Human Service workers are ‘the firefighters in a pandemic’: Lois Boswell

Earlier this month Lois Boswell, Acting Chief Executive of the Department of Human Services, was IPAA South Australia’s guest for a virtual ‘on the couch’ conversation.

During the conversation Lois talked about her involvement in the state-wide response to COVID-19 and expressed her pride in the work of her staff in support of the Department of Health and the non-government sector:

‘Human Service workers are the firefighters in a pandemic in many ways. Health workers are the front-line and we’re very close behind’.

She also spoke about leadership:

‘People do go into “command and control” — and there’s definitely a role for that in crisis, there’s no doubt about that —  but there’s also a role for “How do you get people to come along on it?”.

So one of the things that has been reinforced for me about leadership is something I’ve always believed which is “communicate, communicate, communicate”.  Talk about it, ask about it, share what you’re actually thinking and what the challenges are with people, because that’s what makes them prepared to participate.’

A link to a video of the interview is available below.