Leading or Managing

On my way to work this morning I listened to “The Thriving Dentist” show by Gary Takacs on my iPod.  It is a MUST listen to for every dentist.

One of the inherent challenges for dentists is balancing being a leader in the office and being a manager as most of the time we wear both hats. This is especially evident when we interact with our team members. They look to us for leadership, the vision for the practice, and to empower them to be the best they can at work. On the other side of the coin we have to manage their schedules, technical skill and compensation. No place is this more evident than during the dreaded “annual” review. Years ago through a mentor of mine I learned about a concept called Growth Conferences. These are scheduled opportunities to “lead” team members and partner with them for success. Gary and Katherine Eitel discuss leadership and growth conferences during the recording, and the first thing I had to do when I came in to the office was grab a piece of paper and write down my notes so as not to forget all the great ways I can implement what I heard.

Here is the link for Gary’s blog and the post on this edition of his podcast: http://www.takacslearningcenter.com/014/. You can listen right from this page, or download the show using iTunes and take it with you to listen to. Katherine’s forms for growth conferences can be downloaded on the page as well.