Surgeons and physicians face a unique set of challenges stemming from the system in which we operate, our surgical specialty, moral injury, and more. These factors impact how happy and successful we feel. The complexity of these challenges, combined with a lack of support on several levels, are major reasons why we are facing a crisis of well-being.
I advocate for coaching as a way to continually achieve what we want as physicians.
Many still see coaching as a solution to a problem or a remedy for a deficiency. This is a hasty generalization that often distorts who is attracted to coaching. The truth is that coaching is a prospective, non-randomized means to achievement in both our medical practices and lives.
Coaching Is Prospective
Coaching is all about taking steps toward a desired outcome.
Maybe you have a professional goal you want to achieve, an important meeting coming up, or a difficult choice to make for your family. While you may reflect on previous events, the purpose of reflecting in a coaching conversation is to gain insight before acting. Even with smaller goals, conversations, and work-life challenges, repeating this process on a regular basis is powerful in making the incremental adjustments to grow and thrive. Those adjustments to how, what, or why we do things take us closer and closer to our desired or “ideal” outcome.
In coaching, past performance is not an indicator of future results. Growing and learning is.
Coaching Is Non-Randomized
Coaching is intentional, purposeful, and not randomized.
Coaching allows us to advance beyond a life of random chance. It’s helpful when we choose our coach based on a set of criteria inherent to coaching principles. What are you trying to achieve? What personality do you want in your coach? What similar or differing experiences might you want your coach to have had so you can feel quicker rapport and/or deeper insights into your future plans? Why and how we choose our coach is intentional and can make a major difference in the quality of the relationship.
After we’ve engaged a coach, the actions we take are based on intentional and purposeful choices we make to achieve a desired outcome.
What do you want to achieve? Who is helping you?
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