Certified Legal Nurse Consultants – It’s Time to Dispense with the Tea and the Finger Sandwiches
It sounds counterintuitive, but conflict really is healthy for CLNC® consultants. Conflict helps you to accomplish what you should be accomplishing on your own anyway – challenging yourself and your opinions to disrupt your own bad thinking. Conflict helps you get to something fresh, exciting and relevant. Sometimes my executives will be so civilized and agreeable with one another that they’re smiling and nodding their heads in agreement to what is actually a very bad idea. I almost expect them to have a tea party with finger sandwiches, it’s so civilized. Putting a frozen margarita machine in the break room and Jello® shots for brainstorming meetings are the two most recent examples. On reflection, maybe there is some merit to those two ideas.
My solution to disrupting this “Pollyanna” form of “decision by consensus” is to hire a hit man, so that they’re not as easily influenced by group think. Every company needs at least one person who sees things from a contrary viewpoint and is willing to shoot holes in popular opinions and established procedures.
A good hit man isn’t always a naysayer, doesn’t disagree just to be argumentative and knows how to equably state a conflicting opinion. A good hit man, or woman, knows when to voice that contrary opinion and stir up discussion. They may not always be right – but what they excel at is prompting and leading you to what’s right.
Being an entrepreneur for 31 years has trained me to buck up and listen up when the conflicting opinions are aimed at my own ideas. The resulting changes are usually worth any temporary discomfort.
As the sole proprietor of your legal nurse consulting business, your hit man may be a friend, family member or a CLNC® colleague who will honestly point out where your ideas have holes or are simply being skewed by your own desires and expectations. Listen and be willing to reassess, rework and, if necessary, abandon an idea that doesn’t measure up. In the end, you have to decide what works for you, but a well-meaning dissenting voice is a valuable asset.
I’m just sayin’
P.S.Comment here and share whether you’re agreeing, disagreeing or whether I should be scheduling a “hit” on you.
2 thoughts on “Certified Legal Nurse Consultants – It’s Time to Dispense with the Tea and the Finger Sandwiches”
Right on!! I have been the mediation hit man in my professional life as well as in my extended family for years! My role has been at times to smooth ruffled feathers, and I am getting really good at manipulating – yes manipulating – a group in order to switch directions and see where we end up. My family is full of educators and doctors and even a lawyer! I am the firstborn and only female child and OH MY!! getting my group to move in any direction together is like herding chickens – you walk towards them and they scatter! My claim to fame is always having another opinion about ANYTHING!! To me there are always multiple sides to a coin, three ways to see one issue, and plans A, B, C and sometimes D. I have been the scapegoat, the hero, the initiator and the family mascot. Roles change on a weekly basis depending on where the crisis is. I have spent most of my adult life analyzing coping skills in friends and family members, patients and clients. Without conflict, you don’t dig down deep, think outside the box, and come up with Plan B. Conflict=Challenge. The real reward is watching someone you love put their brain into gear, step away from fear and panic and think. Just stop and think. I do a little internal dance of joy each time one of my adult kids fixes a crisis on their own. I am a good parent-validation for myself in raising a child with coping skills. WOW, great subject Vickie, – I think I went a little sideways with it, but after rereading this post… that’s just the way I roll!!
I like what you are saying and believe your point. I have always had two expert nurses to call on when assistance is needed. I agree about having that person for good, strong back up.
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*The opinions and statements made by Vickie Milazzo, the founder of Medical-Legal Consulting Institute, Inc. are based on her experiences and expertise, should not be applied beyond the specific context provided, and do not guaranty or project actual results. Vickie Milazzo is no longer involved in the operations or management of the business, but is involved as an independent education consultant.
Right on!! I have been the mediation hit man in my professional life as well as in my extended family for years! My role has been at times to smooth ruffled feathers, and I am getting really good at manipulating – yes manipulating – a group in order to switch directions and see where we end up. My family is full of educators and doctors and even a lawyer! I am the firstborn and only female child and OH MY!! getting my group to move in any direction together is like herding chickens – you walk towards them and they scatter! My claim to fame is always having another opinion about ANYTHING!! To me there are always multiple sides to a coin, three ways to see one issue, and plans A, B, C and sometimes D. I have been the scapegoat, the hero, the initiator and the family mascot. Roles change on a weekly basis depending on where the crisis is. I have spent most of my adult life analyzing coping skills in friends and family members, patients and clients. Without conflict, you don’t dig down deep, think outside the box, and come up with Plan B. Conflict=Challenge. The real reward is watching someone you love put their brain into gear, step away from fear and panic and think. Just stop and think. I do a little internal dance of joy each time one of my adult kids fixes a crisis on their own. I am a good parent-validation for myself in raising a child with coping skills. WOW, great subject Vickie, – I think I went a little sideways with it, but after rereading this post… that’s just the way I roll!!
I like what you are saying and believe your point. I have always had two expert nurses to call on when assistance is needed. I agree about having that person for good, strong back up.