In March, my blog took a bit of a trip down memory lane! I recounted my own mindset of fear that acted as my motivation to study hard while in university. Fail to study…fail the class!
And as much as that fear proved successful in my academic life, building a business motivated by fear is not the way to succeed. Fear will limit your options. Fear will cloud your judgement. Fear will blind you to the possibilities of what you can achieve, what your business can achieve, what your PRACTICE can achieve!
This does not mean you should proceed without caution. Vital decisions must still be made on the basis of a fearless mindset AND an informed mind. A mind with a direction. A mind with a vision. And perhaps just as importantly, a mind that can attract others who share that vision to create something great!
If you are like most dentists, you have likely been told of the importance of having a vision for your practice. And you may have thought it sounded like an interesting concept – but never did anything about it.
You never created YOUR vision. You never worked with your team to create a collective vision.
It is never too late to change that!
It is never too late to consider the dental experience you truly want to provide – for your patients, your team and even for yourself. After all, you are a vital part of this experience so it should be something that resonates with you.
Work with your team to create that vision and then…bring it to life!
This is an essential component that so many dentists overlook. If they have taken the time to develop a vision statement for their practice, they then act like that is sufficient – no more guidance needed, the mere existence of the vision will lead every member of the team to intuitively understand how to advance that vision.
Unfortunately, that is not how it works!
Bringing your vision to life will require very deliberate and intentional action on your part. You will need a plan. One that recognizes that you will never accomplish this on your own. One thing great CEOs understand is that they need to surround themselves with a great leadership team.
Do you have your Chief Operating Officer (or as we more conventionally refer to this position in dentistry, your “Office Manager) in place? Have you specified the areas of responsibility you want your COO to take charge of? Tasks that, once delegated, can be removed from your plate save for some aspects of oversight and accountability?
Perhaps your practice is too new and/or too small to feel the need for a formal COO. That does not mean all the leadership tasks associated with bringing your vision to life should remain solely your responsibility.
You still need to determine what those leadership tasks are and how they can be delegated to other team members. Then, as your practice grows, you can reassess this assignment of tasks and, if necessary, re-assign some to new people – perhaps new people in new positions!
It takes a thriving mindset to embrace the role of CEO leadership, to have the courage and the confidence to embrace and empower other leaders so they can help fulfil your vision. And it also takes a plan.
Look for some tips on how to align that plan with your vision in upcoming blogs!
About the Author
Shawn Peers is the President of DentalPeers. DentalPeers is one of Canada’s oldest, continuous operating buying groups exclusively for dentists.
