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A Dental Practice Owner’s Most Important Accomplishment

How do you cultivate an environment of collective confidence that will help your practice thrive? Do you create a culture of mutual respect and empowerment? Not only will the practice be able to better serve its patients, but it can also create a sense of togetherness that will help to build collective confidence. Listen in and learn how to encourage confidence, trust, and collaboration among your team.

Dental practice owners:

Are you feeling more dental team division and drama?

  • If you want to create a true sense of Us-ness…
  • If you want to balance being exceptional with staying connected to your team…
  • If you want to help your team buy-in to your practice goals so they can develop collective confidence…

Tune in now!

Listen in and find solutions to common practice issues at  Prescriptions for Your Practice.

Check out our New Case Study, “Discover How To Recession-Proof Your Dental Practice In The Next 60 Days So That You Increase Profits & Avoid Losing Key Team Members” now at: http://thenorecessiondentist.com/casestudy.

Key Quotes:

  • “A leader’s most important accomplishment is to build a team and create a true sense of us.”
  • “Most books you read on leadership talk about the leader, but they don’t talk about the followers.”
  • “You, dental practice owners, should be ahead of the group that makes you the leader, but you shouldn’t be so far ahead that you are on your own.”
  • “Great teams want a leader to be similar to them and in a way like them, but they also desire their leaders to be exceptional.”
  • “There are certain things that you should never tire of explaining and that is what you stand for, your mission, your vision, your values, and what it means to be a team member at your practice.”
  • “Keep selling the vision. Keep building on values and anchoring your people to your values.”
  • “Continue to build that collective confidence so that you feel powerful, your team feels powerful and empowered, and special.”

Featured on the Show:

  • I appreciate your feedback. Let me know what you learned and loved here: [email protected].

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Don’t be a doormat. Don’t be a jerk.

A leader is a dealer in hope. — Napoleon Bonaparte

What type of leader are you? Do you inspire your staff, or do you always throw your weight around? Is your leadership style leans toward passiveness, aggressiveness, or assertiveness? Do you treat your team with respect to demand the same?

In this episode, I’ll talk about assertive communication and how not being assertive at work results in overstepping boundaries, lots of frustration, misunderstanding, and hurt feelings. I will also share the seven keys to becoming more assertive in your practice. If you want to elevate your leadership game a notch, then this podcast is for you.

Tune in and find solutions to common practice issues at  Prescriptions for Your Practice.

Key Quotes:

  • Assertiveness is communicating and expressing your thoughts, feelings, and opinions in a way that your views can be clearly understood by others without putting down their thoughts, their feelings, and their opinions.”
  • “If we tend to be a little bit more passive, assertiveness feels like aggression until it becomes a habit.
  • The cool thing about assertive communication is that it has the power to magnify all your other leadership strengths.”
  • “The reality of our communication as leaders, as practice owners, is that they’re always two messages being conveyed simultaneously. One is the content of the communication, and the other piece is the manner in which it’s conveyed.”

Featured on the Show:

  • Quote: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” — George Bernard Shaw
  • I appreciate your feedback. Let me know what you learned and loved here: [email protected].

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Powerful Lessons Learned from the Dying with Dr. Thomas Grass

I am re-releasing one of the more popular and the No. 1 most downloaded episode of all my podcasts. It features the incredibly insightful Dr. Thomas Grass as he recounts the story of how he found dentistry and the path that led him to this career. This is one of the most powerful conversations I have ever had on the show, as Tom delves deep into the importance of being present and how to avoid always looking to the future or your next achievement.

We discuss what Tom calls the UFO method and how to use this when approaching unpleasant discussions or delivering difficult news. You’ll learn how to create satisfaction out of inherently unsatisfying experiences. Listen in as we share personal stories about making connections with the people in our lives and touch on the responsibility you have to yourself to do the same.

Tune in and meet more Legendary Leaders

Key Quotes:

  • “The minute you turn your patients into problems, tasks, or room numbers, you’ve failed.”
  • “Dentistry checks all my boxes; you get to take care of people for a long time, you get to know people, and you get to be hands-on.”
  • “Hospice is really good at showing you all the pieces and parts that surround someone’s life.”
  • “You don’t know what people are living with, what people regret.”
  • “Tell people what you need from them and give people what they want from you.”
  • “When you are caring for people, you are giving away your emotional energy to them.”

Featured on the Show:

 

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Making The Best Even Better with Drs. Molly and Corey Karmazin

Two of my favorite people in this profession, Dr. Molly Karmazin and Dr. Corey Karmazin, join me on this week’s podcast to unpack their secrets to success. Drs. Corey and Molly are among those featured in my “Dentist On A Mission” book. They practice in a gorgeous, state-of-the-art facility in Sioux Falls, SD alongside a very enthusiastic high-performance team.

Listen in as Drs. Molly and Corey talk about how they made their scratch-start dream a reality, how they continue to reinvest in their practice and refine their leadership style to make the best better. They will also share their insights on culture, systems, and lifelong learning.

Tune in and find more Legendary Leadership

Key Quotes:

  • “They said in school, one of the hardest things you can do is probably start your own from scratch. And we were like, let’s do it.”
  • “I think with the information overload that we get now, I think it would feel daunting. I’d probably still do it [a startup practice].”
  • “We’re always big in putting time and effort back into the team because I think it always pays off in spades.”
  • “Sometimes you take it personally when people make a decision to make a change. And I feel like there’s no real substitute for just experiencing that. And I won’t say that it makes you kind of cold, but it makes you realize to really appreciate what you have at any given time and just know like there’s going to be things that are switched out.”
  • “Anytime someone leaves, this is always for the better. And then it makes our expectations and levels even higher for the next one and we’re quicker to make decisions whether things are working or not.”
  • “The thing that I’ve learned, probably the most in the last couple of years, is we’ve found our voice and it doesn’t have to come off as bossy. And being a leader is telling people what you want and giving them the tools to be able to do that.”
  • “We had to invest in technology. We had to computerize the office because I wanted to have a seamless flow from our Sioux Falls office to this office. So it was kind of fun.”
  • “I still can’t believe we still have patients that we saw like day one. I felt like I knew nothing. I felt like my skills were there, but they weren’t there where they are now. And you’re just like, Oh, these people saw it in you. And they were like, you can do it.”
  • “I think doing it on your own, from the get go, you invest so much more in yourself and the business. Whether it’s with technology or remodel, whether it’s just trying to be on top and up, we just constantly re-investing.”
  • Every single patient through the door has either come because they’ve picked up the phone and took a chance on us or they have now told other people. And so, we really do very little advertising. A lot of our patients come from, Hey, so-and-so told me to come see you.”
  • “Our confidence in ourselves that we can deliver has made a huge difference.”
  • “You don’t know what you don’t know and you think you’re doing a good job and you can do great dentistry forever in that little bubble. It’s just been such a pleasure to burst outside of it and to be able to start different things.”
  • “Make connections with dentists all across the country and even the world.”
  • “You can’t complain and get angry and bitter when you come from a place of gratitude.”
  • “Starting each day with a thing of gratitude, I think, has changed everybody.”

Corey and Molly Karmazin started their dental practice 18 years ago in Sioux Falls, SD. They have embraced continuing education and technology and A-Team atmosphere at their office. Grace, Gratitude and Attitude help make each day at Karmazin Dental a GREAT DAY!

Featured on the Show:

 

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Finding The Right Hire For Your Business With Laura Nelson

Finding The Right Hire For Your Business With Laura NelsonHiring is complicated. You don’t want to be working with a team who doesn’t embrace and support your goals. Good thing Laura Nelson is there to guide us throughout the process. She recently released a new book, “Hiring without Hesitation: A How-To for Small Business Success” which I am excited to share. I’ve known Laura for a long time, and I admire the honest value she’s bringing to the dental industry.

Listen in as Laura talks about best practices in hiring the right people for your practice and how to quickly spot a potential rockstar. She also touches on office culture and why you should involve the whole team in the hiring process.

Be inspired and meet more Legendary Leaders

Key Quotes:

  • It starts with leadership. It really starts with your attitude about hiring. if you think there’s no good people out there, then there’s going to be no good people out there.”
  • “You need to have an environment and a culture where people want to come to work there because they’re considering potentially leaving somewhere else maybe, or part-time or whatever to come to you.”
  • “If you wait to just hire when you need it, and you’re desperate, you’re gonna hire a square peg and try to put it in a round hole and then you’re going to fail and then you’re going to hit hiring and it’s going to be the cyclical problem that you have.”
  • “Always be looking. Don’t rely on just when you need it. ‘Cause if you wait until then it’s going to probably be too late.”
  • Let them [team] know that you’re always looking. First of all, it’s going to keep them on their toes. And then second of all, they’re not going to be whispering in the break room going,” Oh my gosh, you know, the [boss] is doing an interview. Who’s he canning? Who is he letting go?” Right? Like it’s just full transparency. So I definitely think involving your team is an important part.”
  • “There’s a difference between a job description and a job advertisement. So we need a job description, right? We need a checklist of what are they going to get trained? What are they responsible for and what are they accountable for? But an advertisement is meant to attract.”
  • “I’ve had some dental assistants who are amazing at six months and I’ve had some that stink after six years. So, it doesn’t really matter, the amount of experience. So, really going through your job ad and saying, what is required? And then what is nice to have?”
  • “ I’ll take personality over experience all day long.”
  • “I want somebody to be teachable with experience. That’s the best, that’s the rock star, right? But if they’re not teachable and they’ve got a lot of experience, like you said, they could be stuck.”
  • “And again, it ties back to the leadership and the culture. You know, you’ve got to foster a culture, that’s like that, the ability to make mistakes, the ability to learn and grow their ability to take responsibility, to work together as a team for you to be vulnerable for.”
  • “You can take a rockstar, put them in a bad culture and kill them. Or you can take an average employee and put them in an amazing culture and make them a rockstar.”
  • “Reference checks — and I’ve been guilty of not doing them. You’ve been guilty of not doing them. They are so important. And it’s important.”

Featured on the Show:

 

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Balancing Profitability and Sustainability with Dr. Pete McClellan

Balancing Profitability and Sustainability with Dr. Pete McClellan Over my years as a podcaster, some of my very favorite interviews have been when I’ve brought friends onto the show, and this episode will definitely fall into that category. Dr. Pete McClellan is a dentist with multiple practices in Kansas City, a visionary, and a fantastic leader who was named a top dentist in Hawaii for two years in a row.

Listen in as we talk about the importance of creating a workplace where people actually want to work, as well as how a mission statement can help to weed out those who don’t fit within the culture of the practice. You’ll learn how we can all balance the need to make money with the desire to have a healthy and sustainable practice, and why creating a critical mass of believable people is one of the most sustainable things you can do for your business.

Be inspired and meet more Legendary Leaders

Key Quotes:

  • “You can’t underestimate the power of a believable person in your world.”
  • “If you can make more mistakes than anyone and still be successful, then that’s the game.”
  • “My darkest moments were my biggest breakthroughs.”
  • “There is so much power in finding people whose stories you believe.”
  • “We need the practice to be profitable, but we need the practice to be sustainable.”
  • “You have to put something in front of that team member that makes them realize they are part of something bigger.”
  • “I’d like to give lots of credit to my two awesome business partners, Dr Daniel Rome and Dr Jeff Slutskiy. Our divide and conquer mindset has served us well.”

Featured on the Show:

 

 

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