As a solo practitioner for nearly 20 years, I spent 50 hours a week chairside and an additional 30 hours per week learning how to become a highly successful clinician, employer, and practice owner. I quickly realized there’s more to being a good leader than having your name on the front door.
Owning and leading a dental practice requires more leadership than simply being a well-trained practitioner. You also need a set of soft skills that go beyond what you learned about dentistry.
You’ve probably heard the expression “lead by example” quite a few times in your life. Cliches often stick around for a reason. Your role as owner/good leader requires you to be the example for your team, especially when it comes to how they treat patients—and one other. How do you start inspiring them to be their best every day? That example starts and ends, with you.
Ten Traits of a Good Leader
Being a world-class leader requires a lot of humility and patience to go along with your dentistry training. Time and experience are often enough to gain the wisdom and perspective of a successful leader, but even if you’ve been practicing for a while (and especially if you recently opened your own office), these ten traits will help you determine how well you measure up as a good leader.
Delegation
You can’t be everywhere at once, and you can’t do everything alone. How well do you share the responsibility of running the day-to-day operations? Is it time to bring in a new associate to balance the patient load? When you ask for help when you need it, your team inherently knows that you trust their skills and abilities.
Gratitude
Thanking both your staff and your patients regularly makes everyone feel appreciated and respected. A quick “thank you for your business” or “thank you for handling that for me” is the easiest thing to do and it encourages everyone else around you to do the same.
Flexibility
Even under the best of circumstances, life is unpredictable. That goes for a business as well. When you lead a dental practice, you set the tone for the entire environment. As your team observes you calmly adapting to issues you can’t control—like patients running late or a critical piece of equipment going on the fritz on a busy day—the more adaptable they will become.
Empathy
Treating people with dignity and kindness is often elusive in a busy, hectic practice. The day can get ahead of you, stress is often insurmountable, and people lash out. It happens to the best of us. But there’s an old adage that’s stuck around for good reason: Treat people with the respect that you wish to be treated with, and they’ll do the same in return.
Speaking of respect...
Respect
Empathy and respect go hand-in-hand. When people who work for you know that their feelings matter, they generally know that you respect them as individuals. If you feel like there’s still a disconnect in this area, it’s okay to turn to your team periodically and just say the words, “I hope you know that I respect your intelligence and your skills.” That may open the door to a conversation, allowing them to express themselves and share their feelings. The key then is to listen and make sure they feel heard.
Integrity
Always be honest. Even if it requires some discretion and delicacy, offering up a straightforward explanation is the right thing to do. Honesty and integrity are the cornerstones for any stable business. As a small business owner who leads a dental practice, it’s that much more important that people see you leading with integrity every day.
Communication
Communicating is a bit like exercise. We don’t always feel like doing it, but the minute it’s over, we feel better. Just like keeping up with your exercise routine is easier when it’s on the calendar, be purposeful in scheduling regular team meetings, and one-on-ones. Develop simple agendas to follow—and be sure to include feedback sessions, encouraging your staff to share their feedback with you. Keeping the lines of communication open can be tricky when there are a lot of personalities in the room. Eventually, though, communication will become a healthy habit for the whole office.
Self-awareness
What we do and how well we do it is often very subjective. How do you measure your own behavior as you lead your dental practice and the team? Try a few simple tips like:
- If you’re having a bad day, take a break before you start a conversation.
- Know your stress triggers and either avoid them or plan around them.
- If you’re unsure of how your behavior or moods are being perceived, just ask the team.
- Remember to always be patient and listen.
- Know what time of day you’re most productive.
Influence
You can be a leader in both your own industry and your own office by influencing the adoption of new technologies and techniques. Furthering your education and advancing your skills keeps you abreast of the latest and greatest in your field. Writing or contributing leadership articles to publications sets you apart as an influencer in the industry. Providing your staff with resources, ongoing training, and access to new technology not only directly affects your patients, but also helps to set the pace for other practices in your area, keeping you ahead of the curve.
Courage
I saved the best, and potentially the most difficult, for last. Being a leader isn’t always going to mean that everyone likes you. In fact, it often means the opposite. Difficult news can be hard to share, especially when it’s the truth. It’s not easy to be the person in the office who is burdened with delivering it. Still, it’s what’s going to be asked of you frequently as the leader of your practice.
Following the leadership rules I’ve outlined herein will consistently require confidence and, yes, bravery. Uncertainty makes everyone uncomfortable. You are going to face a lot of uncertainty when you’re in the driver’s seat of a small or medium-sized business.
To make your team believe in you, the first thing you must do is prove to them that you believe in yourself. Confidence in yourself will inspire the best efforts from others. Part of a leader’s job is to maintain a cool and collected nature, always believing the best for the company even when things are challenging.
You have to display enthusiasm in order to inspire your team, even when you feel like things may be at their worst. When you spread energy, enthusiasm, and confidence, it will inevitably flow back to you, especially at times when you need it the most.
That is possibly the greatest consequence of being a good leader. When everyone else around you is following these cues, you become the benefactor of your own exceptional leadership skills. When excellent leadership starts with you, it sets the tone for the rest of your team.