Meet Lillian Emlet

 

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lillian Emlet. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lillian, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

My optimism comes from realizing that the glass half full keeps a group’s energy and direction moving in a positive direction. As a daughter of immigrants, there is probably no other way to be than to be optimistic and hard-working in order to move towards financial stability and opportunity. While suffering emotional abuse in my childhood, the drive to escape and become independent and above the situation was a strong core memory. I used my talents and skills in a positive way to win awards and recognition for my talents so that I could go into the world and have opportunities to better myself. I remember, even at the young age of 15, during summer camps, where we were to work on projects together, that being optimistic and bringing the best out in each other helped propel the group towards action. I’ve always wanted to be the peacemaker and beacon of harmony to bring people’s energies together in order to rise up and above dark moments. As an ICU physician during the COVID pandemic, this was also an important part of my identity and perspective.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I started Transforming Healthcare Coaching in order to help healthcare professionals of all specialties, disciplines, and leadership positions to level up in their life and work.

At our core, we’re passionate healthcare coaches dedicated to transforming the industry by empowering its most valuable asset – the PEOPLE who make it all happen. What we do is quite special: we provide energy leadership coaching exclusively to healthcare clinicians and leaders, helping them rediscover their passion, enhance their leadership skills, and thrive both personally and professionally. What excites me most about our work is witnessing the profound transformation in our clients. There’s nothing quite like seeing a burnt-out physician rekindling their love for medicine, or a stressed-out nurse manager developing the confidence to lead with authenticity and compassion. We’re not just coaching; we’re reigniting and making the divide in many healthcare professionals’ lives whole again: the feeling like they have to choose between themselves vs. work, and changing lives in the process. Coaching is an important component in the prevention of burnout that has not been leveraged at the scale that it needs to be for the healthcare industry.

Our approach is unique because we understand the healthcare world inside out. Our coaches have walked in those shoes, felt the pressures, and navigated the challenges. This allows us to offer coaching that’s truly tailored to the healthcare experience. We don’t just talk about generic leadership principles – we dive deep into the specific hurdles and opportunities that healthcare professionals face every day.

We offer several ways for people to work with us:
The most classical coaching packages are 1:1 individual coaching packages, which allow customization of whatever the client needs to work on for as long as necessary. Most of our clients have 6-12 month coaching engagements for transformational change and the development of new habits.

We are most excited about our new group coaching program, medTHRIVE launching September 2024, which is designed to bring together healthcare professionals from diverse backgrounds, fostering a community of support and shared growth. This program embodies our belief that healthcare is a team sport, and that by learning and growing together, we can create even more powerful positive change. This is a private community with weekly content and monthly group coaching sessions, providing a platform for connection and support among healthcare professionals.

We also work with teams in organizations, usually invited to discuss and consult with leadership to address and improve team dynamics, engagement, and innovation. We’re also expanding our services to include specialized coaching for healthcare organizations looking to transform their culture from within. Our services are designed to bring about transformative change within healthcare organizations, instilling hope and optimism for a brighter future. We use our proprietary Energy Leadership Index (ELI) as the first exercise, including 360 evaluations, and leadership simulations to bring out the best in every individual. This initiative aligns with our vision of reshaping the healthcare narrative on a broader scale.

To get a sense of what we are about, check out our podcast, Transforming Healthcare Coaching, available on Apple, Spotify, Podbean, and YouTube.

Ultimately, what I want folks to know about our brand is that we’re more than just a coaching service. We’re a movement, a community, and a force for positive change in healthcare. We believe in the power of each individual to make a difference, and we’re here to support that journey every step of the way. Together, we’re not just dreaming of a better healthcare future – we’re actively creating it, one empowered professional at a time.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The 3 qualities and skills most impactful on my journey are mindfulness, gratitude, and a growth mindset.

Mindfulness was something I discovered the second time I went through burnout and attended a conference for physicians looking to heal from burnout. I had never heard of it previously and am grateful for Michele DuVal of The Mindful Center’s first exposure to it. I then went on to complete a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course and incorporated mindfulness and meditation into the well-being curriculums that I run for our physician trainees. Through the practice of mindfulness, it has informed my teaching as a simulation educator, clinician, and leader of teams.

A robust gratitude practice is the one thing that consistently, over time, demonstrated in the literature, helps the well-being of healthcare professionals in recovery from burnout. Generally, gratitude helps in overall mental health and resilience, and yet, finding others to be explicit and intentional and talk about what they are grateful for isn’t always so common. Grounding in gratitude is essential in the learning journey of life because it trains the brain to notice what’s going right…so that you can be self-motivated to keep finding those nuggets of gratitude.

Growth mindset, as described by Dr. Carol Dweck, really was a game changer for my learning and practice as a medical educator and coach. So often, my entire career had been defined by the minimum passing score required to get into the next hurdle in becoming a physician with many standardized tests since high school. Focusing on a balanced and reasonable approach to growth and a fixed mindset is necessary. However, a wildly powerful aspect of a growth mindset is its ability to move someone forward into brave, uncharted new territory. I credit a growth mindset along the way as I was one of the few EM physicians who then trained in Critical Care Medicine and then worked to pave the way for certification pathways, mentorship, and national growth of the specialty. A growth mindset continues to serve me as I hold the duality of identity as an academic physician along with a coach and entrepreneur.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

I love to work with people who are motivated to grow, stretch, and get excited for the future. There is so much passion, excitement, and caring in the healthcare profession. I have colleagues in many disciplines and specialties who are incredible clinicians, leaders, researchers, educators, parents, colleagues, and people. I love helping people to dream bigger, achieve greater, because I know that the ripple effect of investing in people like myself is 100X: in their teams, organizations, patients, families, and communities. Anyone in healthcare interested in thriving, and not just surviving in life, are our ideal clients at Transforming Healthcare Coaching. Anyone who wants to be a value add and find their own unique path less traveled in life.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Heather Tabacchi @heathertabacchi

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