I felt compelled to address the suffering that we've been experiencing as a nation, as individuals, and as families. We’ve been through five major hurricanes, that's the highest number of hurricanes since 2010 and when you look at the accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) this is the highest it's been since 2005. This is potentially the costliest season on record with a preliminary total of over $224 billion in damages.

Everyone agrees that going to work is better when people work well together. While healthcare is becoming more challenging, the real issue is that focusing on engagement isn't enough. Moving from feelings to action enables us to focus on a process that fuels the individual, inspires the team and transforms the organization. Which means that the only way to make a significant impact is to talk about rolling up our sleeves and getting involved. How? By investing in our sphere of influence.

As Hurricane Harvey is closing in on Texas, I can’t help but think about my experiences as the Director of the Medical Triage Unit at the New Orleans Convention Center. Although I’ve been responding to international disaster for over 30 years, Katrina had a huge impact on me. I have stories and images forever embedded in my brain.

Being a family doc is one of the toughest jobs on the planet. Seriously, 50% are struggling with burnout and 38% are thinking about cutting back, retiring, going to concierge medicine, or quitting altogether. There are a lot of reasons: prior authorizations, electronic health records, etc. Finally, something is being done. There are some really smart people that are committed to making a difference.

The people that struggle the most when they are under pressure are the people that are alone. Unfortunately, while our society has become superficially connected, many of us have had lack deep friendships. As a family physician, I can tell you first hand that the patients that don’t do well, tend to be the ones that don’t see the need to be connected with other people.

Heather Bresch started out as a clerk at Mylan Pharmaceuticals in 1992. After lying on her resume about obtaining an MBA, she eventually worked her way up and became the Chief Executive Officer in 2012. Shortly after becoming the CEO, she aggressively increased the price of Mylan’s EpiPen. The news exploded. The average cost rose from about $100 to over $600! She blamed insurance companies for the approximately 600% increase in price. Meanwhile, from 2012 to 2016, she had a 671% increase in her salary from $2.5 million to over $18 million.

I’d venture to say that at some point in your career, you’ve heard someone say, “I’m just here for the paycheck”. According to the 2017 State of the American Workplace1, only 51% of American workers are engaged at work. The odds are that you’ve worked with a co-worker that is disengaged. (Worse yet, you could be that co-worker.)

If you are feeling a bit overwhelmed and exhausted because you are under pressure and struggling with burnout, this webinar is going to help you get your feet back on the ground. While racing for the US Cycling Team in the Tour de France, Maureen Manley went blind and crashed. It was the first symptom of her MS. Elisa Hays was a pedestrian who was struck by a semi-truck traveling 65 MPH. When they found her she was impaled on a guard rail 90 feet from the impact. She had a pulse of 8. Dr. Dan Diamond was the Director of the Medical Triage Unit at the New Orleans Convention Center following Hurricane Katrina and he has led medical teams into some of the greatest disasters of our times.

I suspect that my story may be similar to yours. In the 5th grade, I wanted to be a dentist. In the 6th grade, it occurred to me that teeth were boring and so I decided that I wanted to be a physician when I grew up. Why? Because I enjoyed science and wanted to help people. I said “no” to a lot of other things so I could say “yes” to medicine. I made the commitment to long hours of study, few hours of sleep, and a much-celebrated victory over organic chemistry. Then came hours of volunteering, hospital janitorial work, and the tender experience working in a hospice where I learned to listen when people weren’t speaking.

When healthcare historians look back to figure out how we navigated these turbulent times, they will talk about the declaration published on March 28, 2017. Signed by eleven of the most significant healthcare leaders in the United States, it represents a significant shift regarding physician and nurse burnout. The following leaders issued the call to action:

Burnout, disengagement, and turnover are epidemic in healthcare. What we've been doing isn't helping. It is no longer enough to tell people to “just buck up” and become more resilient. It is essential that we take a new look at the cause and strive for a cure. 49% of physicians describe themselves as “often or always experiencing feelings of burnout.” 54% rate their morale as “somewhat or very negative.” 1

Some people mistakenly believe the old saying: “If you don’t look out for #1, nobody else will.” But, the saying couldn’t be further from the truth. If you DO look out for “#1”, nobody else will. When people consider themselves to be the most important or the #1, they alienate themselves from the rest of the team. When they accidentally step out in front of a bus, no one is going to dive to save “#1” because he/she is perceived as controlling or manipulative. They are not valued by the rest of the team. Why would anyone take a risk and try to save them?

In 1886, Richard Sears was only 23 years old when he negotiated with a company to sell their gold filled watches to the station operators of the Northern Pacific Railway. Within six months he had netted over $5000 and went on to found the R.W. Sears Watch Company. The following year he moved to Chicago and hired Alvah Roebuck as his watch repairman. In 1891 they formed the Sears Roebuck & Co. They published their first catalog containing only watches in 1893. By 1897 it had grown to become a diverse 500 page catalog that was sent to 300,000 homes. By 1908 it was even possible to buy a mail order home from Sears and Roebuck.

In this episode of the Deloitte Resilient podcast, Dr. Dan Diamond, author of Beyond Resilience: Trench-Tested Tools to Thrive Under Pressure, shares his front-line perspectives from over three decades of coordinating relief efforts for some of the most devastating natural disasters around the world. He also discusses how lessons learned from these experiences can be applied to our everyday and work lives to create purpose, foster reciprocity, and encourage gratitude.

Ponder for a moment how you respond to intense change. For some people, just the word “change” causes them to tense up, break out in a sweat and spend the night staring at the ceiling. But, some people actually look forward to it and welcome the challenge. One thing's for sure: all of us encounter it. I've spend a good chunk of my career trying to understand why some people get stuck and some thrive when times get tough. Some get burned out and some fired up. If you've been feeling a bit overwhelmed, read on. I have some good news for you.

Would you still be interested if it didn’t cost a pile of money or require prior authorization of your insurance company? People that regularly practice gratitude have been shown to experience these benefits and they also tend to exercise more and have fewer physical symptoms. The research behind gratitude is impressive. It is one of the least expensive, longest lasting and most effective treatments that I can prescribe for people that are going through challenging times.

Have you ever wondered why organizations with really smart people have to bring in consultants to see the solutions that have been right in front of them all along? It has to do with the way that our brains process information and solve problems when we are under stress or going through times of tremendous change. Read on and you may feel like a kid that just got his first pair of glasses.

As a former street mime, I have a good amount of experience when it comes to improvisation. In the world of improv we have a foundational principle widely known as "Yes-And". One person throws out a line (or in the case of a mime, a gesture) and the other person responds with the attitude of "Yes-And" and then builds on the scene. For example, an improv troupe is given the scene: "playing baseball with blindfolds". The first actor grabs a invisible baseball bat and asks if it has been painted white with a red tip. The next actor moves the scene along by saying "yes it does" and then talks about how to use that white bat with the red tip with input from his guide dog and the scene is in motion.

In 1968, the London Underground had a problem. They had several different types of trains that were servicing the underground railway. Consequently, the platforms where the public stood did not always line up with the trains. Some trains were several inches taller and some were shorter than the platform. A few platforms were built along curves in the track. Since the train cars are straight, there could be quite a gap between the train and the platform. As a result, people were tripping, falling and getting hurt.

I’ll never forget sitting in the Roxy Theater in Tacoma waiting for the original Star Wars movie to start. We waited in a line went all the way around the block. Everyone knew this movie was going to be a big deal. It was 1977 and we’d seen movies about space adventure but you could always see the fishing line that was suspending the spaceships and tell that there were sparklers for rocket engines. Star Wars was going to be different but we had no idea how much different.