I really hone in on the dentist. I do a lot of executive level coaching for dentists. I also work with teams for team building as needed and a lot of times thats what I identify that the practice needs and we work with the dentist to get some of the personal attributes and leadership qualities in alignment with what they want to do and their goals, and then we bring in the teams and try to get everyone on the same page, working together and looking at the business side of the practice. You really don’t get any of that in dental school and even if we did get some, I don’t think that we were really ready for it or understood it at that time.

First thing I look at is what kind of personalities do we have working in the practice and how are we going to understand each other better. In the beginning a lot of assessment is needed and then its just the awareness that this is how a certain person thinks and operates. Then I ask “What does the dentist (leader) want?” Is the leader going to be more of a quiet leader and then hire an office manager to do all the other work. What ever the model is, its about having systems in place and letting everybody know what those systems are. We dont always do great job of communicating what we are trying to do as dentists, we just kind of go in and do it, and the team is left wondering what the plan is and where is the practice going.

 If your not happy to go to work anymore, or its feeling overwhelming, or your not excited to jump out of bed. These are the signs that you might be getting a little burned out, or you are not taking care of yourself, or your not doing what you wanted to do. A lot of us feel that way and we do not have anyone to turn to or have any idea of what to do. That’s what spurred me to go into consulting because I wanted to be there for other dentists who were struggling and need someone to go to and ask “What can I do?”  I try to do yoga and meditation, where I can just sit and let thoughts go away and make some space for thoughts to come in. And thats what gets me to the other side when I start feeling burned out or overwhelmed. That’s my go to now, and that doesnt mean that everyone has to do yoga or meditation. There are lots of other ways to get back that balance.

One of my patients gave me a great piece of advice and kind of turned my thinking around. My patient had been diagnosed with cancer and we were in some final stages, so we talked about a lot of things that you usually dont with a doctor patient relationship.  I have always been interested in St. Francis and his requests to God to be a peacekeeper and to bring more peace to the world, and when I told my patient that, he said to me “well than you are really asking for more storms. The only way you are going to get more peace is to go through those storms and conflicts.” That was probably some of the best advice I had ever received because it made me realize that every time you have that feeling of peace and a feeling that is good, its usually because you worked through a conflict that was really hard and because you have that sense of peace, that conflict was worth it.

Watch your patients closely. They often give so many clues to what they want and how they want it, but many of us miss those clues because we arent really paying attention or we are worried about the next patient, and so watching and observing our patients, listening to their tone of voice, noticing the nonverbal communication, because those things help us build our relationships with patients and allow us to understand them better.

Seafood Watch – its an app that helps you eat sustainable seafood.

I would ask, how are they going to collaborate with other dentists. How are you going to start learning about the things that you dont know that you know? Get involved with study groups, make connections, find people in similar situations as you, or find a mentor. These sorts of things are really important.

Website: Beyond32Teeth.com

Twitter: @Beyond32Teeth