I have always been goal-oriented , and once I get buy-in from my colleagues I like to delegate responsibilities . A great example of this is our work the past eight years with MOM-n-PA dental missions . Once the MOM-n-PA Board clearly defined the mission , the vision and the expectations and responsibilities of each department , we delegated these duties to our 34 department Leads and they have done an amazing job . My job as General Chair has been to check-in with each of them once a month to follow their progress .
As President of our PDA board , I love to see different opinions around the table . I hate it when we have general consensus on complex issues ! I look forward to hearing several differences in opinion and through due diligence , having the board make a fully informed decision . I always start our meetings by reminding our members that they are safe sitting around our table and even if they are the only person with a different opinion , I want to hear it . Many times our board has faced complex issues and most of the time there are several options , each of which has advantages and disadvantages that we must debate and ultimately make the decision that is best for the membership .
PDJ : Can you discuss some of the issues – whether membership-related or others – that are going to drive PDA and the long- term future of the organization ?
DR . DAVIS : I am very concerned about leadership development . Several times over the past four years we had to recirculate a past Board of Trustees member because the district could not find a volunteer to make the kind of commitment required to be a trustee and we often have a hard time finding enough volunteers to fill all of our committees and task forces . And I know many locals have communicated to us that it is difficult to find local presidents .
Leadership development is a major goal in our strategic plan .
I know that dentists and our PDA have the best interests of our patients in mind and I believe that organized dentistry has the power and the will to fight all of these outside threats . But to be successful , we need more members to step up to the plate . We need to hear your voice and to pass the baton to new leaders !
I understand that our families , our practices and our free time must be our priorities . But if we want to continue to control our own destinies , we need members with some passion and new ideas to devote a little more time to organized dentistry . We can
JULY / AUGUST 2021 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 17