Healthcare Leadership Conversations.
Healthcare Leadership Conversations is hosted by Dr Mo Akindolie, a consultant paediatrician and healthcare leader. In each episode, he speaks with healthcare leaders about their stories, insights and journeys. The show explores how people are leading change in one of society's most vital sectors. Listeners are invited to learn, be inspired, and perhaps see healthcare leadership and life a little differently.
Episodes
EP26 - How to Lead Meetings That Matter in Healthcare using the IMPACT Model from Authentic Gravitas
I wanted to bring this episode to you because meetings are such a big part of how we lead, especially in healthcare, and yet so many of them feel rushed, reactive, or disconnected.In this episode of Healthcare Leadership Insights, I explore what it actually takes to lead meetings that matter, drawing on the principles of authentic gravitas. This isn’t about dominating the room or having a
EP25 - Leadership Insights: Book Club - Authentic Gravitas
I want to start this episode with a question that really made me pause. Have you ever been in a room where someone just has that presence? They don’t dominate, they don’t raise their voice, but somehow they carry weight and people lean in.In this episode of Leadership Insights Book Club, I unpack the idea of gravitas through Dr Rebecca Newton’s book Authentic Gravitas, and honestly, it co
EP24 - Actionable Solutions: Reframing Responsibility in Pet-to-Threat ™
I’ve been thinking a lot about the response to last week’s episode, because the number of messages that came in really said something. So many of you said the same thing. “I didn’t know it had a name… but this is exactly what I’ve experienced.”In this episode, I wanted to go deeper. Not just naming the pet-to-threat phenomenon, but actually exploring what you can do when you find yourself
EP23 - Unveiling the Pet-to-Threat ™ Phenomenon in Healthcare
I had one of those moments reading recently where something just clicks and you can’t unsee it.In this episode, I unpack the Pet-to-Threat™ phenomenon, a concept I came across through Dr Uché Blackstock’s work, and honestly, it stopped me in my tracks. We explore how high-performing clinicians, particularly women of colour, can go from being celebrated to being sidelined the moment they b
EP22 - Shaping Organisational Culture: What Healthcare Can Learn from a Business School
I’ve been thinking a lot about organisational culture lately, especially in healthcare, where the stakes are so high and the pressures never seem to let up.In this episode, I explore what healthcare can learn from business schools when it comes to shaping culture intentionally, not just letting it evolve by default. This is a conversation about leadership, systems, and the everyday behavi
EP21 - Teaming in Healthcare: How Dynamic Collaboration Saves Lives
I’ve been thinking a lot about healthcare teams recently, especially the ones I’m privileged to work with that function incredibly well under pressure.In this episode of Healthcare Leadership Conversations, I explore what really makes teams thrive in modern healthcare. We dive into why teamwork is no longer just a nice extra but a core clinical skill, and how Amy Edmondson’s concept of “t
EP20 - Leadership Insights: From Burnout in Healthcare to Esprit de Corps
I've seen too many brilliant healthcare professionals hit that wall of emotional exhaustion, and today I want to talk about why it happens and how we can turn it around with something powerful called esprit de corps.In this episode of Healthcare Leadership Conversations Insights, I share the stark reality of burnout: the passion that fades to nothing, the cynicism that creeps in, and the
EP19 - Leadership Insights: The Power of Personal Boardrooms in Healthcare
Leadership can feel incredibly lonely at times, especially in healthcare where the stakes are so high - I've felt it myself, and I know many of you have too.In this episode, I share why that isolation doesn't have to be the norm, and how building your own "personal boardroom" - a handpicked group of mentors, challengers, advocates, and connectors - can change everything. We explore how th
EP18 - Leadership Insights: Cultivating Psychological Safety in Healthcare Leadership
I've been reflecting on psychological safety a lot lately, and today I want to invite you into that conversation with a question: when was the last time you saw something off at work but stayed silent?In this episode of Leadership Insights, I explore why psychological safety – that sense of being able to speak up without fear – is the bedrock of great healthcare teams. Drawing from real r
EP17 - Leadership Insights: Transformative Coaching: Elevating Healthcare Leadership
I've seen firsthand how coaching can change everything in healthcare leadership, and today I want to share why it's been such a game-changer for me.In this episode of Healthcare Leadership Insights, I open up about my own coaching journey - how it helped me navigate tough times, spot unhelpful patterns, and align my decisions with my true values. We explore what coaching really is (and ho
EP16 - Leadership Insights: The Gift of Reciprocal Mentorship
I’m starting 2026 with something close to my heart: mentorship in healthcare.In this Leadership Insights episode, I reflect on over 20 years of mentoring and how it’s taught me that true mentorship is reciprocal. It’s not just me giving my time and experience - it’s a two-way exchange where I’ve learned just as much (often more) from my mentees, especially those from global majority backg
EP15 - Leadership Insights: Book Club - Unreasonable Hospitality
I’ve always believed the best leadership lessons can come from unexpected places, and Will Guidara’s Unreasonable Hospitality – about turning a restaurant into the world’s best – proves it for healthcare too.In this special Book Club episode of Healthcare Leadership Conversations, I share my takeaways from the book that’s reshaped how I think about service in the NHS. Will Guidara, former
EP14 - Leadership Insights: Dr Khadija Owusu - A Live Case Study of the NHS Management and Leadership Framework
What does good leadership actually look like in practice - beyond policy documents and frameworks?This week’s conversation with Dr Kadija Owusu stayed with me long after we stopped talking. There was so much richness in her leadership journey that I struggled to choose a single theme to explore further. At the same time, I’d been reading the newly published NHS Management and Leadership F
EP13 - Dr Khadija Owusu: Michelle Obama, Melanin Medics and Ghana Forever
Picture the eldest daughter who carried the family from primary school, shook Michelle Obama’s hand twice as a teenager, and then quietly decided to fix two broken systems at once.In this inspiring episode of Healthcare Leadership Conversations, I sit down with Dr Khadija Owusu - co-founder of Melanin Medics and founder of the Akaya Foundation. From Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School to bu
EP12 - Leadership Insights: Dr Mo Akindolie - The Courage to Pause, Learn and Grow
Is it irresponsible to talk about sabbaticals during a workforce crisis or is it exactly the leadership conversation we need to be having?In this Leadership Insights episode, I return to one theme that stood out in my recent Me, Myself and I reflection: sabbaticals. As a self-confessed sabbatical evangelist, I take 10 minutes to make the case for why stepping away from work - thoughtfully
EP11 - My Journey from Lagos to the NHS
In this rare and deeply personal solo episode of Healthcare Leadership Conversations, I invite you into the moments, values, and turning points that shaped my life: growing up in Lagos as the daughter of two doctors, the weight (and gift) of Nigerian expectations, choosing medicine in the UK, and the long, winding road from junior doctor to national leadership roles.What You’ll Learn- The
EP10 - Leadership Insights: Dr Femi Sunmonu - Rethinking Where We Learn From Innovations from the Global Majority
What if the future of healthcare isn’t being invented in London, Boston or Berlin… but in rural Nigeria, Bangladesh and southern India?In this Leadership Insights episode, I reflect on Dr Femi Sunmonu’s extraordinary journey and the game-changing healthcare models Femi discovered while building PurpleSource. From a legendary Nigerian surgeon who built operating tables from corn husks and
EP9 - Dr Femi Sunmonu: Art, Clinics and Reimagining Healthcare
What happens when a doctor hides an art degree from his Nigerian parents, trains in the US, then returns home to rebuild primary care from the ground up?In this episode of Healthcare Leadership Conversations, I sit down with Dr Femi Sunmonu - physician, artist, entrepreneur, and systems thinker. From a curiosity-filled Lagos childhood to secretly earning an art degree while “in med school
EP8 - Leadership Insights: Khianna Lucas Young - The Rules of Engagement
What happens when a teenager who has beaten leukaemia twice sits down with paediatric leaders and quietly rewrites the rules of healthcare?In this Leadership Insights episode, I reflect on the overwhelming response to Khianna Lucas Young’s story and distil the powerful lessons it offers every healthcare leader. Drawing from Khianna’s lived expertise and four years co-chairing the RCPCH &a
EP7 - Khianna Lucas-Young: Beating Cancer Twice & Championing Change
At just six years old, a leukaemia diagnosis could have dimmed anyone’s light but for Khianna Lucas-Young, it became the spark that lit a lifetime of advocacy, horses, and hope.In this episode of Leadership Conversations, I welcome the unstoppable Khianna Lucas-Young. Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at just six, enduring two and a half years of chemotherapy, a heartbreaking r
EP6 - Leadership Insights: Joyce Omatseye - Leveraging Social Media for Good in Healthcare
What happens when healthcare steps out of the hospital and into the timeline?In this episode of Leadership Insights, I reflect on my conversation with Joyce Omatseye, NHS clinician and digital advocate, to explore the transformative role social media can play in healthcare.From breaking down stigma to mobilising communities, this conversation dives into the power of digital platforms to c
EP5 - Joyce Omatseye: Pandemic Journal to Global Impact
What if a one-off family chat could spark a global movement for women's health?In this episode, I am joined by Dr Joyce Omatseye, the trailblazing GP, digital health advocate, and founder of Aranini. From her vibrant Lagos childhood in a tight-knit apartment block to frontline NHS shifts during the pandemic, Joyce opens up about her path to medicine, intercalating in business, and turning
EP4 - Leadership Insights: Mark Ratnarajah - The Business of Healthcare
What happens when clinicians step into the boardroom with the same urgency they bring to the bedside?In this episode of Leadership Insights, I reflect on my conversation with Dr Mark Ratnarajah, Managing Director at C2-Ai and experienced clinician-entrepreneur, about the evolving intersection between healthcare and business.From grappling with data complexity to building trust with clinic
EP3 - Mark Ratnarajah: The Human Side of Healthcare Innovation
Can cutting-edge technology transform healthcare without losing its heart?In this episode of Leadership Conversations, I sit down with Dr Mark Ratnarajah – a paediatrician turned healthcare innovator whose career spans the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and beyond. From early days in paediatric A&E to working with flying doctors in the Australian outback, Mark has always been fascinated
EP2 - Leadership Insights: Camilla Kingdon - Compassionate Leadership
Can leading with compassion make us better at making tough decisions?In this episode of Leadership Insights, I reflect on my conversation with Dr Camilla Kingdon, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, to explore what it means to lead with both strength and empathy in today’s healthcare landscape. From navigating burnout to creating psychological safety in high-pr
EP1 - Camilla Kingdon: Leading with Kindness in Healthcare
What if kindness could transform leadership in medicine?In the debut episode of Leadership Conversations, I sit down with Dr. Camilla Kingdon, a consultant neonatologist and former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Camilla shares her remarkable journey from her childhood in apartheid-era Cape Town to steering UK paediatrics through the COVID-19 storm. Her sto
Introducing Healthcare Leadership Conversations
I’m Dr Mo Akindolie, a consultant paediatrician and healthcare leader.In each episode of Healthcare Leadership Conversations, I spotlight remarkable healthcare leaders, exploring the stories, insights, and journeys of the people leading change in one of the most vital sectors of our society. You’re invited to listen in, learn, be inspired, and perhaps even see healthcare leadership and li
