Development Consultant · Executive Coach
Jane brings decades of senior NHS leadership experience to everything she does, having navigated the full complexity of large-scale public sector organisations under sustained pressure. Her depth in organisational development and executive coaching means she works at both the systemic and deeply personal levels — helping leaders understand not just what needs to change, but how to find the inner resources to lead that change. She knows what it is to carry accountability for people and services when the system itself is fractured, and that hard-won understanding forms the bedrock of her practice. Jane is driven by a conviction that compassionate leadership doesn't make organisations softer — it makes them stronger, more resilient, and more capable of extraordinary performance.
"Compassionate leadership isn't the soft option — it's the courageous one."
CO-DIRECTOR
Nicola Harker
Former GP · Executive Coach · Compassion Teacher
Nicola trained and practised as a GP, experiencing at first-hand the compassion fatigue, moral injury and relentless emotional weight that define frontline clinical leadership. That lived reality — of holding both patient welfare and personal wellbeing in constant tension — shaped her understanding of what sustainable, compassionate leadership actually requires. She transitioned into executive coaching and compassion teaching, bringing a clinically grounded, humanising perspective that resonates immediately with NHS and public sector leaders navigating burnout and complexity. Nicola's work meets leaders where they are, helping them rebuild capacity and lead with genuine care — for their teams and for themselves.
"When we lead from compassion, we don't just change individuals — we change the system."
OUR LIVED EXPERIENCE
We've Lived It
Jane and Nicola don't teach compassionate leadership from a distance — they have navigated the same pressures, losses and systemic fractures that their clients face every day. This shared lived experience is what makes their work trusted, practical and transformational.
Overstretched Systems
We understand what it feels like when demand outstrips capacity and every decision is made without slack — because we have lived and led inside those systems.
The Emotional Cost of Leadership
We know the silent toll that leading in complex, high-stakes environments takes on the leader as a human being — the weight that rarely gets named in appraisals or board reports.
Intention Versus Behaviour
We have experienced the gap between wanting to lead compassionately and actually doing it under pressure — and we know exactly where that gap lives and how to close it.
The Transformational Power of Compassion
We have witnessed first-hand how compassionate leadership changes individuals, transforms teams and reshapes whole organisational cultures — and it is this evidence that drives everything we do.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
Voices From The Room
"Very valuable teaching — this should be integral to training."
"Inspiring and practical — I use this daily."
"A trusted facilitator who creates a safe space."
"This work changed how I show up for my team every single day."
"Rare to find a programme that is both evidence-based and deeply human. Exceptional facilitation."
"Very valuable teaching — this should be integral to training."
"Inspiring and practical — I use this daily."
SEE US IN ACTION
Speaking & Workshop Highlights
Watch Jane and Nicola facilitating real leadership development — and see the warmth, depth and energy they bring to every session, from keynote stages to intimate executive coaching groups.
Jane Cryer — Compassionate Leadership Keynote
Nicola Harker — Executive Coaching Masterclass
WORK WITH US
Ready To Lead Differently?
Whether you're an NHS executive, public sector leader or organisational decision-maker, Jane and Nicola are ready to help you and your team move from reactive, exhausted leadership to calm, compassionate and effective action. A conversation costs nothing — and could change everything.
Contact Us
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