Volume 38 Number 5 | October 2024
Pat Tille, PhD, MLS(ASCP), AHI(AMT), FACSc, ASCLS President
The laboratory community consistently struggles with workforce shortages and a lack of recognition. If you go on any social media group related to laboratory science, you will see some disheartening realities for working professionals. They do not feel heard, they are underpaid, or they are just unhappy with the lack of recognition. But not everyone sends the same message. In the same context you will see professionals expressing their commitment to their career, the joy they experience from the rewards of what they do, and those retiring regretting leaving an amazing career. Why is there such a difference in perceptions in the same profession?
As part of my presidential speech at the 2024 ASCLS, AGT & SAMFLS Joint Annual Meeting, I said, “You cannot have the good without the bad.” As a professional, every day is not a perfect day. There are often challenges that occur and situations that seem untenable even on the best days. Sometimes it is not even a major catastrophic event; it is simply what someone says that derails your day and makes you feel unappreciated. Let me give you a simple example.
You are attending a meeting with esteemed colleagues who you respect and have worked with for many years. You have an opportunity for a promotion to a supervisory role, which is something you have been working toward. During the discussion, one of the colleagues suggests that maybe you should reconsider and take more time before applying for the promotion. What they say to the group is, “You need to get your house in order.”
As a female, the connotation of “getting your house in order” seems a bit derogatory, and what does it actually mean? No one else in the room reacts to the comment, and it seems everyone accepts the statement as fact. You can let this comment send you into a negative state of mind, or you can move forward.
This is a true scenario. It is one I experienced in academia, where I was put forward to serve as the department chair, in a department where the majority of the faculty were males. What did I do? I walked away from that conversation and never looked back. And it took me to the next step in my career. I looked inside myself to find meaning regarding the statement made by the individual, and I found it to be a false statement. My house has always been in order. My house in my daily routine is my work ethic, strong organizational skills, visionary ability to see beyond each day, and my ability to be psychologically resilient. I took the bad and realized there is more good to be grateful for than one person making an unfounded comment that appeared to decrease my personal worth. That is a form of psychological resilience.
“It isn’t always easy to have that inner strength, so find that colleague, friend, or core group of individuals who can help you build that resilience.”
How can you build psychological resilience in the face of workforce shortages, lack of recognition, and burn out? Look inside yourself! There are additional steps you can take to build your own psychological resilience.
When someone makes a comment that you are uncomfortable with, you can approach it in a couple of different ways. You can confront the individual in a professional manner and have a discussion to ensure it does not happen again and that the individual understands how it made you feel. You can also reach inside yourself and think about if the individual intended to make you feel a certain way. Honestly, you should do both! Confronting the individual is the only way the individual will understand that you felt bad, but you also learn how to remain calm and understand what could become a very uncomfortable situation. Learn from the past.
But what about things like workforce shortages and excessive burn out that you seemingly have no control over? This is where psychological resilience relies on your inner strength. My inner strength comes from building strong personal relationships with colleagues. I know that at any time or day, I can reach out to a colleague and have a personal conversation simply to talk through the challenges of the day. Those interactions help me remember what my strengths are. They allow me to remain hopeful from day to day and make every day have meaning. Your inner strength is one of the greatest gifts you have. It is important to take care of yourself and take those personal moments to revitalize and refresh.
Another way that I maintain my psychological resilience is by remembering and revisiting the work of author and public speaker, Simon Sinek. I keep a copy of Start with Why in my office. One of my favorite quotes from that book is, “‘Why’ types have the power to change the course of industries or even the world.” He goes on to say, “‘Why’ types are the visionaries; they tend to be optimists; they are focused on things most people can’t see, the future. Our visions are the world we imagine.” Can you imagine a laboratory without a workforce shortage, without burn out, with recognition for what you do on a daily basis? If you can, you can develop that inner personal resilience to look beyond the challenges of today. You can remember why you became a laboratory professional, and you can use that inner strength to move forward.
Remembering your why and building that inner strength and resilience will allow the laboratory profession to move forward and tackle the tough challenges you have daily. Take some time to reflect on the past, look inside and remember all the qualities and skills you have that brought you to the place where you are now, and realize to move forward you cannot have the good without the bad. It isn’t always easy to have that inner strength, so find that colleague, friend, or core group of individuals who can help you build that resilience.
It will not surprise any of you that my core of individuals who I lean on for that personal resilience in those tough times are all members of this organization, ASCLS. They are why I am still here today and why I have had many of the successes in my career. They constantly remind me of my personal “Why”! They are always my good when I feel like things are bad.
Pat Tille is the Graduate Program Director and Professor at the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio.