Vickie's Legal Nurse Consulting Blog

When I was working at the hospital as an ICU nurse, “Dilbert” would have been my best friend. I was young, in my 20s and too smart for my own good. With the exception of one supervisor who would stand with us at the bedside when we were understaffed, I thought all hospital supervisors and administrators were stupid or misinformed (or both). What did they know about the real world and the frontlines of patient care? I’m not sure where I thought they worked for their first nursing job, but I was convinced none of them had ever started an IV or coded any patients other than a rubber training dummy. Maybe they dropped out of the sky into their desk chairs – or came prepackaged like an action figure.

Today I’m the executive “pointy-haired boss” the twenty somethings could be ranting and raving about while they text their BFF from the depths of their windowless cubicles. And if they’re thinking the same as I did back then, they may be justifying why they are giving less than 110% to their job.

While I might prefer to just zap them with an Epi-Kit, defibrillate them back to life or just holler “Off with Their Heads!” from the throne in my office, instead I work at staying relevant and being the model for an honest and respectable work ethic. You can’t lead from the back, but you can lead by example. I’ve tried to create a collaborative office and it’s paid off. I seek their advice, brainstorm issues with them, occasionally confess when I’m wrong and even listen to Coldplay. By ensuring that all the voices are heard and appreciated, I’ve made sure that everyone feels safe to voice their opinions and ideas. Some of the best ideas I’ve implemented have come, not from management, but from the frontlines.

If you sometimes feel like you’re not relating to your staff, your CLNC^® subcontractors or to your attorney-client’s assistants, ask yourself when’s the last time you included one of them in a discussion about a case, acknowledged a job well done or shared the latest Coldplay CD? Take a minute to give a minute – it’ll be worth it later and if it’s not, you can always shout, “Off with her head!” from the safety of your car afterwards.

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Comment and share creative ways to lead by example in your legal nurse consulting business or send a funny “Off with Their Heads” story.

This morning I looked into my closet and couldn’t figure out what to wear to work. (We have a pretty casual dress code in my office so I could have tossed on my flip-flops and a track suit but I’d worn that yesterday.) I confess, I like to have nice clothes and a decent closet.

You see, when I was young my mom always sewed my clothes while I coveted store-bought dresses. If it wasn’t hand-made, it was handed-down from my older sister. To add insult to injury, my twin brother got the store-bought clothes for obvious reasons – no son of an Italian father could wear his sister’s clothes (no matter how butch she was). I always envied him for that privilege. Wearing “vintage” clothing from my older sister drove the desire to create the abundant, but not ostentatious, closet I have today.

After all, I tell my legal nurse consulting students they need to dress professionally to make the right impression. So should I.

So standing there in front of my closet, why wasn’t I seeing one thing to wear? Easy! It’s because I was looking at it in the same way I’d looked at it every day leading up to this morning. I was looking at the same clothes from the same point of view.

Suddenly it hit me, instead of having nothing to wear, I was standing in front of a cornucopia of clothing (all neatly cleaned, pressed and hung). Instead of putting on one outfit, I simply needed to change the blouse, switch the skirt for pants, pull different earrings, shoes and purse and I had a whole new outfit! There were infinite possibilities with my imagination (and mis-matching plaids) as the only limitations.

Do you look at your legal nurse consulting business each day with new or the same eyes? Are you so used to looking at it one way that you can’t see the limitless possibilities and opportunities waiting for you?

I recently challenged my executive team to look at a situation in a new way. The results were surprising. Each came back with a new, surprising and different solution – much better than I had even hoped for. That’s because they applied new eyes to an old situation.

Are you still looking at the same old CLNC^® business closet and not seeing anything new? Are you still looking in that closet and not seeing the opportunities?

Is there a CLNC^® service you haven’t offered yet? One that’s in your scope of ability, but that might just require you to flex your agility (or get off the couch)? Have you contacted your attorney-clients to see if there’s something new you can do for them beyond what you offer today?

It’s time to throw open the door to your CLNC^® closet and start looking at your business with new eyes.  I can’t wait to hear what stunning new outfits you come up with.

I’ll be mixin’ and matchin’.

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Comment and share how you look at your legal nurse consulting business with new eyes.

One of the chief complaints I hear from legal nurse consultants about Gmail is that unlike Outlook, Thunderbird or other email clients, you have to be online to access or work with your Gmail email. If you’re a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant who wants to use your Gmail without the Internet (like when you’re on an airplane or in some inferior coffee shop that doesn’t have free Wi-Fi), follow these steps:

1. Log into your Gmail account.
2. Click Settings in the top right corner of the screen.
3. Click Labs in the top right corner.
4. Look for the selection for Offline Gmail and set the button to Enable and then click Save Changes.

Your web browser will then reload and there will be a new link that says Offline^0.2 in the top of your Gmail screen. Click on that new link and follow the instructions (you’ll need to download Google Gears but Google will help you) and download your Gmail email. Before you know it, you’ll have offline access to your Gmail no matter where you are! If you ever work from an intermittent wireless connection this could be a lifesaver. Of course, you can’t send or receive email while in offline mode.

Keep on Techin’,

Tom

Here’s some fun news. I just received four new copies of Inside Every Woman: Using the 10 Strengths You Didn’t Know You Had to Get the Career and Life You Want Now, my Wall Street Journal bestselling book and here’s the best part: these books are written in Chinese! You may know that there are seven traditional Chinese languages and myriad dialects within those languages. But did you know that all Chinese share the same written language? This means that the power of Inside Every Woman is now accessible to more than 650 million women in China and Tom says it wouldn’t hurt the men to read it either! I’m excited it already has 5-star reviews.

Here’s the Chinese cover. As with the Polish, Vietnamese, Indonesian and American covers each one is so different and creative. I love them all! Thanks for sharing my excitement.

Chinese

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Comment and share which cover is your favorite.

When you’re writing reports for your attorney-clients’ medical-related cases, one of the most important principles, no matter the size or type of report, is that if you provide theory, you are sure to provide application also. In other words, the theory must not only relate to the case, but you must explain the actual application of the theory to the case at hand. Theory alone is not enough. Keeping your reports based in the “real world” will make the real attorneys you consult with really appreciate you and your legal nurse consulting reports.

Success Is Inside!

Certified Legal Nurse Consultants using Windows XP have long envied that cool rotating menu the Mac OS X Dock has, that floats around the bottom or top of the Mac screen and fans out your icons. It’s a much better looking menu than that darn Windows menu that pops up when you click the Start Button. It also beats stashing short-cuts all over your Windows Desktop.

Now there’s a cure for Mac Envy – visit RocketDock.com and you can download a customizable version of the Dock made especially for Windows! This is not an official Windows or Mac product so you use it at your own risk. Remember to be careful, always back-up your computer as well as any files before you place them on the RocketDock. I’ve had mine for about two weeks and I love it! I’m sure you’ll love it too (it freaked out my Mac-user buddy).

Keep on Techin’,

Tom

I just mentored a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant who had completed a project for an attorney. She had not entered into a contract or letter agreement and did not get a retainer before starting the project. After completing the project she had difficulty getting paid for the work she’d done. When she contacted the Institute for mentoring, I asked her to describe her plan for solving this challenge. Her response was, “I guess I’ll just chalk this one up to experience.” That was exactly the WRONG THING TO SAY to me. I was all over that like a goose on a bug.

“No, you don’t chalk it up to experience. No, you don’t write off your time or claim you’re gaining experience just because you ignored the model for success you learned in the CLNC^® Certification Program. That time you want to write off, you will never get back. The time you want to write off would have been better spent solidifying your relationship with your attorney-clients, marketing to grow your CLNC^® business and working on cases for $125 per hour. Lost time is lost money. Sometimes you have to chalk a mistake up to experience, but this is not one of those times. Why? Because you didn’t make a mistake. You consciously chose to do something you knew you should not do. With that conscious decision comes a conscious price you pay.”

I am all for making mistakes (I make at least one every day, sometimes before I even get out of bed). After all people who never make a mistake never make anything. But I am not into making just any mistake – especially not mistakes that are obvious and avoidable. Instead I aim for making intelligent ones. Making a bad choice and expecting a different outcome isn’t a learning experience, it’s insanity.

In the CLNC^® Certification Program I teach that when you do X, you will get Y result. For 27 years I have taken the Xs very seriously and that is why CLNC^® graduates get the enviable results they do. But if you choose to do Z, do not expect to get Y, and you shouldn’t be surprised by the pain either. (Think about a recipe – even growing up in Louisiana we didn’t add crab boil to our lemonade – bad choice – bad result.)

My motto is “Do what is right, not what feels easier at the moment.” And if you are uncertain, go back and review the pertinent portions of the Core Curriculum for Legal Nurse Consulting^® textbook or request mentoring. It’s always better to take the time to prepare in advance than to lose the time, money and possibly an attorney-client because you didn’t.

Make it your goal to only chalk up to experience that which is enriching. This is how you grow yourself and ultimately your CLNC^® business.

To life’s enrichments.

Success Is Inside!

When my father was a kid, he didn’t even know a nickel. He and his friends were penny boys. They couldn’t afford comic books or candy, but they found creative ways to have fun on what they called “the greatest corner in the world.”

Nothing got in the way of their fun. If a skate broke, they’d tear it apart and make a scooter. They’d make their own toys.

My father taught me that fun was what you made it. It wasn’t about spending money, or possessing the latest Barbie. Although, I would have really enjoyed a CEO Barbie. (Wouldn’t that be great, the one that comes complete with her own briefcase, power suit and assistant. “Ken. Get me a cup of coffee. NOW!”)

Even having kids didn’t stop my parents or their friends from enjoying life. When they were married with children, none of them could afford babysitters. No problem. They went out anyway, kids and all, each couple taking turns babysitting in the car while the rest were inside dancing the swing, celebrating life.

When I feel overwhelmed by my responsibilities, I think about how my parents always found time to dance! Happy Father’s Day and thanks Dad, for teaching me how to dance and to appreciate the simple joys of entrepreneurship and my legal nurse consulting education company.

Success Is Inside!

I’m a big advocate of brainstorming and often some of the best ideas for Vickie Milazzo Institute come from brainstorming, both formal and informal. People at the Institute are always brainstorming in the hallway, in each other’s offices, at each others’ desks and even in the restrooms.

The ideas are sparking and the atmosphere is almost incendiary. When we come together and engage in a conversation we raise new questions and think of things at a level we would not have reached on our own. Collaboration is genius.

Likewise, some of my best ideas for Vickie Milazzo Institute come to me not in the midst of a passionate brainstorm, but when no one else is around and I’m writing.

I confess, I write best alone – just me, Beethoven, my favorite pen, a legal pad and a stack of sticky notes for company. Even Tom knows to stay out of my way when the pages start flying. Sometimes, I even tune out Beethoven.

I love writing because it not only releases the creative energy that fuels ideas for my business, but also feeds my creativity which in turn fuels my endurance allowing me to create longer and produce more. Plus, I’m always careful to capture any random thoughts, even those that seem unrelated so as to not lose them. (Note to self: get much bigger sticky notes!)

Sometimes that stray idea is pure gold. Other times it’s only a sieve through which to mine the gold. And sometimes it’s nothing more than fool’s gold – but what have you lost beside the keystrokes or a piece of paper? The idea may not even be ripe for the time, but by capturing it, you can hold it until the time is ripe. Nothing gets lost (unless your desk is really messy).

Even if you haven’t had any training in writing (nursing school taught us to chart, not to write novels), you can still write. Buy yourself a Journal or notepad. Clear a space, sit down and take a stab at writing an opinion or write about a recent trip, a funny attorney experience or your last day off. Even better, just write what’s on your mind.

You’ll be amazed how new ideas for your legal nurse consulting business will emerge even when you’re not consciously thinking about your legal nurse consulting business.

Here’s a tip. Put on your iPod and play the scores from Slumdog Millionaire or La Vie en Rose or Beethoven’s 5^th and write away, write now.

Success Is Inside!