Connect Live | March 3, 2022
Story 92

Narrator: How do we talk to and with each other? How do we, maybe, do less telling because communication isn't just about sharing information, it's a two way street. How do we ask more questions?

Joyce Newmyer: Welcome to Connect Live at Adventist Health. I'm Joyce Newmyer, president of the Pacific Northwest network at Adventist Health and your host for Connect Live. Live this week, Women's History Month, a very bright future and Victory Laps.

Women's History Month started in 1978 as Women's History Day in Sonoma County, California. And today it's an internationally recognized month to celebrate women who have shaped our history and contemporary society. We asked several leaders to share one historical woman that has inspired them and why. They mentioned to name but a few. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Harper Lee, Mother Teresa, Queen Esther, Rosa Parks, Anne Lamott, a writer who's still alive and Queen Elizabeth II, also very much alive. During March in our pre-live broadcast for Connect Live, you can see inspirational individuals from several leaders.

 Jennifer Diehl, Human Performance Executive, Talent Acquisition and Workforce Planning for Adventist Health shared with us this quote from Joan of Arc: "I am not afraid I was born to do this". Jennifer added, we all face challenges every day, big and small, personal and professional, spiritually and physically. This quote reminds me that I am capable of what I choose to be and I am resilient if I open my heart and I am supported by God if I believe. Good words, Jennifer. Thank you to every woman, past, present and future for your contributions to shaping our world.

Today I'm delighted to welcome Dalton Williams, Leadership Resident for Adventist Health, Mendocino Coast. Sydney Fuentes, Leadership Resident at Adventist Health Sonora, Grace Wainaina, Finance Resident at Adventist Health Roseville and Tim Olaore, Director of Leadership Resident and Internship Programs at Adventist Health. Welcome you guys. Good to see you.

Grace Wainaina: Good to see you.

Sydney Fuentes: Thanks for having us.

Joyce Newmyer: So Grace, let's start with you. What has been the unique opportunity you've experienced while serving in treasury at the corporate office?

Grace Wainaina: In addition to project collaborations, I've had the great pleasure of having one-on-one conversations with senior leadership and the opportunity to learn from them. I got to ask them a wide range of questions pertaining to their career trajectory, the diversity of their responsibilities based on the cross functional role, and also what excites them about where this organization is headed and what are they contributing to the journey of getting there. I also got the pleasure of getting valuable life and career advice from them.

Joyce Newmyer: Oh, so I imagine you have received a bit of advice. What was the very best advice you've been given during your residency?

Grace Wainaina: It's hard to choose the best one but the advice that resonated the most with me was — don't be afraid to say yes to a new opportunity or something different. Just because I've never seen myself in a certain workspace doesn't mean that I don't belong in it or can't belong in it and be successful at it. And also on top of that, it's important to keep prioritizing God's plan over my plans because his plan is always the best. And even though it extends beyond what I can see, I can joyfully hope for it.

Joyce Newmyer: That's great advice that you were given and I love that you resonated with that. So thanks for sharing with us. Dalton, you recently shared with me a very interesting observation of the residency program and its participants. It connects directly to our values. So, please share with our viewers what you've observed.

Dalton Williams: Yeah. Thanks Joyce. I think the one thing I could say about every single resident is, they have curiosity. We all have curiosity and that curiosity really... It becomes something that we get to do every single day and the residency kind of exemplifies that in every single part of it, right? And so not only are Sydney, Grace, and every single other resident here, extremely curious. And it's only showing when we all get together and tackle complex subjects like maybe two-way conversations and everybody has their own input about why it's important, things like that. We're all curious whenever we're learning. And I think the best part of that is the hospitals that we are in really get to enable that curiosity, whether we're going into the ICU or Med Surg, we get to be curious and we get to learn about healthcare.

Joyce Newmyer: I love that curiosity is such an important part of learning. So Dalton, what are you most grateful for as a result of your residency based at Adventist Health Ukiah?

Dalton Williams: I think, a couple things. Number one, I think it's just my own curiosity. Being able to really go into anywhere I want within the hospital and learn. And answer those questions that I may have. And a part of that, a part of being able to go into any place in the hospital, any place within anywhere we provide care really has been able to connect with people and to connect at a deep level and understand what their day consists of and what they care about and what really challenges them every single day. And of course, how I can support them, even though I'm just a resident. Every interaction you have, you can positively impact somebody.

Joyce Newmyer: So true. Thanks for sharing with us. Thank you. So, Sydney, you have been based at a hospital. That means a lot to me. I started my healthcare career there when I was a young teenager. So, share with us what you've learned at Adventist Health Sonora as a resident.

Sydney Fuentes: I think Sonora has taught me the most about how to be compassionate about the community and the people it serves. Even today, we had a whole conversation about how we can better support the community around us and make sure that they know we're here for supporting them. And it doesn't just extend outwards into the community, but it's inwards as well. It's amazing to see how much the directors care about every person on their team, how much the administration fights for the rights of everybody in the hospital. I don't think I've ever been a part of a company like that before. And I don't know if I'll ever get to experience as much love, care and compassion that Sonora shares with its associates every day.

Joyce Newmyer: Oh, you're describing a community and a hospital that I love very much. So I resonate with that. How does this reality line up with your personal goals for your future career?

Sydney Fuentes: My personal future goals, though a little bit undefined still I will admit, is that I always want to be able to support and help the people that I work with and work for. And so this is teaching me exactly how to do that and modeling how to properly care for the people that you work with. It just shows a great example, not just within Sonora, but within the L O and D team and everybody that I get to encounter every day. It just really shows me how to be compassionate while also allowing me to work well with others.

Joyce Newmyer: Beautiful. Thanks to all three of you. Hey Tim, before you all go, I love that you continue to introduce our viewers to these brilliant residents and how they are planning meaningful careers in healthcare. You must feel so proud of them. So, tell us how your crucial work with interns and residents gives you hope for the future of healthcare and Adventist Health.

Tim Olaore: Joyce, I mean, proud, probably doesn't even describe the kind of feelings that I have every time I encounter these residents and see the work and see their impact. And when thinking about the future, knowing that culture and engagement is shaped by the leaders gives me hope. Because if I look in five years from now, 10 years from now, and the residents, the interns, the folks that we're developing in this pipeline, knowing that they are going to be the ones that are driving culture, that are driving innovation, that are driving us towards our mission. And they've been with us from the very start of their leadership journey, just has me seeing having this hold at 2030 with these young leaders, with these innovative leaders that are really helping us accomplish our goals and it's going to be ridiculously easy to grow leaders and promote leaders within our organization across all parts of the organization because of this program. That's my vision and I'm super excited about it.

Joyce Newmyer: I am too. So, thank you to Tim, Dalton, Grace and Sydney. In all of you, we see a very, very bright future. Thanks for joining us today.

Tim Olaore: Thank you, Joyce.

Grace Wainaina: Thank you so much.

Joyce Newmyer: Our final story today is Victory Laps. At age 73, Lynda Leopold is swimming victory laps for her victories over tragedy and for what lies ahead, but what lies behind her is a different story. Lynda survived an indescribable tragedy in childhood that changed her life forever. Her courage and energy kept her moving forward and everything changed when she found a surgeon who could help her. Along the way, Lynda discovered a passion for competitive swimming, which has become a dream fulfilled as well as friendships and a definition of victory that is uniquely hers. You can enjoy this story as well as many others at AdventistHealth.org/Story. Friends, thanks for Connecting Live and we'll see you here again next week. Until then, let's be a force for good.