Tina Bennett

I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for that car accident in my junior year of college. I wouldn't understand what it feels like to be a patient. That accident changed my life and really helped build my career, but it also makes me a more effective leader, more influential, because I know what it feels like. Being able to experience healthcare from the patient perspective pushed me to be the change that I wanted to see. The things I encountered during that experience opened me up to what healthcare leadership looked like, and the things I felt and was thinking about as a patient have driven my entire approach to this work. That firsthand understanding of the patient experience, combined with my experience leading different types of departments over the past 20 years in unionized environments and working with frontline staff from different backgrounds and pay grades, has given me the skills to motivate people and help them be great. That's where I've gained the most experience - in that people business.

The best career advice I've received is to be fearless. When you come in, you have imposter syndrome, and sometimes you don't always have enough courage to do the things you know should be done. So the advice to not fear and understand that fear can be a gift - to use that to inspire, to make things better, to enhance experiences - has been invaluable. Don't be afraid, because that fear can create limits and limitations. If success was easy, everybody would have it. So having the courage to push past that fear and do what needs to be done has been the most important guidance I've received.

My daughter asked me a week or two ago if I love what I do, and I told her that what I do is hard, but I absolutely love it, because you're making a difference for people like you, for people like me, for our families. I would say it is extremely fulfilling, but it is not easy. If success was easy, everybody would have it. The things you're able to improve for people, for our loved ones, whether big or small wins, they are so impactful and they make it meaningful. I get really excited about this work. I would say to young women pursuing this, it is pretty cool to be a part of the change that you want to see. Understand that it may not always be easy to get where we need to go, but you absolutely will. So have courage and belief in yourself, and you will achieve it.

A lot of the work that you do in human experience is through influence, and that's the biggest challenge. At Yale New Haven Health, we have over 30,000 employees, and my work is to impact the actions and behaviors of over 30,000 people - doctors, nurses, everyone. The most challenging thing is that you're not the one seeing the patients. I am the one who is helping to drive the behaviors that are needed to ensure we have a positive experience for staff and patients. It's easy if you know what to do and you can do it yourself, but it's much harder when you have to inspire, motivate, and engage 30,000 people to do that consistently, every person, every time. That's the real challenge - creating that consistent impact through influence rather than direct action.

Authenticity, connection, empathy, and trust are the values most important to me. When you think about all of these, they all help to form genuine connections with people. Authenticity in my personal and professional life means being true to who you are when you show up, being consistent. All of that is full circle in both your personal and professional life. Connection and inclusion help you see people for who they are. These values lead to empathy, and all these things are interconnected. They allow you to truly understand and connect with others in meaningful ways.