North Texas Dentistry Volume 9 Issue 4 2019 ISSUE 4 DE | Page 16

practice leadership
If I Don’t Lead, Then What?
by Joel Small, DDS and Edwin McDonald, DDS
A leader brings the “weather” to the organization that he
or she leads, be it large or small. The weather can range
from stormy and turbulent to sunny and full of the sun’s
energy. A weather that supports healthy, growing lives
requires a balance of rain, sun, and the seasonal varia-
tions that allow for a complete cycle of life. What kind
of weather do we find when the leader is not leading?
A PRACTICE IN SURVIVAL MODE
For all forms of life to be healthy, including human beings, they
need the right mix of elements to breathe life into them. Effec-
tive, purpose-driven leadership cannot exist without these
essential ingredients that create a healthy environment. The
first sign that a leader is not leading is that the individuals under
their leadership are not thriving; in fact, they are struggling to
survive. The most significant leadership competency that cor-
relates with high levels of organizational performance is a
strong people skill. Those skills pertain more to the leader being
personable, approachable, and a good listener rather than pos-
sessing a dynamic personality. All people need to be heard and
understood, and equally important, need a positive and safe
environment that encourages open and direct dialogue. When
leadership is deficient, their need to be heard and to have a
voice is absent. Their relationship with the leader is superficial
and lacks the depth that people need to commit to the organi-
zation’s purpose. Their low-level motivation and commitment
reflect an organizational culture that is transactional rather than
transformational in nature.
SYMPTOMS: high staff turnover, internal conflict, low pro-
ductivity
LACK OF CLARITY, PURPOSE, AND VISION
Great leaders bring clarity, establish values, and articulate
vision. There exists a commonly shared belief and understand-
ing about where the leader is taking the organization. The team
understands the organizational values, and therefore, they
know how to make decisions in alignment with the shared pur-
pose. This creates an entire team of decision makers and energy
producers that are working towards the same goal. In this ideal
scenario, the doctor is no longer the “bottle neck” through which
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all decisions emanate. This allows the overall team to develop
their capabilities and capacity to be more productive.
When clarity, values, and vision are missing, there is greater
confusion, more hesitation to act, and more internal conflict.
This inevitably results in organizational stagnation. Stagnant
teams find themselves spending excessive energy maintaining
the status quo, rather than taking necessary measures and cal-
culated risks designed to promote practice growth. This descrip-
tion defines an enterprise that is stuck and performing below
its capability.
SYMPTOMS: low productivity, wasted energy, confusion,
conflict
EXHAUSTION
By definition, a team comes together to accomplish something
as a group that they could not do by themselves. Each team
member has a specific role and responsibility. An effective
leader orchestrates the function of the overall team as well as
each individual. These leaders communicate the importance of
each position and what success looks like. In short, they are
great people developers and intentionally empower those that
they lead.
It is not uncommon, as coaches, to encounter doctors that are
seeking a better work/life balance. They are exhausted by the
persistent conflict between family and practice; feeling caught
between the constant pull of the practice on their purse strings
and the opposing pull of their family on their heart strings.
Invariably, these doctors have failed to develop their team’s
capacity to lessen the doctor’s load. They have not provided
their staff with the training, resources, and authority to manage
and oversee practice systems. Sadly, these doctors have done
a great disservice to themselves and their staff. They are
exhausted, and their staff has lost an opportunity to experience
growth. Even worse, the doctor finds that he or she is spending
an inordinate amount of time and energy on low-level tasks
rather than value-producing tasks that greatly benefit the prac-
tice, tasks that only they can accomplish.
SYMPTOMS: lack of energy, failure to achieve high-priority
goals, undeveloped staff, strained inter-personal relationships,
reduced production