Feeling Disrespected by Your Current Employer? Take these Two Steps.

Adversity does not build character ... it reveals it.

In the heat of the pandemic, physicians, nurses and all front line staff have revealed their character

• • In the face of complete chaos and overwhelm, you have doubled your efforts to make a difference. Day after day you run back into the battle - even when people call COVID a hoax and accuse you of lying just to make more money. 
    
    
  • In some cases you have made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of your patients: the current COVID death count of US Healthcare workers stands at 3607 and some have taken their own life in the depths of despair over not being able to do more.

Adversity also reveals the character of your leaders, administrators and managers too.

These are the people who create the systems and culture of your workforce. Put them under stress and their character is revealed just as clearly as yours.  

QUESTION:
How are your leaders doing these days?

I sincerely hope your administrators have doubled their efforts to have your back and care for your wellbeing. I hope they are working as hard as you and are as dedicated to you - as you are to your patients.

• What pandemic grade would you give them so far?
• How would you describe the character they are revealing in these difficult times?

Do you find yourself surrounded by competent, caring, empathetic leaders who show up often, look you in the eye, say THANK YOU and make your life easier whenever they can?

Or are you catching crap like this?

Here is an example via the NHS in England of a digital communication from administration to the providers when they had trouble filling shifts in the midst of COVID:

"There is a moral ethic to being a doctor which I would like to remind you of." .............. OY !

QUESTIONS:

• • • • How does this make you feel?
      • Does this feel familiar? Are you personally getting anything like this from your leaders?
      • On a scale of 1 - 10 how much do you agree with the statement, my leadership team has my back?

If your leaders are not stepping up and pitching in or even questioning your work ethic like the manager above, what can you do?

Two Steps We Highly Recommend

1) Get really clear on your Ideal Job Description

This is the core concept behind preventing burnout and building a fulfilling career. It is the first thing I teach all coaching clients and a career snapshot you must always keep current.

Take some time on a day off to re-evaluate your current practice and current job setting. For many of our clients and POP Community members, things have shifted and their Ideal Job Description has morphed into something different than it was in 2019.

Clarity on your Ideal Job Description gives you a target - something you would run towards - and a focus for a number of things.

• • • • Changing your practice to prevent burnout
      • Finding a new job/practice if that is what is needed

2) Schedule and complete at least 3 Job Interviews

When you are consistently beaten down by a physician-hostile leader or organization, you start to lose track of your own worth. You start to lose hope and stop believing that things can get better than this.

I have news for you. It is a seller's market if you are thinking about a job change. Demand for physicians is high and will only get better as time goes by.

NOTE: you don't have to actually change jobs to find out what you are really worth on the "open market". Notice I did not say change jobs ... which is a daunting prospect for many. I recommend you do some interviews, for a simple reason. 

The shortest path to understanding your true value as a physician is to GET A SECOND, THIRD AND FOURTH OPINION.

DO - SOME - INTERVIEWS to check your market value and the look and feel of different practice settings and leadership teams. You may or may not move to a new position. Just the act of interviewing will give you a reality check on a couple of very important facts:

• Notice how other people want you more, value you more, make you legitimate offers on better jobs
• Notice how different organizations have different structures, comp formulas, staffing ratios and FTE definitions than your current job
• Notice that all leaders are NOT like the leader who wrote that text above. (we can teach you how to interview so you know the true character of the leadership team before you go any further) 

NOTE:
There is some urgency here. 

If your workplace is really toxic, your partners will start to quit around you. You won't know until they put in their notice. Each loss makes your team even smaller. Bad leadership in a crisis can break whole departments, causing the docs to scatter to the winds overnight. 

The more of your partners that leave, the more guilt will come up when you contemplate leaving too. This guilt is a sign you are a good doctor. It is part of our physician programming.

The danger is that guilt will freeze you in this unhealthy situation.

If this sounds familiar, get out and do some interviews now, so that you have options.

And no matter what, if your team/ward/wing/department looks like it is legitimately going down ...

Do not be that last rat off a sinking ship.

Our Ideal Physician Job Search Formula Online Training for Physicians shows you the essential steps to finding a MUCH better practice this time around.

• • • • How to get clear on your Ideal Job Description
      • How to interview like a pro - with a full set of questions to test the leadership quality of any organization - You will Interview Them
      • When you come home from an interview you will know the exact percentage that this opportunity aligns with your Ideal Job Description
      • How to deal effectively with Recruiters
      • How to negotiate your contract
      • How to onboard yourself for deep roots and a real change in the experience of your new practice

I learned how to use my Ideal Job Description as the bullseye in my job search and move to something more satisfying rather than just running blindly away from this job.  I enjoyed learning how to interview my potential new employer rather than them interviewing me.

This new job is a much better match for my ideal job description and a dream I have had in the background for a long time. I will be doing work I enjoy, with people I trust and the six figure signing bonus is great. How do you put a price on sanity? "

~~ B.B. MD

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT 

• How are your leaders doing here in the pandemic?
• What are you seeing about their character?
• Have any of your partners left this year? 
• Any more talking about doing so?
• How many years until you are comfortable retiring and is this the place you want to finish your career?