When to use a career coach

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Are you considering a major career change? Are you considering re-tooling and moving in a new direction? Are you trying to figure out if you should “stay or go”? Are you looking at one more big move canstockphoto7379432 (1) careerbefore you retire?

You may be asking yourself some of these questions. You may be turning to family, friends and colleagues for advice and perspective. Or you may be keeping it quiet and trying to figure it out by yourself. Or as unhappy and restless as you may be, you think there are too many barriers to making a change.

You may need encouragement and inspiration. Or you may need help building your confidence to make a change.

I have coached many people over the past several years. Some of them have been focused career coaching engagements. What does this look like?

We start with a bio like any other coaching engagement. I ask you to write a 1-2 page story of what makes you who you are, not the professional bio with a headshot. It is a time to reflect and get in touch with yourself.

We discuss your short-term and long-term career goals. If you have formulated some already, they may need refinement and a reality check.

We look at the range of options you are considering or could consider.

We figure out a framework for evaluating your options and consider the pros and cons of different paths.

We figure out what path makes the most sense and develop a plan to achieve it.

If you are in the middle of a job search, help with your resume and social media profile, interview prep or tips on networking may also be needed.

Sound simple? Maybe. But when you can’t settle on an answer to the “what should I do with the rest of my life” or “what should my next move be”, some outside professional help may be needed.

With a focused 3-month engagement, you will have a better sense of who you are, how you got to where you are, where you want to be, and a plan for how to get there. But be ready to do some deep reflection and hard work.

Related Posts:

You need to own your own career

Time for a job change?

Stand out at the interview

So you didn’t get the job

Investing in you, the value of a coach

Family ties – we all have a story

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I am the youngest of my three siblings; I have a sister and two brothers. My husband, Tom, grew up the middle child with an older brother and a younger sister. All of our parents were deceased by the time we Blooming Grove cropped icaruswere in our mid-30’s and raising our own children.

My husband’s brother, Ted, died last November. Tom and Ted had an up and down relationship over the years but had come to a good place together last year. They got together for dinner on Wednesdays and had become good friends.

Yesterday, Tom and I drove 350 plus miles to a small community, Blooming Grove, near Williamsport, Pennsylvania to bury Ted’s ashes. Tom’s sister flew in from Arizona and several of their cousins who live in New England joined us. Why Blooming Grove? This is where seven generations of Schade’s are buried. It is a small community of Dunkard Baptists who first immigrated from Germany in the early 1800’s. A place in the Schade family history I’d only heard stories about until this trip.

Several of those generations are on our family photo wall. It is a work in process. Tom continues to add pictures from both of our families as we go through old boxes of photos. Our oldest granddaughter is five. She loves the movie Coco and understands it is about honoring and remembering your ancestors. When she visits, we often review the family photo wall and explain who everyone is.   Continue reading →

4 Tips when you must work on vacation

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If summer is the weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day, summer is a third over already. Have you made your summer vacation plans? Have you figured out how you’re going to get a break and renew your canstockphoto38573795 (1) work on vacationenergy?

I’ve advocated making vacation time truly yours and figuring out how to completely shut off from work. You need to make sure you have someone covering while you are away and trust that they will handle things well without you.

It’s a little different now that I have my own business with two colleagues and our work is more fluid. When I am off for 2 weeks on a long planned European trip later this year, I will shut it off completely. My colleagues will handle whatever comes up.

But when I take other shorter breaks, I will continue to manage my key commitments and the high priorities. Here are some tips for managing when you must work on vacation:

Timebox – If you need to do certain work, schedule a specific block of time to do it then shut it off for the rest of the day.

Accessibility – Make sure your colleagues know when you are and aren’t available. With cell coverage and Wi-Fi being pervasive, it shouldn’t be hard to do whatever you have to do wherever you are. But when you are in a remote area and have limited or spotty cell coverage, make sure others know this.

Email management – We all know email can be a time sink. It’s endless. Scan it quickly and deal with only what’s time sensitive and high priority. The rest can wait. Since you are not checking it as often, ask colleagues to text you if there is something you need to deal with.

Managing family expectations – If you are the only family member who needs to work while away, let them know the time you need for work and manage their expectations.  Trust me, it will avoid stupid fights and bad feelings.

For advice on completely shutting off on vacation and why it’s so important to do so, check out my post, “Take time to reboot”.

Kudos to all of you who plan to spend some of your vacation time doing community service or volunteering for something you are passionate about – there are many opportunities to pay it forward these days.

Happy summer! It will be over before you know it.

Related Posts: 

Take time to reboot

Do you know your big rocks?

Time to stop and smell the roses

Heroes among us: pediatricians

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Pediatricians are one of the first and most trusted people you turn to when you have a new baby. They are a phone call away when your child is sick, and you don’t know what to do.  They give you advice on canstockphoto4424174 (1) families belong togetherhow to raise a healthy, well-balanced child.

Pediatricians and all healthcare professionals play an important role in our individual lives. They also play a critical role on a larger scale in our communities as they are some of the first to raise their voices and expose a public health issue.

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is the Flint, Michigan pediatrician and public health advocate who first reported there was lead in the drinking water. She went public with her research and faced backlash. She persisted. But despite the tireless efforts by her and many others, the Flint water crisis is a public health crisis that is still not resolved. She has just published a book called “What the Eyes Don’t See – A Story of Crisis, Resistance and Hope in an American City”.  A portion of the proceeds from book sales will be donated to Flint Kids.

Dr. Colleen Kraft, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), was one of the first to visit the facilities where thousands of children are being held after being separated from their parents as they cross our southern border seeking asylum. 70 children a day are being separated from their parents.

In a May 8th statement opposing the policy of separating families, the AAP stated: “Separating children from their parents contradicts everything we stand for as pediatricians – protecting and promoting children’s health. In fact, highly stressful experiences, like family separation, can cause irreparable harm, disrupting a child’s brain architecture and affecting his or her short- and long-term health. This type of prolonged exposure to serious stress – known as toxic stress – can carry lifelong consequences for children.”

Clinical psychologists describe the human toll this crisis is taking on children. The trauma and long term psychological and physical effects. In a recent interview, Dr. Kraft said the “zero tolerance” policy separating families at the border “amounts to child abuse.”

Nearly 4600 mental health professionals and 90 organizations have signed a petition urging the president and the attorney general to stop separating families at the border.

The media are shining a spotlight on the crisis at the border day after day. Continue reading →

Is there an app for that?

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Have you ever experienced chronic pain? Did you try to ignore it and push through it? Or did you see your doctor and hope for a resolution?canstockphoto12572942 (002) joints

We expect quick fixes when something goes wrong. Yet chronic pain may mean physical therapy and daily exercises to strengthen certain muscles and address the cause of the pain. Far from a quick fix!

That’s what I’m going through now and at times my patience and discipline are low.  I’m supposed to do a series of focused exercises twice a day. I am trying to take the long view. Just like my shoulder surgery for a torn rotator when I had to do physical therapy for 6 months.

If I think I don’t have time for the exercises or I just don’t want to do them, I tell myself this is what it will take to relieve the back and hip pain I have been living with. No one is just going to fix it for me. Yes, my physical therapist will assess my pain level each visit, ask me how the newest exercises are working out, and determine what to add to my routine. But it’s on me between visits.

I’ve had four visits and try to schedule one once or twice a week. I know the time will come when the time between visits gets longer. And then she will tell me I’m on my own. It will be the true test of whether I own this or not. Will I make the time to do the exercises twice a day? Will I feel my slow progress and realize it’s working?

It’s like flossing your teeth, you need to own it. You can’t just do it for a few days before your teeth cleaning appointment – you have to make it a daily discipline.

I asked my physical therapist about studies on patients not doing their exercises at home. I told her about my experience of owning it after shoulder surgery. She asked me if I was owning this. I said I was getting there – trying to have the long view because I don’t want to live with pain. We need to own our own health. I can’t complain about the pain if I’m not willing to do my part.

We had a good chat. She described how her role is to help patients be successful. She has learned to not give too many exercises, or the patient won’t do them. If the patient hates the exercise, she knows they won’t do it. She has to find an acceptable alternative. And she emphasizes patient education. Continue reading →

Advice for bloggers: valuable content and discipline

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In the early 2000s, there was an explosion of blogs, but I never pictured myself as a blogger.  But that changed four years ago when I started a weekly blog to share my health IT experiences and insights with canstockphoto13207113others.

It is a weekly discipline I’ve maintained ever since.

I love data. So, I look at the statistics on views per week and per post. I’ve published over 200 blog posts and have had close to 100,000 views.

Over the four years, the posts on lean are by far the most popular – 6 of the top 20 posts – including huddles, visual boards, Gemba walks, and use of an A3. The lean community shares content broadly and openly as they learn from one another. A very good practice! So, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised at the popularity of these posts.

I ask myself “what generates views”? Is it the opening tease and blog title that attracts readers? Is it the title or general topic that causes subscribers to read a blog when they get the email notification? Is it the re-publishing by other publications or links from other sites?

Despite all the analytical tools and articles available on how to increase blog subscribers and readers, it comes down to valuable content. Yes, the catchiness of the title and the use of keywords make a difference. I learned that decades ago writing headlines when I was editor of my high school newspaper. But back then the world of content was all paper; now you can search for anything online in seconds. We all know that on social media you must compete for “eyeballs.” Hence, the importance of keywords.

When I first considered starting a blog, I sought out an expert to give me advice. I called Anthony Guerra at HealthSystemCIO.com. Was it a crazy idea or should I go for it? He encouraged me early on and I’m truly grateful for that. It helped me go from considering blogging to actually being a blogger.

I’ve learned how important amplification is in the world of social media: tagging people, likes, comments, and shares. Then there’s “going viral” – nobody knows the secret formula to that. Continue reading →

Teaching moments – every day, everywhere

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A Starbucks in Philadelphia, a golf course in York, Pennsylvania, an Airbnb in California, a college tour in Colorado, a common dorm room at Yale. These are the stories of every day racism that have gotten canstockphoto48801491 (1) multi racialsignificant media attention recently. Yet we all know there are many more stories just like this. And they are happening every day and in every part of the country.

This week it was a blatant and demeaning racist comment from the star of one of ABC’s highest rated shows and money maker. ABC leadership acted swiftly. As they should. ABC Entertainment President, Channing Dungey, announced that the network decided to cancel the show in one brief statement: “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.”.

The target of that comment, Valerie Jarrett, former White House senior advisor to President Obama, took the high road. On a MSNBC special program called “Every Day Racism in America”, that same night, she said we should use this as a teaching moment. She was fine but worried about all the people who don’t have support systems, or a circle of friends, to come to their defense. She said she worries about the person of color who experiences a stranger clutching their purse out of fear. And the mothers who must teach their teenage sons to be careful with police.

Yes, these incidents are all teaching moments. Teaching every one of us as leaders about the kind of tolerant, respectful organizations we must create and maintain every day. Teaching us that we need to be the kind of leaders that go high when others go low. And teaching us not to punch back 10 times harder, if we are punched.

Teaching every one of us that we must say something when we see something. The Starbucks incident when two black men, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, were arrested for meeting in a Starbucks without ordering went viral because white people videoed it and shared it on social media.

We cannot sit by and let every day racism happen around us.

Working in healthcare organizations for most of my professional career, I spent every day in one of the most diverse workforces. Treating every person with respect was part of the culture. Continue reading →

Celebrating, collaborating with, and learning from HTM

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Two weeks ago, it was National Nurses Week. This week is Health Technology Management (HTM) Week. If you work in a hospital, you may still refer to HTM as Clinical Engineering, Biomedical canstockphoto16403307 (1) HTMEngineering, or just Biomed. Regardless of what you know this department as, they are some of the unsung heroes in every hospital.

The nurses and physicians know these heroes well. The C-suite is recognizing their value more all the time. And IT departments are learning to work collaboratively with them as systems become more integrated.

These are the staff who design, install, maintain and repair the medical devices that connect to patients. Just think about a patient in an intensive care unit surrounded by all that equipment and all those connecting tubes and wires. If those of us in IT think we’re important and critical to the hospital, HTM staff are life critical to the patients.

As a CIO, I’ve always told my IT teams that we are part of the extended care team to emphasize the importance of our providing 24/7 support and excellent customer service. While we don’t touch the patient, the clinicians who do depend on the systems we provide and support. This is even more true for HTM staff.

AAMI (Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation) is a standards development organization and the professional society for HTMs. AAMI celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. Its mission is to advance safety in healthcare technology.

While healthcare organizations recognized their HTM staff in various ways this week, June 1-4 will be a chance for HTM professionals to come together for education and networking at the annual AAMI conference in Long Beach. Continue reading →

When innovation means plan B

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It was already Thursday morning and I had no blog topic in mind for this week. By Thursday night I had several. So, what happened in between?canstockphoto6581040 plan b

I attended the New England HIMSS Chapter’s Annual Spring Conference – something I’d planned to do for a while. On my way there, I figured something that day would light a fire and I’d have a topic to talk about. Instead, there was a different kind of fire.

One of the chapter board members called me in the car and said she had heard I was on my way to the conference. I thought to myself, I’m stuck in traffic and may get there after the opening keynote starts, but did I have to admit that to her? No, that was just my guilt about leaving the house 15 minutes later than I should have. She was calling for a “small favor, no actually a big favor” as she said.

Turns out one of the afternoon speakers had gotten stuck in New York with flight cancellations and couldn’t make it. So, a panel with 3 chapter members was being hastily put together – would I be willing to participate? Of course I would. I said yes without knowing what we’d talk about or who else was being asked to be on the panel.

Two other panelists were being enlisted in that same rush of phone calls and conversations. Arthur Harvey, chapter board member and CIO at Boston Medical Center, had already arrived at the venue. He was of course very sympathetic to the dilemma and ready to help. Arthur and I were on the CIO panel together at the 2017 spring conference. He was already starting to percolate on a relevant topic we could address. Dirk Stanley, CMIO at UConn Health, was on his way to the conference from Connecticut and got a call like mine. I only knew Dirk from social media, so I was looking forward to meeting him in person.

When I arrived at the conference and was greeted warmly by board members who were pulling this backup plan together, I asked which speaker had to cancel and what was their topic. Answer: Blockchain. I laughed and said, well we’re not doing a panel on blockchain. Continue reading →

Celebrate nurses, but more importantly listen to them

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May 6-12 is National Nurses Week. According to a Gallup Poll, nursing has been the most trusted profession for the past 16 years. It’s no surprise.Nurses Week (002)

Those of us with nurses in our family are grateful that there is someone we can turn to with health questions. They help us navigate complex healthcare systems when we have a worrisome condition and need to see specialists and subspecialists. I’m fortunate to have nurses in my family. I am grateful to them and know that I should never take them for granted.

As the President of the American Nurses Association, Pamela Cipriano, PhD, RN, said, “Nurses provide much more than bedside care. We advocate for patients, deliver primary care, meet the complex needs of patients with chronic conditions, volunteer for disaster relief efforts, and are a trusted voice in boardrooms across the country.”

When my daughter first considered a nursing career back in the early 2000’s, I was very supportive. I thought that with her personality, people focus, and an incredible ability to multi-task she would be an excellent nurse. I told her that she could take many different paths as a nurse over time. She already had a bachelors degree in Hospitality Administration/Management with a minor in Business, so she decided to attend a combined nursing/nurse practitioner (NP) program to get her BS in Nursing and her Masters in Science and Nursing.

She worked as a bedside nurse, first on a cardiac surgery stepdown unit and then on a cardiac surgery ICU. Her first nurse practitioner opportunity was working with patients who have atrial fibrillation (known as Afib). She later moved to orthopedics where she is now the Chief NP on a busy and growing inpatient ortho unit.

She balances clinical patient care with administrative responsibilities. And she is always looking at how to improve processes and care. Continue reading →