1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,860
Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic clinicians learn the skills

2
00:00:05,860 --> 00:00:11,260
to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor.

3
00:00:11,260 --> 00:00:17,340
As clinicians, we spend a decade or more as trainees learning to take care of patients.

4
00:00:17,340 --> 00:00:22,380
When we finally start our careers, we want to build research programs, but then we find

5
00:00:22,380 --> 00:00:27,780
that our years of clinical training did not adequately prepare us to lead our research

6
00:00:27,780 --> 00:00:29,200
program.

7
00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:35,480
Through no fault of our own, we struggle to find mentors, and when we can't, we quit.

8
00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:40,580
However, clinicians hold the keys to the greatest research breakthroughs.

9
00:00:40,580 --> 00:00:46,200
For this reason, the Clinician Researcher podcast exists to give academic clinicians

10
00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:51,800
the tools to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor.

11
00:00:51,800 --> 00:01:01,040
Now introducing your host, Toyosi Onwuemene.

12
00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:03,460
Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast.

13
00:01:03,460 --> 00:01:07,540
I'm your host Toyosi Onwuemene, and it is a pleasure to be speaking with you today.

14
00:01:07,540 --> 00:01:12,220
I'm really excited about today's episode because I'm talking about why you should consider

15
00:01:12,220 --> 00:01:15,600
engaging a coach in your research career.

16
00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:20,480
Yes, why you should consider engaging a coach in your research career.

17
00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,880
And for many of us, we have mentors, and mentors are awesome people.

18
00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:29,880
I want to just shout out all the mentors who are making sacrifices, moving the careers

19
00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:31,820
of so many mentees forward.

20
00:01:31,820 --> 00:01:38,180
You are awesome, and you deserve all the goodness in the world because of the goodness you create.

21
00:01:38,180 --> 00:01:39,180
Thank you.

22
00:01:39,180 --> 00:01:46,040
And I will tell you that even though mentors are absolutely amazing, they're kind of limited

23
00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:51,800
because their focus really is just on research and your research methodology.

24
00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:58,880
And really, you are really so much more than the research that you do, so much more than

25
00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:03,360
the grant writing that you do, so much more than the papers that you submit.

26
00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:09,200
And one of the great things is an opportunity to bring everything that you are to the table

27
00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,880
and have a coach help you shape your career.

28
00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:17,560
And when I think about coaching, so I will tell you that I had no idea about coaching

29
00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:21,940
until, gosh, maybe eight years into my faculty career.

30
00:02:21,940 --> 00:02:24,300
And I was part of this career development program.

31
00:02:24,300 --> 00:02:29,400
And actually, up until I had had a couple of times where I had met with coaches, and

32
00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,200
I remember thinking, wow, this is so awesome.

33
00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:34,840
And I remember I finally got to a point in my life where I was like, I think I need a

34
00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:35,840
coach.

35
00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,560
And so I attended this career development workshop, and there was this amazing coach

36
00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:45,800
who was just talking about the importance of coaching in our research and mentoring

37
00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:46,800
life.

38
00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:53,400
And then she did a demonstration coaching session, and I was the person who stepped up to have

39
00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:54,400
the demonstration done.

40
00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:56,280
And it was just so powerful.

41
00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:02,040
I was talking about something that actually was tangential to my research, wasn't directly

42
00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:03,040
related.

43
00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,220
It was really about me getting...

44
00:03:05,220 --> 00:03:08,080
It was kind of tangential to my research.

45
00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:13,200
It wasn't exactly like germane, but it was about me getting enough sleep, which is important

46
00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:17,280
because if you don't get enough sleep, then how can you kind of get the best use of your

47
00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:18,280
mind?

48
00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,320
And so this coach came and she worked with me through the process.

49
00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:24,920
And I had so many aha moments in that space.

50
00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:29,480
And I was like, oh, my goodness, I want to work with you.

51
00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:32,560
And so I will tell you that it's three years later, and I'm still working with the same

52
00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:33,840
executive coach.

53
00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,440
And it's been a phenomenal, phenomenal relationship.

54
00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:42,120
And since then, because I've kind of recognized the power of coaching, I've done so much coaching

55
00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:43,440
in so many areas of my life.

56
00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,040
I have a peer group and we coach each other.

57
00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:49,760
I have a peer coach and we coach each other.

58
00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,160
I have a grant writing coach that I work with.

59
00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:57,520
I right now recently have actually gotten a health and wellness coach as well.

60
00:03:57,520 --> 00:03:58,520
I love coaching.

61
00:03:58,520 --> 00:03:59,520
I think it's awesome.

62
00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:03,840
So I want to talk to you about why you should consider it, especially from the perspective

63
00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:06,480
of your career as a research scientist.

64
00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,840
So why you should engage a coach alongside your research career.

65
00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,680
And today I have five reasons, five reasons to share with you.

66
00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:16,800
Okay, so coaching has changed my life.

67
00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:21,480
And one of the ways it's changed my life is because it really helps you develop clarity

68
00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:22,640
of purpose.

69
00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:24,080
So maybe I'll speak in the first person.

70
00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,400
It's helped me develop clarity of purpose.

71
00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:32,240
And I will tell you that when I first started my faculty career, it felt nebulous to me

72
00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:34,660
what I was expected to do as a faculty member.

73
00:04:34,660 --> 00:04:39,000
And I don't know about you unless someone's really guided you and shown you the way it

74
00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:43,660
feels a little nebulous because it's like, okay, well, medical school is pretty straightforward

75
00:04:43,660 --> 00:04:47,840
because you have to finish the curriculum, pass exams, and you knew you were done when

76
00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:49,960
you got the certificate at the end.

77
00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:50,960
And the same for residency.

78
00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,040
Okay, these are the competencies that you're supposed to develop.

79
00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:58,240
And at the end of the residency program, here you are, you get to graduate.

80
00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:00,260
And the same if you went on to fellowship.

81
00:05:00,260 --> 00:05:02,440
These are the competencies that you need to develop.

82
00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,520
You go through people's clinics, you do rotations.

83
00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:10,600
And at the end, having met all the requirements, you get a certificate.

84
00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,280
It's like, congratulations, you're done.

85
00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:19,980
And then you get into your faculty career, and it's not exactly clear what is a win.

86
00:05:19,980 --> 00:05:20,980
It's not clear.

87
00:05:20,980 --> 00:05:25,120
It's like, okay, so I need to see X number of patients in clinic, make sure I meet these

88
00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:28,880
RVU targets, and then I need to meet my scholarly writing metrics.

89
00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:29,880
Okay.

90
00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:33,160
And then I also need to teach and mentor.

91
00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:34,240
Okay.

92
00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:36,240
And it's just there's so much to do.

93
00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,680
And there's so many bosses, and there's so many people who seem to be yelling at you

94
00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:42,280
to produce things or to create things.

95
00:05:42,280 --> 00:05:47,120
And the things that people say are most important have no accountability and no structure.

96
00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:52,880
So it can be overwhelming to be a new faculty person.

97
00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,440
And even after you've been in the process for a couple of years and you finally figured

98
00:05:56,440 --> 00:06:01,160
out what you're supposed to do, it still can be so hard.

99
00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:06,240
And depending on who you meet with and who you talk to, they have different ideas for

100
00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:08,020
what your career should look like.

101
00:06:08,020 --> 00:06:12,560
And so you are a trusting, wonderful person, and you're like, okay, mentor, mentor me.

102
00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:13,880
And they're like, this is what you should do.

103
00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:17,360
And if you talk to another mentor, they're like, well, no, no, no, no, no, don't do that.

104
00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:18,360
This is what you should do.

105
00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,360
And then there are people who say, no, no, no, focus on only one mentor, only one mentor,

106
00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,880
ignore what everybody else says, just focus on this one mentor.

107
00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:28,840
And then there are other people who say, well, you should have multiple mentors because you

108
00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:30,480
have multiple aspects of your life.

109
00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:32,640
It's like, which one is it?

110
00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:34,600
There's so much.

111
00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,520
And for the average faculty member, there's so much chatter.

112
00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,880
It's hard to decipher which is the most important, what is the most important thing I'm supposed

113
00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:43,880
to be doing?

114
00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:45,880
Like, what about the rest of my life?

115
00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:47,640
And it just feels overwhelming.

116
00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:48,640
I can.

117
00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:56,440
One of the things coaching did for me was to just pause on all that noise and really

118
00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:59,280
put me at the center of my career.

119
00:06:59,280 --> 00:07:01,640
Oh my goodness.

120
00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:02,640
It was revolutionary.

121
00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:08,160
It was the first experience I had had in my life where I was the center.

122
00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:14,760
Oh, I was the center, not the curriculum, not the medical school, not the metrics, not

123
00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:17,000
the mentor, but me.

124
00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,400
Oh my goodness.

125
00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:25,600
And it gave me such clarity of purpose because to be honest, let's just be honest, this career

126
00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:29,320
is about me and it's always been about me.

127
00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:34,080
But somehow it becomes confusing because it seems like it's about the mentor or it's about

128
00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:37,400
the division chief or it's about the needs of the department.

129
00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:43,080
It's not always clear that you are the center of this career, but you are.

130
00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:49,440
And what coaching did for me was to put me in the center of my career and say, let's

131
00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:51,840
lead with you as the center.

132
00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,760
And that put everything in perspective.

133
00:07:54,760 --> 00:08:00,640
It put everything in focus because now I could start to look at my career through the lens

134
00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:02,080
of me.

135
00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:03,700
What do I want?

136
00:08:03,700 --> 00:08:04,700
What do I need?

137
00:08:04,700 --> 00:08:06,880
Where do I want to go?

138
00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:08,600
How do I want to get there?

139
00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:10,840
It was such a beautiful experience.

140
00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:16,800
It just made the, you know, it's like when you're like, when you're farsighted and you've

141
00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:23,000
never had a glasses prescription and you finally go to the eye doctor or the optometrist and

142
00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:27,120
they give you a prescription and you put it on for the first time and all of a sudden it's

143
00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:29,760
like, wow, the sharpness of the focus.

144
00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:32,660
It's like, oh, it's like seeing for the first time.

145
00:08:32,660 --> 00:08:35,540
It's like, wow, everything is so sharp.

146
00:08:35,540 --> 00:08:38,380
That was the kind of clarity that I had.

147
00:08:38,380 --> 00:08:39,960
Clarity of purpose.

148
00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:45,920
It was so, so awesome just to finally see my career through the lens of me.

149
00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:51,800
I mean, who else, who else is so important to this career but me?

150
00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:57,640
And to be honest, one of the things that happens for better or for worse is that people make

151
00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:04,480
our mentors the centers of our careers and it's not healthy and it's not right because

152
00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:05,980
it's not their career, it's ours.

153
00:09:05,980 --> 00:09:09,800
And they came along maybe 20 years ago, 10 years ago and things are a little bit different

154
00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:14,000
now and they don't have the same kind of experience that you have because you're different from

155
00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:15,000
them.

156
00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:21,440
And so to be the center of your own career is the only way and being in an experience

157
00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:26,680
with a coach allowed me to do that in a way that none of my well-meaning mentors had been

158
00:09:26,680 --> 00:09:33,280
able to do for me because yes, they have more knowledge and more insight than I do but what

159
00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:37,440
they don't have is more knowledge and more insight about the life I'm living today.

160
00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:42,560
And coaching allowed me to bring my life front and center as the most important piece of

161
00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:44,560
my career.

162
00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:47,400
That was number one.

163
00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:52,200
Number two is that it allowed me to bring my whole self to the table.

164
00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,600
You know, I want to appreciate my mentors.

165
00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,040
They are, they're good at what they do.

166
00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:04,120
They've succeeded and nobody succeeds in academic medicine as a clinician scientist without

167
00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:08,400
major effort and major self-sacrifice.

168
00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:12,440
And I think we're sacrificing in different ways today than perhaps our mentors did 10,

169
00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:18,160
20, 15, you know, years ago but we're still making sacrifices because this journey is

170
00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:19,600
hard.

171
00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:25,360
But even though our mentors are so awesome, one thing they don't get into and I don't

172
00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:29,920
blame them and to be honest I don't want them to get into it is our family stuff, is our

173
00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:33,220
family drama, is our family challenges.

174
00:10:33,220 --> 00:10:37,880
You know, some of us have children, some of us do not, some of us have aging parents that

175
00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:42,660
we're looking forward to, some of us have significant others that, you know, are a big

176
00:10:42,660 --> 00:10:46,760
component of our lives and some of us don't.

177
00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:49,920
But all of that stuff stays under the radar.

178
00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:57,320
But the thing is, even though they stay under the radar, they are driving a significant

179
00:10:57,320 --> 00:10:58,680
portion of our experience.

180
00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:05,840
Like if we have a bad relationship or we are struggling with maybe infertility or something,

181
00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:08,640
those are not issues we bring to the mentoring table.

182
00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:14,160
I mean it's just rare that you would be so comfortable to do that.

183
00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:18,400
And but it's your life and those things are affecting you.

184
00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:22,520
And if you don't bring them forward, they can be in the shadow in the background, but

185
00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:25,800
they absolutely are driving your career.

186
00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:32,440
And so to have a coach where you can really bring everything in your life that is relevant

187
00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:40,680
to your career to the table is very freeing, very liberating, very illuminating and so

188
00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:41,680
critical.

189
00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:45,640
I mean because in reality it's like trying to pretend you don't have an arm and a leg

190
00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:50,600
because the only thing that's important in this particular research mentoring meeting

191
00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:52,200
is your head.

192
00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:56,880
But your arm and your leg exist and if they hurt, they're going to affect your head's

193
00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:58,880
ability to focus.

194
00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:04,480
And so it's really important that you're able to bring all of yourself to your career experience.

195
00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:06,240
And coaching allows you to do that.

196
00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,480
Coaching allows you to do that because coaching doesn't tell you, well this is the only thing

197
00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:11,180
we can talk about.

198
00:12:11,180 --> 00:12:14,920
Coaching doesn't say, well I'm only here for your research side of things.

199
00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:18,440
Like what is going to help you be the best that you can be?

200
00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:22,160
What is going to help you achieve the goals that you set out for yourself?

201
00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:27,520
And if a family relationship is getting in the way of you being everything you can be,

202
00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:31,840
then the family relationship is on the table for discussion.

203
00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:35,520
And it's a beautiful thing that you can do that because there are not many spaces in

204
00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:40,400
our academic environment where we can bring up those things without fear of judgment or

205
00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,800
fear of censure in some way or the other.

206
00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:48,860
And so I really have appreciated my coaching relationships because everything can come

207
00:12:48,860 --> 00:12:49,860
to the table.

208
00:12:49,860 --> 00:12:54,980
My whole self can come to the table because my whole self is important in moving my research

209
00:12:54,980 --> 00:12:55,980
career forward.

210
00:12:55,980 --> 00:13:02,240
Okay, so number two, that it allows you to bring your whole self to the table.

211
00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:06,920
Number three is it helps you learn to trust yourself.

212
00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,060
I really like this one.

213
00:13:09,060 --> 00:13:11,760
It helps you learn to trust yourself.

214
00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:17,560
Okay, so when I first started in my faculty career, I had no idea what I was doing.

215
00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:18,560
I didn't.

216
00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:24,040
I mean, I didn't have research, much research background.

217
00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:26,360
I hadn't really submitted grants very much.

218
00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:28,160
I mean, I'd submitted one or two.

219
00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:29,640
I hadn't written many manuscripts.

220
00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:33,560
I'd done a couple, but there was so much I didn't know.

221
00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:37,640
And so I was always looking around for who knows, who's the expert, who's the brilliant

222
00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,040
person, who's the person who's done this?

223
00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:44,160
And of course, invariably, there are all these amazing mentors who've done so much.

224
00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:46,480
It's like you're in awe of them.

225
00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:48,160
And everything they say is like gold.

226
00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:52,960
Oh my goodness, they recommended I do this.

227
00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:55,360
I must do it now.

228
00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:58,920
You know, there's just the sense of like the mentor is the expert.

229
00:13:58,920 --> 00:13:59,920
They're the leader.

230
00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:01,760
They know everything.

231
00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:04,960
They're so awesome.

232
00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:09,120
Until you find out that, well, you know, they're kind of human.

233
00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:13,160
Like, oh, maybe they're not thinking as critically about my career as I'm thinking as critically

234
00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:15,200
about my career.

235
00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:18,040
And it's not that we find out that there are flaws in our mentors.

236
00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:22,440
It's just that we find out that, you know, there's only so much someone external to you

237
00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,640
can do to move you forward.

238
00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:27,760
And it's not a judgment on the mentor.

239
00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:30,120
It's just a judgment of the process.

240
00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:31,400
Maybe not even so much a judgment.

241
00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:35,880
It's just the reality of the process that nobody is thinking about your career more

242
00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:37,360
than you are.

243
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:42,560
Even if you have the most amazing mentor in the world, they can't be thinking about you

244
00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:44,400
more than you.

245
00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:48,720
Because yeah, they may be thinking about you and thinking, OK, what opportunities can I

246
00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:49,720
give to this person?

247
00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:53,560
But they don't know anything about what's going on in your house with a newborn baby

248
00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:54,880
who doesn't go to sleep.

249
00:14:54,880 --> 00:15:00,800
They have no idea of how much you struggle just to get into work in the morning because

250
00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:03,880
maybe of all the arguments that you're experiencing at home.

251
00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:08,780
They just don't have any idea about how you're needing to care for your aging parents is

252
00:15:08,780 --> 00:15:10,680
impacting your work.

253
00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,480
And you don't necessarily want them to know because you don't want them to stop giving

254
00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,600
you this great stellar advice.

255
00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:22,400
But what happens is that you have to bring all these things to bear in making your own

256
00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:23,400
decisions.

257
00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:24,400
When do you slow down?

258
00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:25,920
When do you speed up?

259
00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:30,200
And maybe the mentor is telling you, like, look, you have one more year until tenure,

260
00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,480
drop everything you're doing and focus.

261
00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:37,680
And you're like, oh, I can't do that because right now we have a sick child at home that's

262
00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,040
taking a lot of time and energy and attention.

263
00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:43,680
And I recognize that the tenure clock is one year to go.

264
00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:46,920
This is not the right time in my life to accelerate.

265
00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:52,620
And in reality, what it helps you to do is it helps you learn to trust yourself.

266
00:15:52,620 --> 00:15:55,360
It helps you learn to trust your instincts.

267
00:15:55,360 --> 00:16:00,720
It helps you learn to stop outsourcing the direction for your career.

268
00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:08,160
It really helps you look inward and to trust that the way you feel, your gut reaction is

269
00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:09,440
real.

270
00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:15,520
It helps you to trust your inner witness, your inner voice, your inner sage.

271
00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:18,920
It really helps you do that.

272
00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:25,240
And the reality is we're needing to learn to do that again because much of our experience

273
00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:34,040
kind of, I think maybe the word I want to use is denigrates our experience or it denigrates

274
00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:38,840
our, yeah, our experience because it's like you haven't had much experience.

275
00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:43,440
I'm the one who's been here for the last 30 years and I'm successful and they are.

276
00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:50,120
But there is a thing that works for you that may not be conventional, but you know, you

277
00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:51,680
know it will work for you.

278
00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:58,480
You know this is the way to go and you can't explain it fully to a mentor who's done it

279
00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:02,880
differently, but you know it's the right way to go.

280
00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:08,940
And so learning to trust yourself is important and a coach allows you to do that.

281
00:17:08,940 --> 00:17:14,480
Number four is it helps you shape a career that's actually fully yours.

282
00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:18,320
In general in life, we're autobiographical people.

283
00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:21,680
What's worked for us is what's worked for us.

284
00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:25,080
And so when we give advice to people, we're going to give advice about what's worked for

285
00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:26,300
us.

286
00:17:26,300 --> 00:17:29,960
We're rarely going to give advice about things that haven't worked for us or that we have

287
00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:31,960
no clue about.

288
00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:37,620
And so many times when our mentors and they're so, they're great people, they're helping

289
00:17:37,620 --> 00:17:44,000
us shape our careers, they're helping us shape our careers according to their experiences.

290
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:48,760
And most of the time if you follow your mentors, you may not go wrong, you probably won't go

291
00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:54,680
wrong, but you won't be shaping your career, you'll be shaping their careers, or you'll

292
00:17:54,680 --> 00:18:00,400
be developing a mini me career, or you know, you'll be like going off of a template that's

293
00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:02,480
not you.

294
00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:06,720
And the reality is that your career is yours.

295
00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:11,040
But in order to make it fully yours, what you need to do is take all the ideas that

296
00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:16,740
you're given and then shape it into a career you actually want.

297
00:18:16,740 --> 00:18:22,800
And so working with a coach allows you to stop looking to other people as the trusted

298
00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:29,540
source for how your career should be, and just collect ideas from all of them, and then

299
00:18:29,540 --> 00:18:35,520
synthesize it into one direction that really moves you forward in the way you want to move.

300
00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:39,840
And so that ultimately at the end of your story, at the end of your journey, you're

301
00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:45,920
shaping a career that's fully, wholly, 100% yours, not somebody else's, that's not a clone

302
00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:49,160
of another person's career, it really is your career.

303
00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,920
And you are learning and using so much from other people, from your mentors, from your

304
00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:58,240
sponsors, that you're not recreating their careers, you're making your own.

305
00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:02,320
And so it's been really awesome for me because I'm shaping a career that's mine, that's

306
00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:05,880
not somebody else's, it's actually fully mine.

307
00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:11,320
And yes, it's got components of other people's careers because I appreciate all the people

308
00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:15,800
who are around me making waves and doing amazing things.

309
00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:21,520
So I can take what they've learned and I can apply it to my career in a way that's fully

310
00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:27,480
authentic and fully reasonable, like it's real for me.

311
00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:32,080
So that's number four, it helps you shape a career that's fully yours.

312
00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:37,320
Number five is that working with a coach helps you identify resources that help you move

313
00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:38,320
forward.

314
00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:42,800
And so you would say, well, this is the function of your mentor, and to some extent it is.

315
00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:47,080
But again, I think your research mentor is really focused on you succeeding in the research

316
00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:52,840
sphere and your whole life really is still in your hands, right?

317
00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:58,080
Because research is one component of your multifaceted life, but it's all got to come

318
00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:02,320
together to create the life you want.

319
00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:06,880
And having a coach allows you, because your focus is not just on one aspect, like it's

320
00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:10,840
not my research or nothing else, it's your whole life.

321
00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:14,840
And because of that, you start to identify resources that are helpful to you.

322
00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:22,000
For example, I once attended a coaching program where we had a say in who would be members

323
00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:23,560
of our group coach.

324
00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:28,840
And I looked at who would be members of our group coaching experience, and I looked at

325
00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:34,160
my life and I thought, you know what one thing that's really, really big in my life right

326
00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:38,400
now is the fact that I have young children, and young children kind of drive my experience.

327
00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:39,600
I mean, it really does.

328
00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:43,520
It changes how much work you can do when you're not at work, it changes how long you can be

329
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:47,760
at work, it changes how you can attend meetings early in the day, later in the day.

330
00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:54,180
And so it felt like at the stage at which I was in my career, having other people, having

331
00:20:54,180 --> 00:21:00,320
other faculty members, other faculty peer mentors who are at the same stage is going

332
00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:01,520
to be so important to me.

333
00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:03,360
And so that's the request I made.

334
00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:08,680
I said, I want to be in a coaching group with women who have young children.

335
00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:10,480
And that's the coaching group that I was in.

336
00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:16,740
And it was so awesome and so powerful because I didn't have to explain, I didn't have to

337
00:21:16,740 --> 00:21:21,200
explain why the fact that the baby wasn't sleeping at night was a big problem for my

338
00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:22,200
research productivity.

339
00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:23,440
I just didn't have to.

340
00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:24,440
It was just a given.

341
00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:26,240
It was just known.

342
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:30,760
And there's something about that experience where there's just a baseline level of what's

343
00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:33,040
known and you can just build on that.

344
00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:39,360
You don't have to spend time just creating context and helping people understand why

345
00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:41,160
things are the way they are.

346
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:45,080
It's just lovely for everybody to just have the same frame of reference.

347
00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:47,480
And it's been a real privilege.

348
00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:52,800
At that time in my career, that was the biggest, biggest issue.

349
00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:58,440
And allowing that to be front and center as part of my coaching experience helped me because

350
00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:03,000
then I could be real about the real barriers to productivity.

351
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:08,880
And then when people gave me advice, when people coached me through these scenarios,

352
00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:13,240
they could do it from the perspective of someone who's actually walked through this before

353
00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:16,320
is currently walking through it at the same time.

354
00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:21,520
And so that was really awesome because I could identify resources that maybe I wouldn't have

355
00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:23,720
ordinarily been able to identify.

356
00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:28,800
I don't know about you, but many of my mentors are men who have a different experience when

357
00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:37,560
it comes to childcare and when it comes to the bulk of the work in the house.

358
00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:42,040
I think in general, people who identify as men tend to have a different experience from

359
00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,880
people who identify as women or are the primary caregivers.

360
00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:55,280
And so it is helpful to have coaching experiences in which I can really seek the resources that

361
00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:59,900
I want and identify resources that help me move forward.

362
00:22:59,900 --> 00:23:06,280
So those are five reasons why you should consider engaging a coach alongside you as you are

363
00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:08,240
building a research career.

364
00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,000
And I'll just summarize those five things.

365
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,200
Number one, it helps you develop clarity of purpose.

366
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:15,280
Number two, it really helps you bring your whole self to the table.

367
00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:18,640
Number three, it allows you to learn to trust yourself.

368
00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,360
And before, it helps you shape a career that is fully yours.

369
00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:26,080
And number five, it helps you identify resources that moves you forward.

370
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:31,200
And this is a great point for me to say, if you are considering working with a coach,

371
00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:37,320
especially as you move forward your career as a research scientist, as a clinical scientist,

372
00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:38,740
consider working with me.

373
00:23:38,740 --> 00:23:41,240
I invite you to work with me.

374
00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:46,540
Now you can go to our website, coicoach.com and get on the wait list or you can direct

375
00:23:46,540 --> 00:23:53,760
message me and we can work out a one-on-one coaching experience or you can be part of

376
00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:55,640
our group coaching as well.

377
00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:58,080
I'm open to doing both at this time.

378
00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:04,560
I have some slots for individual coaching, but I want to just invite you to really consider

379
00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:09,520
building your career alongside working with a coach and think about the fact that when

380
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,200
we think about coaching, coaching kind of comes from the business world, but before

381
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:17,160
the business world, it came really from the sporting world.

382
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:21,360
And coaches really don't work for their clients, right?

383
00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:24,220
They don't do the work for their clients.

384
00:24:24,220 --> 00:24:27,960
Their clients do the work for themselves, but the coach helps them really identify strategies

385
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:29,760
to help them be the best that they can be.

386
00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:33,600
And when you think about it, in sports, the best players have coaches.

387
00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:35,320
All the best players have coaches.

388
00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:42,360
And I think in our work as clinicians, as clinician scientists, as scientists, wow,

389
00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:47,720
if we're really going to be at the top of our game and really have an optimal experience,

390
00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:53,960
I think that we would be best served as other professionals are by working with coaches.

391
00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:58,480
So I invite you to think about who are coaches that you can identify in your life that you

392
00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:03,520
can work with right now, even if you're not necessarily available or open to working with

393
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:09,640
me, who can you work with that helps make you the center of your career, not somebody

394
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:16,640
else's expertise, but makes you the center of your career and allows you to lead from

395
00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:22,720
the center and discover what resources you need or want to access and allows you to help

396
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:29,240
and helps you do that, helps you really build the career that's totally 100% completely

397
00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:30,240
and fully yours.

398
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:31,240
All right.

399
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:33,440
Somebody else needs to hear this podcast.

400
00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:34,440
Please share it with them.

401
00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:39,280
And if you have insights that you want to share, please leave us a voicemail on our

402
00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:42,400
podcast website, clinicianresearcherpodcast.com.

403
00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:49,200
Again, that's clinicianresearcherpodcast.com and share with us how we can create an episode

404
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:52,280
that's especially tailored to a question that you have.

405
00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:56,160
I look forward to playing your voicemail on a future podcast episode.

406
00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:57,160
All right.

407
00:25:57,160 --> 00:25:59,160
It's been a pleasure talking with you today.

408
00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:00,920
Thank you for listening.

409
00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:01,920
Take care and goodbye.

410
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:15,360
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher Podcast, where academic

411
00:26:15,360 --> 00:26:20,680
clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they

412
00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:22,160
have a mentor.

413
00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:28,260
If you found the information in this episode to be helpful, don't keep it all to yourself.

414
00:26:28,260 --> 00:26:30,000
Someone else needs to hear it.

415
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:34,040
So take a minute right now and share it.

416
00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:39,520
As you share this episode, you become part of our mission to help launch a new generation

417
00:26:39,520 --> 00:27:00,560
of clinician researchers who make transformative discoveries that change the way we do healthcare.