Responding With Grace While Under Pressure

(relaxed music) - This is Lab Medicine Rounds, a curated podcast for physicians, laboratory professionals, and students. I'm your host, Justin Kreuter, the Bow Tie Bandit of Blood, a transfusion medicine pathologist at Mayo Clinic. As we brave the colder weather here in Minnesota, we thought it'd be fun to continue to travel south and connect with some of our colleagues at our other Mayo Clinic campuses over these winter months.

And today we're rounding with Dr. Hata, assistant professor of laboratory medicine pathology at Mayo Clinic, and associate director of the clinical microbiology laboratory, including molecular virology, mycology, and parasitology at Mayo Clinic, Florida. And we're gonna be talking about an important professionalism topic, as we thought this was really fitting for the holiday season. So we're gonna be talking about having grace when under pressure. So thanks for joining us today, Dr. Hata.

- Hey, thanks so much for inviting me. It's an interesting topic. - I know. So as you know, my heart beats for medical education and this concept of professionalism and having this grace under pressure is a important topic to develop in our learners, as well as an important topic for us to continue to cultivate throughout our career. And so I really appreciate this opportunity to unpack this a little bit with you.

And this all came about for our listeners to hear, because there was an article about Dr. Hata that was published, that we'll put a link to in the show notes, specifically about you responding with grace under pressure during some of our COVID challenges. So maybe let's kick off, and maybe can you talk a little bit to our audience

about why is it important to respond with grace while we're under pressure. - So I think this is a hugely important topic for medical professionals to learn. And let me step back a little bit. Because for the last 24 months, 'cause it just occurred to me today, we're talking 24 months since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. And this was and is just a situation I never would have imagined at any point in my career, how this has completely transfixed the attention of the world.

It's changed society. It's changed how we interact with one another. And I still have trouble getting my mind around it. And so really, a lot of this has affected how I respond under pressure. It really made me take a hard look at myself in some respects. And I think that we can all draw lessons from it. I didn't learn how to do this from a textbook. It's all by being on the front lines, on the ground as many of us are, and working through this.

- I wish, in some ways, you almost wish there was some kind of a textbook, something to help, because I think that's how a lot of us are learning so much of our knowledge that we need to be a health professional. So maybe we could dive into that a little bit.

How do you think you develop this ability to project poise when in stressful situations? - I don't know if it's anything I necessarily developed, but it was in reaction to this crazy situation that we were in. We had information that was changing literally every 15 minutes when we were first asked to respond to this. We had information coming from all sorts of different directions. We had journalists, we had scientists, we had other people throwing their opinions into the ring.

And it's up to us as medical professionals to wade through this and generate coherent, clear, scientifically based messages that we can give to our patients, other interested parties. And for me, really, I had to communicate very clearly and very succinctly with my staff. I was getting bombarded with questions. And I think one of the things that I relied on is that this is a very emotional situation. We had no idea what was going to happen.

I think it's the role of leaders, is to behave in a calm and rational fashion. Now, I may be emotionally torn up on the inside, and there were some days where it certainly was. But I think it's important to support our co-workers, our staff, and make sure that we're delivering a calm, focused, cohesive message. And that will make them feel better as well. Because they are looking to us for leadership. - Now, in your development and growing up, I mean, was there a mentor or a situation,

you had an experience either in the healthcare field or outside the healthcare field where it kind of they gave you a pause and made you think, wow, that's somebody that really showed that kind of grace under pressure, that leadership ability. Is there anybody like that in your life that kind of comes to mind? - Well, I would say that I look to my entire family. My whole family are scientists. Had a number of clinicians and nurses and other academics in my family.

And I think we all rely on science and looking at facts, wading through the data, and coming to conclusions based on what we learned and what we know. And so I think a lot of that was really unconscious. But having said that, I think anybody can have mental conversations with themselves to try to train themselves to taking information, be thoughtful, and communicate it back out in a calm and rational manner.

- I really liked that peg that you just did of having these mental conversations with ourselves. I think a lot of times you hear that with professional athletes, kind of that pre-visualization of what's their race going to look like. And as you said that, I kind of see your role as a leader when you were gonna maybe sit down with the journalist, or sit down with your lab team that's working overtime and things like that.

Did you find yourself having some of these mental conversations? How did that go for you? - Oh, constantly. And sometimes it would be a little scary because I started to wonder if there were multiple people up there. I assure you that there's not. But I think it's really important to be self-reflective. And there are two questions that constantly went through my mind, no matter what I did, whether I was working on a laboratory test or communicating with others.

The first one is, does this make sense? Did what I just say, does that make sense? Does it make sense to other people? You have to constantly ask yourself that. The other question is what could possibly go wrong here? And really, that's a common way of saying, analyze the different scenarios that could happen. But I'm constantly asking myself those two questions, because it does no good if it only makes sense to me. It has to make sense to other people as well. - Yeah, I think that's brilliant.

As a leader, you can have the greatest idea inside your mind, but if that's not accurately communicated out. I'm curious, are those two questions,

I think that's really insightful. So one, does this make sense? Two, what could possibly go wrong? Are those questions that if you go back, that you've been using for a number of years? Or is this something that has more recent for you, those two questions? - I think I've probably always done it. Because especially in the laboratory, we're always asking ourselves, is this the right thing to do? And could there be bad outcomes from this? And we do this on all the medical professions, obviously.

But I think it really came to a head as I was trying to analyze a lot of different information from a lot of different sources when we were starting to develop our pandemic response, and speaking to a lot of different audiences. I mean, we're speaking to scientists, we're speaking to laboratorians, we're speaking to the lay public, we're speaking to the press, and we have to be very, very mindful of our message. So it takes a little bit of extra self-reflection in order to craft that.

- It's interesting. I was just recently, actually yesterday, giving feedback to one of my fellows about being cognizant about who the audience is. And I think that your example here is the next level of that. I was thinking about if you're talking about one medical professional versus another medical professional. You're talking about really people that have a very high diversity in what their background is to understand that information.

One thing I'm really curious about is, I think with professionalism, there are times where we kind of get pushed outside our comfort zone, and probably most of us since we're human, sort of start to skate a little bit and not, as we get more uncomfortable, we might behave a little less professionally. Or we may, because we're nervous, circumvent that process of asking those questions.

And so I'm curious about how do you recognize in your own self, since you are a leader in the laboratory, in our community, how do you kind of notice when you're like, eh, I'm getting a little challenged here. I need to kind of keep it on the rails. I don't know if I'm asking that right. - I think I get where you're going with this. And again, finding out things about myself that I didn't really realize before.

But with this extraordinary situation, when things really got tense, I would notice some actual physical symptoms, like get really tight. I ended up punching at my computer, and my brain would literally slow down. So analysis paralysis. And I know that this happens to me. So since I know that, I can combat it. And for me, exercise is really important. Sleep was really important. I still have challenges with getting enough of both of those things, but I know it's a problem so I can deal with it.

Sometimes you just literally have to step back out of that conversation and take a five-minute walk or stare out the window for five minutes and just detach, take a deep breath. And oftentimes that will allow your mind to clear enough so that you can step back in where you were, and maybe take a little bit of a different tact, especially if you're having a difficult conversation. I think one thing that, unfortunately, you see a loss of is in very, very stressful situations, mutual respect.

These are emotionally charged times. And so if you subconsciously tell yourself please and thank you are very, very important things and focus on that, and that really goes a long way to diffusing some of the emotional baggage that can occur. And really helps yourself take that moment, step back, take a breath, and be kind to others. It's important. - What you said there about mutual respect being particularly vulnerable really resonates with me. And I'm also thinking about our listeners.

And we've got students that are learning in the health professions, and those that are practicing. And I think for those of us younger in our career, if I found myself in a high-pressure meeting with people that are higher on the totem pole with me, it might be challenging to ask for a break or to step out for a few minutes, with the fear of what are they gonna think of me? Or if I ask for that, people are gonna think I'm not competent, I guess, is probably the underlying fear.

What's your feedback to the young professionals in our community that might be a little bit nervous about taking a beat to collect themselves in their thoughts? - Yeah, I get that. And I can understand how that would be a little bit unnerving. I will say that your best leaders will respect that type of decision. Gee, I need a moment. I'd like to step out and collect myself. Unfortunately, we can't always guarantee people will react that way.

But at the end of the day, you have to answer to yourself. You have to know that you are doing the right thing in the right way. And other good folks will go along with that. - Well said. Let me ask you now then about, thinking about the other aspect of our professionals that have been practicing for a number of years, 'cause we're lifelong learners. That's not just for medical knowledge, but that's also aspects of professionalism. And since there's not really a book on it,

how do you continue to grow in your professionalism, in your ability to be a more effective leader more broadly? - Listen well. Not just listen, but listen well to everybody that crosses your path, whether you're talking to the CEO or whether you're talking to your brand new technologist that just started that morning. Everybody has something important to say. But the question is are you smart enough to listen to that? - I love that advice. Can you help unpack that for me,

about what does that well mean to you? Is that reflective questioning based on what you're hearing? What does that look like? - So everybody has a different perspective on a given situation, and they may have a perspective that never even occurred to you. And so I think it behooves us to try to understand what the other person is thinking and learn from that. I mean, people can talk about, gee, the weather in Minnesota is really horrible this time of the year. And I would say, "Really? How?

I don't quite understand." - Oh, Dr. Hata. We're interviewing candidates for residency right now. We're gonna have to cut that section. It's gorgeous in Minnesota right now. - It is actually gorgeous in Minnesota right now. - I'm sorry to interrupt. - But again, I think it's important. And it is something that you have to remind yourself to do. But again, as academics, we're supposed to be open to learning from all facets around us. And yes, it can be a little bit of work.

You have to remind yourself to do it. But it's keenly important. - It almost comes full circle, in that earlier you had mentioned, it's self-evident that exercise and sleep are essential components. But earlier, you were talking about how it's important to remember that. And it almost sounds like you're putting that also in the same camp of we need to remember to continue to cultivate this ability to listen well, right up there with sleep and exercise.

- Yeah, like I said, I have lots of conversations going on up here all the time. But yeah, it was pretty remarkable for me when I think now, when I think back about a year ago, how just tight I was and how much different I feel now. I mean, I don't feel completely normal. I don't think any of us really do quite yet. But just on a physical standpoint, it's much, much different. And I think it's good to know what you can tolerate.

- I think that's a theme I'm hearing through this conversation, is kind of that self-knowledge that you're developing throughout your career. And then putting that to use in your practice. Thank you so much, Dr. Hata, for unpacking this really challenging topic of how do we have this professionalism of grace under pressure. - No, I think it's a great topic, and I'm glad you're touching upon it. We unfortunately have seen casualties of that during this period of time.

But it's something that we can all address, just given a little bit of self-reflection and just being kind to one another. It's really important. - Well, I'm gonna remember my please and thank-yous.

Thank you. We've been rounding with Dr. Hata, talking about grace under pressure and professionalism. And to all of our listeners, thank you for joining us today. We invite you to share your thoughts and suggestions via email. Please direct any suggestions to [email protected]. If you've enjoyed Lab Medicine Rounds podcast, please follow or subscribe.

Until our next rounds together, we encourage you to continue to connect lab medicine and the clinical practice through insightful conversations. (relaxed music)