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 Framework, and as I worked through it, I kept noticing moments of striking alignment with Kadija’s story. That’s where this episode was born.
Rather than treating the framework as something abstract or theoretical, I use Kadija’s leadership journey as a living case study - an applied illustration of what the framework’s values look like when they are embodied, tested, and sustained in the real world.
At the heart of the framework sits a code of practice built around six domains: accountability, integrity, compassion, curiosity, inclusion, and collaboration. In this episode, I walk through each one in turn, grounding it in concrete examples from Kadija’s work as a medical doctor, global health advocate, and founder of the Akaya Foundation.
What I Explore in This Episode
Why This Framework Exists: I explain the context behind the NHS Management and Leadership Framework, including the findings of the CQC and Messenger Reviews, and why leadership capability, confidence and consistency matter so much in today’s healthcare environment.
Accountability in Action: Using Kadija’s early work in Ghana and the evolution of the Akaya Foundation, I reflect on accountability as a pattern of behaviour - identifying gaps, committing to action, and iterating beyond the initial idea.
Integrity as Stewardship: I explore integrity through Kadija’s decision-making, including knowing when to step back, set boundaries, and prioritise sustainability over status.
Compassion at the Centre: We look at compassion not as a soft add-on, but as a leadership discipline - one that creates dignity, psychological safety and growth, particularly in work centred on girls’ wellbeing and health equity.
Curiosity and Iterative Leadership: From pilots to scale, I reflect on how curiosity shows up through learning, feedback, experimentation and continuous improvement.
Inclusion Beyond Tokenism: I unpack Kadija’s critique of symbolic participation and her advocacy for co-creation, resourcing youth-led organisations, and intergenerational collaboration.
Collaboration Across Boundaries: From community partnerships to global policy spaces like the United Nations, I explore collaboration as trust-building, bridge-building leadership.
As I reflect on Kadija’s journey, what becomes clear is that the NHS Management and Leadership Framework isn’t asking leaders to become something new. It’s asking us to be more intentional about the behaviours that already define good leadership and to make them observable, teachable and embedded across our systems.
The question this leaves me with and perhaps leaves you with too is not whether the framework is sound, but how we choose to live it: in appraisal, recruitment, governance, and everyday leadership practice.
Episode Resources
NHS Management & Leadership Framework
The Kark Review
The Messenger Review
Khadija speaking at the United Nations General Assembly
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Healthcare Leadership Conversations is produced by Urban Podcasts.
