Get to know Prof. Michael Fischer
Organisations are built on relationships. I’ve spent my career exploring how leadership, culture, and collaboration shape them—and helping senior leaders turn that insight into impact.
I specialise in leadership, organisational culture, and large-scale system change in healthcare, higher education, and professional services. With a background spanning academic leadership, executive coaching, and clinical practice. I focus on the relational and cultural dynamics that shape complex organisations.
From clinical leadership to business school
I began my career in healthcare, training as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist in Manchester and a group analyst in London. I went on to serve as a clinical director and consultant psychotherapist in major UK teaching hospitals, including St Thomas’ Hospital, London. Beyond clinical leadership, I worked at a national level as a consultant and adviser on cross-sector collaboration in health and social care, leading major organisational change initiatives that reshaped service delivery and leadership practice.
Through this work, I saw firsthand how leadership decisions—particularly in complex systems—were shaped by informal networks and cultural dynamics. This insight shaped my PhD at Imperial College London, where I researched interorganisational collaboration in knowledge-intensive sectors, particularly how major organisations build and sustain effective partnerships.
Developing leaders and organisational change
As Professor of Organisational Culture and Leadership, I research and teach how effective leadership enables organisations to navigate complexity, shape culture, and mobilise knowledge across organisations and partnerships.
I work across leading business schools and health faculties, including Melbourne Business School and the Collaborative Practice Centre at the University of Melbourne, where my focus is on leadership for collaboration and culture change. I have also held senior faculty positions at University of Oxford, King’s College London, Australian Catholic University and Monash, specialising in executive leadership development and organisational change.
Shaping the future of healthcare
The most effective healthcare leaders don’t just manage systems—they shape cultures, build trust, and create environments where collaboration and innovation thrive.
My work focuses on helping healthcare leaders navigate complexity, foster psychological safety, and build organisational cultures that are adaptive, and people-centred. This approach underpins my work with senior leadership teams across healthcare, higher education, and professional services, where I bring research-driven insights into what truly enables lasting organisational change.
My research has consistently shown that top-down mandates don’t work. Change happens when leaders engage the human side of their organisations—through meaningful dialogue, trust-building, and collaboration across teams and institutions.
It’s this work—at the intersection of leadership, organisational culture, and system-wide change—that continues to shape my teaching, research and practice.
A life between continents
Originally from the UK, I moved to Australia with my family a decade ago, but maintain strong personal and professional ties across both regions, frequently travelling between the two. I speak English and German, reflecting my dual-national background, and have always been drawn to the interplay between different cultures.
Outside of work, I’m a passionate runner in the Macedon Ranges, where I find perspective and clarity. Recently, I’ve taken up learning the cello, returning to an early passion for strings I set aside as a teenager.
Recognition and awards
My work in leadership and organisational change has been recognised for its real-world impact. In 2018, I was awarded the prestigious Urwick Prize for an outstanding piece of research relevant to management consultancy.
I also serve as a Fellow and active contributor to several professional societies:
Fellow, Royal Anthropological Institute
Fellow, Royal Society of Medicine
Fellow, Higher Education Authority
Founding Fellow, Institute of Coaching at Harvard-McLean
Professional Certified Coach, International Coaching Federation
Life Member, Oxford University Anthropological Society