Leadership and Renewal from Rarotonga
As Clinical Director at Dunstan Hospital, Dr Jonathon Wills is known for leading with calm clarity and deep care for both his patients and his team. After more than a decade of continuous service, he took a sabbatical to Rarotonga — not to escape the demands of leadership, but to explore what renewal, balance, and purpose look like in practice. What he discovered there reshaped his understanding of leadership, wellbeing, and the power of slowing down.
“I learned to slow down, to listen longer, and to let go of the urgency that so often defines our work in healthcare.”
Clinical Director Dr Jonathon Wills with his family in Rarotonga.
My first encounter with Rarotonga was in 2006 when I arrived for the second part of my med school elective. Having flown from the snow covered Rockies of Alberta, Canada, the lush green volcanic cone rising from the ocean that is ‘Raro’ was quite the contrast. My staged journey home across the pacific landed me on a rock that felt closer like home in many more ways than distance, despite the view out my office window in Wanaka as I type this bearing much greater resemblance to the Rockies than to a tropical Island. They say the Cook Islands capture you, my Sabbatical was my fourth trip to Raro, intervening trips have included important events like marriages (my own) and birthdays ending with a 0 (not my own). What ‘they say’ seems true in my case.
When my sabbatical came around one location seemed the obvious choice. The welcome of Kia Orana when you step of the plane is a compelling reminder that there is my than personal ties drawing me to this volcano in the middle of the ocean.
Island Time, Executive Renewal: My Sabbatical in Rarotonga and What It Taught Me About Leadership
I didn’t just take a break I stepped into an experiment in leadership, culture, and renewal. My sabbatical in Rarotonga was never about escape; it was about immersion. Immersion in a way of life where relationships come first, where decisions are made around shared values, and where leadership is measured not by hierarchy, but by harmony.
Living among the Cook Islands Māori, I found myself learning from a community that leads with trust and connection. In a place where resources are limited but relationships are rich, I witnessed a different kind of leadership one that listens more than it directs, that values presence over pace. It was a recalibration I didn’t know I needed.
The experience deepened my understanding of cross-cultural communication. I learned to slow down, to listen longer, and to let go of the urgency that so often defines our work in healthcare. That shift toward patience, presence, and partnership has reshaped how I lead back home, especially in our diverse teams and community collaborations.
The sabbatical also reconnected me with the shared whakapapa between Cook Islands Māori and Māori in Aotearoa. Words like Kia Orana, Ka kite, and Kai aren’t just greetings or meals, they’re threads in a larger cultural fabric that binds us. That recognition has added depth to my leadership, reminding me that cultural fluency isn’t a skill, it’s a responsibility.
Island life, with its quirks and constraints, became a kind of leadership bootcamp. I learned to be more adaptive, more creative, and more trusting.
“Island time” taught me patience.
Limited resources sparked innovation.
Stepping away gave others the space to step up an unintentional but powerful exercise in succession planning.
In a profession where burnout is too often the norm, this sabbatical was a lifeline. I returned rested and recharged with a clearer sense of purpose and a deeper commitment to the people I lead. It affirmed what I’ve long believed: that investing in people’s wellbeing isn’t a luxury, it’s a leadership imperative.
Dunstan Hospital is a positive anomaly for staff retention, our senior medical workforce turnover is exceedingly low. This is not by accident. As a community owned organization, investing in our people means they can look after our community, not as patients, but as whanau we share our whenua with.
What began as a personal journey has become something more. A model, perhaps, for how we might reimagine leadership development in healthcare not as a series of courses or KPIs, but as lived experience. As time taken seriously. As space to grow.
