For many physicians, a flexible schedule beats a great salary as the most important piece of a negotiation. Whether you want a four-day work week, a compressed schedule or more flexibility, embracing alternative schedules is a critical cultural shift that needs to be prioritized in clinical medicine.

There’s so much guilt and shame around working a truncated schedule, but working more humane hours and pulling back a little can actually make us better doctors.

What are the benefits of schedule flexibility? How do you actually discuss an alternative schedule with your employer so that they see it as a good thing?

In this episode, I discuss the value of having a schedule that works for you, and how to go about getting it.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• Why working more leads to less productivity
  In a negotiation, how do you frame an alternative schedule as a benefit to the employer?
  
  
• How to make physician work schedules more humane
  With so many physicians...

A job that aligns with your integrity is just as important as a job that pays you what you’re worth, and makes you feel valued. What happens when you realize that your current job isn’t quite as aligned with you as you’d like?

If participating in the culture of an organization compromises your integrity, that’s a steep price to pay in the name of being employed, and you have every right to make a change.

So if you find yourself feeling a misalignment between you and your job, how do you deal with it so you can start liking where you work again.

In this episode, I talk about how to take action when your job feels out of alignment with who you are.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• How to identify a misalignment between you and your job
  What are the tell-tale red flags that your job no longer aligns with you?
  
  
• If it’s worth trying to changing your work environment
  What happens if your attempt to change the culture gets met with resistance...

If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that we can’t control what happens in our day jobs.

Our leverage is only as strong as our next best alternative. Building options and creative escape hatches into our lives gives us more confidence, freedom and a cushion in case things go wrong. There are many ways to create alternative sources of income and employment so that we never feel stuck or limited.

What are some of the ways to further monetize our skills or even tap into our non-clinical hobbies? How do we create an escape hatch without seeming flighty or uncommitted?

In this episode, I talk about the power of career escape hatches, and how to use them to feel more empowered.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• The power of having a financial buffer or career backup
  Why is it so important to have an escape plan, even if you love your job?
  
  
• How to create a non-clinical escape hatch
  Our clinical skill set isn’t the only thing we can monetize. What are some of...

At the negotiating table, we aren’t just physicians - we also have to be entrepreneurs. Even with the most excellent care and clinical skills, we have to be able to articulate the value we provide to the employer.

If you want to show up better, sway people to your opinion, and get paid what you’re worth - thinking like an entrepreneur is critical - in fact, we can’t afford not to in today’s healthcare landscape.

How you’re perceived and how much you can earn is completely up to you, and if you think like the CEO of “You Inc” instead of an employee, you become unstoppable.

How do we milk the most out of every opportunity by changing how we see ourselves? Why is sales an essential part of any negotiation? 

In this episode, I’m joined by an entrepreneur, physician, host of the EntreMD Podcast, and Founder of the EntreMD Business School, Dr. Una. She shares why physicians need to embrace entrepreneurship and how it positions you for...

In a successful negotiation, you need goodwill, relationships and positive bias working in your favor, but you can’t build those things overnight.

They are the fruits of deliberate networking and relationship-building.

We’re more likely to get great opportunities when we foster and strengthen connections with other physicians on a consistent basis.

What makes networking such a powerful negotiation tool?

In this episode, you’ll learn how to improve your negotiating outcomes by deepening your connections in the industry, and where to begin if you’ve been in your own bubble.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• How to leverage your network
  An important part of preparing for negotiation is gathering information, and understanding what the other side values. Why is this so much easier when you’ve been actively networking?
  
  
• Why networking builds up your reputation
  How do we foster a pre-existing positive connotation through networking?
  
  
• How...

When you’re hunting for a job straight out of training you’re taught to be grateful for whatever opportunity is on the table, and sign on the dotted line, no questions asked. Why ruffle feathers when you’re lucky to be getting hired at all?

It’s a flawed mindset, but one that’s very common in medicine, and holds us back from getting a job that serves us.

The truth is: negotiation is as much a necessity for grads and new attendings as it is for seasoned physicians with years of experience.

Today, I’m joined by a physician who is a shining example of why you don’t have to settle just because you're new to the field. How was she able to shift her mindset and advocate for herself? Why do we need to stop seeing ourselves as less deserving of opportunity because we’re new?  

In this episode, Dr. Janeeka Benoit shares the negotiation wins she has had because of a dramatic change in mindset.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This...

Reciprocity is a social construct that goes back centuries, and it’s so innate in us that it feels like second nature.

It’s also a powerful tool in a negotiation.

When someone gives us something, this built-in need for us to do something for them in return is triggered, and it makes it easier to come to an agreement that satisfies both sides of a negotiation.

Behaviorally, how does reciprocity lay the groundwork for a successful negotiation? How do we prepare for a negotiation with reciprocity in mind?

In this episode, I talk about how one social construct can impact your ability to get a deal that reflects your value.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• Why reciprocity makes us kinder and more more considerate
  How does reciprocity make human beings more friendly and cooperative?
  
  
• How to use reciprocity to get a deal you’re thrilled with
  The law of reciprocity presents the perfect opportunity to stretch what we’re asking for, but how do we make...

As female physicians, negotiation is a process that stirs up some uncertainty, hesitation and even intimidation. It feels like something only businesspeople do, and that advocating for ourselves is the opposite of what a “good doctor” should do. 

This is reflective of the socialization we’ve received, and we need to do a hard reset to our mindset to get comfortable with negotiation, and actually feel confident about it. 

In today’s episode, I’m joined by a physician who went from being afraid of negotiation to straight up killing it at the negotiating table, and today she shares her secrets! 

What pivotal moments made the shift possible? How did she start seeing the merits of negotiation? In today’s episode, Board Certified Sleep Physician, Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine expert, life planner, and founder of Dare to Dream Physician, Weili Gray reveals how she changed her mindset on negotiation. 

Three Things You’ll Learn...

It may not seem like it at first glance, but intimacy and salary negotiations actually have a lot in common for women. The struggle to advocate for yourself doesn’t just show up at work, it also shows up in the bedroom.

Finding our voices is important in every area of our lives, and when it comes to sex and intimacy, it feels even harder than asking to get paid what we’re worth. Why is intimacy a challenging subject for so many women? How do you put forth the effort to advocate for yourself in every area of our lives?

In today’s episode, I’m joined by pediatric radiologist turned sex coach extraordinaire, Dr. Sonia Wright. She talks about how she’s helping women own their intimacy and get more of what they want.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• How to change your intimacy equation
  If you’re chronically undervaluing your intimacy, how do you find your voice?
  
  
• The pleasure gap
  Women aren’t just dealing with the gender pay gap,...

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 influence
  When 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 conversation
  The more present and aware you are in a negotiation,...