Interviewed by Vicdario Neo Yong Peng, member of CHI FLYING; Assistant Nurse Clinician, Woodlands Health, Singapore

Dr Junaid Bajwa is a Senior Partner at Flagship Pioneering, leading its UK division and serving as a Science Partner for Pioneering Intelligence globally and is part of the CHI Leadership Council. He is also a practising physician in the UK NHS, and previously served as Chief Medical Scientist at Microsoft Research, focusing on trusted, human centred AI in medicine. He has worked across health systems in the US, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and Singapore.

What’s your role? What motivated you to come into healthcare?

I am an only child from an Asian family. My parents came from Pakistan to the UK in 1976 intending to stay two years. Then I was born, and we stayed. I benefited from the UK education system and by the age of eight I wanted to do medicine, inspired by relatives in the US and a desire to look after my parents.

I studied at King’s College London, met my wife there, trained as a surgeon and then moved into primary care and internal medicine in south east London. I joined a very challenged practice serving a diverse community with poor health outcomes. We focused on empowering our administrative team and changing how we worked. Within a year that practice became one of the best performing locally.

That motivated me to get involved with commissioning and management, to understand the system. I took on roles in mental health and business intelligence, and joined an executive leadership programme linked to Harvard, which opened doors into industry. I went to MSD, working on telehealth and data analytics, and later to Microsoft to focus on transforming medicine with human centred AI.

Through all of this I have kept seeing patients. It keeps me grounded and honours the sacrifices my mother made. Now at Flagship Pioneering I draw on my experiences in Microsoft, MSD and health systems to help build platforms and companies that can genuinely change the world.

What are the key leadership messages you want to get out to the BMJ Leader readership?

I would encourage people to explore different styles of leadership. Adaptive leadership tells us there are moments when a more command and control style is needed. At other times you need collaboration or servant leadership, where the priority is to serve others. Being able to adapt to context is crucial.

We also need to be clear about the difference between leadership and management. Leadership is both head and heart. Management can sometimes be more intellectual. That human element is what interests me. We should stay curious about how leadership and management differ and how that affects the way we show up.

How has your leadership thinking changed as a result of the pandemic?

Very simply, it reminded me that we exist to serve. We have an enormous privilege to be in the positions we are in. Sometimes we forget that. The longer we remember we are there to serve others, and keep reflecting on that, the more effective we will be.

What events in your past experience most inform your leadership?

I never really see myself as a leader. Leaders only exist if there is followership. You earn followership through empathy and by genuinely putting yourself in other people’s shoes.

My mum always told me, “You have two ears and one mouth, use them in that proportion.” I am not usually the loudest person in the room, but I try to be the most curious. I listen hard to understand the context.

Earlier in my career I was the opposite. I was loud, quite domineering and very focused on getting the work done, moving at 150 miles an hour in a world that prefers 50. You can go fast like that, but you break things, and it is not sustainable.

I believe now in going slow to go fast. Listening more than talking. Exercising empathy. Emotional intelligence is at least as important as IQ. Seek to listen before you want to be heard.

What are you finding the biggest challenges at the moment?

From sitting on the board of a large UK hospital and on the UK regulator, I see similar challenges everywhere. We are entering a period of mismatch between supply and demand. An ageing population with more co-morbidities, growing expectations, and a serious workforce crisis.

Estimates suggest that in the next six years we could be short 14 to 25 million doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health professionals globally. So, the question is: how do we continue to deliver safe, effective, high-quality care in that context?

That is where I spend a lot of my time, thinking about the role AI can play, and how we develop and deploy it responsibly, so it truly helps patients and professionals.

Any particular surprises?

I am surprised all the time. We are regularly thrown into complex, ambiguous situations and have to find a way through.

One thing clinical practice has taught me is the importance of understanding a person’s ideas, concerns and expectations before jumping into diagnosis and solutions. That same discipline is incredibly useful in leadership.

I am also constantly reminded that you can learn from everyone. We often look upwards for authority, but some of the greatest teachers are colleagues in very different roles. If we want to be representative and responsible leaders, we have to spend time with them and be genuinely curious.

How are you maintaining kindness and compassion?

For me it is closely tied to empathy and reflection. I am a person of faith, and I think a lot about the impact I have on people around me and on the communities I am part of. I want to make the best use of the time I have.

I do believe you can be kind and compassionate and still deliver results. When conflict or tough feedback is necessary, you can be firm, but if you have built trust, you achieve more than you would otherwise. I try to practise that, even though I do not always get it right.

Are there any ideas or readings you find helpful?

I like Dan Pink’s work on motivation, especially his thinking about autonomy, mastery and purpose. I am more of a YouTuber and podcast listener than a traditional reader, but I look out for material that helps me think about how to motivate others using those elements.

What does a typical week look like for you?

My primary role is being a father to two children and a husband to a very understanding wife. I want to help create a better world for my children, who are 14 and 12, and a big part of that is learning to say no more often.

A working week is never truly typical. I spend part of my time in clinical practice, which keeps me connected to patients and frontline realities. Most of my time is at Flagship Pioneering, leading our UK presence and working as a Science Partner in Pioneering Intelligence, which tries to combine human creativity with advanced AI to accelerate discovery and unlock new possibilities for human health and sustainability.

What is your message in a bottle for people passionate about improving health?

Be humble. Be curious.

This blog is coordinated and contributed by the Centre for Healthcare Innovation, Singapore

Leading Across the Commonwealth and Beyond captures vital conversations between global health leaders and emerging voices. In this blog, we explore how to redefine how we lead with compassion, connectivity, and courage in an increasingly complex world.

Declaration of Interests
No conflicts of interest to disclose