The Value of Finding Your Tribe

By Mike Mackert

One of the traditions of the Health Communication Leadership Institute (HCLI) is that on the last day each participant talks about what they will take from their time with us back to their home organization. It’s always an interesting and engaging session, with participants talking about a particularly useful bit of information or an inspirational point made by one of the speakers.

After hearing from all the participants, I shared my own takeaway: how important and rewarding it is to “find your tribe.”

One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about HCLI has been the chance to meet new people, hear from interesting speakers, and learn new things about health communication and leadership. That was certainly the case again last week, but for some reason it particularly hit home this year how much I just felt at home at HCLI – working with the amazing CHC team, with a wonderful lineup of speakers, and with a group of participants who were passionate about the field of health communication and developing themselves as leaders in the field.

Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last, I was reflecting on how grateful I am for the chance to do health communication work at this moment in time at this university and in this city with our team. The CHC has the chance to do something really special in the coming years, and each year HCLI is a chance to expand our network of colleagues and members of our ever-growing health communication tribe. I’m already looking forward to next year.

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