M2: Leading for well-being: harnessing leadership, neurodiversity and human connection in healthcare

Monday 9 March 2026 | 09:30-12:30
Stream: Leading
Session format: Workshop

 
Session chairs: 

Bob Klaber Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust; UK
Marie Storkholm Deputy Chief Executive, Rigshospitalet; Denmark 
 
 
 
Part 1 - Leading for staff well-being. How you really do it!
 
This session is inspired by a powerful quote from Dr. Donald Berwick’s article "Choices for the ‘New Normal’” (2020), which highlights the difference between reacting to challenges in healthcare and making intentional, proactive choices. In this spirit, we will present the Mental Health for Health Care Professionals project - MeSu Project -, a simple yet comprehensive and sustainable model for improving staff well-being.
 
We will explore how leadership plays a crucial role in embedding a culture of psychological support in clinical settings. Rather than focusing solely on crisis response, the MeSu model builds resilience into everyday operations through a structured, scalable peer-support intervention. This session will engage participants and empower them to make improvement in staff well-being and strengthening resilience in the whole organisation.
 
 
After this session, participants will be able to:
  • Describe the key components of the MeSu project and its outcomes.
  • Understand the leadership behaviours that enable sustainable staff well-being interventions.
  • Implement a peer-based support model tailored to their own clinical or organisational context.
Inge Kristensen Danish Society for Patient Safety; Denmark 
Pernille Cedergreen Surgery and Intensive Care; Denmark 
 
 
 
Part 2 - Neurodiverse by design: rethinking professionalism and leadership through the lens of cognitive diversity
 
What if the future of resilient healthcare leadership lies not in conformity—but in difference? This interactive session explores how neurodiversity can be a catalyst for inclusive leadership, system change, and innovation. Designed for international leaders and change makers, the workshop invites participants to reimagine leadership beyond neurotypical norms—highlighting the strategic value of cognitive diversity in complex health systems. Co-facilitated by neurodivergent and neurotypical experts, the session blends lived experience, systems thinking, and co-production principles. Together, we will challenge assumptions about professionalism, identify systemic barriers to neurodiverse inclusion, and co-design practical micro-interventions that enhance psychological safety and team resilience.
By embracing neurodiversity in leadership, we lay the groundwork for more equitable, inclusive healthcare environments for all—promoting systemic change from the top down.

 
After this session, participants will be able to:
  • Recognise how neurodiversity contributes to adaptive leadership, innovation, and resilience in healthcare systems.
  • Identify systemic and cultural barriers that limit neurodivergent participation in leadership and change processes.
  • Apply co-production principles to design inclusive leadership practices that foster psychological safety and team effectiveness.
  • Develop small-scale, context-specific interventions to support neurodiverse inclusion within their organisations or spheres of influence.
 
Lucy Robin  ABC Parents; UK
Akudo Okereafor ABC Parents, North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust; UK
 
 
 
Part 3 - Holding the line: leadership in times of fatigue and fracture
 

In a time of relentless demand, shrinking resources, and fraying morale across healthcare systems, traditional leadership models often fall short. Frontline leaders face a paradox: they are expected to deliver high-quality care, retain staff, and drive improvement—while managing chronic understaffing, operational gridlock, and increasing public scrutiny. This session explores how to “hack” leadership under these conditions—not by cutting corners, but by adopting adaptive, low-resource, high-impact behaviours that make a tangible difference.

Drawing on behavioural insights, psychological safety, and systems thinking, this session reframes leadership as a set of practical micro-actions: restoring trust through visibility, building momentum through small wins, and defusing cynicism with radical clarity and empathy. It challenges the myth of heroic leadership and instead equips participants with field-tested techniques for leading when energy is scarce, authority is limited, and goodwill is wearing thin.

After this session, participants will be able to:

  • Identify low-effort, high-impact leadership behaviours that maintain team cohesion and morale during times of operational strain.
  • Apply practical communication strategies to lead with clarity, empathy, and authority in resource-constrained, high-pressure environments
  • Demonstrate adaptive leadership techniques that promote psychological safety, small wins, and trust—despite organisational fatigue or resistance.

 

Pramodh Vallabhaneni Swansea Bay University Hospital; Wales