Simply Worth It: Physician Negotiations with Dr. Linda Street

Following on from last week's episode, we're going to continue our deep dive into influence, and why it's exceptionally important in a negotiation.

Having influence in the moment may get you what you want immediately. Maintaining influence in the long run makes it more likely that your requests will be granted, and sometimes without even having to ask.

What are the benefits of deliberately working on influence? If you want to be more intentional about being influential, what actions can you take?

In this episode, I share the dos and don'ts of building influence, and how it impacts the negotiation process.

Three Things You'll Learn In This Episode

The exponential effect of lasting influenceWhen influence is working in your favor, you don't have to negotiate as hard. Why does it get easier and easier to ask for things the more influential you become?

How to fully engage in the conversationThe more present and aware you are in a negotiation, the more influence you will have. What are the nuances we pick up when we actually pay attention?

Why patience and generosity are part of influencePatience is big in physician negotiations because decisions take a while at the organizational level. How can you make room for this in a negotiation?

In many ways, influence is a big part of being a physician, from getting our patients to follow our treatment plans, to negotiating a package that reflects our worth. Actually, influence is key to communicating in just about every area of our lives, but how do we foster and develop it?

There's a range of outcomes that can happen for you in a negotiation, and you want to end up in the space that's closest to your goals. Influence is the key to getting that result, and walking out with a good deal.

What steps can we take to maximize our influence skills, and how will it improve the negotiation process?

In this episode, I talk about the role influence plays in getting what you want at the negotiating table.

Three Things You'll Learn In This Episode

Why criticism can be harmfulWhat's the difference between being constructive and being critical in a negotiation?

How to start the negotiation on the right footBeginning a negotiation on common ground sets you up for a great outcome, but how do you actually find it?

The power of building your influence muscleHow does influence help us squeeze more out of a negotiation, and get a lot more than we bargained for?

Read 10 Ways To Make People Like You, From 'How To Make Friends And Influence People'

In a perfect world, our jobs will move and progress along with us. In reality, when we grow as people, it's natural to realize that the job has not kept up.

When your job feels like it's out of alignment with your priorities and your values, there are many options to course correct. We owe it to ourselves to advocate for change on our behalf.

How do we check in with ourselves and uncover misalignment between our lives and careers? Why do we need to make sure our priorities match what we do day in and day out?

In this episode, I talk about the importance of making your job line up with you, and what to do when it doesn't.

Three Things You'll Learn In This Episode

The power of growthWhy do periods of growth force us to reevaluate our priorities, and what can we learn from it?

Why you need to check in with yourself regularlyHow do you uncover a misalignment between your career and your life before it becomes catastrophic?

How to respond to misalignmentIf your job and life are misaligned, can you salvage the situation or do you need to plot your exit?

Human beings have a knack for telling ourselves stories about what we're capable of, and very often, these stories are so concrete they start to feel an awful lot like truth.

As real as they feel, doubt-filled and self-defeatist beliefs are NOT indisputable truths. Until we separate the two and challenge the stories, we'll get tripped up by them, and struggle to nail our negotiations.

How do you dig deep into your belief system and pull out the stories that get in your way?

In this episode, I'm going to share a simple exercise that will help you advocate for yourself instead of selling yourself short.

Three Things You'll Learn In This Episode

The best mindset for a successful negotiationYour pre-game mental framework is an important piece of a successful negotiation. How do you identify the deep-rooted beliefs that are secretly running the show and affecting your confidence?

How to shift to a better storyWhen the stories we tell ourselves get too big, too negative and deviate too far from the facts, is there any harm in deliberately pivoting to a more helpful story?

Why you have to remember what makes you an assetWhether you feel it or not, you are fabulous in so many ways, more than capable, and you bring so many assets and skill sets to the table. Why is it so hard to see it sometimes?

To get paid what we're worth, we often have to renegotiate our current salary and ask for a raise, but how do you even bring it up and start that conversation?

It's natural to feel a bit unsure and even nervous about approaching your employer to discuss compensation, but if you elegantly lay the groundwork, you can bring yourself closer to the outcome you want.

What is the right (and wrong) time for this conversation? How do you set the stage for as much success as humanly possible?

In this episode, I share how to start the conversation about getting a raise and helpful tips and tricks I've learned along the way.

Three Things You'll Learn In This Episode

Why you shouldn't bring a raise up out of the blueHumans in general and people in power especially, don't like to be caught off guard. How do you set yourself up for a better outcome by prefacing the conversation?

How to get a better package if money isn't on the tableIf you've missed the window to negotiate for a higher salary, don't feel defeated. What are some of the pot sweeteners and perks we can still grab?

The worst time to ask someone about your raiseUltimately, in a negotiation, we're just having a conversation with another human being. Why do we also have to consider their emotional state?

When a physician quits their job, it's usually not as simple as handing in your resignation letter and riding off into the sunset. Most of us are contractually obligated to stay for up to 180 days. That's a REALLY long time to work while you wait for your exit, so how do you make it bearable?

Your notice period can be your worst nightmare, or an opportunity to close a chapter on your own terms. The experience you have is completely within your control.

Is there such a thing as "quitting well"? How can we plan for our exit ahead of time and leave the job gracefully?

In today's episode, I talk about how to shift your mindset and leave your job on the best terms possible.

Things You'll Learn In This Episode

How to leave a job on your own termsWhat's the difference between being forced to quit and ending a chapter deliberately, intentionally and on your terms?

Why patients need to be our top priorityIn the last days of our employment, our focus needs to be on our patients. How can we set our successors up for success so patients don't suffer in the transition?

How to quit gracefully in an acrimonious resignationHostility from soon-to-be ex-employers and co-workers is par for the course when we quit. How do we leave with no hard feelings?

The power of a mindset shiftWhy do we have to reframe internalized negative mindsets and dysfunctional beliefs about quitting?

The oppressive structures in our world don't just just exist on a societal level. They also show up in medicine, and oftentimes, we unknowingly internalize them.

When parts of our identity differ from the society's assumption of what a doctor looks like, going to bat for ourselves can be an uphill battle.

How do we identify ours and others internalized biases? Why does this become a hurdle to us getting paid what we're worth and optimizing our contracts?

In this episode, we're going to explore how our marginalized identities can affect the way we feel about ourselves as physicians, and what we deserve in a negotiation.

Three Things You'll Learn In This Episode

How to identify internalized negative beliefsWhat are marginalized identities and how do they impact how our capabilities are viewed? The cost of internalized biasHow do internalized biases diminish our value and hold us back from optimizing our contracts?

Why internalized bias is sometimes really hard to identifySome of our internalized biases show up in the most seemingly benign and sneaky thoughts. How do we uncover them?

Visit https://www.simplystreetmd.com/bias to download the tool.

In the career trajectory of female physicians, we constantly feel the need to do more to be successful. Whether that's seeing more patients, having more on our daily agenda, or working harder for an equal salary. But what if all this extra work is coming at the expense of much needed, well-deserved rest?

If we don't actively prioritize periods of rest, and we don't take pauses, we're setting ourselves up for failure.

How do you know if you're missing out on opportunities for rest? What are the facets of rest we often ignore, but need to focus on?

In this episode, we're going to talk about how to deliberately plan for rest, and practical ways to bring rest into work day.

Three Things You'll Learn In This Episode

How to get the most out of the schedule you negotiated forA beautiful schedule filled with vacation days and four-day weeks is only great if you make use of it. Are you squandering much-needed rest time and overworking when you don't have to?

Why staying in one place can actually be good for usWe're conditioned to be on the lookout for the next big opportunity, but what if plateaus and status quos are exactly where we're supposed to be for rest and efficiency?

The power of deliberate breaks throughout the dayHow do you set up micro-breaks throughout your day, and allow yourself time to protect your physical, mental, and emotional health?

In coaching, there's a concept known as 'The Manual' - an unspoken set of rules we hold other people to without their knowledge.

In a negotiation scenario, this line of thinking can be problematic, counter-productive and destructive to our ability to really advocate for ourselves.

Our employers aren't automatically aware of the specific core values we bring to an organization. Expecting them to "just know" erodes our confidence, and holds us back from optimizing our employment outcomes.

How do we practically stop basing our success on how other people respond? How do we shift towards a more beneficial and empowering mindset?

In this episode, I talk about why assumptions set us up for failure, and how to optimize what you control.

Three Things You'll Learn In This Episode

The danger of trying to control other people in negotiation Why is it hard to fully advocate ourselves in a negotiation when we're making assumptions and holding the other side to a set of rules they have no idea about?

Why we have to focus on what we control and let go of everything elseFraming our success in negotiation around someone's response can foster discouragement and defeatist thinking. How do we positively focus on optimizing what we can control instead?

How to bounce back from a fumble How can we flip a negotiation fumble into an opportunity to raise the bar and create an opportunity for mutual value?

Negotiation can either be an antagonistic, competitive tug-of-war, or a relationship-building process where two sides come together in an agreement based on value.

Even though it sounds contradictory, the greatest barrier to a successful negotiation is the fear of conflict, and if we want to sharpen our agreement-making skills, getting comfortable with it is essential.

How do we fully advocate for ourselves without alienating the other party? What are the most counter-productive things we have to avoid in negotiation?

In today's episode, I'm joined by Bill Sanders, the author of a great new negotiation book, Creative Conflict. He shares why our learned aversion to conflict holds us back in negotiation, and how to overcome it.

Three Things You'll Learn In This Episode

The power of small agreements and small winsHow do we move a stalled negotiation forward leveraging high-value, low effort trade-offs?

How to renegotiate an existing agreement so it better serves usAnything that's been negotiated can be renegotiated, and there's always a possibility to make a contract better, but how do we put this into action?

Why we have to wear different hats in a negotiationIn a negotiation, we have to show up for ourselves, the way we show up for others. What strategies can we use to tap into that agent/advocate side of ourselves?

Guest Bio

Bill Sanders is the CEO of Mobus Creative Negotiating, and author of Creative Conflict: A Practical Guide for Business Negotiators. Together with Frank Mobus, he reinvented negotiating practice at more than half the Fortune 500–and gained an in-depth understanding of what it takes to flourish in 21st-century business.

After joining Mobus Creative Negotiating in 2014, Sanders helped to build an A-list clientele, including AT&T, BorgWarner, Skanska, and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford. Sanders previously worked in publishing as an acquisitions editor in STM (scientific/technical/medical) publishing for Chapman and Hall, IEEE Computer Society, and Springer Verlag. He received his doctorate in physical chemistry from The Pennsylvania State University. Sanders continues to consult with National Football League franchises in the area of statistical analysis. Over the last 30 years, this work has helped ten head coaches become Super Bowl champions.

Get the book Creative Conflict: A Practical Guide for Business Negotiators here.