00:00
 Kimberly: Hello everyone, and I am excited today to welcome Ben Farber to Pulse Check. He is the Vice President of Patient Care and the Chief Nursing Officer for Eisenhower Health. Ben, welcome.

00:14
 Ben: Thank you so much for having me, Kimberly.

00:16
 Kimberly: I'm so glad that we got an opportunity to speak with you. I have just a few things that I'd like to inquire about. And the first thing is, give us a little bit of a summary of your journey. And then I'd like you to follow that up with, do you feel that where you are now is aligned with where you thought you would be?

00:35
 Ben: I have been so fortunate in my career to have people who believed in me when I didn't necessarily believe in myself and mentors along the way, whom I consider you amongst. Very fortunately, you were one of the first leaders who took a big chance on me. So I'm really grateful for that.

I went from bedside into a charge role really quickly and then had an opportunity to grow from there. As my career grew, or as there were needs in the organization, I really never said no to much. And it allowed me to grow pretty quickly.

Ultimately, I took opportunities to move and grow my career around the country. I had incredible opportunities, including serving as a regional chief nurse in Ohio. All of those opportunities built toward me being able to land back in California with a great organization here, and I’m really grateful for that.

As far as whether or not it aligned with my original career goals, I don’t even know that I knew the chief nursing officer position existed when I entered nursing. My goal was really to go to work, take care of people, and try to bring a smile to somebody’s face every day. I don’t think I ever imagined I would be in a position like this, but I’m really grateful to be here.

01:44
 Kimberly: Well, I think they’re very fortunate to have you in that position as well. Now, you know the name of this podcast is Pulse Check. Has there ever been a major moment in your career where you had to pause and take a pulse check?

02:01
 Ben: So many. I like to think that I pause and take a pulse check on a regular basis. The biggest moments for me have been when I’ve made decisions to leave organizations.

While research often says people leave leaders, I also believe people leave for growth opportunities and when their personal mission and vision no longer align with that of the organization.

Any time I’ve made the decision to move to a new organization, it has been an opportunity to pause and ask myself: Am I running away from something, or am I running to something?

As leaders we learn to work with many types of people, which is why I don’t believe people simply leave leaders in roles like these. But if there’s a misalignment, I want to be sure it’s not something that can be corrected. And if I am leaving, it’s because I’m moving toward a new opportunity — not escaping something.

So every time I’ve moved organizations, it has been a moment to take that pulse check and make sure I’m going for the right reasons.

03:15
 Kimberly: Oh, that is wonderful. You talked about value alignment and so forth, and I want to deviate a little from that. Being in an executive leadership role is a huge responsibility. How do you continue to find purpose and meaning in the work that you're doing?

03:32
 Ben: My True North today is the same as it was when I worked at the bedside.

We have a very large new graduate program here, and I often tell them something I once heard from a mentor. I encourage them to write down their True North and put it somewhere safe, like in their locker. When they have a really bad day, they can look back at it and remember why they entered nursing.

My True North from day one has been to bring a smile to somebody’s face.

As long as I’m bringing a smile to someone’s face and making someone’s day a little bit better, I find a lot of purpose in the work I do.

I didn’t think that would be replaceable from bedside care, but in my role now I get to listen to nurses and improve their work environment so they can bring smiles to more patients’ faces. In many ways, I feel like I have even more impact today than I did at the bedside.

04:26
 Kimberly: Absolutely. And it's much broader because it's not only the patient but also the people who care for them. The last thing I'm curious about is if you had to give advice to your younger self, what would you tell him?

04:41
 Ben: Really simply — it is okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. There is no way to do this job and get it right all the time.

You need to focus on what you will take away from the times you don’t get it right, rather than trying to avoid mistakes altogether. Otherwise, you’ll end up paralyzed.

04:56
 Kimberly: You know what? That is wonderful. Ben, this is what we call a mini podcast — and actually we’re done.

05:03
 Ben: Oh, amazing.

05:04
 Kimberly: I thank you.

05:05
 Ben: Well, thank you.