Difficult Conversations -Lessons I learned as an ICU Physician

It’s All In The Delivery: Improving Healthcare Starting With A Single Conversation by Dr. Anthony Orsini

Resources Mentioned:

The 2 Degrees Foundation

The 2 Degrees Foundation Twitter

The Speed of Trust with Stephen M.R. Covey Nov 02, 2020

Show notes

The Speed of Trust with Stephen M.R. Covey

Welcome to Difficult Conversations – Lessons I Learned as an ICU Physician with Dr. Anthony Orsini. On today’s episode, my special guest is Stephen M.R. Covey. He is the New York Times bestselling author of The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything. Stephen asserts that trust has become the new currency of the world and that having the ability to develop, extend, and restore trust with all stakeholders is the number one competency of leadership needed today. He is the former President and CEO of The Covey Leadership Center where he grew the company to become the largest leadership development firm in the world. He currently leads Franklin Covey’s Global Speed of Trust practice, serves on numerous boards, has been recognized with the lifetime Achievement Award for “Top Thought Leaders in Trust.”

Stephen tells us all about himself, his famous father and about his personal mission in life. We find out how his father (Stephen Covey author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People), who had such a great influence on him, both personally and professionally. Stephen shares a touching story he calls “green and clean” involving himself as a 7 year old child and his father. In his book, the first thing Stephen explains is why it is essential to have self-trust before you can have other people trust you. He gives advice on how to start off and build trust quickly when you’re meeting someone, regardless of whether you’re a physician or a business person. He explains his definition of leadership that puts everything in perspective. Stephen shares a great story about being genuine. Stephen talks about how trust involves “taxes and dividends” and how important it is that we teach leaders how to do this. He mentions how important it is to learn how to put on your “trust glasses.” Dr. Orsini asks Stephen if we should take managers and teach them how to build trust or pick managers that have already exuded the trust.. Dr. Orsini and Stephen share stories and advice about training and how they found that although there’s a small percentage of people that can’t be trained, but most people can and want to learn. Find out what Stephen calls, “The one thing that changes everything.” Stephen leaves us with some inspiring thoughts about trust and distrust being contagious, and how trust and confidence can create more trust and confidence.

Host:

Dr. Anthony Orsini

Guest:

Stephen M.R. Covey

For More Information:

Stephen M.R. Covey Facebook

It’s All In The Delivery: Improving Healthcare Starting With A Single Conversation by Dr. Anthony Orsini
Resources Mentioned:

Speed of Trust Website

Stephen M.R. Covey Twitter

The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything by Stephen M.R. Covey

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey

Conversations with your Inner.U with Beth Weissenberger Oct 26, 2020

Show notes

Conversations with your Inner.U with Beth Weissenberger

Welcome to the Difficult Conversations – Lessons I Learned as an ICU Physician with Dr. Anthony Orsini. Today, my special guest is Beth Weissenberger, Co-Founder of the Handel Group, a renowned corporate consulting and life coaching company, dedicated to teaching people how to realize their personal and professional visions. Their straightforward and innovative method has changed the lives of thousands of private and corporate clients and has been taught in over fifty educational programs and institutes of learning. Beth has twenty years of experience coaching thousands of the most senior executives and is not only a masterful coach, but also leads corporate seminars on a variety of topics that are fused with energy, transparency, and inspiring personal stories.

Beth tells us all about the Handel Group, what she does, and how it started. She mentions a book called, Maybe It’s You, that her sister Lauren wrote. She shares a story about the point in her life that made her want to change. Beth talks about what the Handel Method and how it is useful in different areas such as corporate, individuals, and athletes. Beth explains “being the author of your life.” We find out about the Chicken and the Brat and something Dr. David Hawkins found out about human beings inner dialogue. Beth explains the Three Inner Dialogues (Voices) and Dr. Orsini shares his “Chicken” with us. There are three things Beth tells us we need to live true to your dreams and what you want in life and they are: specific measurable promise, a consequence, and someone to hold you accountable. We find out all about the different types of Inner U, which is an online coaching program. If you’re looking to radically change your life in six months, Beth is offering a coupon code to get half off at Inner.U Career using the code “DIFFICULTCONVERSATIONS.” We all have our dark side, bad traits, and things that don’t work for us, so Beth tells us she likes to have people ask two questions to their spouses, partners, and children, and they are, “What sucks about me and When I do that how does it make you feel?” She gives a great example of something that happened to her with her daughter.

Host:

Dr. Anthony Orsini

Guest:

Beth Weissenberger

For More Information:

It’s All In The Delivery: Improving Healthcare Starting With A Single Conversation by Dr. Anthony Orsini

Resources Mentioned:

The Handel Group

The Handel Group Blog

Beth Weissenberger Twitter

Beth Weissenberger Linkedin

Inner.U Career

Maybe It’s You: Cut the Crap. Face Your Fears. Love Your Life. -Lauren Handel Zander

The Patient Experience-Discovering the Best in Others Oct 19, 2020

Show notes

The Patient Experience - Discovering the Best in Others with Diane Rogers

Welcome to the Difficult Conversations with Dr. Anthony Orsini. Today, my special guest is Diane Rogers, Founder and President of Contagious Change, LLC. She has a diverse background and a big heart. Both of which power a simple and focused mission: to inspire individuals and organizations to harness the strengths and magnificence of people. She is best known for her breakthrough programs for healthcare organizations, where she has been a trusted coach sought after for her ability to inspire strength-based leadership behaviors among medical professionals who want to optimize performance experience and engagement. Her first book, “Leading hArtfully: The Art of Leading Through Your Heart to Discover the Best in Others” is schedule to be released in October. Dr. Orsini keeps his promise about two things, that you will feel inspired, and you will have learned valuable lessons to be a better and more compassionate communicator.

Diane tells us her story, her background, and how she started what she’s doing right now. Diane shares with us her technique on how she connects with a physician and anyone else in the coaching relationship. She mentions creating an intention and being confident. Dr. Orsini states that the difference between a basic manager and a real leader is bringing out the best in everybody. Diane talks about her book and an “AHA moment” after completing a corporate presentation that changed her life. She mentions that we really have to want to step into a space where we are choosing to discover, reflect, act differently, and be differently and that all takes work. Dr. Orsini explains Claude Silver’s concept about leadership and how that ties into patient experience. Diane tells a story from her book about a doctor she coached named Bob, who was great, except for one problem. Find out what that problem was. Dr. Orsini shares a story about how the impact of someone walking into a room can be so powerful and find out what Diane means by, “Access your superpower to make people uninvisible.” Dr. Orsini reveals something about himself that will make you say, “No way!” In closing, Diane talks about how she got involved with the Beryl Institute and the patient experience. If you enjoyed this podcast, please hit the subscribe button to find out more about what we do and how we teach communication. Go ahead and download this episode now!

Host:

Dr. Anthony Orsini

Guest:

Diane Rogers

For More Information:

It’s All In The Delivery: Improving Healthcare Starting With A Single Conversation by Dr. Anthony Orsini

Resources Mentioned:

Contagious Change

Leading hArtfully: The Art of Leading Through Your Heart to Discover the Best in Others by Diane Rogers

The Empathy Effect by Helen Reiss, MD

The Orsini Way-“Leading with the Heart with Claude Silver of VaynerMedia”-Podcast: Episode 107

The Beryl Institute

Difficult Conversations in Leadership Oct 12, 2020

Show notes

Difficult Conversations in Leadership with James Orsini

Welcome to the Difficult Conversations – Lessons I Learned as an ICU Physician with Dr. Anthony Orsini. My special guest today is James Orsini. James Orsini is the President at The Sasha Group, a VaynerX Company. Working alongside Gary Vaynerchuk (aka Gary Vee), James leads the Sasha Group to help small business reach explosive growth potential. James has held numerous key high level positions for VaynerMedia including Chief Operating Officer and Chief Integration Officer. Before coming to VaynerMedia, James held prior positions as Chief Executive Officer of the publicly traded company, Sito Mobile. He was also Executive Vice President for Saatchi & Saatchi. James brings his extensive experience and success as he discusses difficult conversations in leadership.

James tells us all about himself, what drives him, and explains his personal leadership philosophy. He discusses his recently written article “Don’t Delegate…Facilitate,” and explains how it pertains to our personal and professional life. James shares the story of how he ended up at VaynerMedia. James tells us the most difficult conversation that has as a leader and how having an even temperament helps him in situations that require clear thinking and a steady hand. Find out what James means when he says “A big idea is not a business. Hope is not a strategy.” Dr. Orsini asks how James builds trust and loyalty with the people that work for him. “Listen more than you speak,” explains James Orsini. We end the episode with James giving two pieces of advice to young people who really wants to speak to their managers advancing their career.
Host:
Dr. Anthony Orsini
Guest:
James Orsini

For More Information:

It’s All In The Delivery: Improving Healthcare Starting With A Single Conversation by Dr. Anthony Orsini

Resources Mentioned:

James Orsini Twitter
James Orsini Instagram

James Orsini Linkedin

Gary Vaynerchuk

Vayner Media

The Sasha Group

“Don’t Delegate…Facilitate,” by James Orsini

Consiglieri: Leading from the Shadows by Richard Hytner

Caring for Our Veterans with the Honorable Dr. David Shulkin Oct 05, 2020

Show notes

Caring for Our Veterans with the Honorable Dr. David Shulkin

Welcome to the Difficult Conversations with Dr. Anthony Orsini. This week my extra special guest is the Honorable Dr. David Shulkin, who is currently CEO of Shulkin Solutions. He was the Ninth Secretary of the US Dept of Veteran Affairs, nominated by President Trump to serve his cabinet. Prior to serving as Secretary of the VA, he served as Under Secretary for Health under President Obama, and unanimously confirmed twice by the US Senate. Dr. Shulkin represented 21 million American veterans and was responsible for the nation’s largest integrated healthcare system with over 1,200 sites of care, serving over 9 million Veterans. Prior to coming to the VA, Secretary Shulkin was a widely respected healthcare executive having served as Chief Executive of leading hospitals and health systems such as Beth Israel in New York City and Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey, which is where Dr. Orsini first met him. He has also previously been named 100 most influential people in American Healthcare by Modern Healthcare. Dr. Shulkin’s recently published book is called, It Shouldn’t Be This Hard to Serve Your Country: Our Broken Government and the Plight of Veterans.

Dr. Orsini mentions his first encounter with Dr. Shulkin, and remembered how genuine, , and very engaging he was. We find out what made Dr. Shulkin take the medicine path and what led him into the leadership role. Dr. Shulkin tells us the single most difficult conversation that he had, and he gives us advice on his approach to communicating bad news. There are so many problems with medical education training right now with communication, and Dr. Shulkin shares with us how we can fix this. Dr. Shulkin’s dedication in his book impressed Dr. Orsini, and he talks about his dad, who was a psychiatrist on an Army base, and if he influenced him in any way. We learn about when he takes on his new position as Under Secretary at the VA in 2015, and what he realized he had in front of him with the wait time issues that were going on. Also, we find how he fixed the issue so quickly. Since he served with both Trump and Obama, we find out the game plan he had to navigate through the two different environments and succeed at it. Dr. Shulkin shares with us how he was able to start the Patient Experience Program at the VA. Telemedicine is discussed and whether or not it’s here to stay or if we keep doing more. Find out what Dr. Shulkin is most proud of career wise. If you enjoyed this podcast, please hit the subscribe button to find out more about what we do and how we teach communication. Go ahead and download this episode now!

Host:

Dr. Anthony Orsini

Guest:

Dr. David Shulkin

For More Information:

It’s All In The Delivery: Improving Healthcare Starting With A Single Conversation by Dr. Anthony Orsini

Resources Mentioned:

David J. Shulkin, MD Twitter

Shulkin Solutions

It Shouldn’t Be This Hard to Serve Your Cou

Giving Back-When the Patient Becomes the Provider with Lauren Heaslip, RN Sep 28, 2020

Show notes

Giving Back- When the Patient Becomes the Provider with Lauren Heaslip

Welcome to Difficult Conversations-Lessons I Learned as an ICU Physician with Dr. Anthony Orsini. This week is extra special because my guest is extra special to me. My niece, Lauren Heaslip, is joining me to share her incredible story. I promise you that you won’t want to miss this one. Lauren Pender Heaslip was born prematurely at only 31 weeks gestation. That’s 9 weeks early! Her mother had a condition called Placenta Percreta, which caused her to hemorrhage profusely. After an emergency Cesarean Section was performed. both mother and daughter clinged to life kept alive by ventilators. Happily, they both survived.

At the age of sixteen, Lauren needed emergency surgery to reconstruct the vertebrae in her neck. Two weeks later, she was diagnosed with Lymphoma and was forced to face another medical challenge. Lauren shares how she and her family didn’t let the diagnosis define her and how she continued to live a life of normalcy. Thankfully, she is cancer free and remains cured until this day. Currently, Lauren is twenty-four years old and is working as a registered nurse in the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology ward at the Children’s Hospital of Cincinnati, treating children with cancer.

Lauren tells us her story starting when she was a happy sixteen year old, playing sports, feeling healthy, and then the neck pain started. She remembers hearing her doctor and her parents talking in the hallway and heard the word “tumor.” She clearly remembers her first conversation with the doctor, when she was told she had Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Lauren describes the instant bond she felt with the doctor, who became her primary oncologist. Dr. Orsini explains the three most important goals doctors should have when giving bad news. Lauren tells us about her first conversation with her parents after and the story of how her doctor kept reminding her at every visit that, “Your life does not stop, and your life cannot stop because of this.” Lauren tells us a story about her prom and the side effects of her chemotherapy. She also tells us how she decided what type of nurse she wanted to be, and about the impact that one of her chemotherapy nurses had on her decision. Lauren tells us how she uses her experience as a former cancer patient to help her patients and how she decides whether or not to share her story with her patients. She gives an AMAZING answer! Lauren shares personal insight on how she speaks to her cancer patients. She gives advice to any teenager who was just told by their doctor that they have cancer. She also gives advice to doctors and healthcare practitioners about how to give bad news to someone.

Host:

Dr. Anthony Orsini

Guest:

Lauren Heaslip

For More Information:

It’s All In The Delivery: Improving Healthcare Starting With A Single Conversation by Dr. Anthony Orsini

Resources Mentioned:

Children’s Hospital of Cincinnati

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Susan Rheingold, MD (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)

Difficult Conversations about Physician Burnout Sep 21, 2020

Show notes

Difficult Conversations About Physician Burnout with Dr. Dike Drummond

Welcome to Difficult Conversations – Lessons I Learned as an ICU Physician with Dr. Anthony Orsini. Our special guest today is Dr. Dike Drummond, a Mayo trained family doctor, professional coach, author, speaker, and trainer, whose sole focus is addressing the modern epidemic in physicians and that is professional burnout. He is the Founder and CEO of TheHappyMD.com, which receives over 25,000 visits per month and hosts an online community of over 18,000 physicians from 63 countries around the world. He is the “go to” man and leading expert on physician burnout. His book, Stop Physician Burnout, has sold over 40,000 copies worldwide. Dr. Orsini keeps his promise about two things, that you will be inspired, and you will learn communication techniques that will help you in your professional and personal life.

Dr. Drummond tells us about the mission of his new Podcast called, “Physicians on Purpose.” He shares his story of how he experienced burnout after ten years of practicing medicine and why he made a major switch in his life. He launched TheHappyMD.com when the interest and prevalence of physician burnout peaked over time. Dr. Orsini asks “How do physicians who may feel symptoms of burnout have that first conversation with themselves and accept that they need help?” Dr. Drummond tells us it’s a conversation between your heart, your soul, your actual self, and the conditioned automaton that the medical education system spits out the far side. He explains the different personality traits that all physician have: workaholic, perfectionist, and lone ranger. What does this look like for the next generation of millennials? Dr. Drummond lets us know if the next generation of physicians are going to have less physician burnout or if it’s going to get worse.

The number one determinant of the patient’s experience is the doctor’s experience, so he explains what he teaches people on how to be awake in your workday. He reveals his simple single breath technique called the “SqueeGee Breath.” Dr. Orsini discusses his It’s All in the Delivery program that he developed and tells us the story about how he proved his hypothesis that patient experience scores can be improved by doing absolutely nothing but training the entire staff on how to communicate and to understand how human beings connect. If you are a physician or a nurse and have symptoms of burnout, find out how you can go from being afraid to tell anybody to asking for help. Reach out to Dr. Drummond. He shares some great advice he gives doctors and the keyword to think about is “satisfaction.” If you loved this episode, please hit the subscribe button to find out more about what we do and how we teach communication. Go ahead and download this episode now!

Host:

Dr. Anthony Orsini

Guest:

Dr. Dike Drummond

For More Information:

It’s All In The Delivery: Improving Healthcare Starting With A Single Conversation by Dr. Anthony Orsini

Resources Mentioned:

Dike Drummond MD Twitter

The Happy MD Twitter

The Power of Empathy with Dr. Helen Riess Sep 14, 2020

Show notes

The Power of Empathy with Dr. Helen Riess

Welcome to the Difficult Conversations with Dr. Anthony Orsini. Our special guest today is Dr. Helen Riess, a Psychiatrist and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Empathy and Relational Science Program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and the leading expert on the topic of empathy. She founded Empathetics.com, which is an organization that provides empathetic training for healthcare, business, and law enforcement. Her groundbreaking empathy training research was the first study to demonstrate that empathy can indeed be taught. Find out why Helen says, “The face is a roadmap of emotion and it’s the only part of our bodies that we don’t routinely cover.” Dr. Orsini keeps his promise about two things, that you will feel inspired, and you will have learned valuable lessons to be a better and more compassionate communicator.

Dr. Riess explains how she defines and perceives empathy, sympathy, and compassion. Imagination is the key word spoken here, and Dr. Orsini asks how we can train physicians to just imagine for a second that they are the patient, and go from sympathy, to empathy, to compassion. She lets us know one of her favorite sayings. In Helen’s book, The Empathy Effect, she explains the neuroscience of empathy and the evidence that the origins of empathy are based on evolution and survival. Helen shares with us her special relationship with Alan Alda, and then tells us how she teaches doctors to feel empathy. We will learn some great tips and techniques using the “E.M.P.A.T.H.Y” acronym and how important your tone of voice is in relationships with patients, family members and in business associates. Dr. Riess discusses empathy and the concept of “in grouping” which she talks about in her book. Dr. Orsini shares some great advice and makes a point to say that it’s so important to train people to be more empathetic, to be better communicators, and to find commonality. We’re in a very critical time in the world now because more empathy is needed now than ever before. Listen as Dr. Orsini discusses with Dr. Riess his concept of the “the second second” We learn about the last chapter in Helen’s book, “Self-Empathy” and how if we don’t treat ourselves with proper care, we will get depleted and result in burnout. Learn about Dr. Riess’s next big project: working with law enforcement to help police humanize and make a difference. If you loved this episode, please hit the subscribe button to find out more about what we do and how we teach communication. Go ahead and download this episode now!

Host:

Dr. Anthony Orsini

Guest:

Dr. Helen Riess

For More Information:

It’s All In The Delivery: Improving Healthcare Starting With A Single Conversation by Dr. Anthony Orsini

Resources Mentioned:

Empathetics

Empathetics Twitter

Empathetics-YouTube

The Empathy Effect by Helen Reiss, Liz Neporent, and Alan Alda (Forward)

How Communication Improves the Patient Experience with Elizabeth Poret-Christ Sep 07, 2020

Show notes

How Communication Improves the Patient Experience with Elizabeth Poret-Christ

Welcome to the Difficult Conversations – Lessons I Learned as an ICU Physician with Dr. Anthony Orsini. Our special guest today is Elizabeth Poret-Christ. Liz is a dear friend of Dr. Orsini and Director of Programming at The Orsini Way, where she’s involved in all aspects of marketing, scheduling, and teaching. As Dr. Orsini states “Without Liz, The Orsini Way would not exist”. Liz has several personal stories to share today, and what’s so amazing about Liz, is the way she took every one of her experiences, good and bad, and found a way to turn them into a positive. Dr. Orsini keeps his promise about two things, that you will be inspired, and you will learn communication techniques that will help you in your personal lives.

Liz shares with us how she became involved in the Parent Advisory Committee at her local teaching hospital that led her to meet Dr. Orsini. She tells us the story about when her husband was critically ill in an ICU in Florida, and the difficult conversations she had with some doctors. You will be shocked to hear about one particularly bad conversation she had with a surgeon when her husband was close to death. You will learn why Liz repeats to herself often, “How do I help the next person from not having to experience that kind of things that I went through?” Dr. Orsini believes that physicians, nurses, and healthcare professionals are especially compassionate, but sometimes it’s difficult to convey that compassion, and that’s what Liz and Dr. Orsini teach at The Orsini Way. When Liz and her husband got back home to NJ after 23 days in the hospital, they met with a surgeon that took over her husband’s case. Liz discusses his sharp contrast in communication skills compared to the first surgeon and how comforting he was to her husband. With just a few words, the surgeon said something so astounding to them that he made them instantly feel less afraid. Liz shares her experience with us about giving bad news, from the patient’s point of view. Having been on both sides of the conversation, she gives advice to the person who is receiving the tragic news and tips on what they should expect from the doctor, nurse or first responder. Dr. Orsini says, “This is why I love communication. It’s so powerful. By changing one word, by doing something just a little differently, you can make a real difference in people’s lives.” If you enjoyed this episode, please hit the subscribe button to find out more about what we do and how we teach communication. Go ahead and download this episode now!

Host:

Dr. Anthony Orsini

Guest:

Elizabeth Poret-Christ

For More Information: