I live on a farm, and one of my hobbies is working over a forge to make things from scratch. The forge is a two-foot by two-foot steel basin filled with coal and attached to a bellows. The coal supplies heat that can melt or temper iron and steel. The bellows supplies oxygen and air to increase or decrease the heat. The amount of heat can soften metals and once quenched, harden them. The anvil is my working surface where a hammer and tongs allow me to form the red-hot metal into something useful. Every project begins with metal. The composition of the metal determines what it can be used for, how easy it is to work, and how well and long it will be useful in its repurposed task. My favorite projects involve metal from weird places. I took an old Studebaker leaf spring and made it into some knives that I gave as gifts. There is one more important piece of equipment. It is a steel cylinder standing about 3 feet tall and filled with oil or water. Once the metal has been chosen, heated, shaped, and worked, it needs to be tempered. You finish all the small details, then heat the metal so it glows red hot and then you take it from the forge and quickly place it into to oil to quench it. It is this last step that reorganizes the steel or iron at the molecular level. It hardens it so that it is neither soft nor brittle. It creates a tool that has the strength to do its work without breaking.
The whole purpose of forging is to work the softened metal into something else. This is a lot like taking an average or underperforming doctor or practice and with patience and a little work, actually change the fundamental elements into something more valuable. It is in the doing that the blacksmith earns his keep. In a way, blacksmithing is a lost art. In dentistry, viable coaching has become overrun with pseudo experts and marginal coaches limited by their own work history and lack of knowledge. They are too often simply propped up by the unaware dentist that doesn’t see the ruse. Not every blacksmith can get the job done and not many dental coaches have the experience to transport and transform a struggling practice into an unstoppable element of change.
When we look at change, there is one rule most people overlook. If you want to change anything, you must first start with yourself. Your current results are what they are because everything you do is precisely designed to give you what you are getting. In a way, the Peter Principle is played out daily in dental practices. Dentists start as students, graduate with a degree, become employees, and some become dental owners. The Peter Principle states that if you perform well in your job (student, then employee), you will likely be promoted to the next level of your organization’s hierarchy (you become a dental owner). You will continue to rise up the ladder until you reach the point where you can no longer perform well. Every employee in time tends to rise to his/her level of incompetence. This happens to everybody, across all industries and occupations. The difference in great practices is that the doctor is prepared and ready to do whatever it takes to elevate their own competency regardless of where it takes them.
Welcome to “Groundhog Day” where every day is just like yesterday. Many of us have been promoted to the point of incompetence. We find that what got us to ownership, is not what we need to take it to the next level of success and leadership. So, what should we do if we find that we have reached a plateau or feel lost with no hope?
The first step is to find someone that is doing what you want to do. That could be a mentor, or a benevolent practice owner that would take the time to help you elevate your game. It could mean committing to a search for training in the form of classes, books, lectures, and teachers. For many, it could be a coach.
The word coach is an interesting word and with an even more interesting past in how it has become widely used as it is today. Originally, in the 16th century, the word “coach” meant a large four-wheeled covered carriage. It came from the French term coche and also from the Hungarian word kocsi, which meant “carriage”. Carriages were named that way because superior carts and wagons were designed in the small town of Kocs in Hungary.
The meaning we typically use today originated at Oxford University in 1830. Back then this word was a slang term for a tutor who would “carry” a student through an exam. If you think about it, this meaning still makes sense today. As a coach, you “carry” your clients from one state to another. In essence, the word we use today to describe the personal coaching process is a metaphor.
By reading this article, you are allowing me to “coach” you. Many of you have read my articles weekly for decades. I would like to recommend that you go to www.supergeneralpractice.com and get your free copy of The Super General Dental Practice. Secondly, I invite you contact me and have a talk about any challenges or goals you are dealing with. It costs nothing and in the process of looking at your situation, you might just find a reason to stop making excuses and begin finding your results. No matter where you are, or where you would like to be, there is an easier path than the one you are on. There are secrets to consistent 15%-20% growth for the rest of your career. There are ways to secure your financial future now. Email me or give me a call and let’s talk.
Michael Abernathy DDS
972.523.4660 cell
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