She signed her one-line email Badass Surgeon.  She was reaching out on her own.  After a brief exchange, I wrote the following response, which she permitted me to share:

Dear Badass,

You’re a promising young surgeon with excellent training and experience.  You do better in the OR than  rounding on the floor.  These days, hard-driving docs like you are being read the riot act.  Nobody likes being told that “this job may not be a good fit.”

Bravo that you’re reaching out for help.  As coaching is an unregulated profession and anybody can call themselves a coach, proceeding with caution is smart.

I’ve worked with more than forty coaches who help the kind of physicians who rile up other team members.  Here are some factors to bear in mind as you consider coaching, and what kind of coach to hire:

• Before assuming that coaching is the right approach, make sure that your problems don’t have a medical, psychiatric or substance-related cause.
• Use your network to identify several potential coaches who know how to help physicians with anger management issues.  Check out their websites and try to talk to other docs who have used coaching to turn things around. Interview a few coaches.  Many docs like to work with coaches who are themselves physicians.  Sometimes it makes sense to work with a coach with a mental health background; in other cases, those with an organizational or leadership background may be a better fit.
• The approach of many coaches includes workplace involvement, with the coaching client’s permission.  Although this may be unsettling, when handled effectively it can be extremely productive.  Talk to your coach about this possibility. 
• Before you get going, clarify the fee structure and expected duration of coaching.  Coaching engagements average 10-20 sessions stretching over 6-12 months.  Doctors are busy people and quick learners – 6-12 sessions over a period of 3-8 months is not uncommon.
• Lastly, a best practice involves creating a list of actionable coaching goals and then following your progress with metrics or benchmarks.  Here’s an example of a very specific coaching goal: “When the nursing staff makes mistakes and I feel like opening my mouth and letting them have it, instead I will learn to focus on my breath and quietly calm myself down.”

Now to answer your question: Yes, coaching can help!  As soon as it makes sense, identify an experienced coach and get going.  Lean-in with an open mind and you will likely be satisfied by the progress you make.  Genuine turnarounds happen all the time.

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Next AdelMED Insight: Indispensable or disposable: “Before we let him go, is there a way to help that doctor?”

Photo Credit: Bermix Studio (Unsplash)