Whether you’re trying to get your dream package, get your kids to do something, or buy a home, negotiation skills come in handy in many situations in our lives.

This is very true in my real estate adventures over the last year as we’ve been trying to buy a lake property.

After 2 attempts that didn’t go the way we planned, we finally got something (yay), but I don’t consider the last two attempts as failures.

What did I learn from the deals that didn’t go through?

In this episode, I share more lessons from my lake home misadventures and how we can apply them to employee negotiations.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• A lessons in when to walk away
  Do we reserve the right to back out from something that won’t work for us?
  
  
• Failed negotiations aren’t a failure
  What lessons can we extract from the negotiations that stall or even collapse entirely?
  
  
• To counter or not to counter
  How do we know it’s fine to accept the deal...

In any negotiation or conversation, language matters.

Our choice of words has the power to either create a collaborative environment or an antagonistic one, and we can better inform the outcome when we practice beforehand.

Our mindset flavors the conversations we’ll have, and before the negotiation, we can try on different words for size to see what works best.

How do we start this practice internally and then in lower stakes negotiations?

In this episode, I talk about the power of selecting and practicing your mindset before the negotiation.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• How to eliminate negativity from the conversation
  What words would create an antagonistic, tug-of-war negotiation?
  
  
• How to encourage shared success
  What language can we use to create an intersectional alignment of goals?
  
  
• Why buzzwords might not work in our favor
  Can coming up with a set script actually work against the conversational environment we’re trying to create?

If you...

The sad truth is, toxic work environments are still alive and well in medicine.

This isn’t just minor annoyances - we’re talking work cultures where something undesirable has mutated into something that’s genuinely psychologically unsafe.

As a physician, you have a human, basic right to feel safe in your job and if that’s not being served where you work, it’s time to take action.

What are the signs of a toxic environment?

How do we support people who are on the receiving end of a toxic culture?

In this episode, I’m sharing why a toxic work culture is something we shouldn’t just accept or tolerate.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• Understanding vs. standing under
  When someone is having a bad experience at work, how do we hold space for them, even if we don’t share their experience?
  
  
• Work environment red flags
  From bullying and belittling to gaslighting, how can we tell that we’re in a psychologically unsafe...

For many physicians, the idea of being happy in your job feels like just that - an unrealistic idea or pipe dream, but it doesn’t have to be.

There are things we can do to foster happiness at work so that showing up every day doesn’t feel like diving into a wormhole of depression and job dissatisfaction.

In this episode, I share the 3 pillars of job satisfaction and how to set them up for yourself.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• The power of community
  People are a critical piece of how we feel at work - how do we find and even create opportunities for connection?
  
  
• How to safeguard your values
  How do we do our due diligence to suss out the values of an organization on the front end?
  
  
• Why happiness at work is so critical
  With all the mental health struggles physicians are facing, how do we make the field a better space?

If you haven’t already, please comment in support of the proposed FTC ban
on non-compete clauses. We have some...

Your negotiation went well.

You came to an agreement that reflects your worth, but then you get your contract and those stipulations are absent.

What steps can you take if the conversation and the contract end up being two different things?

This happens a lot more often than you think, and whether it’s a simple case of miscommunication or something far more concerning, you control what happens next.

How do we bring the issue up with our employers?

In this episode, I’m sharing what we can do when the things we agreed to aren’t spelled out in our final contracts.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• The next best thing to a contract stipulation
  If the contract doesn’t reflect what was agreed upon, can an email suffice?
  
  
• Deal breaker or no deal breaker
  If it’s not reflected in the contract, how do we know it might be time to walk?
  
  
• Innocent oversight vs. a targeted slight
  Mistakes can be made in our contracts, so how do we approach the issue with...

Just like building a home, successfully negotiating your contract is not a solo effort.

You need a team of key players to cheer you on and help you navigate the process with your sanity intact.

The earlier in the process you assemble the team, the smoother your negotiation will be and like your dream home, the happier you’ll be with the end result.

In this episode, I’m going to share the key team players you want to collect before you begin any negotiation.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• The first team player you need to have
  It’s important to have a key decision-maker in your corner, but why do we need other people on the team?
  
  
• Why you need a team player who sees the blind spots
  How do we find someone neutral to bounce ideas off of?
  
  
• How to round out your team
  Why do we need contract advice that’s relevant to our specific jobs?

If you haven’t already, please comment in support of the proposed FTC ban
on non-compete clauses. We...

For residents making the leap into their very first job, navigating interviews, contracts and salary negotiations can feel like a minefield.

On one hand, you want to make sure the value you bring to the table is reflected, but on the other hand, you’re socialized to take whatever’s offered because of your inexperience.

How do we make sure we’re not short-changing ourselves at the negotiating table?

What are some of the unique pieces of the contract we need to consider?

In this episode, I’m joined by Academic Physician Coach, speaker, and founder of Joy in Family Medicine Coaching Services®, Dr. Tonya Caylor.

We talk about setting yourself up for success in your first negotiation.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• Why you shouldn’t use your newness to discount yourself
  When our employers say there’s no room for more money in our packages, should we advocate for ourselves or just accept what’s on the table?
  
  
• What we have to...

In any negotiation, fairness is usually a front-of-mind concept - in fact, it’s often the measure with which we judge the success of the entire process.

But here’s the challenge, fairness isn’t as simple as a singular yardstick.

It’s actually made up of multiple facets that sometimes conflict with each other.

With that in mind, how do we take fairness to the negotiating table and make sure we’re ticking the boxes that matter?

In this episode, I share how to approach the concept of fairness so that you walk into the negotiation with a tangible way to achieve it.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• How to determine what a fair offer looks like for you
  How do you move forward when fairness has multiple norms that often conflict with one another?
  
  
• The interplay between equality and equity
  Is it possible to get something that’s equal to everyone else while also taking previous barriers into account?
  
  
• How to make fairness a priority for your...

Getting a job that serves us often requires us to tweak or modify our current work environment, but what if the situation is too far gone and too toxic to salvage?

Many of us are guilty of staying in negative situations a lot longer than we should, damaging not only our careers but also our health.

We’re typically more biased towards staying with the devil we know, even if it destroys us, so how do we combat it?

In this episode, I’m sharing how to know when quitting is the only option, and why severing the tie sooner than later saves us a ton of pain and anguish.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• Comfort vs. predictability
  What makes us hesitant to change jobs even when we know it’s harming us?
  
  
• Ways to safeguard against staying too long in a bad situation
  How do we create a “prenup” with our jobs and insulate ourselves from staying longer than we should?
  
  
• The perils of grit
  Resilience is something physicians are known and praised for,...

Non-compete clauses have never been beneficial to physicians.

They are notoriously difficult to negotiate out of.

They keep us trapped in toxic work cultures, and they back us into career moves that can be harmful.

I’d also argue that non-competes also harm employers and the economy as a whole.

Removing this barrier would be highly beneficial to a lot of people, so I'm encouraged by the FTC’s proposal to end non-compete clauses.

What would changing this rule mean for physicians?

In this episode, I share my thoughts on the proposal to ban non-competes.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• The problem with handcuffing people to the job
  Is there a better and more humane way to increase retention and encourage physicians to be loyal?
  
  
• Why physician burnout needs to be a solved at the systemic level
  How do we create work cultures that support less burnout?
  
  
• What happens next
  Before the decision is made, what actions can we take?