Building Resilience: Timeless Tips from Experienced Professionals - Episode 4: Deborah G

Transcript created with Rev AI. Intro and outro music created with Suno AI.

 

Episode transcript:

 

Bethany:

All right. Welcome everybody to Building Resilience Timeless Tips from Experienced Professionals. Just as a recap, here's how this works. This is a podcast where I, Bethany Rankin, interview seasoned professionals who have successfully navigated the business world or have recently retired on their tips for resiliency in the workplace for young professionals. We have four segments. The first is career trajectory where we'll hear a bit about the industry they were in, how they worked their way up to their last or current position, and the challenges they faced. The second segment is defining resilience. We'll hear about their definition of resilience and how it's changed over the years and pivotal moments that help define how they view and practice resilience. Third segment is tangible and timeless tips. We'll hear their main tips for young professionals and building resilience. And fourth is your favourite piece of advice where we'll hear their favourite piece of advice they've received and how it's helped shape their current outlook on resilience in the workplace. And with that, let's begin. All right, and welcome back everybody to the Building Resilience Timeless Tips from Experienced Professionals podcast. On today's episode, we have Deborah G. Deborah, thank you so much for joining us.

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Deborah:

Good to be here.

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Bethany:

All right, so let's get into it now. So segment number one, career trajectory. So Deborah, can you tell us a little bit about your career trajectory and the industry or industries you were in?

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Deborah:

So I graduated from nursing in 1983 and began working as a registered nurse. So it's the healthcare industry. Throughout my career, I've worked primarily in a hospital setting in areas of pediatrics, operating room, medical, surgical, and long-term care. For the last five years of my career, I worked in a long-term care facility, working as a registered nurse, clinical practice lead and director of care for four years. So when I worked as a director of care, it was 160 bed facility. I was responsible for about 200 staff. We had to ensure compliance of regulations, oversee patient care, communicating with regulatory bodies, all the HR responsibilities for the 200 staff, like hiring, terminating if necessary, et cetera.

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Bethany:

Wonderful. All right. And could you tell us a little bit more about your last position or most senior level role?

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Deborah:

So as I said, my most senior role was working as a director of care in the long-term care facility. So when I was asked to consider the job of director of care, I spoke to a wise friend. He first said, first of all, you think you know what the job is about, but you never know until you're in the job.

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Bethany:

Right

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Deborah:

Then he said, second, it will probably be worse than you thought. And he said, finally, I think you should take the job because it's a good opportunity. And so over the years, those words rang very true. The job was indeed very different than I thought, but it was a great opportunity and I grew in many ways, both personally and professionally from that job. And I'm very proud of the job that I did. So I think that that's always important when you're considering any job that you don't know until you're in the job. And so just having an open mind.

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Bethany:

Yeah, that's a great tip. I know for me, when I was working or when I was offered a job in research, I was nervous when I was taking it because I was like, I've never done a role like that before. But I knew I was going to learn a lot of really great skills in terms of project management, collaboration, communication, et cetera. So I was like, well, it was a little nerve wracking at first when I thought about taking a job and research and the responsibility that came with it, I also knew that I was going to be a really good learning opportunity.

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Deborah:

Absolutely. And having an open mind. But I think when you're considering the new job, it is important to do research on the role and to identify the areas where you might need some more education. For example, when I was interested in working in the operating room, I took the operating room certificate. And then after working a while as the director of care, I took some leadership courses at the Justice Institute in BC and obtained a certificate in leadership. I also would read books on leadership and management. I consulted with other colleagues who were skilled leaders, networking with others in a similar role, and I would meet with other director of cares.

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Bethany:

Awesome. Yeah, I know for me, in my current role, my job has grown quite a bit and there's more government relations, communications work, et cetera. And that's actually why I decided to pursue this certificate in public relations because I really want to grow out those skills as my role grows and for my career path.

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Deborah:

Yeah, great. I think it's always important to keep educating yourself and whether it's through seminars, workshops, or at a more formal level, you're doing a certificate.

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Bethany:

Awesome. Great. So what lessons did you learn from your job transitions or shifts in your career?

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Deborah:

I think, well, I said about doing research on the role and identifying areas for more education, also healthy practices and routines at work. For example, I would walk every morning at 6:30. I also did, in my own personal life, I did morning prayers and readings. Before I left work, I developed a schedule for daily tasks for short and long-term planning. It was a big job, so I needed to have a lot of organization and planning. There was a large component of HR hiring staff and performance reviews particularly. So if I didn't schedule time for these regularly, I wouldn't be able to make the expectations of annual performance reviews for all employees. Another lesson is, who's the best person for the job?

 

Over time, jobs evolve and grow, and people take on more responsibilities. It's important to evaluate, so who is the best person for the particular job? Often people, they'll just take on more jobs because it needs to be done. And for myself, I would always be evaluating, am I the best person to be doing this? For example, while I might be particularly good at developing, say a care plan for a patient, it would be best done by someone else because there was something more important that I needed to do. Delegating but best person for the job is important work to, my strengths for my strength was ensuring excellent nursing care. I found some of the HR issues very challenging, and so a senior colleague who was good at HR, she took over much of this area. So it was a win-win for both of us and for the organization. And another lesson is when I worked in the, or the Nike Just do it attitude, that's what I learned. So when you're working in the or, there's very different types of surgeries and nurses have preferences for some types of surgeries, and they don't like others, but the patient needs you, the physician needs you, so you just have to do it. And this attitude of just do it, actually, it helped me in many areas of my life, both in my career and personally just do it.

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Bethany:

Yeah, that's a really important piece of advice because I've been seeing a lot online lately. It's like the only way out is through, and sometimes you just have to get through the difficult thing to get where you want to go. Yeah

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Deborah:

Absolutely. Absolutely, absolutely. You just do it, right?

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Bethany:

Yeah. But yeah, it sounds like you accumulated a lot of really good strategies over your career setting those routines. I heard some good mental health boosters in there too, like the walks every day. I used to do that too. Yes.

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Deborah:

I think it's very important because, and during your day sometimes I would get up and go for a walk around the block and just to clear my head, maybe grab a coffee and just, it really does help you feel like sometimes while you don't have the time, but it really helps to make you work more productively. But yeah, I think regular, some form of regular exercises very important for all of us. And that helps you at work.

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Bethany:

Yeah, for sure. No, I know for me, some days you're just at your desk for that whole eight hours or you're super busy and it really helps to just get up from your desk and walk around or do a little five minute exercise or whatever it might be

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Deborah:

And to clear your head and get out of your office. I think it's important to get out of whether you work at home or you're in an office, just get out and clear your head, smell the fresh air, and it really does help. And then you get back to the just do it attitude.

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Bethany:

Great.

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Deborah:

Yeah.

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Bethany:

Alright. So you kind of touched on this a little bit, but what challenges did you encounter as you advanced in your career and how did you overcome them?

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Deborah:

I found some of the HR challenging. So I, I negotiated with my boss that she took on more of that and I focused on my strength, which was the nursing care, and I mean having a very large job, full schedule. So I had to really plan out my time and be organized in order to meet the expectations.

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Bethany:

And I think that's a really important tidbit that you mentioned there, like checking in with your boss and communicating with them. Because I know for example, I've had students or I've seen students in the past that I've worked with and they don't want to tell their supervisor or whatever it might be about issues that they're experiencing until it's a little bit too late. And that can definitely dig you into a hole if you're not clearly communicating certain issues to your supervisor. It's best to ask for help when you need it.

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Deborah:

Well, and just talk to your boss about what are the priorities. So being honest and try to frame it positively, I'm finding that this particular task is really involved. It's taking up the majority of my time, and I'm not able to do these other tasks and ask for clarification. So what's the priority? How much detail do I need to go into for these things? And getting that direction. And somebody said, another piece of advice was the priority is what the boss says is the priority. And that's true. So having those conversations, and as you say, if you're struggling, get the help because maybe you don't always have all the information. And so by telling your boss that you may not be aware of other issues at the time, and it's actually very helpful and maybe things need to drop, but it's hard. It's always hard to say that you're struggling with this, but if you try to frame it in a positive manner and asking them what the priority is and for the clarification. And sometimes when we'd have a particularly critical situation, my boss would say to me, this is the one thing I want you to do today, today, Debbie. And so I would focus on the, and that's what I would focus on. And no matter what emails came in or other people trying to distract me, I would be focusing on that one task until it was finished. And that really helped.

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Bethany:

And I think too, when you bring up issues to your boss, it can kind of help, like you said, play to certain people's strengths because if you can break an issue down maybe with your boss or talk it through, maybe they can kind of delegate those pieces to play to everybody's strengths as well. Exactly.

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Deborah:

Exactly. They can say, well, you know what, you don't really need. Let's see if we can get somebody else to do that part of the job. Because let's be honest, some things do get pushed to the back burner that shouldn't be because, and it can lead to a bigger problem down the road, so might be better that somebody else is doing that job, that little part of the job. Yeah. But it is challenging, as I said, it is challenging. And depending on the type of boss you have, some are very open and some bosses they're not. They bark at you. I've had those too. So it can be challenging, but just try to be pleasant and have all of your facts, et cetera, and try to communicate as clearly as possible.

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Bethany:

Awesome.

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Deborah:

Yeah.

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Bethany:

Great. So with that, we will head into segment number two, defining resilience. So segment number two, defining resilience, your definition of resilience now and throughout the years. So Deborah, how do you define resilience at work?

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Deborah:

I would say it's the ability to withstand pressures at work, recover from setbacks as the saying goes, keep calm and carry on. And I would say that's developed over the years. And I don't think my definition has changed, but I've certainly grown in my resilient abilities, our ability to be resilient rather. Yeah.

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Bethany:

Yeah. I think you're touching on the next question there. So you say it hasn't changed, but how you practiced it has changed. So what would you say to that?

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Deborah:

And I have become more resilient. Absolutely. Absolutely. So the more experiences you have, the more resilient you do become, and you develop it. Either realization that you can get through this and you've got through things in the past, you can get through this next challenge and that you'll get through it, you'll survive

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Bethany:

For sure. Yeah. I think in the moment, especially when you're starting out in your career, there's a big learning curve for even having your own definition of resilience or practicing it because everything, when you have an issue that comes up at work, sometimes it can seem like the biggest thing and you don't know how you're going to get through it. And then even a week later, a couple months later, you look back and it wasn't that big of a deal.

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Deborah:

Yes, exactly. Exactly. And yeah, nothing lasts forever.

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Bethany:

That's true.

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Deborah:

And as you say, you do get through it, and the more you experience things you do realize, well, I made it through that. I can make it through this next challenge. And talking with other people, getting your supports, especially when you're first starting out in your career, when things do seem overwhelming and talking to experienced people and they can guide you. And as I said, oh, they can say, well, that's not a big deal, don't worry about that. Focus on this. So give you some perspective and that really helps. And to getting support from other people, and you can build things up in your head as you say, and everything feels overwhelming when, and you think other people, they've gone through this before, they've survived. How did they do it? You'll survive too.

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Bethany:

Great. Yeah, I think that's definitely been something important for me is just having a little network of people I can talk to and bounce ideas off of either at work or outside of work to gain more perspective like you're saying. And that's also why I want to do this podcast is hearing from experienced professionals and how you've built your own resilience over time. So could you describe a key milestone or milestones in your career that contributed to your definition of resilience?

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Deborah:

I would say when I worked as the director of care, that really, it developed my resilience because it was such a complex job and with a lot of responsibility and encountered many challenges. And so it really did develop my resilience for sure.

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Bethany:

Awesome. Yeah. And I guess also just you had a lot of different positions and areas of nursing and things like that, and you were saying it builds up over time. I guess some jobs are more of a learning curve and resilience builder than others of course. But it is a process that you go through

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Deborah:

And I think, well, every job you learn something and something different and it all helps. Sometimes you don't realize it until many years later when you draw upon that job many years ago how it can help you in a future situation.

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Bethany:

For sure.

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Deborah:

Yeah.

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Bethany:

Great. So then in what ways did setbacks or failures redirect your career path?

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Deborah:

Well, actually when I worked as the director of care, there was a ownership of the company changed and there was a restructuring of the management and my employment was terminated. So I looked for, initially I worked as a casual RN, and then after a few months I obtained a full-time nursing position. But it actually turned out to be a very positive move. The job was less stressful and it was better for me and for my family.

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Bethany:

Well, when one door closes, another door opens

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Deborah:

That’s right.

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Bethany:

It sounds like better work-life balance for sure.

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Deborah:

Yeah, it was a better work-life balance. And as I said, it was a very positive move, actually.

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Bethany:

Great. Yeah. And so how did mentorship or guidance shape your career path and definition of resilience?

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Deborah:

Well, I think it's important to have important role models. And someone said to me, if you want to be successful, do what successful people do. And so I tried to follow examples of colleagues who were successful and watched it and learned how they handled, how handled challenges.

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Bethany:

I know for me in my current role, I definitely look to my director to see how she handles challenges and obstacles.

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Deborah:

Exactly.

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Bethany:

Yeah.

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Deborah:

Yeah.

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Bethany:

Because at least in my role now, we definitely talk through things as a team and it's us against the problem. We work through it and we break it down or timelines can shift. I feel like we're very flexible and just seeing how my colleagues handle it definitely has helped me when I experience a problem or whatever it might be and how I approach it.

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Deborah:

Yeah,

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Bethany:

Great tip. So then later on in your career, how did you cultivate or foster resilience in your team or workplace?

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Deborah:

I think it's very important to encourage others. I've once read a book called The Five Minute Manager, and one of the suggestions is if you want people to exhibit a certain behaviour, you need to compliment them, spend time with them until you see that behaviour and then compliment or encourage it in them. For example, if I wanted a healthcare aid to be kind, I might be visiting that particular unit. And then when I saw them doing something particularly kind, I would say, wow, that was, I really liked it when you did such and such. I could tell it really made the patient's day or so-and-so's day. So you're giving positive reinforcement. And I think people need to be encouraged and people, they work hard and it's important to encourage that. And when people would tell me about a problem or challenging situation, important to listen to, empathize with them and encourage them and empower them and help them to see the situation in a different light, try to foster it. You can do it, Rosie, the riveter attitude, because we hear a lot about challenges in the healthcare industry and there are a lot of challenges. Absolutely. But there always have been challenges. It's just different challenges. We're experiencing different challenges. And just to, as I said, listen, empathize, encourage, empower, and try to foster a you can do it attitude.

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Bethany:

Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that's really important, encouraging your team and also with criticisms, having constructive criticisms, but also the sandwiching method I think is very important. One thing you did good, then the criticism and another thing that they did well and kind of padding it because some people are very sensitive and even the slightest little criticism, you don't want to discourage anybody, but you want to build them up so that they can build up those skills

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Deborah:

Exactly. Rather than saying, as I said, try to, when you see that particular behaviour that you want to see is to compliment them and encourage them so that they will do more of that.

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Bethany:

Yeah,

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Deborah:

That's important. But yeah, the sandwich method, and try to keep it to the minimum in terms of negative, but it is important to also to nip things in the bud, if you know what I mean.

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Bethany:

Yeah

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Deborah:

Because try to deal with things before they become a bigger problem.

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Bethany:

For sure. Yeah.

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Deborah:

Yeah,

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Bethany:

Definitely. Alright, awesome. Great tips. And with that we will move into segment number three, tangible and timeless tips. So segment number three, tangible and timeless tips, your tips for young professionals. So Deborah, what strategies do you or did you use to maintain a positive mindset during difficult times at work?

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Deborah:

Well, as I said, developing healthy practices such as exercise, meditation, sense of humour is really important. Be able to find the humour in a situation, find someone that you can debrief with, but it has to be due to confidentiality. It has to be an appropriate person balance in life. As I said, if you become overwhelmed with responsibilities, take a short walk around the block, get a coffee, clear your head, take the weekend off. Sometimes I would visit a friend for the weekend, a change of scenery does you a world of good and helps you to step back from situations. Network. Don't be shy about networking. And networking with people outside of your field because HR problems are universal, for example. And so for example, I wanted to develop a new medication control record, and so I phoned a pharmacist from previous employment and he was willing to share the record, saved me a lot of time. Why reinvent the wheel? People can only say no. And often they're happy to share their expertise because they might be in a similar situation sometime. And they will be, as I said, talk to other professionals, not necessarily in your field.

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Bethany:

Great. Yeah, a couple things you hit on there, like building good routines and taking your breaks. And I know for me, living in the city, sometimes it's nice to get out of the city for a change of scenery.

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Deborah:

Exactly. Getting out of, yeah, exactly. Getting out of the city, a different change of scenery. It really helps you to get perspective and your mind does work on problems even when you're not consciously working on them.

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Bethany:

Yeah, for sure.

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Deborah:

That's what I find. Yeah.

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Bethany:

Yeah. And you said about networking, and I think that's so interesting because I actually went to a conference on food policy this past week and I got to meet a lot of different people, a professor who does health economics, different nonprofit people from Manitoba and Saskatchewan and different provinces. And it was a really interesting learning opportunity because it just gave me new perspectives to think about, new questions to ask. And there were some really interesting political panels that were happening at the conference. And so I got to hear from people that worked in Justin Trudeau's office or who were experts in the field. And it was just really motivating too. Like you said, networking outside of my typical circles and hearing different perspectives. Yeah, no, great.

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Deborah:

It's very important. And just to listen to where they're coming from, and sometimes you'll hear ideas that are very, very foreign to you, but, just listen, think about it, have an open mind is really important. And I think if you can even globally, if you have the opportunity to, if you travel at all, to talk to people from other countries and how are they handling situations and problems and it really helps you to come up with creative solutions.

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Bethany:

Awesome.

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Deborah:

If you have that opportunity.

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Bethany:

For sure.

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Deborah:

Yeah.

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Bethany:

Great. So what advice would you give to young professionals in terms of building their resilience and maintaining a positive mindset?

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Deborah:

This may sound strange, but be cautious who you hang around with. Surround yourself with positive people, people that are problem solvers. Try not to get caught up in work, politics, do the job to the best of your ability. Focus on doing your best and people will recognize your work and you'll do well. Do what you think you need to do. Sometimes people say, oh, you don't need to do that, or I wouldn't do that. That's not really necessary. Think about what they're saying and maybe if you feel the need, but discuss it with a trusted colleague, but follow your instincts. If you think that this is something that you should be doing or need to do, then do it. But yes, surround yourself with positive people and sometimes communicate less because sometimes with email, texting, social media, it can wear people down without even being aware of it. And a lot of problems do resolve themselves on their own. So it is not necessarily to get a minute by minute detail of what's happening, if that makes sense to you.

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Bethany:

And I think another important piece there is sometimes when you make new connections and whatever, people can tend to overshare. And I think that's also an important part of, you don't need to share everything with everybody. Right?

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Deborah:

Exactly. Exactly. That's very important. And just, yeah, as you say, don't overshare. Yeah.

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Bethany:

What advice would you give to young professionals about bouncing back from failure or missed opportunities?

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Deborah:

I think it's important to step back from the situation, reflect and evaluate, reflect on what you did and why you did it, what you could have done differently, what you've learned. We all make mistakes. Try to turn it into something positive. My son told me, he said the best university course he took was the one he failed and and the reason being he said it was a wakeup call and he subsequently, he learned many lessons and it really helped him on his career path. But I thought that was interesting. The best course was the one he failed.

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Bethany:

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

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Deborah:

And not to focus on missed opportunities to keep moving forward.

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Bethany:

Yeah, yeah. No, I totally agree. I think in the past, for example, when I've applied to certain jobs or practicum opportunities when I was doing my master's, you can get bummed out when you don't get the job that you really want or the opportunity that you really want, but it's important to pivot and instead of ruminating on your failures or whatever it is, to take away those lessons and just move on.

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Deborah:

Exactly. And sometimes it is a good thing that it didn't work out in a certain way. I think often things they work out the way they're supposed to work out and we can be really, as you said, you really want a certain thing and then you're really disappointed when that doesn't come to pass. But then sometimes it's not for a few years you realize, wow, it's a good thing. It didn't work out that way. It's a good thing. My path went a different direction. And yes, so as you say, just keep moving forward. That's what I say

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Bethany:

For sure.

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Deborah:

Yeah.

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Bethany:

So then burnout is a very hot topic these days. So how can young professionals balance, ambition and resilience to avoid burnout?

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Deborah:

As I said, one of the things is less communication. And as I said, because it can be overwhelming and it can feed negativity can be a big time waster. It takes up a lot of brain space and energy and it can lead into what I would call an insidious fatigue, brain fatigue, and leave people to work out situations. You don't always need to be constantly communicating. It's a balance. Like my boss used to say to me, communicating in person is best phone second and email last. Now that does depend on what it is. It's a quick question. Sometimes it is easier just to a text or an email, but certainly if it's a more complex situation, often in person you can solve many issues at once. And for example, I used to do rounds in my facility and when I would walk through the building, I could solve many, many problems or potential problems. An hour would be worth eight hours work in my office for example. But just by walking around, I might become aware of a potential problem and that could never be solved in an email.

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Bethany:

Right. Yeah.

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Deborah:

So that's burnout. And as I said, what we talked about before, the balance in life importance of having some healthy practices like exercise and if you do meditation or other things, but having balance in your life is very important.

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Bethany:

For sure. Great tips. Yeah. So then what tips would you give to young professionals in terms of cultivating or fostering resilience within their teams at work?

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Deborah:

As I said, being a positive role model, try to demonstrate the behaviours you want to see in their team. So if you want your team to work hard, you demonstrate hard work and being willing to pitch in and help is really important that that builds, builds teams.

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Bethany:

Great. Yeah, no, I think that's so important is to lead by example. Exactly.

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Deborah:

Exactly. Lead by example.

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Bethany:

Yeah. I know for my director now, she's very big on work-life balance and logging out at 5:00 PM enjoying your weekends when you're on vacation, you're not expected to check your phone. So I think that's so important because I've had colleagues who have said in previous environments, that's a very foreign concept to them. So it's very refreshing having a boss that encourages work-life balance and healthy mental health practices, et cetera.

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Deborah:

Yeah. And when you're at work, you give your all. And then someone once said to me, Mr. Rogers, I don't know if you ever saw that show, but he always hung up his coat before he left. He'd put on his jacket or he'd hang it, he'd leave it at work is the point. And someone said to me that I need to be like Mr. Rogers, when you leave, you hang up your coat and as you say, I have some balance. And it is true, it is true. And it does help you to work more effectively. Absolutely.

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Bethany:

Great. So then we talk about resilience, but I think another important part of maintaining your mental health is also knowing when to walk away from a toxic environment or a job that isn't right for you. So what would you say are some things to consider if someone is either contemplating sticking it out or finding another job?

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Deborah:

I think consider your options. Be cautious. Evaluate the situation. Evaluate the situation. Is it a toxic person? Is it a whole environment? If it's one particular person, they might not necessarily be there forever. Management is likely aware of that person's behaviour, but may not necessarily be able to act on it right away for various reasons. Talk about the situation with a mentor. As I said, explore your options, get your resume ready. Sometimes you do need to leave a job, but make sure you have something to go to, have a plan, easier to find a job when you've got a job. But all of those things, but as I said, and a lot of times situations they do resolve over time. It may seem terrible at the time, but they do resolve.

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Bethany:

Great.

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Deborah:

Yeah. And in those situations sometimes that's when you really do need to in your downtime, have good diversions. Yeah.

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Bethany:

Awesome. So then what are your tips for young professionals on seeking support from their bosses when needed?

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Deborah:

Okay. I think it depends on the boss. Some are not capable of giving you the support that's needed. And in that case you need seek it elsewhere and communicate your needs. Be honest. If you're feeling overwhelmed, communicate, as I said before, ask the boss, what's the priority for you? What's their priority for you? As I said, and my boss used to say to me, this is the one thing I would like you to do today, but it really depends. It does depend on the boss. And I've had bosses that, that are crabby and not able to give you any support. So then you just have to seek your support elsewhere.

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Bethany:

For sure. I mean, it's great when bosses are a person that you can go to for any problems.

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Deborah:

Some might be inept, some might be totally inept at their job, and that's really tough. But you just have to just keep doing your job and as seek your support elsewhere. And eventually things work out and that boss that is inept may not always be there. So you're not always aware of everything that is happening.

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Bethany:

Yeah, for sure.

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Deborah:

Yeah.

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Bethany:

Great. Alright, and with that, we will move into our last segment, your favourite piece of advice. So segment for your favourite piece of advice. So Deborah, could you please share your favourite piece of advice that you've received in the workplace and how it shaped your outlook on resilience?

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Deborah:

Well, I think a couple of things. As I said about the importance of face-to-face communication, importance of listening to others. Think about what they're saying, being open, even if their opinion is very different from yours. So that's important. Also, this came from somebody, is your CS degree, and a wise person once said to me, the most important degree is your common sense degree. And they might have many letters behind their name, but they can be ineffective. And whereas someone else may not have the formal qualifications but can move mountains. And so, and that again goes to just being open and not, as I said, assuming things will, they've got all these letters behind their name that they're qualified for the job, they may not be qualified. So yeah, just being open to listening.

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Bethany:

Yeah. Awesome. Yeah, I know the common sense thing, experience is very valuable in terms of developing that. And I know when I was, for example, doing my masters, the practicum experiences were so important just to build some of that up and learn a lot of lessons. And just in terms of hearing other people's perspectives, I think that's so important because sometimes when you're working on a problem or whatever it might be you, it's important not to just block people out because you think you're just going to disagree with them or they do things very differently than you because I think it's important to be open to receiving input from other people that might have a very different perspective. Because even if you don't take all of it, maybe you can just take a chunk of it and maybe apply that.

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Deborah:

I remember I worked with a person who did HR and she was quite rigid. In some ways things had to be done a certain way and it seemed inflexible. But over time I did learn to appreciate that in certain areas because that is needed, that things do need to be done a certain way. But as you say, being open and listening, you may not agree with everything, but take those things that you do agree with and that are helpful. And I think I find that that's something that I see more people have become very polarized in their viewpoints and they automatically write off the other side, the other side. It's important to listen still, to listen and to dialogue and try to work things through. And as you say, you may not agree with everything, but take the things you can agree with and work together, try to find a compromise. And so it's a win-win situation instead of adversarial.

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Bethany:

For sure.

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Deborah:

Yeah.

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Bethany:

Yeah. Well that's a great note to leave us on. Deborah, thank you so much for joining us today.

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Deborah:

Yes, thank you Bethany. My pleasure.

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Bethany:

Thank you. And stay tuned, everybody for our next episode of Building Resilience.

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Sources Used:

“Gentle pop song for podcast, intro and outro music” prompt. Suno AI, 4 Oct 2024. Version V4, https://suno.com/.

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“Red headed woman interviewing short-haired red headed woman for podcast” CANVA AI. 2024 version. 14 October 2024. https://www.canva.com/

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Rev AI. 2024 version. 24 November 2024. https://www.rev.com/services/ai-transcription