Looking for that next job opportunity, for that next step in your professional development? We get what we allow. Keep these simple rules in mind:

• Prioritize the quality of the team over your interest in the specialty. Even a good organization has dysfunctional departments, and flourishing pockets of healthy collaboration with phenomenal leadership. Start asking around and you’ll find these hidden gems.
• Cultivate the qualities that these teams are looking for. Expand your capacity for participating in a culture of belonging, and a culture of learning. People who are moving in the same direction tend to find each other.
• Listen carefully to your gut. Throughout the interview process, watch the hiring manager for signals of humility, flexibility, and curiosity. Listen for the way they describe the culture, their philosophy of work. Absolutely everything they do and say is dripping with information about their core values.
• Avoid the path that leads to burnout. Say “No” to roles that unnecessarily limit your participation in job design. Say “No” to systems that reward toxic high performers and coercive managerial tactics.

We are the culture. Every choice we make becomes part of the organizational DNA. What kind of culture do you want to see in healthcare?