Prof. Michael Fischer

Michael Fischer is Professor of Organisational Culture and Leadership at the University of Melbourne, a group analyst, psychoanalytic psychotherapist, and executive coach. He specialises in advising senior leadership teams in healthcare and other complex institutions, and in leading large-scale culture change programmes.

Before his academic career, Michael was a consultant psychotherapist and NHS clinical director in major UK teaching hospitals, and an organisational consultant at regional and national levels within the National Health Service. He has since held senior academic appointments at University of Oxford, King’s College London, and Monash University. He holds a PhD in Organisational Behaviour from Imperial College London, University of London.

His research and consulting focus on authority, organisational culture, and leadership in complex systems, on how institutional and professional identities shape strategic judgement. Publications include books with Oxford University Press and articles in leading journals in organisation studies and healthcare. His research on leading major change in healthcare systems was recognised with the Urwick Prize.

At the Tavistock Institute, Michael co-directs Living and Leading in Strategic Complexity.