Believe it or not, I used to be a pretty big physio mentoring challenge myself.
Never the worst in terms of clinical competence, or getting work done.
I was actually pretty good at both of these things.
But that doesn’t count for much when it comes with one pretty big chink in the old armour.
Attitude.
Specifically, I was highly skilled at complaining about EVERYTHING.
Mentoring the complainer physio
Jesus, I used to complain a lot.
And to be honest, if I were in those same positions right now.
I’d still be complaining.
I complained so much that I convinced myself that I could do better.
Or that I deserved better.
And so I quit.
I’d had eight different physio jobs before I was 26.
Not one lasted a full 12 months (my grad year was close, 11 months)!
Before eventually landing in the UK and finding my feet (and pulling my head in).
When I returned in 2018 I wasn’t the same person, and then I did do something about it.
I did everything!
Speaking of everything, if you haven’t already now would be a great time to check out my Facebook group – Purpose Driven Practices.
Too young to hold on
I was 21 when I graduated as a physiotherapist.
Twenty-one!
I spent the week before graduation on a footy-trip.
I still remember it, or at least the mornings.
This was my top priority at the time.
Sitting in a hotel room in Adelaide after 3 days of drinking.
One brief assignment away from graduating.
Not a care in the world, and not one iota of me wanted to be entering the workforce.
I was not ready.
Fast forward 6 months.
Yes, I sat on the sidelines for 4 months as I wasn’t ready.
And then I worked casually for 2 months, (making bank!!) or at least I thought I was.
June 2009 came around, I was now 22 and I started working my first full-time role.
And was it a shocker!
I worked in a private hospital, with an average age demographic of about 80 years of age.
And a staff group who were; very much set in their ways.
Too old to just break free and run.
I was 20 years younger than any of my colleagues, this didn’t really help.
Why I never (thought I) needed a physio mentor
I was a disruptor at heart.
An innovator.
An optimiser.
I knew how to use systems to improve workflows.
The things I used to do, lol.
This was back in the days of photocopiers and fax machines.
I had a drawer full of fax cover sheets, pre-written with 10 different services on them.
It was such a freakin hassle to write up cover sheets and look for numbers of different services.
And all that malarkey in a completely disorganised workplace (sorry guys).
So I optimised the sh*t out of it.
And guess what, I was the only person who arrived at 8 and left at 4:30.
In fact, all of my colleagues arrived at 8.30, and they left at …5:30.
Quite frankly many of them didn’t get their work finished until after 6.
They preferred to work at their pace.
Typical employee mindset.
Including my senior physio mentor.
Who literally didn’t spend a moment of her time with me and was extremely inefficient.
Yet, due to longevity this person was paid nearly double my salary – for doing the same job!
I wasn’t about to become like them.
If it meant running around like a maniac some days trying to get everything done.
Then so be it.
I had to get out on time.
The last thing I wanted to do was to be sitting in that office at 5.30.
Or travelling 60 mins through peak traffic to get home.
Sidenote: I was watching a video by John C. Maxwell yesterday, he talked about employees in positional companies reversing into their car parks (5:29) – it’s pretty good!
I was too busy complaining to anyone and everyone who could hear it.
Majority of which was about the inefficiencies.
Why we had to work with 10 different consultants in a 65 bed hospital.
The fact that the consultants didn’t work within streams, meaning every meeting was a complete shemozzle.
They just saw whatever patients willy-nilly ($$$$).
The fact that the meetings ran at different days, on different hours… so ridiculous!
Why at any point during the day we could be called to a meeting.
Leave all of your patients in the gym for 30+mins and then return to their complaints.
Far out!
It remains to this day the stupidest work environment I’ve ever seen.
Toxic cultures
And the hospital let the docs get away with bloody murder.
If you’re wondering where my agitation against the medical profession comes from.
It is from observing them first hand.
The way they work; especially those at the top (in the private sector I’m talking).
Everyone just crawls around at their feet, kisses their little toes.
Meanwhile, not a single patient in that hospital required a doctor.
They were there to have rehabilitation.
Anyone remotely sick was sent straight back to acute care – seldom every seeing a consultant.
The nurses had this.
And with my physio cape on… I had a firm physio philosophy, I was the Superhero they had come to see.
My colleagues all understood what the problems were.
But they weren’t frustrated enough to do anything about them.
Eventually I figured out how to hack this system.
I picked a single doctor and as soon as a patient arrived I would nab them.
I got my list down to two doctors at one point – and I only went to their meetings.
And I even started picking out the patients who’s rooms were closest to the physio gym.
All over it, like a rash.
If only I had put my mind to some bigger challenges lol.
Back to my complaining.
After about 3 months I was ready to quit.
“You don’t have to work here if you don’t want to.”
This is literally what my boss said to me one day.
I was livid.
How NOT to mentor your physio’s.
I’d been doing my usual complaining about the inefficiencies.
He hadn’t said a word to me for like 3 months.
Mostly just ignoring my comments.
Which really infuriated me.
There’s nothing worse than feeling unheard.
It just made me complain more.
The culture at the hospital at the time, particularly from senior management.
As in the ‘suits’ (department heads), not the physio department…
Let’s just say if you want to see toxic leadership, I can tell you some stories.
If you want to learn about building real culture, why not check out my physio business coaching services…
One day a senior corporate at the company came to visit.
This person sat down and lambasted the entire hospital.
One department at a time, over the course of two days.
Telling everyone where they were failing.
Why our site was dragging down everyone else.
My goodness, it was workplace bullying of biblical proportions.
I had a chat with a female colleague afterwards.
A Russian woman that I’d said about two words to at this point.
She had a PhD in falls and balance but she was working as a grade 1; like me.
I told her I was going back to casual work.
I’d had enough of this.
She looked me straight in the eye and said something to me that I will never forget.
My first taste of physio mentoring
She gave me a proper talking to.
The one about how you need to grow up, stop complaining and get on with it.
“Do you want to be a casual sh*t for the rest of your life??”
Within a month she was promoted to a grade 2, and I moved into her stream a few weeks later.
We worked together and she taught me enormous amounts about Neuro.
She had a PhD remember, she was in her early 40’s.
Yet because of her lack of clinical experience in Australia, she had to start at the bottom.
And work her way up.
Alongside loud-mouthed, entitled, 22 year old little sh*t’s like me.
She also had an 18 year old son.
So she wasn’t for a second going to put up with any lip.
I still remember how much she hated the outdated rehab approaches too.
“Standing on a stupid piece of foam doesn’t prevent falls.”
Function was king.
She said to me, if I see you doing that (exercise), I’ll kill you!
I don’t think she literally threatened to kill me, but she was fierce.
Have you met a Russian person?
They’re pretty down the line.
But also funny as hell when you get behind the tough exterior.
I finished my contract and left to go overseas.
Not before draining all my sick leave.
Because #millennial.
A slow learner then…
I still stuffed around for the next 3 years.
Failed to learn this same lesson 2 times over.
I started post-grad in musculoskeletal.
I flirted with private practice, but never quite stuck it.
Quit again.
Deferred uni.
Went overseas, again (what a tough life!)!
Moved to the UK.
Finally found my golden ticket.
And I managed to put myself on the opposite side of a table from a physio legend named Claire.
That was the end of my life as a casual sh*t.
The lesson?
I wrote recently about giving feedback to physiotherapists.
Well this was it’s origin, with me on the receiving end.
Direct, unadulterated feedback.
Life changing…
Although in 2024, perhaps don’t threaten to kill anyone.
PS. Want to know how to make your last 10 days count?
I’ll be leading a FREE webinar on Tuesday December 12 at 1pm sharp.
