Physicians Need a Personal Brand Too

A lot of time and energy is spent discussing the need for leaders, professionals, and just about everyone who is interested in advancing their careers to develop a robust personal brand.

Make fun all you want...personal brands matter in the modern world of work.

Physicians Are Actually Small Businesses
The need for us as leaders to grow our brands is critical as we navigate the relatively new and fast-paced digital world that dominates life. 

But what about physicians? Aren't they 'automatically' immune from such a need? Aren't they special simply because society needs them, and therefore by default, they already have the value the rest of us are striving to achieve?

Not.
Even.
Close.

Building a Practice = Building a Business
Some physicians are fortunate, in that they are hired into a group practice, or a health system with a built-in pipeline of patients waiting to be seen (and billed!) 

However, the competitive landscape to attract doctors, the constantly evolving models of care delivery, and the flood of younger physicians who are interested in stepping away from traditional academic medicine have turned the provider side of healthcare on it's head.

For example...several years ago one of my hospital's new Residents announced his 'match' to us on his Youtube channel. The world has changed!

Yet, how does a young, or not so young physician, build a new practice, expand an existing practice into a new market, or relocate to an area that is completely foreign to them?

How do they generate the patient volume to ensure the practice is viable; oh, and also earn a living?

Patients do not automatically arrive at the doctor's doorstep, particularly in a world of non-compete agreements, closed medical staff models, and restricted access to admitting and treating patients.

Brand, Brand, Brand
This is where the savvy physician embraces the exact same concepts you and I have used for years to develop our brands. It's not difficult, it simply requires focus and attention.

- establishing a social media presence across a few of the major platforms

- sharing meaningful content: professional, personal, thought leadership

- blogging (not giving medical advice, simply talking about health, wellness, their specialty or sub-specialty, etc..)

- engaging with followers (again, not giving medical advice, rather, humanizing themselves vs. a sterile white-coated old school presence)

How About You
Getting started is not nearly as difficult for our physician colleagues as they might think. We need to take the time with them to not only educate, but to provide real-world, and real-time support from our own experiences to show them the way.

What do you think?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.

pic is from this great article

The Social Leader

I talk a lot about the power of social media in the business world. It has become a primary communication, marketing, recruiting, networking and branding channel to reach more people better and faster than at any time in history. It doesn’t really matter if I wanted the world to become a digital place…or if I was hoping the world of work would be completely dominated by these tools. It wasn’t up to me…or you. But I decided to embrace it instead of resisting.

I consider myself a social leader.

Social has taken over…and I pity the leaders who still believe resisting is actually an option. They look old…they look out of touch…and candidly I would never work for someone that far behind. Ever.

 

(hint…no one else under the age of 35 will either…)

Healthcare

Think for a moment about the tools patients use every day to gather information. They use the web…they use social media…they read blogs.

If you’re a healthcare leader and you’re not using these tools how in the world are you supposed to connect with your patients?

Think for a moment about how people look for jobs? They use the web…they use social media…they read blogs.

If you're leading an organization that is trying to hire talented people to help you execute your strategic plans (think —> every hospital everywhere) how in the world are you supposed to connect with applicants and differentiate yourself from your competitors?

Labels

Sometimes people label me as the social media guy, and fail to see the link between my acceptance of the world as a digital place and my skills and experience. It’s as if being a social leader negates all of the work I’d done prior to the last few years. 

It makes me laugh sometimes. And it also makes me feel bad for those leaders that are intimidated by social media. They’re just as qualified as I am to be a social leader in their discipline. The difference is they don’t have the courage to try.

That’s right. Courage solves it. In fact, courage solves just about everything, don’t you think?

How About You

Do you want to be a social leader? What’s holding you back? I have the same amount of time each day that you do. Is it that your “organization doesn’t allow the use of social media?” Well your patients, employees, and candidates are using it every day.

It’s time to go for it. I’ll help, because sometimes it can be scary at first. Hmmm…I guess courage really does sum it all up after all.

I’d love to hear from you.

No Excuses. 

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Your Absolute Best - #HealthcareHR

One the things I find fascinating about working in the healthcare industry is the significant disconnect between the high quality of care provided to patients, while simultaneously seeing the staff take very poor care of their own health. Little or no exercise, bad nutritional choices (you can't hide your "comfort food decisions") combined with a stressful workplace are...ahem... a recipe for disaster.

This isn't another post about the importance of eating well and exercising because they are both good for you. In fact, I need your help to understand a strange phenomenon:

"Why do we commit ourselves so completely to our work and then bail out on our best opportunity to have the energy to actually be our best on the job?"

Fuel
The word diet has such a negative connotation I stopped using it 15 years ago. Simply stated, healthy food give you energy, makes you strong, and allows your brain to actually function. The key is to avoid making drastic changes all at once.

"Start slow, adjust, and by all means stop rewarding yourself with food - you are not a dog"

Train
Exercising is one of the hardest transitions for most people. Why? Expectations of course, plus far too many people are horribly out of shape. Limit your expectations so you don't feel like a failure before you even get started. Your body needs time to adjust...give it time! This process is not a competition, so don't put pressure on yourself to suddenly get to some fictitious end point. There isn't one. Just as our work continues, so does our need to move a little each day.

One of the most effective ways to maintain your training routine is to connect with others. It is much easier if you have a friend or coworker who is also exercising. Keep in mind they do not need to be close...you just need to connect with them!

Mental Health
Regardless of which role you play in the healthcare space you will undoubtedly feel stress in your work. Beyond the "normal" challenges of shrinking reimbursements, sourcing the right talent and managing a very diverse workforce comes something that separates us from just about everyone else.

In an industry where some of our customers are so sick or injured that they pass away, we can not afford to live by the tired old excuses of having no time or energy to take care of ourselves because we're too busy taking care of others. Not only is that lame, it has never been true.

How About You
No it's not easy, and no you're not going to enjoy it everyday. So what? If you put half the effort into yourself that you do for your company you'll be amazed at what you'll accomplish on the job. Don't your colleagues, your patients, and your team members deserve your absolute best?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



photo credit  photo credit