Doug Ward
Episode 194

Narrator:

Welcome friends to another episode of the Story & Experience Podcast. Join your host, Japhet de Oliveira with his guest today and discover the moments that shape us, our families, and communities.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Hey, welcome friends to another episode of the Story & Experience Podcast. I am delighted with our guests. We're here in Roseville, California and they're seated across the table from me. If you're brand new to the podcast, we have a hundred questions. They progressively become more vulnerable as you get closer to 100, and they're about stories and experiences that shaped this person into the leader that they are today. I'm going to ask the first 10, and then they will take it from there from 11 to 100 and we'll see where it goes. So let me ask of your name. Does anybody ever mispronounce it?

Doug Ward:

My name is Doug Ward. Interestingly, I have had a number of people mispronounce the name Doug.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Really?

Doug Ward:

Yeah. Yep. So-

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay.

Doug Ward:

I spent a lot of time in healthcare and there was a time at which I worked in a facility that was large. I used to work in the skilled nursing industry.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay.

Doug Ward:

And the facility I worked in had a large number of folks who were not native to America, so they had various accents.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay.

Doug Ward:

And interestingly, the person at our front desk, she would call me Dog and she would frequently announce over the loudspeakers, "Dog line one." And it was kind of this deep voice, dog line one. And so it became this joke among her friends.

Japhet De Oliveira:

"Do the dog."

Doug Ward:

People in the facility started buying me merch with dogs on it. And so I had a dog coffee mug and I had a dog t-shirt. So yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Doug, do you own a dog?

Doug Ward:

You know what? I'm the worst dad ever. '.

Oh, really?

Japhet De Oliveira:

I have never given my kids a dog.

Doug Ward:

Okay, okay. All right.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Grew up with several, but, yeah.

Doug Ward:

And how old are your kids?

The oldest is 23, the youngest is 16.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So there's still a chance.

Doug Ward:

There's still a chance. The 16-year-old is still begging me, "Dad, can we please get a dog?" I'm like, "I'm sorry, sweetie."

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right, Doug. Well what do you do for work?

Doug Ward:

So I am the ambulatory and physician services executive for the Northern California Network with responsibility at Castle in Hawaii as well.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. All right. All right. And this is for Adventist Health, and what does that really entail?

Doug Ward:

So really we've got about 200 clinics across that service area. And so I have the privilege of working with our physicians, physician leaders, and our ambulatory operators, driving performance, ensuring that we have better access, helping guide the organization in its quality metrics for the territory, things of that nature.

Japhet De Oliveira:

What's your favorite conversation that you have at work?

Doug Ward:

I love telling people when they're doing a good job.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah?

Doug Ward:

That is my favorite conversation. It's like I get to be Santa Claus for the day.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's great, man.

Doug Ward:

And the good news is, Japhet, there are a lot of people doing really good work, improving access to care, driving better quality, so I get to be Santa Claus a lot. And it's great, man.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's good. That's good. Now, how long have you been in healthcare? Have you been in healthcare all your life? Or is this like-

Doug Ward:

I've been in healthcare for about 20 years.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. All right. All right.

Doug Ward:

Before that, I'll tell you my first, I graduated college with no prospects.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay.

Doug Ward:

So I see our residents here at Adventist Health, and I'm like, you guys have the golden ticket. I graduated college with no prospects and so I got into life insurance sales because that was it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Sure.

Doug Ward:

And boy, that was hard. I mean, this is back in the day when you would just pick up the phone at night and call. So I'd spend four hours at night calling people, cold calling, trying to convince them to let me come to their house to talk to them about death. And if I succeeded in setting the appointment, then I had to go to their house and talk to them about dying for an hour. And if I did it well enough, I'd walk out with a check. And it was a crucible, but it really taught me how to interact with people. And it taught me how to overcome a lot of discomfort around-

Japhet De Oliveira:

No kidding.

Doug Ward:

... uncomfortable conversations. Probably some of the best career training of my life.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Wow, that's amazing. That's amazing. All right, now Doug, where were you born?

Doug Ward:

I was born in Long Beach, California.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. And did you grow up there?

Doug Ward:

Grew up there.

Japhet De Oliveira:

And as a child, did you imagine you were going to be...

Doug Ward:

I always saw myself being a teacher.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Do you come from a teaching family? Or-

Doug Ward:

Not at all. My dad owns a small business, but I always saw myself on a stage talking to folks.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Really?

Doug Ward:

And so teaching was something where I felt like I connected with an audience pretty easily and enjoy working with other people and working with kids. And so I always thought I'd be a teacher, but then life took a different direction.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Sure. Sure. You enjoy academics?

Doug Ward:

You know what? I don't.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well-

Doug Ward:

That doesn't make sense either. Right?

Japhet De Oliveira:

Well, I'm glad life took a different turn.

Doug Ward:

Thank goodness. I do have an advanced degree, but at one point I was talking to an executive coach and I said, "Hey, should I pursue a PhD?" And she was like, "The level you're at right now is considered a terminal degree for your career path." She's like, "Unless you have a real passion for academics, it's not going to help you grow any further in your career." I was like, "Nah, that's okay."

Japhet De Oliveira:

That was not a hard decision. All right. That's good. Now, are you an early riser or late night owl?

Doug Ward:

Early riser.

Japhet De Oliveira:

And what's early for you Doug?

Doug Ward:

I'm up around 05:00 most days.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay, all right. All right. So this morning, five o'clock, woke up. First thought that went through your mind today?

Doug Ward:

This podcast.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, yeah.

Doug Ward:

Oh, for sure.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Good. All right.

Doug Ward:

It's not every day I get interviewed by somebody of you're esteemed nature, Japhet.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I'm glad you're here.

Doug Ward:

Likewise.

Japhet De Oliveira:

We have to get this lined up well. Personality, Doug. How would people describe you? Introvert? Extrovert? And would you agree with them?

Doug Ward:

I think that I would definitely be described as an extrovert. I am what I call a closet introvert.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, okay.

Doug Ward:

And so as I was talking to my daughter about it the other day, she was like, "Dad, you have a social battery." And so for work and things like... And I do get a charge off of other people. Like I said, I love telling people they're doing a good job, but at the end of the day, to be able to turn all of that off and not talk for a minute is actually really important for me. And then that not talking time is usually my drive time home. And I do quite a bit of driving for work.

And so sometimes that drive time is a couple hours and that's a really important recharge for me. Sometimes it's just a half hour if I'm fairly close to home. And then when I get home I can turn the social battery back on and be a dad and be a husband and enjoy spending time with the family. But I watch that TV show alone, those people that go out, these people, they go out into the wilderness with nothing. And it's basically a competition to see who can survive the longest with absolutely nothing. And I'm like, man, I could do that. I just go and disappear in the woods for a month.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Doug, I got to ask, do you work out all the time?

Doug Ward:

I do. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Yeah. As you shook my hand, I was like, this guy works out. No, seriously. You came in, you shook my hand. Oh, my goodness. That's an embrace there. That's an embrace. All right.

Doug Ward:

Part of my daily routine.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Hey, that's good. That's good. Here's a leadership question for you. It's the last one then I'm going to hand over. Actually no, I didn't ask you. I need to ask you. First drink of the day. Coffee? Tea? [inaudible 00:07:52] green smoothie? Protein shake?

Doug Ward:

Yeah, it's a concoction of things. So my daughter is in a dietetics program, wants to be an RD. And so actually my morning drink is inspired by her. So it's a mixture of flaxseed, protein powder, creatine, beta alanine, I take a multivitamin, so it's a concoction of all these things I take before I exercise in the morning.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Before you exercise.

Doug Ward:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. All right. Look at you.

Doug Ward:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Hey, that's fantastic. All right, leadership question. Are you a backseat driver?

Doug Ward:

Well, right now I have a 16-year-old daughter who's got a permit, so I'm a backseat driver. You better believe it. I'd say generally, no, I'm not a backseat driver. I think both figuratively and specifically. So when it comes to work, I really don't like to micromanage the way people lead. I think it's critically important for them to build their team, to build their style and I really don't like to micromanage that aspect. I'm much more interested in outcomes than process.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yes. Yes.

Doug Ward:

And then at home when I'm sitting in the car with my wife, things like that, no, I don't backseat drive.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Good for you man. Good for you. All right. All right. Where do you want to go, Doug? Anywhere between 11 and 100.

Doug Ward:

Let's start in the middle. Let's go like 56.

Japhet De Oliveira:

56. Right. Oh, share an activity that you just lose all sense of time.

Doug Ward:

Man, I can surf for hours.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Really?

Doug Ward:

I love to surf.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Wow.

Doug Ward:

I love it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah.

Doug Ward:

There are a couple of components of it that I just absolutely love. After college, so I didn't really surf growing up. Long Beach, there's no waves in Long Beach. After college, my wife and I moved to Huntington Beach for about 15 years. And so I would go before work. And there are a couple of components of it I just love. First of all, it's that explosive excitement dropping in on a big wave. It's this super fast, super heavy adrenaline rush when you drop in on this thing and get that instant burst of speed and then you bottom turn and then you're just playing, then you're just partying on the wave. So there's that aspect of it, which is just this really intense high. The other aspect for me, I think I'm like a fisherman because it's the thrill of the hunt.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay.

Doug Ward:

It's not like behind a boat-

Japhet De Oliveira:

Sure.

Doug Ward:

... the wave's always there. I've wake surfed before, but the wave's always there. You crash and then the boat comes around, you get back up and you keep going. In the ocean, you're constantly scanning the horizon and you're constantly looking over the next swell and you're looking to see if one's coming, and then you'll see one hundreds of yards out and you have to get into the right position. So you've got to paddle really hard to the left or paddle hard to the right. Sometimes it's so big you got to paddle out so that you're in the right spot because there's a fairly narrow window where you can actually be to catch one.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh really?

Doug Ward:

If you're too far inside, it'll just crash on you and you get clapped. If you're too far outside, you'll miss it, too far left, right, whatever. So you see this monster coming and then you got to really work hard to position yourself. And then you turn around and you paddle as hard as you can because if you don't have enough speed, there's a million ways you could eat it. And then you conquer this thing. And these things are way bigger than you and they're way more powerful and they come from hundreds of miles away generated by the God of nature himself. And then you hunt this thing down and you conquer it and you make it like a toy.

And if I'm being honest, there's a little bit of fear involved.

Japhet De Oliveira:

A little bit. Sure.

Doug Ward:

I've been sewn up a number of times, coming into contact with my board or fins or other people. And so there's always a little fear, even though I've been doing it for 30 years and that fear heightens the anticipation.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Excellent. Not the kind of thing I need, but I appreciate you.

Doug Ward:

So yeah, it doesn't even need to be a long ride. I could be on a wave for five seconds. You drop in, you get that boost, maybe one or two turns and it crashes out and I'm like, yeah, that was a good, that was worth doing.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. All right. 56A. What draws you to fear when people run away from it?

Doug Ward:

I think the excitement that it brings. Yeah. There's something about me that craves excitement. And so-

Japhet De Oliveira:

Your entire life?

Doug Ward:

I think so.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah?

Doug Ward:

And so when I say fear, no joke, I get stomach cramps before going sometimes, especially if it's really cold or really big because I end up going a lot in the Pacific Northwest. So I have the privilege of working with our team in Fort Brag. And so anytime I go to Fort Brag, I'll get out at 05:00 in the morning and get a session before work. And a lot of times I'm out there all by myself and the water's like 45 degrees. And people think surfing, they think Lilo and Stitch.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Sure. Sure.

Doug Ward:

Hey-howa-howituma. No man, in the Pacific Northwest. I call it Norwegian death metal surfing.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I like that.

Doug Ward:

It's like super cold. Big rocks, big waves.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Occasional acts.

Doug Ward:

Yeah, exactly.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. All right.

Doug Ward:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. So that just, it's part of your DNA?

Doug Ward:

I think so.

Japhet De Oliveira:

All right. Well that was 56A. So which do you want to go next?

Doug Ward:

Let's go off the top rope man. Let's go to a hundred.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh, a hundred?

Doug Ward:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. All right. Well a hundred is this. This is no fear. Tell us about one question that you just don't want to answer.

Doug Ward:

Oh, that is the top rope. I'd say, am I worthy? I think of it in three buckets.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh yeah?

Doug Ward:

Yeah. I think, am I worthy before my creator? There are what, 8 billion people on this planet? I think in the cosmic roll of the dice, I pulled double sixes. I was born into this country, born to great parents. I don't want to sit here and list my blessings. It sounds braggadocious, but I don't think I deserve all that. So I can't say, do I deserve it, but am I worthy of it? And so that's bucket number one.

Bucket number two of am I worthy is before my family. Beautiful wife, great kids, and am I worthy of their love, their trust? My kids are working hard to become great people themselves, and I'm proud of what they're doing. And am I worthy of their adoration? And bucket number three is the company I work for. Adventist Health has placed a tremendous amount of trust in me and given me a big stewardship over the lives of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people. Am I worthy of that stewardship? And so I try to work every day to be worthy of the stewardship and the trust that Adventist has placed in me. And so that's the question I'm probably afraid of the answer of. Am I worthy of all those things that I feel incredibly blessed with?

Japhet De Oliveira:

So there's a technique in therapy on complex issues that let's say you, Doug, had shared something complex as you have just now.

Doug Ward:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I would then place a chair over here and I would say, "Doug, imagine yourself in that chair." And I'd ask you to speak to that Doug and to say to him, why is he worthy?

Doug Ward:

Oh, interesting. Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So what would you say to Doug if he was sitting right here, why are you worthy?

Doug Ward:

Because I try my hardest. I think that's what I would tell that person sitting in the chair. I'd say, "You're at least trying your hardest. Maybe you don't succeed all the time, but you give it your all." Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Yeah. It's a good word for everyone. Right?

Doug Ward:

I appreciate that, doctor.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, it's a good word. It's a good reminder, I mean. But recognizing that as well is important.

Doug Ward:

Yeah, that's a good call out.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Yeah. Well thanks for going to a hundred. Not everyone goes there, so appreciate it.

Doug Ward:

I'm going to pull it back After that. You better believe it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No, you can. So where would you like to go next, Doug?

Doug Ward:

Let's go down to 20.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. All right. Well actually, this is actually apropos for you. Doug, what would you rate 10 out of 10 in your seal of approval, since you have such a high bar, right? How you see yourself and others, what would you give 10 out of 10?

Doug Ward:

10 out of 10. There's not much that's a 10 out of 10.

Japhet De Oliveira:

I was going to tell you that.

Doug Ward:

Okay, this might sound funny. Metallica's Master of Puppets album.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Really? 10 out of 10?

Doug Ward:

There's a caveat here.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay.

Doug Ward:

No album is perfect. I mean, even Michael Jackson's Thriller considered by many to be one of the best albums of all time. And I think it's a great album. Thriller's an amazing album. Even that album has a dumb song that he did a collab with Paul McCartney called The Girl Is Mine. When I was in third grade, that song was cringe. As a third grader, I would [inaudible 00:17:31], like, "That song is dumb." So no album's perfect, including Metallica's Master of Puppets. I can't believe this is what we're talking about. So here's the thing. As a kid-

Japhet De Oliveira:

But it's pretty close to 10 out of 10.

Doug Ward:

Oh man, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah., yeah, yeah.

Doug Ward:

It just goes. As a kid, as I was trying to develop my music identity, so I grew up in a pretty inner city neighborhood. And when I was maybe in fourth grade, I thought, yeah man, I'm into hardcore rap. And so I used to listen to this AM radio station that was underground rap. And then I evolved and then I started getting into hair metal like Poison, Guns N' Roses, Bon Jovi. So I was like, yeah man, I'm into hair metal. And then a friend of mine let me borrow a copy of a copy of his Metallica Master of Puppets tape.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Copy of a copy.

Doug Ward:

Yeah, back then you have to, dual recorders.Man, it blew my mind.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Really?

Doug Ward:

So I just loved it. And here's the thing, too. Any listener, that album has moments of sheer beauty. I don't care if you're into Mozart or whatever, there are many interludes and solos and moments within that album of genuine sheer beauty, but it is surrounded by intense ferocity. And it really opened my mind to this heavy, intense, ferocious music. And it was like an adrenaline rush in a little tape. And man, I couldn't get enough. And it opened my... So I'd call myself an old metalhead. So old metalheads like me will argue for hours about which of Metallica's four first albums are the greatest album of all time. For me it's that one. And the message behind it. So I'll say one more thing about it. The title track, which has become incredibly popular recently even, it was on Stranger Things, which is funny. But the title track, the message is actually about the danger of drug addiction and how it destroys people's lives. And I had the unfortunate experience growing up of watching a number of friends get involved in hard drugs to the point where-

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's always hard.

Doug Ward:

Real hard. And I didn't quite understand it at first, I thought they just acted funny when they did this stuff. And it got to where one friend was like the meth dealer and he would deal to the other kids. And where I'd ride to school with them, they couldn't even go to school without doing some drugs before going to school because they couldn't get their mind right. And so that title track, the anger in the song really started speaking to me more because I felt so powerless to help these dudes that I loved.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Sure.

Doug Ward:

And so there's a lot of passion behind that album that really speaks to me in a number of ways.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So they say that music is not just about music, but about the moment when you first hear it.

Doug Ward:

Absolutely.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Right?

Doug Ward:

Absolutely.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So it's connected to that story in your life, that moment.

Doug Ward:

A hundred percent.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So do you think that you are open to some new genres, new experiences, or you're just like, "Oh man, I just got to go back to that one all the time"?

Doug Ward:

I mean, I love metal. I listen to it every day. If you see me pull in the parking lot, I have to roll my windows up because I'd be embarrassed for people to hear what I'm listening to. But I also love Funk. Man, I love James Brown. I love old school Motown, Four Tops, stuff like that. Even the Temptations. And so I'm pretty polarized in how I feel about music. But my two primary genres I'd say are funk and old school Motown and really aggressive, ferocious, heavy metal.

Japhet De Oliveira:

They go together well.

Doug Ward:

Totally.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Like oats, milk, and coffee. Yeah. No, no, that's okay. Hey, that's great man. That's great. All right. Where next?

Doug Ward:

Let's see. Let's go back up high. Let's go 90.

Japhet De Oliveira:

90. All right. Tell us about how you overcame a seemingly insurmountable obstacle.

Doug Ward:

So we talked about how I exercise daily, deep-seated insecurity of being too skinny. When I was in second grade, I wore shorts to school and everybody made fun of my chicken legs. I mean, the teacher made fun of my chicken legs.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh wow.

Doug Ward:

I was so scarred.

Japhet De Oliveira:

[inaudible 00:22:09]

Doug Ward:

Yeah, that was pretty cold.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, that is.

Doug Ward:

Mean lady named Mrs. Gardner.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Bless Mrs. Gardner.

Doug Ward:

And I didn't wear shorts again until college. I didn't even possess a pair.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. Yeah.

Doug Ward:

But as a kid, my dad, in the morning, he'd wake us up and we would do a scripture study. And when I was in maybe fifth grade, he was showing, he was teaching us and he said, "Hey, there's..." he was sharing scripture talking about how weak things can become strong through God. And I remember at the time thinking, well, if weak things can become strong, I'm weak and I want to be strong. And so that was the moment in fifth grade, I started saying, "Okay, well you need to eat more if you want to be strong, you need to eat the right things if you want to be strong. I'm like, "Mom, can we have steak for dinner?"

And I started waking up at five o'clock in the morning and I do a lot of push-ups and sit-ups and I had a little 10 pound dumbbell and I'd use that 10 pound dumbbell. And here's the thing, I'm not confident in the way I look still. You can ask my wife, she cannot buy me clothes because I'll put on a t-shirt and I'll be like, "Oh, this makes my neck too skinny. I can't wear this. Or this makes my arms look too weak, I can't wear this. These shorts, they're too high, they show my knobby knees, I can't wear." It's like the worst gift somebody can buy me is a t-shirt because I guarantee you I won't wear it. It has to fit me just right so that I don't feel insecure wearing it.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure.

Doug Ward:

Having said that insurmountable obstacle that been able to overcome, I think was gaining that confidence and building a better me through decades of pushing my body. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. It's interesting, Doug, that you every day are lifting people up.

Doug Ward:

Yeah, that's my job.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's your job.

Doug Ward:

Absolutely.

Japhet De Oliveira:

You lift people up every day as you've told us and shared. And if you meet Doug in person, you'll know this about him. It's just like there's a presence about him. You want to actually get engaged with him and talk to him. So he has this positive spirit about him. And yet in your soul you're like, you're checking yourself all the time.

Doug Ward:

All the time. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

And yet you lift everyone else up.

Doug Ward:

Well, thank you, Japhet.

Japhet De Oliveira:

So who lifts you up, Doug?

Doug Ward:

My family and my coworkers. Honestly, like I said, when I get to be Santa Claus to them, I just feel the energy come right off them. Honestly, I am blessed to have great bosses. I work with Arby and Eric both and could not, if they're listening, I am not blowing smoke, man. I'm not trying to get points. But how you feel about your boss directly impacts how you feel about your job. And again, it's that cosmic roll of the dice, man. I got great people around me, so they lift me up.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's great.

Doug Ward:

Make me feel good about myself.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's great. Well, I'm glad you're able to pass that on.

Doug Ward:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah, that's good. All right. Believe it or not, we have time for two more. Where do you want to go-

Doug Ward:

Two more.

Japhet De Oliveira:

... the last two numbers? Yeah.

Doug Ward:

Let's go back to the middle. Let's go. 64.

Japhet De Oliveira:

64. All right. When you look back in your life, can you tell us about a what was I thinking moment?

Doug Ward:

Oh yeah. That's an easy one. Okay, so when you see me walk, you'll notice I have a crooked right leg.

Japhet De Oliveira:

No, I did not notice that.

Doug Ward:

It kinks out to the side 27 degrees.

Japhet De Oliveira:

27. Wow. Okay. Have to work this out.

Doug Ward:

It's pretty groovy.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah.

Doug Ward:

So my other big passion, I always talked about surfing. The other big hobby I have is riding dirt bikes. I've done it since I was eight years old. And just the sound of it, when I get on it and I kick it over and this explosion of power, I get excited just thinking about it. I'm going to get excited right now. So I grew up doing it and as I started getting bigger and stronger, more confident, we started doing big jumps.

And I'll be dead honest, I possessed far more guts than skill. That's a dangerous combination. Very dangerous. And so we'd be out riding in the desert and-

Japhet De Oliveira:

Very Tom Cruise of you.

Doug Ward:

Oh yeah. Way more guts than skill. Yeah. So we'd be out in the desert and I'd look at some big bump and I'd look at where that bump might throw you and be with my friends and be like, "Yeah, I can make it." And most of the time I did. And so there's one, for instance, that was the side of the mountain where there's this road and they carved a road out of the side of the mountain and we'd ride up the side of the mountain and jump over the road, up the cliff, and land up on top.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah.

Doug Ward:

And stuff like that. Again, far more guts than skill. And so I never had the air sense. Really good riders, like there's this guy in Lodi, Colin, Colin Clay, that guy's got air sense. He's good in the air. This guy's not quite my age, but he still does big jumps. I don't do that anymore. But back to the story. So there's this jump, and it was this road out in the middle of the desert and there was a hill on each side of it. And so you had to hit it fast and you'd clear the road and land on the other side. And I hit it once with some friends there and I was like, "Okay, that was cool man." And I circled back around, I was like, "Should I do it again?" They're like, "Yeah." I said, "Okay." And so I lined back up-

Japhet De Oliveira:

Sure.

Doug Ward:

... and I'm sitting there looking at the jump and I'm a religious man. I believe that God speaks to mankind. I believe that mankind can speak to God. I believe that's one of the moments when God was yelling at me. I had this terrible feeling. It was like, "Don't hit the jump." And I was like, what is that? I just shook it off and I felt it again. It was like, "Doug, don't hit the jump." And so as a religious person, I did what any religious person would do when you have a bad feeling, I said a little prayer. The prayer went something like this, "Dear Lord, I'm going to go hit this jump now. Please protect me." And so I come flying at this thing faster. I hit it in a higher gear, wide open, and there was a rut. You had to be right inside this rut to hit it right. And my line was wrong. And at the last second I tried to correct and I messed up and it hit my back tire really hard. And-

Japhet De Oliveira:

So you lost air

Doug Ward:

... it pitched me forward. So I had way too much speed and I basically started doing a front flip. And I had so much speed, I overshot the landing. So if you land on the downhill, it's a nice easy landing. I overshot the landing and I landed in the flat down below, upside down.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Oh my Goodness.

Doug Ward:

And the bike landed on top of me and snapped my femur, separated my shoulder. I lost feeling in my left leg for a while because my lower back got hit really hard. And since then I've had numerous surgeries and had a spinal disc rupture and all these things related to this. And so when I say, "What was I thinking?"

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yes. Yes.

Doug Ward:

It's not the guts part. I tend to not think about consequences when it comes to that stuff sometimes. But it was more that I genuinely felt a premonition that I believe came from a higher power and I chose not to listen to it. And maybe not listen, but maybe bend his will to mine.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Sure. Sure.

Doug Ward:

Like, Hey, I'm going to do this anyway.

Japhet De Oliveira:

And protect me.

Doug Ward:

Yeah. Do me a solid and protect me.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Despite myself.

Doug Ward:

Exactly.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah.

Yeah. So yeah, there you go.

Doug Ward:

Wow. What a nudge. Yeah. Hey, you're doing okay though with your 27 degrees?

Yeah. Yeah. 27 degrees. Yeah. I turn around backwards once in a while.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Okay. That's a little creepy. All right. Last number, Doug.

Doug Ward:

Okay, let's go middle ground. Let's go like 48.

Japhet De Oliveira:

48. All right. Tell us about your best personality trait.

Doug Ward:

Oh, best personality trait. I'll say this. When it comes to work, I think it's ego related, I think I tend to be overconfident and have a little too much ego. That's not my best trait. But where it helps is I have this thing about me where when people I work with do a good job, I take it personally. And so I know my team doesn't wake up in various regions of Northern California and Hawaii and say, "I'm going to do Doug a good job today." I know they don't think that they're inherently motivated. I'm surrounded by outstanding people.

But nonetheless, when they do a really good job, for some reason it feels to me in my heart, they did it just for me. And so it makes me love my team. I see somebody that will turn around a culture and all of a sudden increase access to care by double. And all of a sudden people in the community are able to get care that otherwise wouldn't because this person did such a good job turning around the culture and it feels in my heart like this person did it just for me. And so I walk around feeling like people are doing me solids all day. Like, man, you just hooked me up.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's great. That's great.

Doug Ward:

And it makes me love the people I work with when they're doing a good job.

Japhet De Oliveira:

That's beautiful.

Doug Ward:

Yeah. It makes it easy to enjoy the people I work with in my heart. I feel, and again, I know they're not doing it for Doug in their mind, but somewhere in my big ego, I think the world revolves around me, maybe. I don't know.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Hey.

Doug Ward:

It helps me love my job.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Hey, that's fantastic. Doug, what a privilege. Thank you for sharing. Thank your honesty. And not only do I encourage people to do the same thing, sit down with a friend, ask them good questions because we learn from each other, we're transformed by it. But I want people to remember, I mean, for myself, I want people to remember that we're valuable. Humans are valuable. And if somebody doesn't feel valued right now, find a way to remember that you are valuable.

Doug Ward:

Thank you, Japhet. It's been an absolute pleasure.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Good word. Good word.

Doug Ward:

Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira:

Yeah. So God bless you and everybody else and we'll connect soon. Thanks.

Doug Ward:

God bless. Thanks.

Narrator:

Thank you for joining us for the Story & Experience Podcast. We invite you to read, watch, and submit your story and experience at Adventisthealth.org/story. The Story & Experience Podcast was brought to you by Adventist Health through the Office of Culture.