Patrick Daugherty

As an experienced professional and healthcare leader, I have adopted the attitude of continuous learning. Technology is moving at lightning speed and new company requirements are popping up to keep up. If your current role seems to be getting a bit stale, there are several free or low cost training sites that can provide credentials to help your brand within or outside of your current organization. It's hard to figure out where to start, but a good hint would be to look at your company's strategic plan or trends in the markets in the field you are interested in. Go for it!

During my career in the Air Force, there was a saying that stuck with me and those who know me well hear me repeat often, "Grow where you are planted." The timing may not be right for a promotion or a salary increase but the timing is always right to do your best, be your best, and bring a positive force to your team. In my experience, I have found that a positive attitude, hard work, integrity and being a reliable teammate never expires in the minds of those around you. Eventually, you will work with people again in another capacity. It could be in a capacity that provides the salary you seek.

I have been on both sides of this conversation and I understand the importance of establishing standards and expectations throughout the reporting period so there are less questions or confusion among staff with regard to their career path and compensation. An employee should request a formal feedback with their boss to get an understanding on where they stand in meeting the goals and objectives that should have been laid out at the beginning of the reporting period. This also gives the boss a chance to explain any restrictions on salary increases. Two alternative solutions can come from this discussion. The first is the employee's role in resolving the company struggles to meet goals, and the second is non-monetary rewards.

After posing the question on how I can help do better and shouldering some of the burden, I must be authentic in my response and follow up. If the answer is that I need to provide more clear information through weekly tag-ups to avoid confusion, then I need to put this on the calendar right away and keep to it, otherwise all of the other steps before this will be perceived as phony. If the new collaboration is in support of a project or program that is successful, give credit to your colleague!

After you discover the facts and circumstances that led a person to make a decision or take an action that led to a conflict, you may grow to understand why the choices were made or you may find an opportunity to provide context as to how it impacted you or your organization in a negative way. In either case, the approach should not be focused with the intent of one person being "right" or "wrong" but rather where things can be changed or better for the mission. I like to offer up a question to the other person on how I can better communicate or provide what is needed for a different choice or action to be taken. One assumption I make, is that everyone is there to do their best for the organization and their clients.

A scenario I have experienced way too often is when a colleague was in a conflict with another, yet neither spoke to each other about the issue at hand. I found that there were a lot of assumptions about what the other person was doing or their intentions. They each had their own stories developed about the other and the frustration was growing over these perceptions rather than the facts and circumstances that each had to face in reality. To avoid this is to make a commitment to give your colleagues the "benefit of the doubt." Reserve your assumptions and avoid the temptation to develop your own story until you hear the circumstances that led them to make the decisions or take the action that resulted in the conflict.