Intro  0:01  
Many aspire to reach the upper echelon of the healthcare industry, but few are able to successfully navigate the corporate ladder. C-Suite Partners sits down with international healthcare executives, asking the tough questions and unpacking the personalities of the top industry leaders. Welcome to the Boardroom.

Michael Murray  0:24  
Stuart, thank you so much for being a part of C Suite Partners' In the Boardroom.

Stuart Bennett  0:29  
Pleasure. 

Michael Murray  0:32  
I think the viewers would like to understand a little bit more about what you're currently doing in your role and who you're working for.

Stuart Bennett  0:48  
Thanks, Michael. So I'm currently the President and Group CEO of The Medical City. We're the largest hospital group and clinic chain in the Philippines under one brand. So we have currently five hospitals, 73 clinics. I kind of lead what we call the enterprise head office. So I'm based here in Manila, but I spend a lot of time on the ground, as much as I can, outside of Manila, to be honest, with the teams. And we're looking at acquiring new hospitals this year and next year, and that's my day job.

Michael Murray  1:19  
And talk me through the start of your career. 

Stuart Bennett  1:21  
My father was in the military. Initially he was actually a priest, interestingly enough, and he was a military chaplain. My brother and I, because of that influence, were always in the cadets. We were also kind of looking at a military career. So I knew I was going into the military. And because I was going to be a doctor, I really didn't want to do the Army or the Air Force, because generally when you're an Army or an Air Force doctor, you spend a lot of time on a base – you're just like a family medicine doctor. In the Navy, there are a lot of opportunities to do some interesting stuff. So I pitched on the Navy, and I took what we call a university cadetship. So I was actually sponsored by the Navy. I went to what's called the Admiralty Interview Board when I was in my third year of med school. I was sponsored by the Navy in my last three years of medical school, which meant I was a naval officer whilst at university, which is kind of interesting. I didn't realise that I should have failed the maths test, because when I didn't, I was volunteered for nuclear submarines, as it's a very technical role. So I missed that memo, apparently. So even though I wanted to work with the Royal Marines and get my Green Beret initially, the Navy said, "Okay, go and do your submarine thing. Once you've done that, we will allow you to go and train and become a Royal Navy Commando and get a Green Beret." I was told by the Navy that they really wanted me to be a family doctor, and I wanted to be a trauma surgeon or an emergency medicine specialist. And because it's the Navy, you know, they win. So unfortunately, I had to make a decision at that stage – either be a family medicine doctor for the rest of my life, which really was not my aim, or go and do something else. So that's when I studied for my MBA. I spent two years really thinking about it, and that's when I then transitioned into finance.

Michael Murray  3:17  
Very interesting. And what about the transition into your first corporate role after the military?

Stuart Bennett  3:23  
So I went to business school. As I said, I was recommended by a friend who did a two-year MBA at Harvard. And he had transitioned from being a doctor as well, and his basic advice was, "Just go to business school. You'll work it out," because I had really no idea which career path I wanted to take. I wanted to choose a finance school, because I was recommended to augment my science base with finance. And so when I went to London Business School for my first year, I realised I didn't want to be a management consultant very quickly, it just wasn't my thing. I didn't really want to work in the pharma industry, which was the obvious fit as a doctor. And basically everybody I met from the finance industry, they kind of had the same DNA. It's very much hard work. It's a very intense environment. You kind of eat what you kill. And that's really what I was used to in the Marines and in the submarine service. So I naturally aligned with the finance guys. I also play rugby. So I was playing rugby in the rugby club, and most of the guys in the rugby club were also in finance. So it was pretty clear which direction I was going. So I decided to do internships at Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch. I was very lucky, I managed to get two internships. The team I worked for at Merrill Lynch –  I worked for the number-one ranked analyst in Europe for pharmaceuticals – super smart guy. And that was just my fit. So I worked at Merrill Lynch for three years. I then had an opportunity to move to Singapore, and I was not yet married, I didn't have any kids, and I figured, "Why not?" So that's what really brought me to Asia for the first time.

Michael Murray  5:06  
What do you think is the major difference between high performance in healthcare and banking? Just out of curiosity?

Stuart Bennett  5:12  
To me, it's the same, to be honest. I think if you ask any of my teams, I really drive a high-performance culture wherever I work. And if you don't want to work in that environment, don't work for me, to be honest. It's more challenging, I think, in healthcare — and how do you make that more relevant? Look, I think standards don't change, right? And work ethics don't change. So one of the things from being in the military, and one of the things from working in banking, is a very high standard of work ethic, right? And that means you take your job seriously. You make commitments. When you set timelines and deliverables, you deliver them. So it doesn't really matter which industry — if you have the right mindset, I think you can apply that same methodology to any industry. In healthcare in general, people are not used to strict timelines. They're not really used to deadlines. Things can slip. Maybe not on the clinical side — on the clinical side, it's very much, things have to happen in a certain order. But for the administration of hospitals, I think people just have to learn what that high-performance culture looks like. And to be honest, it's self-selecting. People who are up for the challenge stay. People who aren't leave, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

Michael Murray  6:25  
What was the transition into your first healthcare role? Where was that?

Stuart Bennett  6:29  
So I moved from Singapore to Dubai, and I was working in private equity. Interestingly, I didn't have a job opportunity in Dubai. I knew I wanted to move there, and so I was fortunate to be introduced to some friends who were running a private equity fund. And I told them, essentially, "I will work for free and prove to you that I can add value. And if I do, then you kind of have to hire me." That was the deal. So they said, "Okay, we have a long-term ventilated care facility in Abu Dhabi, which is doing okay but not really doing so great." They were trying to expand that. They were trying to build a new facility in a different part of the city. And timelines were delayed. The project was falling off a cliff, and they really needed somebody with my background who could go in, throw a cat amongst the pigeons, and get people to work. And so that's what we did. Everything got back on time, we opened on time, and we did a real good turnaround, I would say. And then that's what really transitioned me into more of an operating partner type of function.

Michael Murray  7:43  
Do you remember a miscalculation, a misstep, something that was an error in judgment that has impacted the way that you look at doing business moving forward?

Stuart Bennett  7:54  
Yeah, there's a lot. 

Michael Murray  7:57  
Yeah, always is. Always a lot.