Pretty much everyone has played “Simon says”. Easy rules but incredibly difficult to play well in the heat of competition. It takes one person to be the orator who proclaims what Simon says to do. It is also his or her job to try and lull you into a false sense of mastery when all of a sudden it is Simons says this, and that, and then he or she says do something without saying “Simon says”. If you stay still, don’t flinch, or act, you are still in the game. On the other hand, if you have gotten so oriented to act quickly but do so now, and you are out of the game.
What does that have to do with dentistry? Absolutely nothing, but……. In a way these articles on Michaelisms are like Simon says except for our purposes it is “Michael says”. I assure you that if you embrace each Michaelism, you will stay in the game of dentistry and succeed in your practice. If, on the other hand, you don’t act when Michael says or just act without or even in contrast to a Michaelism, I am wagering you will disqualify yourself from a successful future in dentistry. In Simon says, you are instantly removed from the game. In Michael says, it may take years or decades for you to realize your mistake by not following these truths. Sometimes I think that being instantly removed from the game might be better than the slow death of circling the drain of failure in your practice. If there is instant reward or punishment, you tend to learn and adapt more quickly. It is instant reward or failure. You try again, and you get further this time. This my friend is the story of your life.
NOTE: This is the third article on Staffing Truths.
- It’s always 50% your fault. If you are thinking that your bad luck and lack of real results is someone else’s fault, think again. By omission or commission, you are where you are by what you did or did not do. Far too often, I run into doctors with an excuse for everything. They can’t find good team members, can’t keep staff, marketing doesn’t work, etc. You get the idea: These folks have an excuse for everything. The point of this Michaelism is to remind each and every one of us that when things go bad, it is at least 50% our fault. You have to fire someone, or they quit; it’s at least 50% your fault. Bottom line is that we, as owners and leaders in our practices, have to be accountable for our results regardless of what is going on around us. People that always have an excuse are rarely good at anything else. Lose your excuses and start to find your results.
- What you allow, you encourage. I am not the first person to say this, but it is one of my favorite retorts to doctors that seem to not really understand how the universe functions. If you allow team members to get away with not performing their job descriptions well, you are basically telling everyone else that it is not important. If others see this, you are encouraging them to do the same thing. You know this – especially if you have or have had children. You can’t allow one child to do something that you would jump on the other for. Consistency in your culture and how you treat people has to be a foundational job for a leader. You can’t have favorites or at least no one can know. You can’t have one set of rules for one person and a different set with another in your office. Be consistent and always have consequences for those that tend to bend the rules or have a completely different set of rules that you would want for the entire team. Also, if you break the rules, so will everyone else.
- Stop robbing your employees of greatness. I’m guilty of this one, big time. I had a favorite assistant that I tended to want by my side during the most taxing clinical services we offered. It was not a conscious action as much as just a habit. The problem was that I worked with two full time assistants. I was literally robbing the second assistant of the opportunity to elevate their competence to the point of my favorite assistant by not allowing her to work with me more often. Simple, but devastating on the culture and morale of the team. Surely you, like me, want every employee to become just like your best employee. That will never happen if we continue to be clueless as to our actions on not continuously training and encouraging each and every one to be their best. Again, if you fail at this, you are at least 50% of the problem. Maybe 100%. Tip a mirror up and take a long hard look at yourself. It is always the best place to start with change.
- Always be looking for a new hire. This may seem a little weird, but I am constantly looking for a better person to upgrade or fill the slot of an existing employee. There, I said it. I am always trying to find someone better than what I’ve got. I know how this sounds but hang on a moment more. This is how I assembled the best Super General Dental Practice team there was. The strange thing is that I only had to fire one employee my entire career. The constant search for the best, created a ripple affect of having each existing team member strive to do better today than they were yesterday. They embraced change and acknowledged the need to be the best. They understood that you can’t be at your best if you come to work and do the minimum to get paid. They knew there might be someone else who could take their job. You will be glad to hear that the employee tenure in my offices averaged 14.7 years. They were the best. They continued to improve each day, and they understood the culture of our office.
The other reason I was always looking for someone better, is we always grew 15% to 20% every year. New patients flocked to our offices, and we always needed more team members as we expanded the services and ages of patients we treated. We never arrived at a point where we were done with change. We will always be proactive while we constantly adapt to an ever-changing dental environment.
- Staff turnover is the #1 sign of a lack of leadership and culture. Not being able to keep team members happy and productive is a clear sign that there are a lot of things not being done well. If you can’t keep team members, and your direct referral rate is below 50%, you are not making the grade. This is the scenario that it is probably 98% the leader’s fault. Please take a hard look in the mirror and reflect on your results as a grade. Too many of us are “C” students in business and leadership. Spend your time doing better. Partner with your team to commit to a better tomorrow. It is never too late to start, and now is the best time to own your performance in the marketplace.
- The “Weakest Link”: You will never go any further than the one employee with the lowest commitment to your goals and culture. The origin of the weakest link is a word picture of a chain that will always break at the weakest link. The chain is never stronger than that one link that is flawed or weakened. This is true with your team. It could even be the one person that is great at their job, but they tend to create turmoil in the team by stirring the pot and creating dissension in the ranks. It could be that good employee that is only working a day or two a week and never really feels like she is part of the team since she is part-time. It could even be that new or even the oldest employee that you know isn’t great, but you keep them because they are not that bad. We cannot tolerate mediocrity in our team. Regardless of who it is, the weakest link needs to be singled out and voted off the island. Your team will appreciate you for making the right choice and hopefully you will make a better choice next time by involving the team in the hiring process.
Last point on the “weakest link”. Sadly, we find that in some circumstances, the weakest link is the owner. In your search for the weakest link, make sure it isn’t you.
There you go. 14 down and dirty Staffing Truths (Michaelisms) to live by and grow your practice. I hope you found them enlightening. The bottom line is that there is no learning without application. Don’t miss the simple truth that reading or even studying something has no value until you act on the new knowledge. Michael says: Do it now!
Michael Abernathy DDS
972.523.4660 cell
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