Michelle Adamolekun, EVP and Chief People & Culture Officer at Cone Health

Summary

Becker’s Healthcare Podcast Summary

Episode: Michelle Adamolekun, EVP and Chief People & Culture Officer at Cone Health
Host: Ella Gamble
Release Date: July 19, 2025

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Introduction to Cone Health and Michelle Adamolekun

In this insightful episode of Becker’s Healthcare Podcast, host Ella Gamble welcomes Michelle Adamolekun, the Executive Vice President and Chief People & Culture Officer at Cone Health. Michelle provides a comprehensive overview of Cone Health, emphasizing its role as a leading not-for-profit healthcare network in North Carolina. With a robust presence that includes five hospitals, six ambulatory care centers, 11 urgent care centers, and over 120 physician practices, Cone Health serves the Alamance, Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph, Rockingham, and surrounding counties. The organization proudly employs more than 13,000 team members, over 1,600 physicians, and approximately 1,000 volunteers.

“Cone Health is one of the region's largest and most comprehensive healthcare networks, dedicated to serving our communities with excellence,” – Michelle Adamolekun [00:33]

Recent Partnerships and Headlines

Michelle highlights a significant recent development: Cone Health’s partnership with Risant Health through Kaiser Permanente, solidified on December 1, 2020. This collaboration has enabled Cone Health to advance its strategic roadmap more effectively, fostering agility and accelerating progress in delivering high-quality healthcare services.

“Our partnership with Risant Health has allowed us to realize our strategic goals at a faster pace and with greater agility,” – Michelle Adamolekun [02:24]

Navigating the Competitive Healthcare Talent Landscape

Addressing the current challenges in the healthcare industry, Michelle discusses the intensified competition for healthcare talent. The ongoing shortage of skilled healthcare workers, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has made recruiting efforts alone insufficient. As a result, Cone Health is prioritizing the development and growth of its existing workforce.

“To succeed in this race for talent, we can't just rely on recruiting efforts only. We've got to grow our own talent in-house,” – Michelle Adamolekun [03:04]

Workforce Development Initiatives

Michelle delves into Cone Health’s strategic workforce development initiatives, which align with the organization’s Vision 2030 strategy. These efforts focus on upskilling the workforce to leverage emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and telemedicine, essential for delivering value-based care.

“We need to ensure that our workforce is skilled and has the capabilities to evolve alongside the technological advancements,” – Michelle Adamolekun [05:25]

Revamping Career Architecture and Launching Cone Health University

A standout accomplishment in workforce development has been the comprehensive overhaul of Cone Health’s career architecture. This initiative provides clear career pathways, enabling team members to visualize their growth within the organization.

“Our team members are excited because they can now see where they might have opportunities to grow,” – Michelle Adamolekun [05:55]

Furthermore, Michelle introduces Cone Health University, a virtual platform designed to centralize all development and training resources. This “one-stop shop” approach aims to facilitate easy access to training, upskilling, and career development tailored to individual aspirations.

“Cone Health University is envisioned as a virtual platform where employees can access all their development and training resources in one place,” – Michelle Adamolekun [07:20]

Cultural Transformation and Strategic Roadmaps

Culture plays a pivotal role at Cone Health, and Michelle emphasizes the organization’s proactive approach to cultivating a positive and intentional culture. Since 2010, Cone Health has consistently conducted culture assessments, allowing for deliberate cultural design rather than default practices.

“We're creating a culture by design and not by default, which is what a lot of organizations are doing,” – Michelle Adamolekun [11:09]

Michelle details the recent development of a three-year cultural roadmap, developed in collaboration with a cross-functional steering committee. This roadmap will guide Cone Health’s cultural initiatives through 2028, ensuring continuous improvement and alignment with organizational goals.

“We're putting all of our chips on workforce development...to sustain our organization’s trust and impact,” – Michelle Adamolekun [14:19]

Leadership Advice and Best Practices

Transitioning to leadership insights, Michelle shares valuable advice for aspiring leaders, particularly those aiming for roles such as Chief People Officer or Chief HR Officer:

1. Leadership as Action:
   Leadership is defined by actions, not titles. It requires active engagement in every aspect of the role.

   “Leadership is an action. At the end of the day, it's not a position, it's not a title,” – Michelle Adamolekun [15:27]

2. Purpose-Driven and Empathetic Leadership:
   Leading with purpose and empathy is essential, especially in a people-centered industry like healthcare.

   “Purpose-driven leadership isn't just a trend. It's a necessity in creating trust and sustaining impact,” – Michelle Adamolekun [15:27]

3. Relentless Curiosity:
   Effective leaders remain curious, continuously seeking to learn and asking insightful questions.

   “The moment you stop learning, that's the moment that you stop leading,” – Michelle Adamolekun [16:10]

4. Cultural Agility:
   Embracing and understanding diversity is crucial for modern leadership.

   “Cultural competency is not optional. It is leadership from an imperative standpoint,” – Michelle Adamolekun [17:05]

5. Staying Grounded:
   Maintaining a connection to the human experience is vital, even amidst technological advancements.

   “Leadership is about connection. Never underestimate the power of just checking in, of a smile, of just listening deeply,” – Michelle Adamolekun [18:15]

6. Practicing Self-Care:
   Leaders must prioritize their well-being to lead sustainably and inspire others.

   “You need to model your well-being. You cannot model martyrdom,” – Michelle Adamolekun [18:45]

The Role of Empathy in Leadership

The conversation underscores the fundamental role of empathy in leadership. Michelle distinguishes empathy as understanding and appreciating others' perspectives without necessarily agreeing with them.

“Empathy is about putting yourself in someone else's shoes and striving to understand their perspective,” – Michelle Adamolekun [20:25]

She highlights that Cone Health’s diverse workforce benefits from this empathetic approach, fostering trust and enhancing the organization's impact.

“Our diversity of thought, anchored by empathetic understanding, is what sustains Cone Health,” – Michelle Adamolekun [21:20]

Conclusion

Ella concludes the episode by acknowledging the depth of discussion, covering Cone Health’s strategic initiatives in workforce development and culture, as well as Michelle’s invaluable leadership advice. Michelle expresses her commitment to continuing Cone Health's mission and looks forward to future contributions.

“I'm excited to share these initiatives with our followers and continue making a positive impact,” – Michelle Adamolekun [22:26]

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This episode offers a profound look into Cone Health’s strategic focus on workforce development and cultural excellence, guided by Michelle Adamolekun’s leadership. Listeners gain valuable insights into effective leadership practices, the importance of empathy, and the proactive strategies essential for thriving in today’s competitive healthcare landscape.

Transcript

[Ella Gamble]

Hello and welcome back to the Beckers Healthcare Podcast. I am Ella Gamble with Beckers and today I am joined by Michelle Ettelaykun. Michelle is the EVP Chief People and Culture Officer at Cone Health. Michelle, welcome. Thank you so much for being my guest today. I want to start, Michelle, by having you reacquaint our listeners with Cone Health. This system has had an interesting few years. Can you give us an overview of the system and then maybe catch us up on some recent headlines in addition to your role and what you're focused on right now?

[Michelle Ettelaykun]

Yes. Well again, thanks for this amazing opportunity for me to join the podcast. As you've shared, my name is Michelle Adamalakin. That is always a conversation starter on how to pronounce that last name, but it's pretty phonetic. It's Adam O. Lekun. Adam O. Lekun. And so yes, I'm currently serving as the Chief People and Culture Officer here at Cone Health. A little bit about Cone Again, we're a not for profit healthcare network serving individuals in the Alamance, Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph, Rockingham and surrounding counties in North Carolina. As one of the region's largest and most comprehensive health care network, our footprint includes five hospitals, six ambulatory care centers and 11 urgent care centers and more than about 120 physician practices. We currently have more than 13,000 team members, 1600 plus physicians on our medical staff and about 1000 plus volunteers. Some of the recent things that you would have heard that's going on here at Cone Health, most importantly is our partnership with Risant Health through Kaiser Permanente. That has been an amazing partnership to date. We officially solidified that relationship December 1st of 2020. And so we have been really hard at work just really partnering with rising in this member substitution model to really bring to life some of the the things that we've always had on our strategic roadmap. But again, we're much able, much better able to realize those as we're moving forward in a faster pace and ability to be more agile.

[Ella Gamble]

Michelle, thank you so much. I think that's a really helpful overview to understand and remember the relationship between Risen and Cone Health. Now with Kaiser Permanente in the picture as Chief People and Culture Officer, you mentioned you've got 13,000 team members and employees at Cone Health. I imagine that this year has been challenging on many fronts. I also think there's the challenges that have been staying with health systems for the past couple of years and then some. And then there's some newer challenges popping up. Is there an area a focus area, a distinct need and effort that you've really found yourself spending an outsized amount of attention on or energy on over these last six months that you can tell us about.

[Michelle Ettelaykun]

Yeah. So Molly, again, the healthcare landscape has been a very interesting one. You know, most recently the COVID pandemic. Right. Definitely created some challenges for us. But as I think about the last six months, some of those challenges have gotten exacerbated and really has has allowed us and myself in my role as Chief People and Culture Officer, the opportunity to really hone in and focus in on some areas that is, that are going to be critical to our future and our success. You know, as we're painfully all aware, we're currently in a hyper competitive environment for health care talent and that's due to lots of reasons. But most importantly, again, we've had a shortage of skilled healthcare workers prior to Covid and we continue to have that. So, you know, for us here at Cone Health, we recognize that to succeed in this race for talent, we can't just rely on just recruiting efforts only. We've got to grow our own talent in house. So I've been extremely focused here at cone on our strategic workforce development efforts, which is critical from a strategy standpoint and it really aligns with our new Vision 2030 strategy. And it's also going to be critical for Cone Health as it relates to ensuring and securing and achieve our ability to achieve our mission to become a national leader in value based care. So, you know, Molly, these workforce development efforts are really all about, you know, focusing on developing and upskilling our workforce. No different than other, you know, competitors in the marketplace. Right. We've got to ensure that we are able to fully leverage and innovate grade technology like AI, which is, we know it's here to stay and telemedicine, which is also crucial for us being able to deliver value based care. So, you know, at cone, you know, from my perspective, we need to ensure that our workforce is skilled and have the capabilities to evolve alongside the technological advancements that are needed to meet our patient and organizational needs.

[Ella Gamble]

Michelle, is there, is there one model of the development program or an offering or a class or effort that like has you most excited or most proud and then maybe you've seen the greatest employee excitement around. I'd be curious, like what's really sticking? Because this can be, you have hits and misses. You know, sometimes this can be a more exciting endeavor for employees and other times for you to get something off the ground, especially if it's a brand new offering or a brand new type of upskilling. I'm curious what you're seeing really sticking.

[Michelle Ettelaykun]

Well, one of the things that we've done as a part of some of the tactics associated with our workforce development initiatives is we actually did a total overhaul of our career architecture. Like most organizations, it's really important that we have clear career pathways for our team members to navigate to understand where they are and where they would like to be and where they have the opportunity to be and what are those things that are needed for them to be successful. So you know, we have redone our career architecture with clear career pathways for our team members. And our team members are excited about it because now they really can see where they might have opportunities to grow. And so that's been some amazing work that was a heavy lift for the organization, but definitely again, it really was some something that was truly foundational for some of the other work that we've got going on. Another one that I am even more excited about is, you know, Cone Health University. That truly is a vision of mine. And it's, it's not a brick and mortar type of Cone Health University. It's really envisioned by a virtual kind of a platform where employees can easily access all of their development and training resources in one place, one stop shop. And so that truly is our way in the future as we're beginning work around that effort to really ensure that from a career development standpoint, from offerings around pathways and resources will be available tailored to the individual's employees aspirational needs. So the goal here is to make it easier for team members to access training to upskill to develop their careers and grow with intention within our organization without having to, you know, seek opportunities externally. So over the last year, we formed a cross functional steering committee that includes lots of stakeholders and experts and subject matter experts from across our system who have played a major role historically in our workforce development. But we are now really taking the opportunity to centralize that. At the end of the day, I will like to be able to say to the organization, our spend in development is X per employee. A lot of organizations would love that opportunity to be able to have that quantifiable data element, to be able to inform what's working, what's not and the impact that we're making across the board. So, you know, I'm most proud of the foundation that this is going to bring to the organization and ultimately to our patients in the communities we serve. And so again, sometimes time over the next year and a half, we will Be officially launching Cone Health University here at Cone Health.

[Ella Gamble]

That's so exciting. What really strikes me too, Michelle, is I remember, you know, in the really tough times of the pandemic, 2021, 22, even early 2023, when, like, the workforce shortages were really palpable and, like, really pressing, I remember so many efforts were kind of framed through this lens of satisfaction, like, let's just make it less painful to be at work. And it sounds like this is going so far beyond that. You're thinking about roi. You want to get to a point where you're thinking about dollars spent on development per employee, even the less glamorous but very demanding work of overhauling career infrastructure. I mean, this is some, these are some long term bets you're making. And in combination, it sounds like you could add something really powerful.

[Michelle Ettelaykun]

Oh, yes. When it comes to the, you know, you touched on bets. And from my perspective, you know, we're putting all of our chips on workforce development. Right. As I said earlier, you know, we're in a race. We're in a race for talent. And so again, we're gonna, we're gonna keep plugging away in that race, but we really have to make sure that we're growing our own talent as well.

[Ella Gamble]

Absolutely.

[Michelle Ettelaykun]

And again, our ability to invest, at the end of the day, Molly, in the development of our workforce is going to be essential. Right. It's going to be essential for us to be able to maintain high standards in patient care, improve outcomes, while creating, as you said, a work environment that engages and supports team members to where they can really grow and feel like they belong and can thrive.

[Ella Gamble]

And that goes back to culture, which I know is another big part of your title. Maybe either look, looking in the rear view, you know, we're talking just about midway through the year, starting off Q2 here, Michelle, but looking in the rear view or ahead, is there something tied to Cone Health's culture that you're especially excited about? Because culture, as you know, it's not a passive thing. It's something that you need to be treating as an active, breathing, living part of your organization.

[Michelle Ettelaykun]

One of the things that attracted me to cone four years ago was their intentional and deliberate efforts as it relates to culture. They've been on a true culture journey since 2010. So far, they've done a culture assessment, a full culture assessment in 2010. They then did one again in 2016. So about every five to six years when I came on board, I did another one in 2022. And so what that's allowed Us to do is to be really intentional in basically creating a culture by design and not by default, which is what a lot of organizations are doing. While they might dibble and dabble each year in employee engagement surveys, that is different from a culture survey. An engagement survey really measures organizational, organizational commitment, job satisfaction and resilience. But when you think about, you know, culture surveys, it really is about how your culture is being experienced by those team members. Right. Are we walking the talk? Right. Are we putting that talk into actions? And so for me, I'm extremely excited about the work that we've done, our commitment and intentionality around culture. We recently again, as I shared, the last culture survey was in 2022 and we did a three year roadmap. Basically we were able to execute on. We're about to wrap up that three year roadmap and we just did another kickoff with our culture coalition, which is a team of cross functional team members and leaders and physicians that really are the champions for our culture. And so these are individuals that are well respected within the organization. And so we met again, we looked at how are things going, what's improved, what's not improved. And we've redeveloped and designed another three year roadmap that is being looked at by other key stakeholders across the organization. And so we're going to be able to finish out, you know, 2025 with the first three years, but then we'll have a new three year roadmap that we're going to be working towards and executing on for 20, 26, 27 and 28. And then we will do another culture survey to see how are we doing. Right. We've got to look at, you know, what are those external factors then going to be upon us and what do we have to do to adjust and adapt to ensure that we are creating that culture that we want to have here at Cone Health.

[Ella Gamble]

Yeah, very much so. Yeah, you said it so well. It needs to be by design rather than default. And it also, it can't be some aspirational vision. Right. It needs to be, like you said, the reality. Are we really walking the talk here? So it sounds like, Michelle, between the cadence of all those surveys and those intentional mappings and designs, Cone Health is going to be in a good spot when it comes to culture and being proactive about it.

[Michelle Ettelaykun]

Well, I am excited. I'm absolutely excited, Molly, more than you can imagine. Because again, we're not just trying to knock off, you know, symptoms. We're looking at those root cause, foundational elements that are critical that's going to make a lasting impact on the organization for years to come.

[Ella Gamble]

Yeah. One reason, I mean, there's many, but one that I so enjoy connecting with people who have your title, Michelle, and who are in your line of work, and especially in healthcare, is because you need to understand what motivates people, how motivations can change, what workforce trends are in vogue, what maybe once was that is no longer as effective as it is today. And so you have this high level understanding of people and then you also need to be leading people at scale. And I wanted to ask you about some advice, advice that you would give to evolving leaders, maybe of all stripes, but I think particularly if there's any advice that comes to mind for those who would like to one day be a chief people officer, chief HR officer, a chief culture officer who might be listening to us.

[Michelle Ettelaykun]

Yeah. The first one I would give is to make sure that anyone interested in becoming a leader understands that leadership is an action. Verbal. Right. At the end of the day, it's not a position, it's not a title. It requires that you basically are in action in every aspect of that role. And so that's really important. The other thing I would share is we've got to lead with purpose and empathy in healthcare. Our mission is inherently people centered. We're anchored around empathy not just for the patients, but for our employees, our caregivers, and the communities. So, you know, from my perspective, purpose driven leadership isn't and shouldn't be just a trend. It's a necessity in creating trust and sustaining impact. Right. And that's something that we hold true relative to the culture that we're trying to create and cone. The second thing I would say is we have got to be relentlessly curious. The most effective leaders, in my opinion, have I've seen anyway, we don't have all the answers. Right. They just got. They have great questions, Molly. So I think it's important that if we're going to be leaders and we're going to be on the court, we've got to stay curious, stay curious about the systems right around the people and new ways of thinking. So the moment you stop learning, what I'll tell you is that's the moment that you stop leading. Another thing I would share is make sure you develop your cultural agility. Our workforce today is beautifully diverse and reflects the makeup of the communities we serve, Molly. So evolving leaders must be able to stay attuned to different perspectives, different experiences and social realities. Cultural competency is not optional. It is leadership from an imperative standpoint. We've got to stay grounded is another one. We've got to stay grounded in the human experience. Even in the age of AI and the rapid technological advances, leadership is about connection. At the end of the day, never underestimate as a leader the power of just checking in, of a smile, of just listening deeply and showing up with authenticity. And lastly, practice self care. Right? We make leadership look so good from time to time. And that's the reason a lot of folks really want to go into leadership. But it's a tough role and it's a tough job. So burnout is real for leaders across our industry as well as any other industry. So I would say for those evolving leaders that are out there, you need to model your well being. You cannot model martyrdom. Right? As I call it, at the end of the day, I do not believe in, you know. You know, when I hear about work life balance, I'm not a firm believer in that. I'm a firm believer in work life integration. Right. It is impossible to balance your personal life with your professional life. There's going to be times where your personal life will take priority and there will be times when your, you know, your professional life takes priority. So at the end of the day, we work to at least integrate that. And you do that by ensuring that whatever leadership role you're in, it truly drives your passion and your purpose. So again, we've got to prioritize our health and make sure that we can lead in a sustainable way and inspire others to do the same. So I say it a lot and that's something I'm working on, Molly, where I talk to my leaders and my teams about making sure they work on their resilience and that they really do have that workforce, workplace integration. But again, it's harder to do that when you're at the top. And so again, that's something that I continue to work on to this day, is to ensure that I'm practicing that self care that I preach on a regular basis.

[Ella Gamble]

What a list. This is some sage advice. And I want to go back to the point about empathy. Michelle. I don't remember. I heard this recently and it just really made an impression on me because I'd even gotten my definition of this word a little sideways over time. But I was listening to conversation and they were going back to the term empathy and they were just saying, we need to remember it's not necessarily about agreeing with someone else's position. It's just you truly do agree, put yourself in their shoes and strive to understand it and I thought that is such an important distinction and it's, it's not necessarily about, like I said, endorsing or backing. It truly is just this really intentional work of seeing where someone is coming from and making great effort to understand it.

[Michelle Ettelaykun]

Yeah, that's about, it's about perspective.

[Ella Gamble]

Yes.

[Michelle Ettelaykun]

At the end of the day. And that's what differentiates the best leaders there. You know, I'm, I'm really a firm believer as it relates to, to empathy, that ability to a mile in someone's shoe. And so I'm always asking questions, I'm always wanting to understand others perspective. You know Molly, it always fascinates me when you think about, you know, organizations like Cone. We are made up of a diverse workforce. Right. Everyone is unique, everyone is different by virtue of their backgrounds, their experiences. And so at the end of the day we are truly diverse. And so why is it that we assume that we're going to see things the same way, that we're always going to agree, that we're always going to basically be able to find some level of alignment? I think that's the beauty and what I think Cone's competitive advantage is, it is that diversity of thought at the end of the day. And so the ability to basically take that diversity of thought, take that empathetic understanding and anchor ourselves around that. That truly is what's going to sustain our organization as it relates to trust and the impact that we're making at the end of the day.

[Ella Gamble]

So. Well said Michelle. I so value this discussion. I mean we covered the headlines out of Cone Health. Your areas of focus with the workforce development and upskilling some, some really intentional work around culture that will continue for years and years to come. I think you highlight out through at least 20, 28 and then your, your advice. I have at least 1, 2, 3, 4, at least seven pieces jotted down here. So I just want to thank you.

[Michelle Ettelaykun]

I've been in this industry for quite a bit long. I'll just stop at 20 plus years. But again, lots of great experience and learnings along the way and so excited to share a few items with our followers.

[Ella Gamble]

Thank you so much, Michelle. Adam Alikun. Michelle, again listeners, is the EVP and chief people and culture officer at Cone Health. Michelle, thanks for being my guest. I hope you'll return sometime.

[Michelle Ettelaykun]

Oh, I definitely will Molly. I appreciate the opportunity. Again, have a great rest of your day.

[Ella Gamble]

You too. Thank you so much.