Chief Complaint: “I Don’t Know How To Advocate For Myself” with Dr. Linda Street

Self-advocacy is essential to our functioning both as physicians and as human beings who want to grow. And when it comes to advocacy and negotiation, Dr. Linda Street is the woman to go to. A maternal-fetal medicine specialist by day and a negotiation life coach by night, Dr. Street was inspired to give back to others by her own journey successfully negotiating an additional $65,000 raise in one year in her academic job. For her, negotiations were critical for her growth, opening so many doors for her career and life. 

These skills have helped both Dr. Street and her clients boost their earnings - and more - significantly. That’s because negotiations are everywhere. We negotiate with ourselves, our cable providers, and our employers. The same few key steps can be used in every negotiation to achieve the same results. 

Mindset and Self-Worth

For Dr. Street, it’s all about starting with mindset. How can you look at the negotiation like you can’t fail? That no matter how you come out on the other side, you win. Because the one variable we can’t control is how the other party responds. 

At the end of the day, if you approach a negotiation knowing your value and believing you’ll come out a winner, you will. Because a negotiation is just a discussion with the goal of making an agreement. That’s it. You don’t need a master’s degree to do it.

If you think of a house, it doesn’t matter how pretty the walls are if you don’t have a solid foundation. For every discussion you have, your self-worth is that foundation. If you don’t value yourself, you can’t expect others to value you. That’s where the thought work and confidence-building come in. 

Negotiation 101

When a client comes to Dr. Street with something to negotiate, she breaks it down into several steps. First, the question, “What are all the things your brain is offering about this negotiation that make you want to puke?” If your boss is a jerk, or the organization doesn’t value you, or they never give anybody a raise - all those things that are in your way - just get them all out there. 

You don’t have to be a world-class negotiator to make progress. All it takes is recognizing your worth and looking at a Venn diagram of what you offer and what your institution wants. If you can find an overlap between what you want and offer and what they want and offer, you can shift the conversation from “I need an OB/GYN” to “I need this particular person.” That increases your leverage and the perception of loss that the other party has if they don’t make this deal happen. 

There are two numbers in a negotiation: the bottom line (“I have to have this or I’m not going to say yes”) and the stretch number. If you focus on your bottom line, that’s where you’re going to end. If you focus on a stretch goal, you’ll get a lot closer to it. Men don’t tend to have difficulty picking a high-enough stretch goal, but women usually do. That’s what makes it all the more important for women to learn these crucial negotiation skills.

As a female physician, you’ve already overcome so many hurdles to get to where you are. In comparison, negotiation is a piece of cake.

Going Beyond Salary

Very rarely are there situations where the salary is fixed. But if you are in that scenario, think about what else is negotiable. Maybe you want to work a four-day workweek. It’s a 20% difference in time, but will make a 50% difference in your life. Or maybe you want to have an office near your clinic as opposed to eight buildings away. 

There are little things that may not necessarily be financial that will impact your life that you can ask for. Even in those jobs where everybody gets the same salary, there is room to negotiate things that matter to you. A reserved parking space may be a low-hanging carrot that the organization doesn’t mind giving you at all, but will make you very happy.

Who Should Be Negotiating Their Contracts?

To put it simply: everybody. 

If you can honestly say that you go to work every day, that your pay reflects your value, that you enjoy your work-life balance, you don’t need a scribe - that everything is great - then don’t negotiate. You have a perfect job. But if you’re like most of us, there’s room for improvement. Know that if the only options you’re considering are to take the job as is or to quit, you’re skipping all the in-between. 

What If You Need This Job?

If you’re the primary breadwinner in your family, the idea of negotiating and potentially losing out on a job can be terrifying. But this job you’re doing now isn’t the only way to pay your bills. It’s hard to accept, but it’s true. There are so many different ways to earn income as a physician that a 9-to-5 day job (let’s be real, more like 12-hour a day job) is not the only way to get there. There are plenty of other opportunities, like locums, board review, and coaching, just as a start. 

Being scared of having the negotiation is normal, but the reality isn’t as fearsome as you’d think. Even if your goal is to stay in the job you currently have, as long as you approach your negotiation from a positive place, they’re not going to think you’re greedy, say no, and fire you. All you have to do is come in with a good mindset, offer your market value, and state what you need. No lawyers and courtrooms necessary. In fact, it’s better not to go into that hardball negotiation zone, at least not for physicians.

How Negotiation Can Change Your Life

Once you’ve gotten over the fear and gone through the negotiation process, the results will reverberate throughout your whole life. You’ll prove to yourself that if you think a certain way and it impacts your actions, you can have a different result. That foundation can apply to literally anything. 

It just takes embracing that discomfort. Because the reality is, both options are uncomfortable. You can be uncomfortable because you chose to learn the skillset and try negotiating, or because you’re being undervalued in your job. It’s your choice.

Success in Negotiation

A success story looks different for everybody. Sometimes, even just getting to the point of being willing to ask for more despite it being uncomfortable is a win. But, of course, numerical results are nice, too. So here’s an anecdote to inspire you.

It’s never too soon to start negotiating. Often, new fellows and residents interviewing for their first jobs are just so thankful to get any job that they just take their first offer. After all, they’re used to being told that ten other people would happily take their place. But when it comes to attending jobs, there are often more jobs than there are people to fill them. 

That’s how Dr. Street recently managed to work with a woman fresh out of residency to successfully get an extra $50,000 on her contract, a sign-on bonus, and higher production numbers - all for her first job. There’s no reason you can’t do the same. 

If you want to take back power in your own career in medicine, you can find Dr. Street at www.simplystreetmd.com. Whether you want to work with her one-on-one or learn on your own terms with her DIY product, the results can be life-changing.