I Must Be A Troll
by Cancergeek
Apparently I upset people at times when I ask provactive questions.
Or when I challenge their line of thinking. Or when I notice that their actions do not match their words. Or when I point out the obvious.
Does this make me a troll?
Since the inception of my blog in 2007 I have always been one to challenge the status quo of healthcare.
I have almost always done it publicly.
I do not do this in a demeaning, defamatory, or negative manner.
I do my best to do this through logic, knowledge, questions and answers, observations, listening, research and experience.
And then I listen and observe some more.
I do my best to be professional, courteous, and respectful.
Most importantly, I do this in a transparent manner.
There are no backdoor conversations, direct messages, politicking or trying to create leverage by using a network to quiet the opinion, dialogue, or criticism of another individual or entity.
As a matter of fact, I prefer for there to be some healthy, open, and constructive conflict.
When I am wrong, I will also acknowledge that I am wrong.
Publicly.
We live in a world in which far too often people are typing, retyping, editing, and trying to perfect a picture, 140 characters, or a story because they are afraid of the backlash or criticism that they may face in the event that they say something that may not go along with the vast majority.
People dilute their own thoughts, comments, and “art” in order to blend in with the masses.
The problem is that this is becoming an epidemic in many healthcare circles, both virtually and in real life.
I get it.
Everyone wants to be “liked.” Everyone wants to be in the selfie.
My fear is that people are willing to sacrifice themselves, their truth, and their “why” in order to fit into some group of scaled mediocrity that isn’t making an impact for patients.
People are willing to trade patient care for self preservation.
I choose not to do that.
I choose not to dilute my own thoughts, ideas, experiences, or truth in order to be liked.
I choose to deliver patient expectations instead of being popular.
I choose to push back, call out, and have a dialogue on topics and issues that do not deliver the right diagnosis to the right patient at the right time for the right care.
I choose constructive conflict in an open and transparent venue so that we can learn from one another and not create more silos, segmentation, and sides in healthcare.
I choose to make sure that my actions speak louder than my words, and that they both say the same damn thing.
I choose not to block people if we disagree.
In fact, I will probably listen and interact more with with those that have a differing world view so that I can become a better version of myself.
I choose to challenge the status quo of healthcare.
Because leadership is not a popularity contest.
Leadership, at time, means doing the unpopular thing to make the world better tomorrow than it is today.
Because healthcare is about being humane.
Healthcare is about individuals.
Care is delivered at the N of 1.
As always you can feel free to email me at cancergeek@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter @cancergeek You can read past issues of my weekly newsletter by clicking this link: newsletter and feel free to signup using the subscribe tab at the top.
~Cancergeek
