How to transform your work environment

1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,860 Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic clinicians learn the skills 2 00:00:05,860 --> 00:00:11,260 to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor. 3 00:00:11,260 --> 00:00:17,340 As clinicians, we spend a decade or more as trainees learning to take care of patients. 4 00:00:17,340 --> 00:00:22,380 When we finally start our careers, we want to build research programs, but then we find 5 00:00:22,380 --> 00:00:27,780 that our years of clinical training did not adequately prepare us to lead our research 6 00:00:27,780 --> 00:00:29,200 program. 7 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:35,480 Through no fault of our own, we struggle to find mentors, and when we can't, we quit. 8 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:40,580 However, clinicians hold the keys to the greatest research breakthroughs. 9 00:00:40,580 --> 00:00:46,200 For this reason, the Clinician Researcher podcast exists to give academic clinicians 10 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:51,800 the tools to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor. 11 00:00:51,800 --> 00:01:01,160 Now introducing your host, Toyosi Onwuemene. 12 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,480 Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast. 13 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,600 I'm your host, Toyosi Onwuemene, and it is a pleasure to be talking with you today. 14 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:09,200 I want to thank you for tuning in. 15 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:11,040 Thank you for listening. 16 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:16,920 Thank you for your kind words as you are continuing to support me on this podcast. 17 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:24,520 I'm excited to be talking today about how to transform your work environment. 18 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:29,560 And I laugh because this podcast episode comes out of many conversations that I've had in 19 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:33,960 the last few days alone about people who want to just transform the world, right? 20 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:37,920 And they want to change their institution, and they see all these gaps. 21 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:43,120 There are not enough, there's just not enough resources to support young faculty. 22 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:44,560 Therefore I'm going to do this. 23 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,640 And there is just not enough to support women in the academy, therefore I'm going to do 24 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:49,880 this. 25 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:50,880 And I do applaud it. 26 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:52,400 I think it's pretty awesome. 27 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:56,860 And to be honest, this podcast for me is part of the transformation that I want to affect 28 00:01:56,860 --> 00:02:00,400 in my work environment or in my academic environment. 29 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:05,680 I want many people to have the resources they want to succeed. 30 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:11,920 And if you're going to transform your work environment, if you're going to transform 31 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:15,240 the world, you've got to be strategic, you've got to be strategic about it. 32 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:16,600 So I'm going to talk about it today. 33 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:20,840 I'm going to talk about how to transform your work environment. 34 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:25,680 And before I share a couple of steps that I recommend in what to do to transform your 35 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:32,520 work environment, I want to share first that I have always kind of had this superhero mindset. 36 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:38,000 I've always wanted to save the world because I could see so much that was wrong. 37 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,800 My critical eye could identify all these problems. 38 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:45,200 I was like, well, if we do this differently, then it would work this way. 39 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:52,280 And I always had a lot of solutions for the people who were responsible. 40 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:57,680 So when I started my faculty career really early on and I was fully clinical, seeing 41 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:03,560 patients five days a week, and I remember thinking, this clinic is so inefficient. 42 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:04,560 And I wrote a proposal. 43 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:08,600 I wrote a proposal for how to enhance the efficiency of the clinic. 44 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,160 And I saw that patients were having a hard time getting in. 45 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:13,600 And I wrote a proposal for how to improve access. 46 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:20,120 I was the one who was constantly writing proposals and submitting them to my division chief for 47 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:21,120 evaluation. 48 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:25,200 Like I would literally stay up in the middle of the night thinking about the problem, write 49 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:30,160 a one page proposal by the morning and say, I have a proposal that's going to solve this 50 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:31,440 problem. 51 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:35,600 And I laughed because I think it was very cute that I was writing all these proposals. 52 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,640 But what I wasn't doing was submitting a proposal and saying, this is the proposal I'm going 53 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:40,640 to execute. 54 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:46,280 It's like, this is the proposal I have for you to execute because it's your job and I'm 55 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:50,520 just telling you what you need to do. 56 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,880 And I don't know what my division chief did with all those proposals, but I certainly 57 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:54,880 wrote a few. 58 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:56,560 I definitely did. 59 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:01,800 Anyway, so I think differently about transforming a work environment today. 60 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,840 And so I want to share a little bit of that with you. 61 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:08,400 The first thing I want to remind you of is who you are. 62 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,000 I want to remind you of who you are. 63 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,800 The first thing is remember who you are. 64 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,520 And when I say remember who you are, I want you to remember that you're the person who 65 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:22,480 as a teenager or even earlier for some of you made a decision that you were going to 66 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:24,720 become a clinician. 67 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,320 And maybe you didn't make the decision until later, but at some point in your life, you 68 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:30,920 decided that you're going to do it. 69 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:35,400 And if you didn't do it when you were a teenager, then you did it later in life, then you made 70 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:40,120 a decision as a conscious person, as a conscious person who's already been working saying, 71 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,820 I'm going to drop this thing and go back to medical school. 72 00:04:42,820 --> 00:04:44,320 You chose that. 73 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:50,840 And you didn't just make the decision you were towards executing on your decision and 74 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:52,000 you made it. 75 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,640 You got into medical school like the impossible happened. 76 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,200 And then you didn't just make it into medical school. 77 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:01,120 You actually graduated. 78 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:04,640 And then you went and you pursued residency and you pursued fellowship. 79 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:08,200 And here you are now in an academic job. 80 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:09,200 You did that. 81 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:13,400 No, you were not lucky. 82 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:14,800 You took advantage of opportunity. 83 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:16,040 I'll give you that. 84 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:17,620 But you worked hard. 85 00:05:17,620 --> 00:05:19,120 You were strategic. 86 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:20,480 You planned. 87 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:22,900 You made it happen. 88 00:05:22,900 --> 00:05:25,000 Remember who you are. 89 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:30,160 You have shown in life that you can do hard things. 90 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:34,720 In fact, to be honest, I would just say you can do impossible things. 91 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:36,880 I can see that. 92 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:43,160 I know that because the experience of clinicians is that we're able to make impossible things 93 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:44,160 possible. 94 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:47,580 So I want to ask you to remember who you are. 95 00:05:47,580 --> 00:05:54,960 Remember the superpowers you've already demonstrated from the very beginning up until this moment 96 00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:01,520 and the same superpowers that you have been exhibiting since you started. 97 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:10,680 They still lie in you and they still have capacity to do amazing and incredible things. 98 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:16,480 And that's why number two is that you should recognize just how much power you have. 99 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:21,520 So you imagined that you were going to become a physician. 100 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:23,000 You imagined it. 101 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,200 And then you went to work and you made it happen. 102 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,920 You imagined that you were going to graduate residency. 103 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:31,160 You went to work. 104 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:32,160 You made it happen. 105 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:36,240 You imagined if you did fellowship that you were going to finish fellowship. 106 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:37,920 And you went and you made it happen. 107 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:43,680 And now you imagined your faculty job. 108 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:45,480 And you went and made it happen. 109 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:47,320 Oh my goodness. 110 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:48,320 You're really incredible. 111 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:50,320 Oh my gosh, you're amazing. 112 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:51,320 What? 113 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:55,400 Like some people, they didn't make it all the way through. 114 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,000 You know it's not necessarily because you were smarter than them. 115 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,720 It's not like you were like, you know, the 1% of the 1%. 116 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:02,060 You know. 117 00:07:02,060 --> 00:07:03,280 You know how hard you worked. 118 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:04,840 You know how strategic you were. 119 00:07:04,840 --> 00:07:10,440 You know that this didn't just happen by chance. 120 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:19,280 And so that person who made all that happen, you, you've got a lot of power. 121 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:20,480 Oh my goodness. 122 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:22,400 It's incredible power. 123 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:26,680 You've got power to bring things to pass that other people are just dreaming of. 124 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:28,240 You go and you make dreams happen. 125 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:30,880 You've got a lot of power. 126 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:34,800 And I want you to recognize how much power you have. 127 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:42,120 The third thing I want you to recognize is the limitations of your power. 128 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:46,400 So when I talked about this whole thing that you did where you went from college student 129 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:51,920 to medical school or maybe post-grad or whatever to medical school. 130 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,640 And then you turn around and you went to residency and you turn around again and you made it. 131 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:57,400 You went to fellowship. 132 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:02,500 The power you were exhibiting in all of that was really on yourself. 133 00:08:02,500 --> 00:08:08,840 You were pulling the power inwards. 134 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:11,840 And so they said you needed to study for the MCAT. 135 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:12,840 You went and studied. 136 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:15,280 You didn't ask anybody else to study for you. 137 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:16,280 You did it. 138 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:17,280 And then you got up. 139 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:18,800 You went and took the exam. 140 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:24,000 And then you're the one who studied for all the pre-med classes and passed them. 141 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,120 Nobody did that for you. 142 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:30,560 And so I want you to recognize that over the course of the great power you exhibited in 143 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:39,400 transitioning from college student to amazingly confident physician, you are using power on 144 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:43,400 yourself, your power on yourself. 145 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:45,240 You willed yourself to go to work. 146 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:46,700 You willed yourself to study. 147 00:08:46,700 --> 00:08:47,800 You willed yourself. 148 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:54,480 You were using your power on yourself and you accomplished so much. 149 00:08:54,480 --> 00:09:01,160 That's amazing power, but it's limited power because that power is limited to just you. 150 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:04,720 Yeah, try to apply that same power to somebody else. 151 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:06,840 Yeah, make them study. 152 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:10,520 Make them study so that they can go take the MCAT like you did. 153 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:12,680 Okay. 154 00:09:12,680 --> 00:09:14,800 Make them go put in applications. 155 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:16,680 Make them do it. 156 00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:19,400 Yeah, it's very hard. 157 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:22,560 You can't make people do what they don't want to do. 158 00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:23,560 You can't. 159 00:09:23,560 --> 00:09:28,680 Even when they want to do it, you can't make them do what they're not ready to do. 160 00:09:28,680 --> 00:09:37,340 And so I want you to recognize that the limitations of your power are such that it only works 161 00:09:37,340 --> 00:09:39,400 on you. 162 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:43,600 It doesn't easily work on other people. 163 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:50,920 And so when you're thinking of recognizing that your power is limited to you and to your 164 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:57,680 actionable steps, then it's helpful. 165 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:03,320 It's helpful because you recognize where to aim your power on yourself. 166 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:10,840 Yeah, your power is amazing and powerful when used on yourself. 167 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:15,560 And it's pretty weak and piddly when you try to use it on other people. 168 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:16,560 Okay. 169 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:21,040 So then the fourth thing you do, and I am still talking about how to transform your 170 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:25,440 work environment because you've got power to transform it, but maybe not in the way 171 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:30,440 you're thinking, not in the way I was thinking where I was writing all these proposals. 172 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:33,280 And so that's why number four is grow your power. 173 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:34,280 What does that mean? 174 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:35,280 Hmm. 175 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:39,560 So in order for you to go to medical school, you needed to find out about what it took 176 00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:42,000 to get into medical school. 177 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:43,760 You did a lot of investigating. 178 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:45,240 You asked questions. 179 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:46,240 You went on websites. 180 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:47,240 You read things. 181 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:49,120 You went and got informed. 182 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,120 And then you went and you executed. 183 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:54,960 And then when it was time to get into residency, you kind of asked the same questions. 184 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:56,760 What does it take to get into residency? 185 00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:58,680 What kind of residency do I want to get into? 186 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:01,680 What are the scores of people who get into residency? 187 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:03,800 What rotations have they done? 188 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:05,420 What letters do they have? 189 00:11:05,420 --> 00:11:07,040 What research projects did they do? 190 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:08,520 You did all of that. 191 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:09,520 You got information. 192 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:13,680 And then you went and executed. 193 00:11:13,680 --> 00:11:19,520 And so each time you got information about a thing you were planning towards, it gave 194 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:26,120 you courage and opportunity to go looking for how to satisfy whatever that requirement 195 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:27,480 was. 196 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:34,200 And so you grew your power really by getting information and then executing on the information 197 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,240 you got. 198 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:37,840 And so that's what I mean. 199 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,480 When I say grow your power, go get information about the next phase. 200 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:42,480 Okay? 201 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:44,200 This work environment is toxic. 202 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:50,660 Go get information about what it takes to transform a toxic environment. 203 00:11:50,660 --> 00:11:51,660 Go get information. 204 00:11:51,660 --> 00:11:53,600 Attend career development workshops. 205 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:55,880 Attend professional development workshops. 206 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:59,080 Attend conflict management workshops. 207 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:00,560 Get information. 208 00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:01,640 Get information. 209 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:05,880 So as you get information and then execute on the information you have, you're growing 210 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:08,000 your power. 211 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:09,720 You're growing your power. 212 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:15,000 And what you're going to find as you do all these things is you're growing in patience. 213 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:19,080 You're growing in acceptance of what is. 214 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:24,920 You are growing in recognition of the things you can change and the things you cannot change. 215 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:31,160 You're growing in immense tolerance of things around you. 216 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:35,320 You're growing in negotiation savvy because you're getting that information. 217 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:37,760 Then you're executing on it. 218 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:43,920 So you're growing your power by being very clear on what information is needed to affect 219 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,720 the change you want. 220 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:50,240 And once you grow your power, you use it on yourself. 221 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:55,160 You use it on yourself because it is very hard to convince other people to do what they 222 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:56,360 don't want to do. 223 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:59,600 But what you can do is influence them. 224 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:04,240 And one of the ways you influence them is by you changing first. 225 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:05,240 You change. 226 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:06,240 You grow. 227 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:07,360 You expand. 228 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:08,520 You become larger than life. 229 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:12,040 And then people look at you and they're like, excuse me, is there something different about 230 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:13,040 you? 231 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:14,040 I can't tell. 232 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:15,400 Like, are you more patient? 233 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:16,400 Are you more productive? 234 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:17,400 Like, what's happening? 235 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:21,640 How come I see all these things happening in you and through you? 236 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:22,900 Yeah. 237 00:13:22,900 --> 00:13:29,960 So what you find is that the more you grow, the more you expand, the more you become more 238 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:37,280 than you used to be, the more you cause people to pause and say, huh, what's going on there? 239 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:40,120 And this is not to say you don't have conversations. 240 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:44,000 It doesn't mean you don't have meetings. 241 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:48,800 But the bulk of the conversations and the meetings you have are not about telling people 242 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:58,680 what to do, but it's showing them and influencing them to think differently. 243 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:04,100 And so one of the best ways to do that is to grow and expand and think differently yourself 244 00:14:04,100 --> 00:14:07,320 because then it challenges the people around you. 245 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:12,720 So grow your power, use it on yourself, and then watch your environment transform. 246 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:15,320 Watch your environment transform. 247 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:20,080 Because I think sometimes what we're doing is we're working very hard to get other people 248 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:23,720 to do things that they don't want to do. 249 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:27,080 And then we're neglecting the things that we can do. 250 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:32,160 So there I was, not the division chief, writing proposals to the division chief for how he 251 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:34,160 should do his job. 252 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:39,360 Meanwhile, my job as a young faculty member was kind of left undone. 253 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:40,920 Not OK, not cool. 254 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:46,800 But the moment I left pursuing him to do the things that he, well, maybe or maybe didn't 255 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:51,240 want to do, I could focus on the things I could do. 256 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:56,840 For example, here I am on this podcast because this is where I have power to share my words 257 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:00,120 with you as you listen. 258 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:07,000 And I am able to sit and watch my environment transform as time after time you all tell 259 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:12,000 me that these episodes are beneficial to you. 260 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:14,920 And that's really, really awesome. 261 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:19,960 Your environment transforms as you transform. 262 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:24,840 Now number seven is recognize your weaknesses. 263 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:31,640 And in this particular situation, what I'm talking about is like Superman kind of weaknesses. 264 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:37,040 You know, Superman was made weak by kryptonite. 265 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:43,040 Kryptonite was the one element that would just weaken him. 266 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:45,480 Be careful of your kryptonite. 267 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:46,480 Be careful. 268 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:48,200 You care so much. 269 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,120 You want to help everybody solve their problems. 270 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,680 And you're like, yeah, I know I haven't written that grant that's due in three weeks. 271 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:57,040 I know I haven't submitted that paper that I should have submitted. 272 00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:59,880 I know, but I really just want to help. 273 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:00,880 It's kryptonite. 274 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:01,880 It's kryptonite. 275 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:02,880 It will sink you. 276 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:05,080 It will sink you. 277 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:11,880 But when you recognize your weakness, when you recognize the kryptonite pieces of your 278 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:17,520 life, it allows you to create and build your life in such a way that you are protected 279 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:18,680 from kryptonite. 280 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:24,920 What you're doing is building boundaries against kryptonite so that you can succeed. 281 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:28,040 And I don't know what that weakness looks like for you. 282 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:29,800 For me, it was people pleasing. 283 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:35,800 Yes, that's a weakness that I have struggled with throughout my time as a faculty member. 284 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:39,100 And to be honest, still struggle with actually. 285 00:16:39,100 --> 00:16:41,320 It's getting better, but I still have it. 286 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:44,680 I still recognize its tendencies. 287 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:49,360 And so because I know that I have this weakness, I protect myself. 288 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:52,840 You know? 289 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:54,840 I protect myself. 290 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:59,160 Instead of having five meetings a week with people who have different questions, I have 291 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:05,120 five podcast episodes that I record in one sitting because I know that my tendency is 292 00:17:05,120 --> 00:17:10,720 to just go all out and meet with as many people as possible and fill the schedule and not 293 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:16,000 meet the goals that I've set for myself academically because I'm doing all these meetings. 294 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:17,400 And I want to support you. 295 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:19,920 I want to support as many people as possible. 296 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:25,220 And I have limitations in terms of how many people I can support. 297 00:17:25,220 --> 00:17:31,360 And so as I do the work of growing and expanding myself and I recognize my weaknesses and I 298 00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:37,120 protect against my weaknesses, I'm really able to transform my environment because I'm 299 00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:41,040 moving forward the things that are relevant, the things that are resonant. 300 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:46,880 Yeah, so those are seven things about how to transform your work environment. 301 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:48,960 And I know you were looking for something different. 302 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:53,720 Maybe you're looking for a start a grassroots movement and then pick it in front of the 303 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:54,720 dean's office. 304 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,080 I know you weren't expecting that, but it is different. 305 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:03,240 And my job, I feel on this podcast is to help you think differently about your career, is 306 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:05,960 to help you think differently about you. 307 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:11,440 In reality, I love for all of you to lead vibrant research programs. 308 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:12,440 It's my life mission. 309 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:18,640 And I also recognize that you're a whole person and there's so much more to you than just 310 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:21,640 the work you do. 311 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:25,280 And you want to expand and grow in so many ways. 312 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:27,380 You've grown and expanded in so many ways. 313 00:18:27,380 --> 00:18:31,340 Don't stop now. 314 00:18:31,340 --> 00:18:36,680 And so yes, I want to share with you things that are kind of a little bit off the beaten 315 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:42,400 path to help you just think differently about your career, your experience. 316 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:44,200 So how to transform your work environment. 317 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:46,160 I talked about seven things. 318 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:52,240 Number one, remember who you are and all the power you wielded over these years. 319 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,200 Number two, recognize how much power you have. 320 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,760 Number three, recognize the limitations of your power. 321 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:03,560 We can mostly apply it to you and not to the other person. 322 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,600 Number four, growing your power, making sure that you have access to information that helps 323 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:14,860 you transform and making sure you're using your power on yourself, not trying to do it 324 00:19:14,860 --> 00:19:19,720 on other people or use it on other people and then getting frustrated because they won't 325 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:23,120 do what you want them to do. 326 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:26,160 And then as you do all that, you watch your environment transform. 327 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:27,920 That's number six. 328 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:32,120 And then number seven is to recognize your weaknesses. 329 00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:34,080 Kryptonite will sink you. 330 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:36,560 Maybe it's a lack of boundaries. 331 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:37,560 Kryptonite will sink you. 332 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:41,920 And so you're going to want to protect against your weaknesses so that Kryptonite doesn't 333 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:44,160 speak up on you and sink you. 334 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:45,160 All right. 335 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:47,400 It's been a pleasure talking with you today. 336 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:48,400 Thank you for listening. 337 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:53,340 As always, I am available if you're looking for a coach and you do not have one, please 338 00:19:53,340 --> 00:19:54,340 reach out to me. 339 00:19:54,340 --> 00:20:02,440 You can send me a DM on Instagram or on Facebook or on LinkedIn and I'd be happy to talk to 340 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:03,440 you. 341 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:04,880 We'll see if this will be a great fit for you. 342 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:05,880 All right. 343 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:06,880 It's been a pleasure talking with you today. 344 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:11,800 Please share the episode with at least one person, just one person. 345 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:15,400 And well, actually you can share it with more if you want, but definitely share with one 346 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:16,400 person. 347 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:28,200 And I look forward to talking with you again the next time. 348 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:33,560 Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher Podcast, where academic 349 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:38,840 clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they 350 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:40,360 have a mentor. 351 00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:46,320 If you found the information in this episode to be helpful, don't keep it all to yourself. 352 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:48,200 Someone else needs to hear it. 353 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:52,260 So take a minute right now and share it. 354 00:20:52,260 --> 00:20:57,720 As you share this episode, you become part of our mission to help launch a new generation 355 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:17,320 of clinician researchers who make transformative discoveries that change the way we do healthcare.