Simply Worth It: Physician Negotiations with Dr. Linda Street

All-or-nothing, dichotomous thinking is a little evolutionary trait that all human beings have. Though it can be helpful in many scenarios, it can be limiting at the negotiation table.    When it feels like win or lose are the only options available to us, it makes us blind to the fact that there could be a third, fourth, or even fifth possibility worth exploring.    How can we break ourselves fre...

In a negotiation, not all yeses are created equal. Sometimes 'yes' is said to make you stop asking, and it's not really backed by action or execution. How do we tell the difference so we don't end up feeling stuck in limbo or getting strung along?    Before we pat ourselves on the back and break out the champagne, it's critical that we make sure what we're excited about is a solid win and not an e...

One of life's biggest truths is that we have very little control over other people and how they show up and act. Even in a negotiation, we can have all our ducks in a row and the best intentions, but we still can't control how people respond to us advocating for ourselves.    The real challenge is accepting this and making sure we don't let that mean anything about who we really are.    How do we...

For many doctors, a negotiation isn't as simple as a one-person to one-organization scenario - collective negotiations are pretty common. There are many ways things can get a little dicey when multiple parties with different priorities, goals, and needs are involved.    Whether you're negotiating in a space with multiple stakeholders or negotiating on behalf of a group, there are things we need to...

Negotiation and self-care routinely go hand-in-hand. Feeling like our best selves can make it easier to focus our attention on our negotiations and negotiating a job that works for us helps us to have the time and energy to truly focus on ourselves.   However, the diet programs we see everywhere disconnect us from our bodies, force us to eat food that doesn't taste good, and ultimately lead us rig...

You walk out of a negotiation, and instead of feeling hopeful and excited, you have a deep, sinking feeling and the nagging question - "Did I blow it?" As physicians, we navigate our fair share of situations that leave us feeling crappy but struggle to apply that mindset to other aspects of our jobs.    Whether or not it's the reality, it's normal to believe that our negotiation went terribly, and...

Regardless of the reason, only doing the bare minimum at work actually does us a huge disservice - why tread water in a place you hate when you can move on to something better?   Quiet quitting isn't just a one-sided practice on the employee side, it has an employer-driven sibling known as quiet firing, which shows up a lot in our industry.   What do you do when your job deliberately tries to driv...

Navigating a negotiation is an epic but daunting quest to reach an important purpose - like Frodo Baggins' journey to destroy the One Ring.    There's so much about his journey that we can extract and apply to our own quest to get paid what we're worth - from the resources we need, to the perils we'll need to avoid to reach our destination.    In this episode, I'm going to share some negotiation n...

When a job is toxic and soul-sucking, quitting is a no-brainer, but what happens when the reasons to stay or go aren't so obvious, and we're unsure about the next step?    It's hard to gain clarity on our next move until we critically evaluate the outcome, and sometimes it comes down to making a little list.    In this episode, I'm going to share a quick tool that will help you determine whether t...

Guilt and shame aren't emotions we typically associate with our negotiations, but these ugly cousins actually show up all over the place.    For starters, most of us feel guilty about asking for what we want, but that's not the only way it manifests. The other way these emotions creep in is more insidious but just as destructive.    When we realize we didn't adequately advocate for ourselves in th...

Anyone who has a tendency to overwork will tell you that it feels more like an innate way of functioning than a deeply-rooted but optional habit we can deconstruct and change.    Underneath our overworking habit and discomfort with doing less are long-held protective mechanisms that keep us in motion to our own detriment.    How do we uncover why we overwork, overcome our discomfort with stillness...

Last week, I introduced a framework for facilitating successful conversation, and the power of Transparency, Relationship and Understanding. Today, I'm delving into the two remaining and equally important pillars of this framework: shared success, and truth telling/testing assumptions.    How do we create an environment where both sides win?    Does making assumptions hamper a successful conversat...

Trust is a key ingredient in any successful negotiation. It's impossible to come to a mutually beneficial agreement if there isn't at least a baseline offer, but what does it actually look like?    I recently learned about a trust facilitation process that turns a negotiation with two agendas into a path of co-creation.   In today's episode, I'll share how to actually put it in action.  Three Thin...

When we've had our fair share of negative experiences or heard no too many times, we develop a "why try if it won't work out" mindset. In psychology, it's called learned helplessness.    Learned helplessness pops up all over the place in medicine, and yes, even in our negotiations. How does this mindset hamper our efforts to advocate for ourselves?    Why does it make us unnecessarily powerless? ...

When we have a high expectation goal in our negotiations, our gut instinct is to ask ourselves if we're asking for too much, and self-doubt ensues to the point where we completely undervalue ourselves.    The problem is, this can sabotage us and keep us from a package that reflects the value we offer. Most of us are actually more likely to underask than overask, and "too much" isn't a one-size-fit...

Going into a negotiation, it often feels like we're asking for people to grant our wishes, but this word 'ask ' itself can hold us back from fully advocating for ourselves.   It makes us feel greedy, or like we're trying to get things we don't deserve.    What if we subbed the word ' ask ' with ' offer '?   Could we negotiate for ourselves more effectively by simply switching the language we use? ...

When difficult things happen in the world that we have no control over, getting back up and moving forward is an uphill battle. How do we equip ourselves to regain our power without ignoring our very real and relevant feelings?    Whether we're facing disheartening news or a breakdown in a negotiation, there's a way for us to navigate difficult circumstances without wearing ourselves down.    What...

The contracts we end up signing are the culmination of our negotiation efforts and should be a reflection of the things that line up with our worth.    If we're not aware of exactly what we're signing on the front end, it's easy to end up in a nightmarish situation on the back end. What are the key components of our contract we need to get educated on before we even consider signing on the dotted...

Every decision we make has a consequence. When we say yes to something, we're simultaneously saying no to something else. If we're not deliberate about our answer, we can sacrifice way more than we gain.    This shows up in every area of our lives, and it most certainly sneaks into our negotiations. Before we accept whatever offer is put in front of us, we have to be clear on what we're cutting ou...

Medicine isn't just about the patients we treat, it also has a huge business component that heavily influences how we work. The business side of this industry often feels like a minefield and because we have very little control over it, physicians can suffer heavily.    There are a million things you can do incorrectly and traps we can fall into based on the way healthcare is structured today. Man...

In the thick of heavy emotions or challenging times, the idea of hope feels nebulous and impossible to put into action. Hope isn't an autopilot emotion, but what if we had a framework for it and a process we can follow to push forward?    Whether we're trying to negotiate for our dream job, or navigate difficult situations, what steps can we take to put the concept of hope into action?    In this...

Autonomy - or lack thereof - is something that comes up a lot when physicians don't feel satisfied in their jobs, but what if we have more agency than we tend to believe?    While there are certainly things we can't control in our jobs, we do have autonomy and the power to choose in many areas. Ultimately, we have a lot of choices and the power to exercise them.   How do we change our perspective...

It's no secret that a lot of physicians find themselves burnt out and disillusioned with practicing medicine to the point of walking away from medicine entirely.    What if we could find a job that works for us instead of trying to contort ourselves into an ill-fitting job?    I talk a lot about this from a negotiation angle, but how do we actually find the jobs that are a better fit for us and ev...

I recently dipped my toes into the world of real estate investing, and what I found really interesting is how transferable the skills we use to negotiate our contracts are in other arenas.    I didn't get the result I was looking for, but I can safely say that my negotiation skills gave me the tools to get my offer accepted and walk away when the deal wasn't serving me.    So what are the 2 contra...

For many of us, the concept of negotiating for a great contract is focused on money and time, but there's actually one category that is way more valuable.   Energy is a resource that we should aim to maximize and advocate for in a negotiation because it drives our ability to thrive in our jobs.   How do we determine what impacts our energy, and what steps can we take to manage it more effectively...