Physician Coaching for Achievement

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Athletic coaches guide and support their team in times of challenge and in times of victory. Life coaches encourage clients to transform their lives into something different and revitalizing. Health coaches guide clients to eat well and exercise. Physician coaches guide, support, and encourage their clients to transform as well.

However, implementation of coaching doesn’t necessarily have to occur when a problem arises. You do not have to have a specific problem or be facing an insurmountable amount of stress and burnout to seek the aid of a physician coach.

Physician coaching is an opportunity to have a coach who has quite literally “been there, done that,” to help you get unstuck and reclaim the joy and passion you have for medicine. But what if everything is going well? Could you still benefit from a coach when life is going your way? The answer is: absolutely.

“Coaching is to ensure that things continue to go great,” said Dael Waxman, MD, physician coach. “Things may be good, but they could be great. If you are interested in sustaining this, or even improving more, coaching could be helpful.”

Coaching for Achievement in Practice

Many of us have the finger on the pulse of “what’s next” in our medical careers. From medical school to residency and beyond, we’re used to climbing ladders and elevating our achievements. What else can we do? One client—we’ll call him Dr. W—found himself in the same boat.

Dr. W is a pediatric surgeon in a robust academic center. The academic department happened to have a section for pediatric surgery. Dr. W worked hard and earned a promotion as chief of the academic section for pediatric surgery. Once he earned that position, he asked himself, “now what?” Even though he achieved a major milestone due to his efforts, status, and leadership skills, he didn’t recognize himself as a leader. Dr. W tackled this in his coaching journey. From discovering new ways of leading a team to exploring how to advocate for your team while seeking resources from your chair, Dr. W developed a new toolkit around leading that he never knew he needed. Physician coaching helped him navigate through this journey.

“Sometimes you don’t know that you might need to know certain things to continue your good success,” said Dr. Waxman. “That is where coaching comes into play.”

Coaching for Leadership

Maybe you have a blind spot you’re unaware of, or perhaps you’re new to a leadership role. Physician coaching can shine a light on any blind spots and help you determine what you need to do and learn to be an effective leader.

Dr. X is a medical oncologist in a urology practice. Through her hard work and dedication, she became the head oncologist. Coaching helped her determine what to do to make sure the rest of the practice understands what she and a fellow oncologist do.

Collaborative health care can be a tricky topic to tackle, but with physician coaching, Dr. X was able to articulate the importance of collaboration. Not only that, but physician coaching helped her move from working in peer-to-peer relationships to working in leader to team relationships, a dynamic sometimes overlooked in the wake of a promotion.

“Folks think of coaching for troubled times but the fun and excitement of it is partnering in the good times to bring someone even better opportunities in life,” said Rick Zollinger, MD, FACS, physician coach.

Coaching for Empowerment

Dr. Y is an Ob/Gyn who is not only a highly skilled robotic surgeon, but also the chair of the department and managing partner of her group. Her energy and interest in her leadership roles had nearly completely disappeared at the time she began coaching and she felt deeply unappreciated, particularly in her practice. Dr. Y felt as if the other partners simply tolerated her meetings. She’d often find them yawning, stretching, and leaving behind mountains of work post-meeting for her to complete. Part of her discernment was to recognize her own role in that pattern. The other part was for her to really inspect what pieces of her leadership work were strengths for her and what pieces were areas in which she not only lacked expertise, but also lacked interest.

Dr. Y identified members of her group who had strength in those areas and invited them to take responsibility for those important jobs. In doing so, her fellow partners felt more engaged and empowered. In fact, this decision catalyzed a new interest in leadership among the members. Dr. Y felt liberated and her own leadership skills elevated. She found inspiration and both she and the group grew in a new way through this awareness.

“For me coaching is about empowerment—creating the space to explore where we are, what is fulfilling, and what is beckoning us toward something we haven't quite put our finger on yet,” said Carla Rotering, MD. “It is a process of discovery, discernment, and then creating the strength of heart, commitment, and discipline to recognize what no longer fits the vision we have both personally and professionally, say a kind goodbye to those aspects that have gotten us where we are, and forge a new path pointing us toward something new that lines up with where we want to be and what we want to create!”

Coaching for Objectivity and Choice

Physicians come to us for coaching for a variety of reasons, but perhaps one of the most prominent is the search for objectivity. There is a lot of validation given, simply by listening and reflecting. In other words, clients feel heard and seen by someone who will not judge, demote, or threaten them or their careers in any way. Coaching provides a confidential and comfortable environment to lean into vulnerability.

Physician coaches do not “prescribe” an outcome. In fact, they rarely give advice. Instead, they ask insightful questions that help the client find an answer within themselves. This path to discovery not only gives the client ownership of their destiny, but also a sense of control. Think of how many times someone gave you unsolicited advice. Did you take it? Or did you simply nod and do the opposite? Choice is a powerful motivator and catalyst for change.

Mrunal Shah, MD, will tell you, “The people you trust and the people who surround you can often be your best lens.” He learned this at the conclusion of his residency when his program director said there was a need for an additional faculty member on staff. However, it wasn’t your typical program faculty role that was available. There was a desire by the then–chief financial officer and chief information officer to have a staff appointment that supported IT and medical education. Dr. Shah was asked to consider taking on the role of faculty teaching attending with a co-appointment within IT. Dr. Shah demonstrated he was really interested in technology and how it can affect or be a part of how we deliver medicine.

Dr. Shah knew his program director was coaching him on the right path. It led to a tremendous opportunity to leverage what he loved about being a doctor and what he loved about technology.

“I thought that that technology had the capacity to make the lives of physicians much better and certainly make the patient experience better and safer,” said Dr. Shah. “I was really excited about it.”

Dr. Shah’s willingness to explore the IT arm while still practicing medicine led to even more opportunity. He would eventually rely on those he trusted most to make a critical decision. A new chief information officer (CIO) took over with a desire to create a position where a physician leader can engage physicians. Dr. Shah wasn’t sure what the new CIO was asking. As a classically trained physician, he loved taking care of patients and working with residents—a passion he did not have to sacrifice in his faculty position where technology and medicine met.

Unwilling to give up on Dr. Shah, the CIO made an arrangement with Shah’s program director. He would hold the position for one year. If Dr. Shah didn’t take it within that timeframe, he’d move on. If Dr. Shah agreed, he’d earn an executive opportunity within IT and if he hated it, he could go back to where he was comfortable. It was a win-win.

Dr. Shah’s program director coached him once more, believing he could really make a significant impact in the executive role.

“So I trusted my program director and the CIO at that point. And I took this position,” Dr. Shah said. “Best move I ever made. It was the coolest opportunity to learn actually what I'll learn in hindsight.”

Coaching for All

As you can see, physician coaching is helpful not just when you’re facing a significant issue in your professional life, or if you’re exhausted or dissatisfied with the way your life is going. Granted, physician coaching can absolutely tackle these areas, but sometimes a little coaching is all you need to take a giant, positive, leap in your career.

As a physician and educator for over 35 years, Dael Waxman, MD, is a physician coach and professor Emeritus of family medicine for Atrium Health. Dr. Waxman is based in Charlotte, NC.
 
Richard Zollinger, MD, FACS, UHM, is a retired cardiovascular surgeon and active physician coach. Dr. Zollinger served as the Medical Director of Carolina Medical Center Mercy Wound Care for over seven years. Dr. Zollinger is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
 
Carla Rotering, MD, is a pulmonary and critical care physician at White Mountain Regional Medical Center in Springerville, AZ. Dr. Rotering is also an accomplished physician coach and advisor. She is based in Phoenix.
 
Mrunal Shah, MD, is a physician coach with a vast degree of leadership experience including serving as the System Vice President of Provider Experience and the Regional Vice President of Medical Affairs for OhioHealth. Dr. Shah also served on the faculty of Riverside Methodist Hospital's Riverside Family Medicine Residency Program. Dr. Shah is based in Columbus, OH.