BossB, MD

BossB, MD

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Saturday Morning Rounds May 23, 2020 - What Michael Scott from The Office can teach us about negotiations

Posted by BossB, MD on May 23, 2020
Saturday Morning Rounds May 23, 2020 - What Michael Scott from The Office can teach us about negotiations

What we're reading (or in this case, watching)

We've been ending most days lately by watching a quick episode of something comedic - nice way to finish on a light note, highly recommend it. The Office and Parks & Recreation comprise most of our rotation.

We were pleasantly surprised this week when, expecting some lighthearted entertainment, we actually stumbled upon a masterclass in negotiation tactics!

If you can read between the lines to get to the core motions of what's happening in this negotiation, there's a lot to learn. We'll break those lessons down for you in our "Tip of the week."

Quick aside - did you know Idris Elba guest starred in like 5 episodes of The Office?! 5th season, starting at episode 20. You're welcome.

Who we're following
Dr. Angela Duckworth, PhD ( @angeladuckw) is a researcher, author, teacher, Founder & CEO of The Character Lab ( @TheCharacterLab) and all-around badass + great human being. Her life's mission is to use science to help kids thrive, and in pursuit of that goal she's uncovered a number of truths about human nature and success that all of us can apply.
 
She's also got one of the most interesting, enriching, and just all-around uplifting Twitter feeds of anyone we follow. Here's an example - a gift her teenage made her for her birthday that both warmed our hearts and reminded us of some very important things that can be easy to lose sight of:
BBMD tip of the week
So in the clip we're breaking down this week, Michael Scott, the manager of a paper company, leaves that paper company to start his own competing paper company, and has a great deal of quick success, thereby putting his former employer in jeopardy.
 
The clip in question is the scene in which his former employers (specifically the CFO) negotiate to buy him back. Here are the motions:
  • Before the CFO can even present the first offer, Michael tells him to give him their second offer because he "never accepts the first offer"
    • We rarely give advice that has a "never" in it, but this it pretty solid (especially given that a significant portion of the gender pay gap can be attributed the fact that women are 8x less likely to ask for anything AT ALL in a negotiation than men are) - obviously don't actually say this the way he did though
  • The CFO's second offer is $12,000; Michael responds to this offer by focusing on emotion "are you kidding me - that is insultingly low" rather than the money itself
    • Where you focus during a negotiation is the single most important thing you can control, and the money itself is almost never the place you should be focusing - maximizing emotional resonance between you and your counterpart is one of the most important places to focus, and letting them know that they're jeopardizing that and breaking faith with their low-ball offer can be a great tactic
  • Next, the CFO tries to back Michael into a corner by pointing out that his fledgling business is a new company, that they can't keep operating at their current margins, and that they're probably scared - Michael flips this right back on him by pointing out that there's an investor meeting coming up at which the CFO will have to explain how Michael's departure has put the company's most profitable branch in the red, which will jeopardize the CFO's job, and that therefore Michael is really the one with time on his side
    • This is the singly most brilliant moment in the whole negotiation, when the tables actually turn and Michael realizes he can pretty much name his price - things are never about numbers themselves, they're about what the numbers mean to the individuals involved and to the organization itself
In   our curriculum, we call this "thinking like your boss." And it all boils down to understanding that no matter how seemingly important, every human has a role that you can orient toward, and no matter how seemingly powerful and well-run, every organization has a goal that you can orient toward:
Quote we're contemplating
Surprisingly effective:

“Whenever I’m about to do something, I think, ‘Would an idiot do that?’ And if they would, I do not do that thing.” – Dwight Schrute
 
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PS - If you were forwarded this email and enjoyed it, subscribe here to make sure you don't miss out on future ones!
 
PPS - As always, please let us know your requests and suggestions by replying to this email (we read 'em all) or getting at us via Twitter. Which section above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Just send a tweet to  @BossB_MD and put #SaturdayMorningRounds in there so we can find it.

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!
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Saturday Morning Rounds May 2, 2020 - How to lead (even if you don't have authority)

Posted by BossB, MD on May 2, 2020
Saturday Morning Rounds May 2, 2020 - How to lead (even if you don't have authority)

What we're reading

Leadership and the One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard

We don't have to tell you that women are massively underrepresented in medical leadership positions.

What we might need remind you of, however - what we all need to be reminded of on occasion - is that one doesn't need authority to be a leader. Leadership isn't about a title or decision-making power - it's about influencing others, preferably for the better.

Now scoot in close cause we're gonna let you in on a little secret. The authority and titles and decision-making powers that we all want to see more women in medicine hold? Well, they tend to find their way into the hands of those rare few who intentionally study and master the art of positively influencing others, of leadership - regardless of gender.

Which means (a) that you can always lead wherever you're at, (b) that there are a lot more things in your sphere of influence than you likely realize, and (c) that the path to authority and title and decision-making power is a predictable one that you can reliably speed your progress on, should you so choose. 

And this book - in our opinions one of the very best books on leadership ever written - is a great guide for how to do so.

Leadership and the One Minute Manager is:

  • Simple - Almost to the extent of being kitschy
  • Short - Only 134 pages of really large type w/lots of white space
  • Story-Based - It tells the story of a female entrepreneur learning about leadership through a series of interactions with a mentor

It is also, pound-for-pound, the most highly applicable, effective, and tactical leadership system we know of. And the essence of that applicability and effectiveness lies in what the authors call "Situational Leadership" - the idea that different people, different tasks, and different moments call for different leadership styles.

Here's the essence of what the book has to teach in a single image:

The essential argument here is that people have two components that drive how they engage with any task or role - competence and commitment.

And that leaders have two types of behaviors they can offer those they lead to improve how they engage with any task or role - directive behaviors and supportive behaviors.

Now this all might seem painfully simple, and that's because it is. Which is exactly why it's so effective - because you can use it in almost any situation, especially when you don't have a lot of bandwidth because emotions are running high.

Let's give it a spin real quick to show you what we mean. Think of a leadership interaction that you've seen go wrong, preferably one in which you were the leader. Really, get it in your head - envision it, transport yourself to that moment. Now, imagine that before the conversation the leader had diagnosed where those they were leading were at in their development level. Imagine that during the conversation the leader had shown some range and flexibility, meeting those being led where they were at, with what they needed in that moment to either understand the task better, to feel better about the relationship or their place in the organization, or both.

We'll bet that the scenario you just played out went a lot better than the original one did in real life, and that's why we love this book.

Who we're following

It's impossible for us to talk about women in medical leadership without giving a shoutout to the American Medical Women's Association (@AMWADoctors). The "about" section from their website says it better than we ever could:

"For nearly a century, the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) has been committed to the advancement of women in medicine. Although the number of women choosing careers in medicine has grown substantially, there has not been a commensurate increase in the percentage of women in senior leadership positions. To redress this situation, AMWA has carried out ambitious advocacy efforts including research, constituency building, mentoring, leadership development, and policy reform to enable environmental and institutional transformation."

AMWA is one of our most valued partner organizations, and we're actually currently running our personal finance and entrepreneurship webinar series with them! Become a member today and email us your confirmation if you'd like to be attend the final webinar of that 3-part series and get access to the recordings :)

BBMD tip of the week

It's easy to say that one can lead from wherever one is at today, regardless of title and authority. It's another thing entirely to believe it and to do so. 

That's what our tip of the week is about.

If you've been reading this newsletter for any amount of time, you'll know that we're fans of simple systems because they're more likely to work for you in the moment. And this is one of our favorite little ways of thinking about leadership.

Essentially, you can always lead. The way you do so depends on where you are in one of three contexts:

  • Leading from In Front: This is what we think of when we usually think of leadership - the one in the front of the room with the talking stick and the authority.
  • Leading from Beside: This is being a leader amongst one's peers and colleagues - sharing best practices, supporting each other, celebrating their wins, and actively seeking opportunities to add value.
  • Leading from Behind: This is what we like to call "managing up" - the way you lead those who are in authority above you, the art of being a good follower. Skills used in this context include supporting your leader's success, communicating well and often, trying to make them and the whole team look good, and the like.

Once we reframe "being a leader" as something we do at all times rather than some far-off goal that's hard and unlikely for us to attain, we become one, de facto.

And this little spatial framework is an easy mental shortcut to help us recognize and embody whatever the best version of our inner leader would be doing in any given situation, thereby believing even more that we are, in fact, leaders, thereby leading more effectively, and so on and so forth.

Now go ride that positive feedback loop all the way to the top of wherever it is you wanna go.

Quote we're contemplating

"Leadership is a series of behaviors rather than a role for heroes." -Margaret Wheatley
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PS - If you were forwarded this email and enjoyed it, subscribe here to make sure you don't miss out on future ones!
 
PPS - As always, please let us know your requests and suggestions by replying to this email (we read 'em all) or getting at us via Twitter. Which section above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Just send a tweet to  @BossB_MD and put #SaturdayMorningRounds in there so we can find it.

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!
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Saturday Morning Rounds April 25, 2020 - Creating your own independent revenue streams

Posted by BossB, MD on May 2, 2020
Saturday Morning Rounds April 25, 2020 - Creating your own independent revenue streams

What we're reading

"Everyone knows that timing is everything. But we don't know much about timing itself. Our lives are a never-ending stream of "when" decisions: when to start a business, schedule a class, get serious about a person. Yet we make those decisions based on intuition and guesswork.

Timing, it's often assumed, is an art. In When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, Pink shows that timing is really a science.

Drawing on a rich trove of research from psychology, biology, and economics, Pink reveals how best to live, work, and succeed. How can we use the hidden patterns of the day to build the ideal schedule? Why do certain breaks dramatically improve student test scores? How can we turn a stumbling beginning into a fresh start? Why should we avoid going to the hospital in the afternoon? Why is singing in time with other people as good for you as exercise? And what is the ideal time to quit a job, switch careers, or get married?"

While the entire book is spectacular and definitely worth a full read, that "switch careers" bit at the end of the description is especially interesting to us. 

A majority of our clients first come to us at a crossroads. "Should I stay or should I go" is sometimes the question they're asking - but more often than not, it's "how can I <increase my salary/fix this professional relationship/get promoted>?" and we have to answer that question with another one: "do you even want to?"

In When, Pink includes a "Time Hacker's Handbook" at the end of each chapter to help us put theory into action. And he concludes his chapter on Endings with a succinct guide about when to quit a job. If you answer no to two or more of these questions, it might be time to start planning an exit:

  • Do you want to be in this job on your next work anniversary?
  • Is your current job both demanding and in your control?
  • Does your boss allow you to do your best work?
  • Are you outside of your three-to-five year salary bump window?
    • We would rephrase this to ask, "are the tangibles of this job providing what you want, and if not what are the odds that they ever could?"
  • Does your daily work align with your long-term goals?

If you're feeling a little unsettled by your answers to those questions, don't worry. We offer free 30min intro calls designed to provide some clarity and next steps for exactly those kinds of situations, and we're going to go over some options that are a little more creative than "give two weeks' notice" in today's tip of the week.

Who we're following

For those who've been reading these newsletters for a while, it will come as no surprise that we're huge fans of Pink (@DanielPink).

He's got that rare combination that so many non-fiction topics beg for - the communication and storytelling prowess of a world-class writer, blended with the incisive, data-driven perspective of someone who's spent an entire career trying to separate signal from noise. His ability to communicate primary research to a lay population is world-class, and his Twitter feed is a reflection of that.

That's why we've featured his work before, it's why Carlton uses his books as required reading for 2 of the business classes he teaches, and why we're recommending you give him a follow!

BBMD tip of the week

It's a sad truth that regardless of how you answered Pink's "should you leave your job" questions, in the near-term you're not likely in a position to actually do anything about it.

That's because most of us are beholden. To debt. To a lifestyle. To showing up at a specific time and place to make money so that the wheels don't fall off of whatever life we've built for ourselves.

This week's "tip" is all about how to break free of those shackles that bind, or at least to begin the process of loosening them.

And we've got good news! We're going to do so not by becoming a miser, or living with less, or faking your death and escaping to an island nation that doesn't extradite because you can't bankrupt out of student loans in the USA (not like we've ever thought of that or anything, of course).

No, we'll do it by creating new, independent revenue streams for ourselves so that we have OPTIONS.

Last week, we asked you to take the 10 business ideas you'd generated the week prior, and then score and sort them based on the following qualities:

  • Monetary investment to establish and maintain (think of this as a reverse-coded question - 0 for a high monetary investment because that's bad, 10 for a low monetary investment because that's good)
  • Time investment to establish and maintain (again - 0 for high, 10 for low)
  • How much the idea capitalizes upon YOUR UNIQUE gifts/talents/skills/assets (0 for not at all, 10 for completely)

Now that you've done that, it's time to put your list into action!

And to do so, we're gonna transition out of our heads and into our guts, away from our numbers and toward our intuition, and most importantly out of our own experience and into that of our potential customers (all businesses have a customer, after all).

So, here's what we want you to do:

  • Pick whichever idea from the top 3 in your list has the most energy/draw/attraction/excitement for you - Trust your gut, your intuition in this step
  • Commit to trying to make at least $1 off that idea in the next month - It's even easier than it sounds, but also one of the most fundamentally gratifying and exciting and encouraging things most entrepreneurs ever do; presales are your friend ;)
  • Create a crystal-clear (first draft) vision of your perfect customer
    1. Read this short essay
    2. Watch this 2min video on customer personas 
    3. Watch this 3min video on the customer adoption curve and try to think about who your "innovators" and "early adopters" will be
    4. Brainstorm about the demographics, psychographics, motivators - and really anything else you'd find interesting or helpful (preferred brands, favorite color, favorite season, etc) - of your perfect customer, then edit and crystallize it into something that's easily digestible and memorable for you
    5. Give the customer a name (extra points for alliteration ie "Soccer Sarah", extra points for attaching an image)

And now you've got a better start than most successful businesses out in the world today even had! 

There's a lot more to this entrepreneurship/side-hustle/multiple-revenue-stream game than we could fit into even months' worth of newsletters, and we don't wanna bore you if this isn't up your alley. So, if you ARE interested in learning more about the topic, please fill out this super-quick survey or reply to this email to let us know!

Quote we're contemplating

 "Know what your customers want most and what your company does best. Focus on where those two meet." - Kevin Stirtz

 
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PS - If you were forwarded this email and enjoyed it, subscribe here to make sure you don't miss out on future ones!
 
PPS - As always, please let us know your requests and suggestions by replying to this email (we read 'em all) or getting at us via Twitter. Which section above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Just send a tweet to  @BossB_MD and put #SaturdayMorningRounds in there so we can find it.

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!
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Saturday Morning Rounds April 18, 2020 - How to spot a millionaire, and what that teaches you about how to become one

Posted by BossB, MD on April 18, 2020
Saturday Morning Rounds April 18, 2020 - How to spot a millionaire, and what that teaches you about how to become one

What we're reading

The senior partners in Jess' practice gifted this book to her when she first joined - a tradition they uphold with any physician who becomes a part of their team. And there's a great reason why.

This book isn't just considered canon in the world of personal finance, it's a cornerstone. Its authors are two business professors who spent years interviewing as many millionaires as they could to learn what path each took to reach the point of $1M+ ($3.7M, on average) in net worth.

The results were anything but intuitive. 

They found that the actual average American millionaire is probably a lot different from what most peoples' image of a "millionaire" might look like. For example, the average millionaire:

  • Didn't receive an inheritance
  • Never went to a private school (but does have a college education)
  • Lives in a middle-class area, has lived in the same house for 20+ years
  • Drives an old, used vehicle
  • Invests 20%+ of their pre-tax income

This book is especially valuable to Jess' practice and this newsletter's readers because it includes a number of cautionary tales about physicians and how common it is for them to NOT end up in the "millionaire" group - despite incomes that should be almost guaranteed to land them there (and yes we're factoring student loan debt into that statement).

Wealth accumulation is really quite simple at its core, and it's driven by an equation that we went over last week.

But we don't want you to get the idea that delayed gratification and miserly frugality are the only way to get there. Just that every dollar you spend should be driven by a series of intentional, clear-eyed choices based on a system you create before you spend that dollar.

The bad news is that you don't get to write the rules of wealth accumulation. They are what they are, and this book is one of the shortest, most effective ways to learn them.

The good news is that you do get to create a system that reflects your priorities and values - and the webinar series we're almost done creating is designed to be one of the shortest, most effective ways to help you do so.

Who we're following

Dr. Carrie Reynolds, MD (@HipHustlePod) is, in her own words, a "Peds GI doc by day and podcaster and side-hustler by night." She's the "founder and producer of the Hippocratic Hustle Podcast- a podcast for women physicians," and she also just happens to be one of our favorite contributors to the physician finance space. If you're interested in all this stuff, we strongly recommend giving her a follow!

BBMD tip of the week

Remember those 10 ideas for how you could increase your income (or better yet add entirely new sources of income) that we asked you to come up with last week?

Well this week, we're going to put some meat on their bones!

Pull out your list, and give each one of those ideas it own 0-10 scores in the following 3 categories:

  • Monetary investment to establish and maintain (think of this as a reverse-coded question - 0 for a high monetary investment because that's bad, 10 for a low monetary investment because that's good)
  • Time investment to establish and maintain (again - 0 for high, 10 for low)
  • How much the idea capitalizes upon YOUR UNIQUE gifts/talents/skills/assets (0 for not at all, 10 for completely)

Next, calculate the blended average for each idea and re-order the list based on that score, highest to lowest.

Then, if you feel like it, email them to us for some free feedback!

Lastly, make sure you read next week's newsletter, in which we'll share how you can put this newly prioritized list of ideas into action.

Quote we're contemplating

“Money should never change one’s values…. Making money is only a report card. It’s a way to tell how you’re doing.” - Thomas Stanley, PhD (author of The Millionaire Next Door) 

 
 
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PS - If you were forwarded this email and enjoyed it, subscribe here to make sure you don't miss out on future ones!
 
PPS - As always, please let us know your requests and suggestions by replying to this email (we read 'em all) or getting at us via Twitter. Which section above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Just send a tweet to  @BossB_MD and put #SaturdayMorningRounds in there so we can find it.

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!
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Saturday Morning Rounds April 11, 2020 - The 2 key behaviors of personal finance

Posted by BossB, MD on April 11, 2020
Saturday Morning Rounds April 11, 2020 - The 2 key behaviors of personal finance

What we're reading

As we mentioned last week, a big part of what we do here at BBMD is helping women physicians get their money right 💰

Our real expertise in that area lies in helping you maximize what you earn at work by career planning and negotiating like a pro, but there's so much more to the money game than that. And with the economic uncertainty we're all facing right now, we expect that this topic might be top-of-mind for many of you reading this.

So, we're working on a series of webinars to give you an overview of all the stuff you really need to know and none of the stuff you don't, in one place. Here's what we're thinking of so far:

  • Economics 101 - How the economy and markets work
  • Overview of fundamental personal finance concepts & strategies
  • How to build multiple revenue streams (investments, side-hustles, etc)

As we've been sourcing material for this project, we've been wading through the vast amount of financial content on the interwebs trying to find the diamonds in the rough and share them with you. Here's our second:

Afford Anything by Paula Pant

Afford Anything isn't a book or a video - it's a website, a podcast, and really an entire company run by an incredibly cool person named Paula Pant.

Paula is a valuable resource in this area for many reasons, chief amongst them being that she's really done the work and has receipts to prove it (a rarity in the personal finance thought leader space).

She achieved financial independence and secured her dream life of traveling around the world wherever and whenever she wants at a much younger age than most. Now she shares the lessons she learned getting there, with others.

She does an amazing job of demystifying personal finance topics, grounding what she shares about finances in the knowledge that it's always in service of your personal lifestyle design, and creating content that is entertaining, easy to understand, and realistic to implement. She specializes in real estate investing with a focus on rental property income, but has a pretty solid wide-angle view of the whole personal finance world.

 

One of our favorite lessons of hers is this graphic about what personal finance boils down to, from her intro content:

 

Personal finance really boils down to 2 key behaviors:

  • Maximizing the gap between what you earn (our real specialty lies in helping you maximize this number) and what you spend (this is the focus of many "personal finance experts" who would have you stop drinking Starbucks and eating avocado toast)
  • INVESTING THE DIFFERENCE

Paula keeps everything centered around these behaviors, and her recommendations are simple, focused and actionable - just a few of the many reasons we love her stuff.

Who we're following

Paula Pant (@AffordAnything), of course! She recently contracted and thankfully recovered from Coronavirus, so lately her content has understandably been focused on that.

However, her feed is usually a well-curated treasure trove of interesting and insightful finance content from a myriad of sources (she actually very impressively kept this up throughout her illness), as well as her own content. If you're interested in deepening your understanding of such topics she's one of the best Tweeps (or Instagrammers or emailers or podcasters) you could follow.

BBMD tip of the week

Increasing what you earn is pretty much always more fun than decreasing what you spend, so brainstorm 10 ideas for how you could increase your earnings - bonus points if they'd be a brand new source of revenue for you. Then be sure to have 'em handy for next week's post :)

Quote we're contemplating

"Mind the gap. If I can distill personal finance advice into three words: Mind the gap. Focus on ramping up your income, while keeping your expenses the same or less. That gap will naturally grow wider and wider.” - Paula Pant 
 
 
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PS - If you were forwarded this email and enjoyed it, subscribe here to make sure you don't miss out on future ones!
 
PPS - As always, please let us know your requests and suggestions by replying to this email (we read 'em all) or getting at us via Twitter. Which section above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Just send a tweet to  @BossB_MD and put #SaturdayMorningRounds in there so we can find it.

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!
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Saturday Morning Rounds April 4, 2020 - How to start making sense of markets

Posted by BossB, MD on April 4, 2020
Saturday Morning Rounds April 4, 2020 - How to start making sense of markets
 

What we're reading

A big part of what we do here at BBMD is helping women physicians get their money right 💰

Our real expertise in that area lies in helping you maximize what you earn at work by career planning and negotiating like a pro, but there's so much more to the money game than that. And with the economic uncertainty we're all facing right now, we expect that this topic might be top-of-mind for many of you reading this.

Sadly, we've got some ground to make up right from the jump because most women lag behind men in financial literacy in the first place.

So, we're working on a webinar (or maybe a series of them) to give you an overview of all the stuff you really need to know and none of the stuff you don't, in one place. Here's what we're thinking of so far:

  • Economics 101 - How the economy and markets work
  • Overview of fundamental personal finance concepts & strategies
  • How to build multiple revenue streams (investments, side-hustles, etc)

As we've been sourcing material for this project, we've been wading through the vast amount of financial content on the interwebs trying to find the diamonds in the rough and share them with you. Here's our first:

How The Economic Machine Works by Ray Dalio (arguably one of the most successful investors and business thinkers of all time):

If you can think of any topics you'd like us to cover or any specific questions on this subject you'd like answered, please let us know!!

Who we're following

While we're on the subject, Ray Dalio has a Twitter (@RayDalio), and it's a pretty great follow if you wanna learn more about this stuff! He has written a couple books about the core principles that drive his decision making and were responsible for his success over the years, and regularly shares little snippets from those with context on how one might apply them to current happenings. In addition to that, he actually engages pretty heavily on the platform, conducting regular AMAs and the like.

BBMD tip of the week

Research whether you or your institution might qualify for one of the many loan & debt relief programs just launched by the government's CARES act.

If so, we recommend you apply ASAP as most of these programs have a strict budget cap - supposedly once they're gone, they're gone.

Quote we're contemplating

Ray Dalio has too many good quotes to pick just one this week, so we're gonna give you 3 from him:

 "I learned that if you work hard and creatively, you can have just about anything you want, but not everything you want. Maturity is the ability to reject good alternatives in order to pursue even better ones.”

“Don’t mistake possibilities for probabilities. Anything is possible. It’s the probabilities that matter. Everything must be weighed in terms of its likelihood and prioritized.”

And especially appropriate right now:
“Most of life’s greatest opportunities come out of moments of struggle; it’s up to you to make the most of these tests of creativity and character.”
 
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PS - If you were forwarded this email and enjoyed it, subscribe here to make sure you don't miss out on future ones!
 
PPS - As always, please let us know your requests and suggestions by replying to this email (we read 'em all) or getting at us via Twitter. Which section above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Just send a tweet to  @BossB_MD and put #SaturdayMorningRounds in there so we can find it.

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!
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Saturday Morning Rounds March 28, 2020 - Comedic coping pt 4

Posted by BossB, MD on March 28, 2020
Saturday Morning Rounds March 28, 2020 - Comedic coping pt 4

What we're reading

For the third weekly installment of our lighthearted, take-a-break-from-the-world-and-celebrate-Women's-History-Month version of this newsletter, we're taking a trip through Crimea, Constantinople, Great Britain, and the origins of modern nursing:

Florence Nightingale Revolutionizes Nursing (feat. Minka Kelly) - Drunk History:

 

Who we're following

And to keep another one of this month's trends running, we're celebrating another awesome anonymous #MedTwitter parody account!

Her Twitter handle is @pissedoffpremed, and this is just a small sample of the hilarity, hot-takes, and generally delightful irreverence you'll be signing up for if you follow her (add in stray kitten pics and some very high-quality retweets as well for full effect):

BBMD tip of the week

Watch Tiger King on Netflix if you haven't started already - truth really is stranger than fiction sometimes. You couldn't write more absurd characters if you tried, and the storytelling is incredibly well-done.

Oh, and don't binge it all at once like we almost did - it helps to have something to look forward to.

Quote we're contemplating

“We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.” - Anaïs Nin
 
 
 
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PS - If you were forwarded this email and enjoyed it, subscribe here to make sure you don't miss out on future ones!
 
PPS - As always, please let us know your requests and suggestions by replying to this email (we read 'em all) or getting at us via Twitter. Which section above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Just send a tweet to  @BossB_MD and put #SaturdayMorningRounds in there so we can find it.

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!
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Saturday Morning Rounds March 21, 2020 - Sisters and side hustles

Posted by BossB, MD on March 21, 2020
Saturday Morning Rounds March 21, 2020 - Sisters and side hustles

What we're reading

For the third weekly installment of our lighthearted, take-a-break-from-the-world and celebrate Women's History Month version of this newsletter, we're headed to Egypt.

You've almost certainly heard of Cleopatra, but have you heard about the other queen of Egypt? Have you heard the story of Cleopatra's 11-year-old sister, who also just so happens to have beat Caesar?

We didn't think so - time to buckle in and hang one cause this one's a wild ride:

Who we're following

And to keep another one of this month's trends running, we're celebrating another hilarious anonymous #MedTwitter parody account! Her Twitter handle is @relatableafmd, and we've gotta say, we agree.

BBMD tip of the week

We've written a few times in this newsletter about general personal finance and the importance of having multiple revenue streams.

It might not seem like it with all of the current economic uncertainty, but right now is a spectacular time, if you're one of the many readers of this newsletter who find themselves homebound, to consider developing your brand and/or building a side-hustle (esp online).

Nobody knows where the market will go in the coming weeks/months. But when volatility strikes and we don't know which investments are good or not, it's helpful to remember that it's always a good time to invest in the one thing you can actually control - yourself.

Here are a few brands we respect the hell out of who've done a great job of this:

This Twitter thread and podcast - both titled "How to Get Rich (without getting lucky)" - are a great place to start.

We're currently working on a webinar about this topic - please let us know if you have any tips you think we should share, any questions you want answered, or any ideas that have worked for you!

Quote we're contemplating

"I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man" - Shawn Carter (Jay-Z)   
 
 
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PS - If you were forwarded this email and enjoyed it, subscribe here to make sure you don't miss out on future ones!
 
PPS - As always, please let us know your requests and suggestions by replying to this email (we read 'em all) or getting at us via Twitter. Which section above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Just send a tweet to  @BossB_MD and put #SaturdayMorningRounds in there so we can find it.

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!
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Saturday Morning Rounds March 14, 2020 - Comedic coping pt 2

Posted by BossB, MD on March 14, 2020
Saturday Morning Rounds March 14, 2020 - Comedic coping pt 2

What we're reading

For the second weekly installment of our lighthearted, take-a-break-from-the-world and celebrate Women's History Month version of this newsletter, we're switching continents and turning our eyes to Africa.

In this video, a late-night host heads into the African bush to meet the all-women group of rangers who are protecting animals there. Hilarity ensues, jokes (both good and bad) are told, and inspiration/warm fuzzies abound. Story time!!

Meet the All-Women Group Protecting Animals in Africa from Poachers (again, NSFW and maybe a bit offensive depending on your sensibilities):

 

Who we're following

And to keep another one of last week's trends running, we're celebrating another hilarious anonymous #MedTwitter parody account! This time it's Sass, MD (@mcsassymd), who definitely lives up to her name and then some. You don't have to scroll far to see what we mean:

BBMD tip of the week

This newsletter isn't the only space that we're trying to inject some lightness into right now, and we've stumbled upon a little tactic that's really working for us so we figured we'd share.

We recently saw a funny post saying something along the lines of "wow today was a hard year."

AGREED

Here's just a small sample all of the different sources of info & communication coming at us what feels like every single minute right now:

  • News
  • Investment/market stuff
  • Emails from that yoga place you went to one time 3yrs ago saying they're no longer renting mats but classes are still on
  • Group texts of healthcare ppl that are lighting up all the time (your med school group text, your residency group text, your work group text, etc)
  • Group texts of people for whom you're the resident healthcare person that are lighting up all the time (your family group text, your non-medicine friends group text, etc)

And after a week full of restless, "bzzzzz-bzzzzz"-filled (that's our impression of a phone on silent getting a text, btw) nights, we've implemented a new rule: no screens and no virus talk for at least 1hr before bed.

Taking care of yourself is always of the utmost importance - even more so in times like these when there's so much uncertainty and when many of us may be called upon to step up like never before.

So, set an alarm for an hour or two before your bedtime tonight, hit that "do not disturb" button, and find literally anything else to talk about (or don't talk!) for a while. And please let us know if it makes a difference for you <3

Quote we're contemplating

"Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." – George Bernard Shaw
 
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PS - If you were forwarded this email and enjoyed it, subscribe here to make sure you don't miss out on future ones!
 
PPS - As always, please let us know your requests and suggestions by replying to this email (we read 'em all) or getting at us via Twitter. Which section above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Just send a tweet to  @BossB_MD and put #SaturdayMorningRounds in there so we can find it.

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!
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Saturday Morning Rounds March 7, 2020 - Humor is a negotiation superpower

Posted by BossB, MD on March 7, 2020
Saturday Morning Rounds March 7, 2020 - Humor is a negotiation superpower

What we're reading

It's been a rough couple of weeks for the world, and for America especially depending on your politics.

So, for the next week or two we're gonna take a break from our regularly scheduled programming of somewhat serious topics to share a selection of lighthearted and uplifting videos that celebrate Women's History Month! They may be a little more NSFW than you're used to from us, so we recommend headphones if you're around others, or skipping them entirely if you're easily offended. Here's the first:

A Toast to Women Throughout History - Drunk History

Who we're following

On the subject of all things hilarious, one of our favorite Twitter follows is an anonymous parody account - Blair Waldorf, MD (@Jack_and_Diet).

Follow her if you're into hot takes, living vicariously through what sound like a lot of fun yet professionally questionable adventures, cat pictures, and general hilarity/sass.

BBMD tip of the week

Humor isn't just for taking a break or finding a silver lining when things look grim - it is also a negotiation super-power.

See, the #1 emotion we want to avoid during any negotiation - in both ourselves and our counterpart - is defensiveness.

Which can be especially hard to do when things get tense, when subjects get charged, and when a negotiation starts to feel like "me vs them" or a zero-sum game. 

That's where humor comes in. 

See, injecting some humor into a conversation does a few things. It:

  • Humanizes yourself and your counterpart
  • Communicates subtly that you're still engaged in seeking a symbiotic solution
  • Assures your counterpart that there's still goodwill between you
  • Creates space for solutions to be found

So, when you sense tension and negative emotions starting to rise and the emotional resonance with your counterpart starting to dip, here's what you can do:

  • Take a moment - To center your attention on the other person and empathize with how they might be feeling - most people don't like tension & conflict, so if you're feeling some of that they likely are too
  • Assume best intent - Think to yourself "how could an intelligent & loving person come to their conclusion?"
  • Look for an opening - We aren't stand-up comedians or improv comedy instructors, so we can't really teach you "how to be funny." What we do know, however, is that 80% of injecting humor and levity into a conversation is simply awareness - actively looking for an opportunity to do so. Make sure you're laughing at the situation or yourself though, never your counterpart.

As with many things that we teach here at BBMD, practice makes perfect. And if you want to know one of the single most high-impact ways to level up your overall communication abilities and learn to inject humor into conversations (other than taking our curriculum, of course), here it is:

Take an improv comedy class

No, seriously. We mean it. Improv comedy is one of the most effective ways to learn how to listen, how to make others look good in conversation, and how to sensitize yourself to the subtle openings that are constantly being created during any interaction. These classes are offered in most cities of any appreciable size, and we can't recommend taking one enough. It's not just about how to be funny - it's legitimately one of the best tools available to you to actually improve your communication skills in practice rather than just in theory.

Quote we're contemplating

"A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing." – Laura Ingalls Wilder
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PS - If you were forwarded this email and enjoyed it, subscribe here to make sure you don't miss out on future ones!
 
PPS - As always, please let us know your requests and suggestions by replying to this email (we read 'em all) or getting at us via Twitter. Which section above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Just send a tweet to  @BossB_MD and put #SaturdayMorningRounds in there so we can find it.

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!
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