Leading Self, Leading People, Leading Business- family, Meet Dr Harry Akinola

Creating a workplace culture that employees never want to leave is a challenge many leaders face. The key lies not just in perks or salaries but in building an environment where people feel valued, connected, and motivated every day. When culture thrives, retention improves, productivity rises, and the whole organization benefits. But wait, how do you build a company culture that people never want to leave? That is where Dr Harry- a thought leader, an executive Coach, with over 20 years' experience comes in. We are excited to have him as one of our keynote speakers during The How Platform Houston Leadership Conference.

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Harry Akinola is a senior People & Culture executive with nearly two decades of global experience shaping talent, leadership, and organizational transformation strategies for complex, multi-business enterprises across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Central America, and North America. He operates as a trusted strategic partner to senior business leaders, aligning people strategy with long-cycle growth, operational transformation, and global portfolio expansion.

Harry has built and led enterprise leadership systems, large-scale culture transformation initiatives, and future-skill capability frameworks for organizations such as Standard Bank Group, Puma Energy, and JPMorgan Chase. His work strengthens leadership bench depth, accelerates capability for evolving business models, and enables organizations to scale with agility, performance, and cultural cohesion across diverse industries and geographies. His programs have supported leaders and teams across organizations of 50,000+ employees, driving measurable improvements in enterprise readiness.

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As Founder and Lead Consultant at Ushift Growth Advisory, Harry currently advises corporates, founders, boards, and senior leadership teams on leadership development, executive readiness, talent strategy, organizational design, and senior team effectiveness. His latest work focuses on helping organizations simplify complexity, strengthen leadership pipelines, and translate strategy into clear people and culture outcomes that accelerate execution and deliver sustained business results globally.

Empowering Leaders and Organizations to Unlock Potential, Elevate Performance & Build Better Cultures

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Harry is also the Founder of Ultrashift Inc., a global leadership and professional development platform and conference series established in 2009. Through Ultrashift, he has directly impacted 10,000+ leaders and professionals across 10+ countries, convening senior executives, founders, and high-potential leaders through conferences, leadership labs, coaching programs, and curated leadership experiences spanning Africa, Europe, and North America. He is a sought-after global public speaker, known for blending strategic clarity, leadership insight, and practical execution in his work with senior leaders, high-potential professionals, and institutions, helping individuals and organizations translate potential into sustained performance and real-world impact.

Houston Leadership Conference

August 21, 2026 at 6:30 PM – August 22, 2026 at 2:00 PM CDTTownePlace Suite

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He holds a Doctor of Management in Leadership & Organizational Development, and a bachelor’s degree in Geology. He is SHRM-SCP certified, a Certified Hogan Practitioner, a Certified NLP Practitioner and Coach, and a professionally trained executive coach with over 500 coaching hours. He is also the author of five published books on leadership, identity, and personal development.

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Harry is recognized for impact beyond the corporate sphere, having received multiple honors including awards from Fort Bend County and a U.S. Congressional Recognition for his contributions to leadership development and community advancement. His mission is to help leaders and organizations become better: stronger, more capable, more aligned, and more prepared to deliver meaningful global impact at scale.

The leadership conference focuses on self-leadership, team leadership and business leadership. During the leadership conference Dr Harry will deliver a keynote on building a business culture and a panelist conversation on the Etiquette of the Board Room. See you this Friday and Saturday in Houston Texas. We are pumped!