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Cultural humility in critical incidents and cultural change
When positive organisational culture is treated as a “nice to have” rather than a critical operational enabler, the conditions that sustain trust and performance are weakened. In command-and-control environments, the decisions that keep crews and communities safe are not only grounded in technical competence. They depend on what knowledge, tasks, and even people, are treated as legitimate.
The Australian fire services are operating in a changed and changing context shaped by shifting community expectations, new technologies, changing demographics and increasingly complex hazard profiles. This requires new ways of thinking and a broader range of perspectives, but those perspectives only surface when people feel included and able to speak with credibility. We charge our leaders to make the right call when lives are on the line. But do we also support capacity to make better decisions beyond the fireground, when managing people, power and culture? It is natural to seek a quick fix, but lasting cultural change is relational and cumulative, requiring sustained commitment even when progress is slow or difficult to measure.
This session draws on doctoral research examining the role of cultural humility in the organisational culture of the Australian fire services. Based on qualitative interviews with leaders at every level across a range of service contexts, the research explores how leaders perceive, experience, and apply cultural humility, and its practical relevance in command-driven systems.
With its foundations in clinical education, cultural humility promotes critical self-reflection, ongoing learning, and a willingness to recognise and address power imbalances that limit the participation of diverse voices. The findings suggest it can strengthen decision quality by supporting constructive challenge, and making it safer to name uncertainty and risk. These practices can be embedded in everyday leadership interactions, translating integrity into inclusion, and cultural intent into tangible operational impact.
The Australian fire services are operating in a changed and changing context shaped by shifting community expectations, new technologies, changing demographics and increasingly complex hazard profiles. This requires new ways of thinking and a broader range of perspectives, but those perspectives only surface when people feel included and able to speak with credibility. We charge our leaders to make the right call when lives are on the line. But do we also support capacity to make better decisions beyond the fireground, when managing people, power and culture? It is natural to seek a quick fix, but lasting cultural change is relational and cumulative, requiring sustained commitment even when progress is slow or difficult to measure.
This session draws on doctoral research examining the role of cultural humility in the organisational culture of the Australian fire services. Based on qualitative interviews with leaders at every level across a range of service contexts, the research explores how leaders perceive, experience, and apply cultural humility, and its practical relevance in command-driven systems.
With its foundations in clinical education, cultural humility promotes critical self-reflection, ongoing learning, and a willingness to recognise and address power imbalances that limit the participation of diverse voices. The findings suggest it can strengthen decision quality by supporting constructive challenge, and making it safer to name uncertainty and risk. These practices can be embedded in everyday leadership interactions, translating integrity into inclusion, and cultural intent into tangible operational impact.
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