I recently had a discussion with a doctor – let’s call him Dr John – as part of our support for his preparations for a forthcoming Consultant Interview. Dr John was delighted to have been successfully included on the shortlist for a position in his ideal location.
In line with common practice he had tried to arrange a pre-interview visit to the department. The initial approach of sending emails met with no response. Considering how busy everyone is at this time of year in particular this was disappointing but potentially understandable. So Dr John decided to drop into the hospital on his day off. He found the reception/admin team members to be very friendly and accommodating and they organised time with a senior member of the team – let’s call this senior colleague Mr Brian. They also said that Dr John was welcome to have a look around.
As you may expect, everyone was very busy so Dr John had a few brief, passing chats with a couple of the team members without really learning anything. He then headed to the Mr Brian’s office and waited for their scheduled meeting. Mr Brian was over 20 minutes late for the meeting and seemed more than a little irritable when he arrived.
Dr John was aware that the organisation’s recent CQC report had been less than favourable, in particular in relation to events in this particular department. He tried his best to tactfully raise the subject, asking some carefully considered, relevant questions. In addition, he asked if he could arrange a meeting with one particular member of the team in order to find out more about the challenges of the role ahead.
The requests met with a hostile response from Mr Brian who, according to Dr John, became particularly unhelpful, negative, defensive and obstructive. Mr Brian stated firmly that he would not be arranging access to the particular team member that Dr John wanted to speak to without explanation. He even went so far as to say that Dr John’s approach was both unprofessional and unethical.
Dr John was understandably confused and alarmed. He described his questions to me and the words which he had used. I had to agree that if this recollection was correct the he had been entirely reasonable. Dr John was now questioning whether he wanted to even go for this interview as his impression was that Mr Brian was an unreasonable, over-controlling person, that there was something to hide in the department and that he could not trust his potential senior colleague.
The events reminded me of a point which we regularly discuss at our Advanced Team Communication Skills Course for Doctors:
Why are other people difficult?
We all encounter colleagues behaving in ways that we find a difficult from time to time. Before trying to work out the best way to deal with the situation it is always helpful to be clear in your mind what is actually going on. Just like medical practice, the best way to be able to effectively manage the situation is to diagnose the root cause of the problem. There are two distinctly different possibilities:
- We are dealing with the normal behaviour of someone that we find difficult.
- We are dealing with a ‘normal’ person’s behaviour in difficult circumstances.
What will work as ‘effective treatment’ for one cause may actually make the other worse, even when the symptoms appear the same. Choosing the best course of action requires the developing knowledge of different personality types and communication styles, as well as knowledge of the impact of stress and numerous other factors on behaviour.
Mr Brian had unfortunately created a poor first impression upon Dr John which can have a lasting effect which will be very difficult to change. Our beliefs about expected behaviour and our associations are fundamental to our level of trust. Trust is fundamental to the development of a Healthy Team.
In the end, having considered the possible reasons for Mr Brian’s behaviour, and bearing in mind the probable stress associated the current situation, Dr John decided he had nothing to lose. He decided to go ahead with the interview, utilising the experiences of his visit to support evidence for his responses to interview questions if appropriate. His honest, factually based answers would either impress the panel or will help confirm that he and the department were not a good match at present. I’ll maintain confidentiality here, other than to let you know that Dr John was more than happy with the eventual outcome of his interview.
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