| Your Twice-Monthly
Dose of Sanity:
It must have been
an energetic meeting... think the surgeons attended?
Hospital Super Heroes
(credit to Doris Young, RN)
Nurses Week is approaching
fast, so I wanted to remind you of this gem!
Surgeon . . .
Leaps tall buildings in a single bound
Is more productive than a train
Is faster than a speeding bullet
Walks on water
Talks with God
Internist . . .
Leaps short buildings in a single bound
Is more powerful than a switch engine
Is faster than a speeding bullet
Walks on water if the sea is calm
Talks with God if special request is approved
General Practitioner . . .
Leaps short buildings with a running start and favorable winds
Is almost as powerful as a switch engine
Can fire a speeding bullet
Walks on water in an indoor swimming pool
Is occasionally addressed by God
Resident . .
Barely clears a picket fence
Loses tug-of-war with a train
Can sometimes handle a gun without inflicting self-injury
Swims well
Talks with animals
Intern . .
Makes high skid marks on a wall when trying to leap buildings
Is run over by a train
Is not issued ammunition
Dog paddles
Talks to walls
Medical Student . .
Runs into buildings
Wets himself with a water pistol
Cannot stay afloat without a life preserver
Mumbles to himself
Recognizes a train two out of three times
Nurse . .
Lifts buildings and walks under them
Kicks trains off the track
Catches speeding bullets with her teeth and eats them
Freezes water with a single glance
SHE IS God
Get another dose of laughter
at RFS'
Daily Dose of Sanity or
the wild colon humor site ColonoscopyJoke.com
Got a funny
medical joke or photo to share?
Email it to us, and if we use it here, we'll give you
credit!
Yes!
I want my own subscription to Passionate HealthCare!
A sign
for all to heed...
Your Sanity Thought for the
Day:
A fact that you can use in
any number of conversations...well, maybe not, but it's sure
interesting:
A cow has four stomachs: the rumen,
reticulum, omasum and abomasum.
|
By subscription only! Please Send
this ezine to any HCP (Health Care Professional)
you know who wants to enhance their joy in their career. Then
they can sign
up for their own subscription, as our gift!
To print this newsletter
out to share, please
set your printer options to 'landscape' so you won't
lose the tasty margins!
Passionate HealthCare
seeks to resuscitate your passion for your medical career.
Your only cost for this prescription? Please comment, complain
or educate us twice a year at PLRaymond@RxForSanity.com.
Hello,
HCPs!
When
I speak on 'Bedside Manners', as I'm about to in Missouri
this weekend, I often cite Jack Canfield of the ubiquitous
Chicken Soup series who reminds us, "People treat you
the way you teach them to treat you."
For
another take on the same topic, please enjoy our guest editorial
from Rhoberta Shaler PhD! Step up, and
demand to be treated with respect!
Pat Raymond M.D. FACP FACG
Chief Enjoyment Officer, Rx For Sanity
Yes!
I want my own subscription to Passionate HealthCare!
Table of Contents:
LEGGO
MY EGO!
© Rhoberta Shaler, PhD, www.OptimizeInstitute.com
So much talk about egos: delicate egos, shattered
egos, monster egos, maniacal egos. What is this all about?
Recently I was working with a supposed team
of supposedly like-minded individuals who purported to share
the same mission, goals and purpose. What a nightmare! This
small group of nine were completely divided into two camps—the
ego-centric, ‘it-must-be-my-way’ camp and the
‘whatever-you-want’ camp. Could have been ideal
if the ‘my way’ camp were not divided into two
camps as well. The war had been waging for years. And, I,
intrepid consultant and mediator, walked directly into the
mess! I was to bring the warriors to the peace table and negotiate
a settlement. Not for the feint-hearted, I tell you.
What is this ego-stuff? Dictionaries offer
meanings ranging from “the self, especially as distinct
from the world and other selves” to “an exaggerated
sense of self-importance; conceit” to “an inflated
feeling of pride in your superiority to others.” The
last definition is the one most folks hold when they use the
word as it is seldom used in a positive context.
You may think you are superior. You may even
be superior…in position, intellect, experience or expertise.
When you act superior, trouble brews. No one enjoys being
put down…and, no one deserves to be. If you believe
that this world moves too quickly to take care of what you
might like to call ‘fragile egos’, you’re
missing the point. That can be a trite way to dismiss your
bad behavior. Running roughshod over people is a very poor
way to get your exercise.
What if you are the target of this exercise?
Your job is to give up your position as a doormat. If you
are to make the contribution you were hired to make, you need
the skills to teach people how to treat you.
One quick caveat before we proceed: there
are people out there, often in positions of power, who prefer
to live like ‘rhinos’. They can’t see well,
are constantly sniffing for trouble and charge at anything
that moves. (You can learn more about how to handle them in
my book, Wrestling Rhinos: Conquering Conflict in the Wilds
of Work.) When working with a rhino, you’ll need all
the skills you can muster, however, even rhinos can be contained,
if not tamed.
Rhinos are often bullies. They live in the
‘it-must-be-my-way’ camp and they behave from
a ‘I’ll run you over if you get in my way’
philosophy. You’ve met one or two. Just as real rhinos
can change direction in an instant, bullies will change your
words on a dime. Have you experienced that? Unlike real rhinos,
though, they can be sneaky. Workplace bullies will report
issues only slightly—very slightly—differently
than they happened. No one says anything but it seems so petty.
The next time, they change it slightly again. Soon, the story
is significantly different than reality. When anyone speaks
up to complain, they say,
“You’ve gone along with this and
said nothing. What’s your problem now?” These
rhino bullies are crafty. Getting their own way is the most
important thing in their day. Actually, they are the fragile
ones constantly needing the ego boost of running over people’s
ideas and feelings. Everyone is potential ego fodder to a
rhino!
A healthy ego is one that will not lie down
in the face of a rhino. A healthy ego does not defend, whine,
complain or make excuses. All that is required is a quick
four-step formula for success:
1. NAME IT! Describe the behavior you are
addressing—only the behavior, not the person. “When
I hear words like ‘lazy/uninvolved/overpaid, etc’
applied to me, I need to address it.”
2. CLAIM IT! “I
feel/need/want/prefer__________ in relation to me, my work
or my team.”
3. TAME IT! “If
there is something specific we need to discuss, I am happy
to debrief it with you. Let’s clarify the exact issues
or instances you are referring to so that we can clarify the
issues.”
4. LEAD IT AWAY “Would you like to do
that now or set an appointment to talk further?”
When you let rhino bullies get away with even
one statement that leads the conversation astray from your
perception of the truth, the downward slide has begun. Learn
to speak up at the first sign of wayward behavior. It takes
strength to do so. Do it with no emotional taglines. Simply
the facts.
When emotion bursts forth, a bully will jump
all over that, too. They invariably want to make a person
who ‘feels’ something out to be weak, particularly
if that person is a woman. So, simply state the facts with
the formula above.
Be aware: bullies get huffier, more vocal
and more damaging when first confronted. That’s when
you must keep your emotions in check and quietly state the
facts. When you consistently teach a bully that you will not
allow them to behave poorly towards you, they often get a
perverse respect for you.
Many bullies are fragile even in the face
of all their blowhard demands and stances. They are simply
afraid that no one values them, respects them or takes them
seriously. Knowing this, you’ll find other ways to compassionately
handle delicate “bully egos”.
As for you, take the high road with your healthy
ego intact. You deserve respect. You deserve to be heard.
You deserve to feel good at work. Step up. Speak up and contain
those rhinos!
© Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
--------------------------------------------
Dr. Rhoberta Shaler solves 'people problems' by making it
easier to talk about difficult things. Dr. Shaler speaks to,
trains and coaches executives and entrepreneurs worldwide
in the communication skills essential to creating powerful
conversations that reduce conflict & anger, build trust,
and streamline negotiation. She is the Founder and CEO of
the Optimize! Institute in Escondido, CA and author of Wrestling
Rhinos: Conquering Conflict in the Wilds of Work. www.OptimizeInstitute.com
for newsletter, teleseminars & upcoming
Did you
miss your dose of Dr Raymond?
If you did, you'll need my book Don't Jettison Medicine,
available at RxForSanity.com
and Amazon.com.
Want to share some sanity in your medical newsletter?
Dr Raymond's articles may be freely reprinted (see details
at the bottom), and more of Dr. Raymond's most popular editorials
are yours at Rx
For Sanity Articles and at DontJettisonMedicine.com
Do
you know someone who would enjoy this edition of
Passionate HealthCare? We encourage you to Send it to
a friend or colleague!
|
Here’s
a bright idea!
Gastroenterologist,
broadcaster, speaker, and writer Patricia L. Raymond
MD FACP FACG of Rx For Sanity is author of "Don't
Jettison Medicine! Resuscitate Your Passion For The Career
You Loved". DJM is a joyous workbook of thirty exercises
that will help to resuscitate your passion for caregiving.
It's available, along with her unique joke anthology "Colonoscopy:
It'll Crack U Up!" at the Sanity Store at 
Patricia
L. Raymond MD FACP FACG * Rx for Sanity