When Competence Turns Into Arrogance

If youโre close to me, you likely know that I have had a few health challenges over the past 10 years โ at times these challenges have landed me in the ER as a precautionary measure.ย I want to share a very recent experience and my take-away from a not-so-great interaction.ย There is a smidge of backstory that is relevant to this post- I recently switched cardiologists, letโs call him Dr. P.ย In my first (and only visit) with Dr. P he spent exactly three minutes with me and altered my meds a bit.ย Dr. P asked me almost no questions and when I tried to talk about the concerns I have about some emerging symptoms, he brushed it off and said, โyouโre going to be fineโ.
โyouโre going to be fineโ
Last week I found myself in the ER and was almost immediately admitted into the hospital for additional testing and observation.ย Upon admission, Dr. Pโs office was called and notified that I was admitted and that they were requesting that he come talk to me.ย 24 hours goes by and no Dr. P, no information from his office, nothing. ย Through some amazing advocacy by one of my nurses, Krystle, Dr. P and his assistant showed up into my room at about the 26-hour mark.ย Hereโs the opening line from him: โIโve looked at your chart and your prior tests (from 1.5 years ago) and there is nothing wrong. You can go home and go to your primary care doctor.โย Again, he was in my room for all of three minutes, tops.
What happened to listening to the patient?ย What happened to asking probing questions?ย After firing Dr. P and getting a second opinion (which was vastly different) I started to think about what transpired and how it relates very closely to consulting.ย As good consultants, we are expected to have answers to tough problems, but we must also listen to our client, assess the situation, look at all the facts and come up with a recommendation that makes sense for the situation.ย In my prior COO role, I dealt with several clients who were unhappy because they felt like our consultants were not listening to them.ย Dr. P might very well be the best cardiologist on the face of the earth but his choice to not connect with me at a human level and listen to what I was experiencing got him fired and could have put me in a very dangerous health situation. ย In the end, Krystle and the ER attending doctor helped me find a new cardiologist who was amazing.ย He and I talked for over 40 minutes during his initial visit and after some subsequent testing, I found out that I have some unique genetic properties.ย Coupling my current exercise regimen with those unique properties was putting me in extreme risk.ย Had I not pushed hard to get the correct answers, I would have likely caused myself irreparable harm.
Had I not pushed hard to get the correct answers, I would have likely caused myself irreparable harm.
From my perspective, this is an example of when competence turns into arrogance.ย Dr. Pโs arrogance got in the way of him helping me (his client).ย I think that at some point in every consultantโs career we have done this; we rush to an answer without fully listening to what our client has to say. Iโve done this myself and can quickly point out several examples of exactly when I did it and how it rarely worked out for both me and my client.
We rush to an answer without fully listening to what our client has to say.
If youโre a consultant, you need to stop and look at how your interactions impact your client.ย Find a way to ask your client if they feel like youโre hearing them and adjust accordingly.ย If youโre a client and experiencing an โarroganceโ issue with your consultant, call them out and most will adjust their ways once they see themselves in the mirror.ย By becoming aware of when your competence is turning into arrogance, your client can benefit from the real value of your experience and expertise.
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