Jeff welcomes to the podcast anesthesiologist and physician coach, Scott Markowitz, MD.
There’s always the potential for things to spiral out of control in the OR. When that happens, it can be helpful to be pulled back from the situation by a trusted colleague who can help you view the situation objectively and bump you back into being your best self. Sometimes it’s not feasible to do that in the OR itself. If that’s the case, there will likely be opportunities throughout the rest of the day to connect with a trusted colleague. Doing this consistently over time can help you build stronger professional relationships and make you less likely to derail when things get hectic.
In medicine, there are a lot of “villain” or “victim” narratives that we’re exposed to throughout our education and training. It’s important to recognize and move past those and move from a problem mindset to an outcome mindset. Nurturing a professional relationship with your colleagues goes a long way in recognizing the shared outcomes that we’re all striving towards.
Remember that it’s difficult to build a relationship when one or both people are activated. It’s so easy to destroy trust. In order to build trust you need to recognize when the time is right and wrong to approach a complex conversation. Address these important issues when both parties are not activated for optimal outcomes.
What steps does Scott suggest we take to build trust?
- Step 1 – Develop Professional Relationships with Colleagues. This can make you less likely to derail and more likely to “re-rail” when things go poorly.
- Step 2 – Avoid Villain and Victim Narratives. These only work to divide us and prevent us from achieving our shared goals.
- Step 3 – Explicitly State Shared Goals. This can be extremely helpful in resetting us from villain or victim stories and recognizing that we’re all pushing the same rock up the hill.
Most importantly, PRACTICE building trust!
Scott D. Markowitz, MD, MSOL, FAAP, BCC
Scott D. Markowitz, MD, MSOL, FAAP, BCC (he, him, his) is the Chief Executive Officer of Physician Leadership, LLC, and serves as a Leadership Coach with the Chimera Leadership Group. In his clinical career, Dr. Markowitz held the position of Professor of Anesthesiology and Vice-Chair for Professional Development and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Washington University in St. Louis. There, he spearheaded the establishment of an office dedicated to measuring departmental culture, engagement, and wellbeing. Dr. Markowitz has been instrumental in producing and sponsoring programs aimed at fostering engagement, resilience, professional development, and a more diverse and inclusive leadership environment. He co-chairs the subcommittee on harassment, incivility, and disrespect for the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and serves on the advisory board for the Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Initiative of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia. In this role, he co-developed their leadership curriculum and chairs the curriculum committee.
Check out Scott’s LinkedIn profile! Connect and follow for insights.