Powerful
Practices
practice management
Creating
By Enhancing Emotional Intelligence
by Bob Frazer, Jr., DDS, FICD, FACD
E
very major discretionary (dental) purchase is first and
foremost an emotional decision. Effective leadership of a
practice demands emotional competency. Therefore, E.I.
is central to our success.
The leading businesses in the U.S. and across the world have taken
to heart research out of Harvard and Rutgers showing that 75% of
high achievers’ success comes from Emotional Intelligence (E.I.),
while 25% comes from necessary technical competency. In doing
so, they have insisted their leaders and key customer interface people have E.I. training. We believe it is even more important for
those of us in private practice.
Often the most intellectually gifted (high I.Q.) and technically
excellent dentists seem to be on a never-ending journey to elevate
their technical competency. But many end up frustrated, sometimes even depressed, as they encounter countless recurring leadership and staff problems – plus, no mater how much they learn,
they can’t get most patients to elect their finest service.
Yet, I also encounter good dentists, generally well trained, with
half the technical training, who have happy, prosperous practices
with patients wanting the dentistry they offer. So what is the difference? I am convinced one must have technical competency, but
the difference? – Emotional Intelligence.
According to author Daniel Goleman, “Emotional Intelligence is
defined as our capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those
of others, for motivating ourselves, for managing emotions well in
ourselves and our relationships.”1
Recently I joined one of my coaching clients during a patient treatment case presentation. Models were prepared, as well as photographs and a computer generated treatment plan. The patient,
“Kathy,” and her husband, “Ed,” were g