EP 48: When Your Plan Stops Fitting: A Decision Framework for Women Physician Leaders

51: The Negotiation You're Not Having

Find the full transcript for this episode and more resources for Women Physician Leaders here. [https://womenmdleaders.com/51] You were never taught to ask. Not really. Medicine trained you to be prepared, competent, and grateful for the opportunity. It didn't train you to walk into a room and say: I want more. In this episode, Dr. Stephanie Yamout breaks down why women physicians struggle to negotiate — not just in formal settings, but in the small, unscheduled moments that reveal what you actually believe about whether your needs belong in the conversation. She shares two real stories from her coaching practice: one physician who asked for everything she wanted and got all three, and one who heard a string of no's and learned to read each one as data about her organization, not a verdict on her worth. She also teaches the ASK Framework — a 3-part tool for building the ask muscle before the high-stakes meeting arrives: A — Anchor in curiosity before making any request S — State what you want clearly, without apologizing K — Keep exploring until you find the overlap, or learn what the organization can't give Your confidence comes after the ask. Not before. To work with Stephanie on the conversations you've been avoiding, apply at womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie [https://womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie]. About the Host Dr. Stephanie Yamout, MD, MBA, CPCC, ACC, is a pediatric hospitalist and internationally certified coach for women physician leaders. She helps women physicians get their time back, own their value, and command the room as they were born to do. Work with Stephanie  🩺 Book a free 1:1 Discovery Call → womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie [https://womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie]  🌿 Reserve a 90-min Better Boundaries Session → womenmdleaders.com/boundaries [https://womenmdleaders.com/boundaries] Connect  🌐 womenmdleaders.com  [https://womenmdleaders.com] 💼 linkedin.com/in/stephanieyamout [https://linkedin.com/in/stephanieyamout]  📧 stephanie@womenmdleaders.com [stephanie@womenmdleaders.com] Follow the show so you never miss an episode.

50: Going Home: How Women Physician Leaders Reclaim Who They Were Before Medicine

Find the full transcript for this episode and more resources for Women Physician Leaders here. [https://womenmdleaders.com/50] In this episode, Dr. Stephanie Yamout reflects on what happens to the adventurous, creative, whole version of yourself when you board the train to becoming a physician. The track is built to produce a competent doctor… and it does. But the traits it selects for (perfectionism, compliance, subordinating your needs to the system) slowly crowd out everything else. The dancing, the hiking, the parts of you that existed before the credentials. Stephanie shares a moment that stopped her: a close friend called her the most adventurous woman she knew, and she found it shocking. Because somewhere in 25 years of training and practicing medicine, she had stopped seeing herself that way. This episode is an invitation back. Not to nostalgia, but to reclamation. You'll hear Stephanie's own story of going home to herself, and walk away with one simple question to carry with you. If you're a woman physician who feels a quiet distance from who you used to be, this one is for you. Apply to work with Stephanie at womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie. [https://womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie] About the Host Dr. Stephanie Yamout, MD, MBA, CPCC, ACC, is a pediatric hospitalist and internationally certified coach for women physician leaders. She helps women physicians get their time back, own their value, and command the room as they were born to do. Work with Stephanie  🩺 Book a free 1:1 Discovery Call → womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie [https://womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie]  🌿 Reserve a 90-min Better Boundaries Session → womenmdleaders.com/boundaries [https://womenmdleaders.com/boundaries] Connect  🌐 womenmdleaders.com  [https://womenmdleaders.com] 💼 linkedin.com/in/stephanieyamout [https://linkedin.com/in/stephanieyamout]  📧 stephanie@womenmdleaders.com [stephanie@womenmdleaders.com] Follow the show so you never miss an episode.

49: Self-Authorization: How Women Physician Leaders Stop Waiting and Start Moving

Find the full transcript for this episode and more resources for Women Physician Leaders here.  [https://womenmdleaders.com/49] You have done the work. You have the track record. And you are still waiting for someone to tell you it's your turn. That permission is not coming. In this episode, Dr. Stephanie Yamout breaks down why so many high-achieving women physician leaders stay stuck at the threshold — and what it actually costs you to keep waiting. The gap between where you are and where you want to be isn't a qualification problem. It's a permission problem. And the only person who can close it is you. Stephanie shares her own experience with that restless, untethered feeling in her early attending years — and the moment she stopped asking for permission and started moving. She also offers a simple 3-part framework — Notice, Align, and Move — for knowing when and how to take that step without being reckless or impulsive. Key takeaways: — Why women wait for a signal that never arrives — and what that waiting costs — The difference between self-authorization and impulsivity — How intentional, tethered movement rebuilds self-trust over time — One concrete thing to do this week if you're sitting with that restless feeling If you're ready to stop circling and start moving, apply to work with Stephanie at womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie.   About the Host Dr. Stephanie Yamout, MD, MBA, CPCC, ACC, is a pediatric hospitalist and internationally certified coach for women physician leaders. She helps women physicians get their time back, own their value, and command the room as they were born to do. Work with Stephanie  🩺 Book a free 1:1 Discovery Call → womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie [https://womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie]  🌿 Reserve a 90-min Better Boundaries Session → womenmdleaders.com/boundaries [https://womenmdleaders.com/boundaries] Connect  🌐 womenmdleaders.com  [https://womenmdleaders.com] 💼 linkedin.com/in/stephanieyamout [https://linkedin.com/in/stephanieyamout]  📧 stephanie@womenmdleaders.com [stephanie@womenmdleaders.com] Follow the show so you never miss an episode.

EP 48: When Your Plan Stops Fitting: A Decision Framework for Women Physician Leaders

Find the full transcript for this episode and more resources for Women Physician Leaders here. [https://womenmdleaders.com/48] You made a plan. A good one. And then something shifted — a staffing issue, a budget cut, a mandate from above — and suddenly that plan doesn't fit the conditions anymore. For most women physician leaders, that moment when your plan falls apart can feel like failure.  We were trained in straight lines. The system rewarded the person who stayed on track.  But leadership doesn't work that way, and if you've been holding fast to your original plan while conditions shift around you, you are exhausting yourself for nothing. In this episode, Dr. Stephanie Yamout shares what sailing taught her about leading through uncertainty, and translates it into a 3-part decision framework you can use the next time you're stuck between a comfortable bad option and an uncomfortable good one. What you'll take away: * Why the straight-line path that worked in training will fail you in leadership * The 3 questions to run any hard decision through (name both paths, check what you're ignoring, run it through your values) * A real client example of what happens when a physician leader finally makes the call she's been avoiding If you're sitting with a decision that keeps getting deferred, this episode is for you. Apply to work with Stephanie at womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie [https://womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie], or start with the free Values Journal at womenmdleaders.com/valuesguide [https://womenmdleaders.com/valuesguide]. About the Host Dr. Stephanie Yamout, MD, MBA, CPCC, ACC, is a pediatric hospitalist and internationally certified coach for women physician leaders. She helps women physicians get their time back, own their value, and command the room as they were born to do. Work with Stephanie  🩺 Book a free 1:1 Discovery Call → womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie [https://womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie]  🌿 Reserve a 90-min Better Boundaries Session → womenmdleaders.com/boundaries [https://womenmdleaders.com/boundaries] Connect  🌐 womenmdleaders.com  [https://womenmdleaders.com] 💼 linkedin.com/in/stephanieyamout [https://linkedin.com/in/stephanieyamout]  📧 stephanie@womenmdleaders.com [stephanie@womenmdleaders.com] Follow the show so you never miss an episode.

EP 47: Why Women Physicians Have Everything — And Still Don't Feel Free

Find the full transcript for this episode and more resources for Women Physician Leaders here. [https://womenmdleaders.com/47] You've crossed every finish line medicine put in front of you. You have the degree, the title, the income. And still, something feels off.  Not wrong, exactly. Just… constrained. Like you're moving through your days without quite being in them. This episode is about the difference between independence and freedom — and why women physician leaders so often have one without the other. Dr. Stephanie Yamout shares the moment that first made her see the difference: watching a senior colleague who had to put his phone in his car to stop checking it at his kid's baseball game. She also tells the story from her own burnout — when she resigned rather than ask for accomodations, because she could not see past the two options in front of her. What the episode covers: * Why independence (the structural kind) and freedom (the inner kind) are not the same thing * The black-or-white thinking that keeps high-achieving physicians stuck * 3 things real freedom actually requires: boundaries you keep, the ability to name resentment, and creativity in the face of constraint * Why burnout collapses your field of vision — and how inner freedom opens it back up If this resonates, Stephanie's Values Journal is a practical place to start: womenmdleaders.com/valuesguide [https://womenmdleaders.com/valuesguide].  And if you're ready to do this work directly, apply to work with her at womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie [https://womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie]. About the Host Dr. Stephanie Yamout, MD, MBA, CPCC, ACC, is a pediatric hospitalist and internationally certified coach for women physician leaders. She helps women physicians get their time back, own their value, and command the room as they were born to do. Work with Stephanie  🩺 Book a free 1:1 Discovery Call → womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie [https://womenmdleaders.com/work-with-stephanie]  🌿 Reserve a 90-min Better Boundaries Session → womenmdleaders.com/boundaries [https://womenmdleaders.com/boundaries] Connect  🌐 womenmdleaders.com  [https://womenmdleaders.com] 💼 linkedin.com/in/stephanieyamout [https://linkedin.com/in/stephanieyamout]  📧 stephanie@womenmdleaders.com [stephanie@womenmdleaders.com] Follow the show so you never miss an episode.