Leadership training from Dental Consultants Debbie Castagna & Virginia Moore


Get Great Results by Leading with "The Purpose Process™"

In working with hundreds of dentists over the years, we've learned that the issue of leadership evokes a wide range of opinions and emotions about one's view of themselves as a leader:

-- "I didn't sign up to lead -- I just want to do the dentistry."

-- "Well, I guess leading comes with the territory, but I feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants."

-- "Leading seems too subjective and broad. It's hard for me to wrap my analytical mind around the concept."

We understand. However, leadership does not have to be subjective or fuzzy, nor does it mean you have to be the "bad" guy (or gal!). Yes, as a business owner, a manager of others, or someone who wants to self-manage in the most constructive way possible, leading with purpose does come with the territory.

We designed The Purpose Process® with you in mind. It is our proprietary system, available only from The Practice Source for application in the dental office. It is our intention to eliminate the subjective for you, to make it easier, and to allow for a successful journey to your leadership territory -- wherever it may take you.

The Purpose Process® has three distinct components:

  • 3 Core Characteristics: A Clear Purpose, Courage, Cooperation
  • Reality-based Leadership: The Pothole, The Way Out, Solid Ground
  • Resolution

An overview of the first two components follows. In our next newsletter, which you'll receive before Labor Day, we'll walk you through Step 3, Resolution, using an actual client issue.

3 Core Characteristics

Have a clear purpose. What excites you about getting out of bed in the morning to face a brand new day? Is it to do great work? Strengthen relationships with patients and team? To increase your wealth? Your purpose moves you, inspires you, and drives you to do what you do in the manner in which you do it. It's being clear and confident about who you are. When you are "in purpose" you are in the flow. It's a great feeling -- it's natural, it feels right, it is right. When you operate from a place of purpose, struggles are minimized, you find yourself in fewer potholes. (More on potholes later!) Living and breathing your purpose helps you:

Be courageous. This characteristic is the one that seems to be most difficult. Being courageous can mean taking a stand, or respectfully confronting a difficult situation even when it appears risky. In our consulting, helping doctors and team members act with courage comes with our territory. Some of the reasons we hear about their 'courage' challenges are:

"She's the best dental assistant I've ever had. If I tell her what's frustrating me, she might quit."

"She's got four kids now. It's normal that one of them is going to get sick but it really disrupts the practice when she is late or not here."

"I hate being mean."

If you think "being courageous" is synonymous with being "mean", of course you would struggle. Patrick Lencioni, author of "Getting Naked" (it's a book on consulting -- really!), calls it "entering the danger". To get on the other side of an issue -- and far too often for some, an issue that's been going on for a long, long time -- you must be willing to enter the danger, to be courageous so that you have the possibility of resolution, not to mention getting the monkey off your back.

Remember, clarity of purpose, and using it as your motivator, helps you to be courageous. A clear purpose, courage, being in the flow allows you to:

Foster Cooperation. Fostering cooperation is possible, but not probable, without the first two core characteristics. If you need to, suspend your disbelief and hear us out. Fostering cooperation comes when you:

  • Share your purpose, which means communicating and demonstrating it consistently. Make believers out of those you lead.
  • Express your (Doctor or Manager) purpose clearly in interviews, and hire people who are excited about who you are and what you stand for.
  • Behave in a fair and consistent manner with your purpose driving your actions and decisions.
  • Celebrate! Point out the little things, not just the home runs. Enjoy each other. Laugh often. We can think of times with clients when we laughed so hard we could barely breathe. Trust us, teams that live this not only foster cooperation but are very productive as well.

Reality-based Leadership

Let's get real about leadership. Most of us are not going to stand on the Mall in Washington, DC, with the world watching like Martin Luther King, or receive the kudos that Mayor Rudy Giuliani did in the aftermath of 9/11.

We lead in our way in our professional lives, within our families and in other activities. Our impact can still be far-reaching, even profound, without the pomp and circumstance. We believe the "grand view" of leadership is what makes so many think they don't have what it takes to lead. You do!

The Purpose Process® now guides you through reality-based leadership, which is comprised of three components.

The Pothole. It feels awful in the pothole. It's the place where you feel frustrated, angry, perhaps embarrassed, and even ashamed. It's the place that may make you question why you chose dentistry (or a relationship perhaps) in the first place. The goal of the pothole is to not sidestep it, but to fully experience it. Don't brush it off or minimize it because it will come back and rear its awful head again. Real leaders know you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable, which presents the potential for you to find:

The Way Out. While experiencing the discomfort of the pothole, thoughts and feelings emerge, such as, "I can't do this to myself anymore", or "I'm tired of feeling like a doormat". These are important feelings because they lead you to: stop and seek counsel (it's what we're here for!), self-discovery, and greater confidence to try something different.

There's hope here, and along with what you are learning on the way out, you will soon find yourself on:

Solid Ground. Ahh, much better. You're clear on your purpose, you've exercised courage, you're fostering cooperation, and oops, another pothole! Will it be as awful as the last one? Probably not. This time you are not going to cover that pothole with a bunch of 2 x 2's. You'll experience its truth head on, determine the way out and enjoy solid ground again. This is a very human, logical process which, when practiced, causes future potholes to be far less daunting.

Resolution

Resolution is where the "rubber meets the road" with The Purpose Process®. It's the simple, yet powerful, steps you take when you are faced with a challenge. It's not, "will I take this on?", it's "this is how I will take it on." It's nuts and bolts, not a lot of theory.