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This week I am honored to welcome Cathy Jameson. Cathy is the founder and chief visionary officer at Jameson Management, an international dental management, marketing and hygiene coaching firm. Cathy developed her Jameson Method of Management through years of hard work and firsthand experiences in dental offices. Her method offers proven management, marketing, and hygiene systems to help dental professionals improve and develop their practices.<\/p>\n
Cathy has earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in education, master\u2019s degree in psychology and recently completed her doctorate studies. Over the course of her studies and career, Cathy has focused on the impact of transformational leadership on the productivity of a dental practice.<\/p>\n
On this episode, Cathy joins us to share her research and systems that can help you and your team create a positive, productive, results-oriented and leadership-driven practice. She lays out clear, easy-to-follow steps for developing your team, evaluating and improving your office to provide fulfillment, financial stability and a constant drive for the success of the office.<\/p>\n
Welcome to Practicing with the Masters<\/em> for dentists with your host, Dr. Allison Watts. Allison believes that there are four pillars for a successful, fulfilling dental practice: clear leadership, sound business principles, well-developed communication skills, and clinical excellence. Allison enjoys helping dentists and teams excel in all of these areas. Each episode she brings you an inspiring conversation with another leading expert. If you desire to learn and grow and in the process take your practice to the next level, then this is the show for you. Now, here\u2019s your host, Dr. Allison Watts.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Welcome to Practicing with the Masters<\/em> podcast. I\u2019m your host, Allison Watts, and I\u2019m dedicated to bringing you masters in the field of dentistry, leadership, and practice management to help you have a more fulfilling and successful practice and life.<\/p>\n I just want to welcome everybody. Cathy Jameson is here with us tonight and I\u2019m thrilled. I was telling her the other day when we spoke that I remember her from probably 18 years ago or so, she came and spoke to the new dentists. I was literally straight out of school and I just remember being\u2014she was so warm and so friendly and had so much knowledge. I just always thought good things about her and always enjoyed hearing her since then.<\/p>\n I think you\u2019ve written in some of the books that I have, some of the dental consulting books. Isn\u2019t there a book that a bunch of you guys came together to…?<\/p>\n Cathy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n Cathy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, the Academy of Dental Management Consultants has a couple of times produced books where they invite various members of the organization to write a chapter on a certain aspect of management or teamwork or leadership or whatever subject is relevant.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, I\u2019ve kept up with you over the years, Cathy, so I appreciate you being here so much. And I\u2019ll just formally tell everybody a little bit about you. I think probably most of the people that are on here and will be listening to the recording know who you are.<\/p>\n But Cathy is the founder and chief visionary officer of Jameson Management, which is an international dental management, marketing, and hygiene coaching firm. The Jameson method of management developed by Cathy offers proven management, marketing, and hygiene systems for helping dental professionals improve their practices.<\/p>\n Cathy earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in education from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and then a master\u2019s degree in psychology from Goddard College. She recently received her doctorate from Walden University. I know one of those degrees was transformational leadership.<\/p>\n Cathy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The degree is actually applied leadership and decision sciences, and then my focus was on transformational leadership. That was by choice because I was focusing on leadership and organizational change in my entire study. Then for my dissertation I chose to study the impact of what\u2019s called transformational leadership on the productivity of a dental practice.<\/p>\n For many, many intense years of research, and study, and review of literature, studying the previous research that has been documented, I was able to flesh out this concept of transformational leadership as it relates to dentistry. So it\u2019s been just a delightful study.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That is so cool. I\u2019m so excited for you to share with us and I know you consider yourself a lifelong learner and that you encourage people to be in a constant state of study, growth, and action.<\/p>\n Like I said, I know you\u2019ve authored several books and I know a couple of them I\u2019ve looked through and read and that you recently have Success Strategies for the Aesthetic Dental Practice<\/em>, which you coauthored with Dr. Linda Greenwall.<\/p>\n Cathy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thank you so much for being with us today. I\u2019ve never met anybody that was so studied in transformational leadership and that just appeals to me greatly because I love learning like you do. Excited to hear what you have to say about it and I am very curious what your definition of that would be from your studies. How would you define transformational leadership?<\/p>\n Cathy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s a very good question because there\u2019s different styles of leadership, obviously. Probably the two most dominant leadership styles are called transactional or then transformational.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll describe what\u2019s called transactional leadership first. It\u2019s really the more dominant leadership style that we see, certainly in the corporate world and the more dominant style that we see in the dental world as well and dental practices. At Jameson Management now we\u2019ve been in 2,500 practices, doing in-office consulting so we\u2019ve seen a lot. And then through the interaction of people, through the lecture and similar business, I\u2019ve also seen this to be true.<\/p>\n Transactional leadership is characterized by the leader being in control. The leader being in this case, the dentist, or the owner or in the corporate world it would be the CEO, the president, etc. Whoever is in charge of the organization. This person, for the most part, dictates to the other members of the organization what they\u2019ll do, how they\u2019ll do it, and when they\u2019ll do it and so on and so forth. It\u2019s more hierarchical in nature.<\/p>\n These transactional leaders reward their employees or discipline their employees if you will at certain times, depending on the adequacy or lack of adequacy of the performance. There\u2019s not a lot of feedback, it\u2019s just, \u201cThis is what you\u2019re supposed to do, this is how you\u2019re supposed to do it.\u201d If you do it, sometimes you\u2019re going to get acknowledged for that. A lot of times not.<\/p>\n And sometimes doctors will say to me, and to others, \u201cWell, I don\u2019t really give positive reinforcement. If I don\u2019t tell them they\u2019re not doing correctly they should just know. If I don\u2019t tell them they\u2019re making a mistake, they should just assume that they\u2019re doing things correctly.\u201d Well, it\u2019s not really true. People don\u2019t really function that way. But that\u2019s sort of an opinion and a thought process.<\/p>\n A lot of times in transactional leadership we\u2019ll see more of a dictatorial environment where there\u2019s little or no interaction between the owner\/doctor in this case and the members of the organization. There\u2019s a time and a place where that\u2019s appropriate, by the way. There are times when transactional leadership is the appropriate style of leadership to be integrated or to be existing. It might even be just for a certain situation.<\/p>\n Transformational leadership is different. It\u2019s a leadership style that\u2019s based on principles that will stimulate the interest of employees to be creative, to nurture their talent, to dig in and be willing to change if they see that that change\u2014they really understand and grab hold of the concept that change is really for the positive. It\u2019s for the better.<\/p>\n You get with someone who says, \u201cWell, we\u2019ve always done it this way, and I\u2019m not going to change because I\u2019ve always done it this way and it\u2019s worked.\u201d Well it might have worked but it could probably work better with some alterations. And so in transactional leadership, the leader creates the environment where people are supported through the change process but again very clear on if there\u2019s any change or development to be integrated, that there\u2019s a reason behind it. That there\u2019s a purpose behind it. That it will be a place where people can stretch and grow and do even better.<\/p>\n Those also are some principles of transformational leadership that the employees want to achieve. They want to do what they\u2019re doing better than they\u2019re doing at the present time. They want to be in an environment where their talent is maximized. In fact, the flipside of that, talented people will leave an organization if they\u2019re not challenged. I don\u2019t know a doctor on the face of the earth that doesn\u2019t want to attract and keep talented people.<\/p>\n So let me say that again, a talented person in an office, if they are not challenged, and if they\u2019re not encouraged to grow, if they\u2019re not given an opportunity to get better, to learn more, to be on that continuous path of improvement. They\u2019ll get bored, things will get monotonous and they may leave. Or even if they don\u2019t leave, their performance could be diminished. Their productivity could be diminished.<\/p>\n So going a little bit further with that, in transformational leadership, the leader encourages the employees\u2014team members, if you will\u2014to participate in sharing in the vision, or what would be we call the ideal vision. The ideal vision of the ideal practice. For the doctor to determine what is in his or her eyes the ideal practice. And that certainly may change over a career, more than likely it will.<\/p>\n But when the leader involves the team members with, \u201cThis is what we consider ideal, this is the kind of treatment we want to provide, this is the way we want our patients to be treated, this is the kind of experience we want our people to have. These are the financial goals we want\u201d and etc. When people are involved in not only understanding with clarity what the vision is, but can participate in making that happen. Those are some characteristics of what is called transformational leadership.<\/p>\n Interestingly in the workplace today, some of the research says\u2014this is sort of a summary, we\u2019ll take this a little bit further\u2014these are again from the employee\u2019s viewpoint what they want in a work environment. It\u2019s through transformational leadership that these things can be fulfilled.<\/p>\n They want to be trusted, that\u2019s critical, that they are going to be trusted with their talent, with their character, with their persona. And they want to be able to trust the executive team or the doctor in most cases, or sometimes with some practices doctors, and\/or office managers. The employees want to be trusted and again, this is critical, they want to be able to trust the executive team.<\/p>\n I think that\u2019s a very important thing for us to realize as a foundation of the ideology of a healthy business. That there is a level of trust. That if I\u2019m the leader of an organization, you can trust that I will do what I say I will go do, that I am clear about the core values that are at the heart and soul of every decision made, and that I will honor the values that are the core of my organization.<\/p>\n And team members want that. They want to be informed and included. They want to know what\u2019s going on, they want to know what\u2019s happening in the practice. They want to know as I alluded to earlier, if changes are going to occur, what the benefits of those changes may be. They want to be included not only in decisions but also in making those decisions come to fruition in a healthy manner. Which is good, this is healthy.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a premise, Michael LeBoeuf, from the University of Louisiana, says a long time ago in his book called the GMP<\/em>: The Greatest Management Principle<\/em>, he says that which is rewarded is repeated. But he also said the greatest management principle is that when people are involved in decision-making processes, they\u2019ll be more likely to buy into the decision.<\/p>\n So I think as a leader the doctors want that. If there\u2019s a decision made, whether it\u2019s to integrate a new procedure into the practice, whether to buy a piece of equipment and integrate that, to hire a new person, to alter job descriptions, to whatever it may\u2014go to a CE course, whatever the decision that\u2019s made. If the team is included in the decision-making process and they\u2019re well-informed about that. Again, always focused on what\u2019s the benefit of this? What\u2019s the reward? What\u2019s in this for me? And that sounds selfish but it\u2019s not really.<\/p>\n If the team members see that something is a benefit to them personally, they\u2019ll be able to translate that into a benefit to the team as well. People in the workforce today are very well educated. Peter Drucker calls the people working today knowledge workers. They\u2019re well educated, they\u2019re experienced, they\u2019re more worldly, they\u2019re exposed to the internet, the media, the digital world, and they\u2019re continuously gaining knowledge.<\/p>\n They want to be in an environment that\u2019s up-to-date, that continues to progress, that makes positive, constructive moves forward. That\u2019s also one of the characteristics of transformational leadership and a characteristic that people desire.<\/p>\n As I said, they say they want to be encouraged, motivated to stretch, achieve, make a difference. That\u2019s another critical factor, is that great team members, let\u2019s include the doctors, if you ask them why they\u2019ve chosen health care, most of the time you\u2019ll hear in the first two or three statements about that, \u201cthat I want to make a difference in the lives of people.\u201d And of course I believe that all of us, I\u2019m sure on this call believe that that\u2019s what happens in dental practice.<\/p>\n My good friend Bill Dorfman says at the end of his lectures, he says, \u201cHow many people can look back on their day and be able to say, \u2018Today, I made the difference in the life of another human being.\u2019\u201d I know that\u2019s true, and I know that\u2019s one of the motivators of a transformational leadership practice and of the people involved in that.<\/p>\n You do all these things, and then what\u2019s really going to evolve is a sense of co-ownership between all members of the organization. That\u2019s so valuable. You don\u2019t want people that are just going to come to work for 8 to 5 and they\u2019re doing the job because it\u2019s a job to do to get a paycheck.<\/p>\n But people who thrive in thinking, \u201cThis is my practice, I\u2019m a part of it. I\u2019m an important part of it. I sense that, I feel that, and because I\u2019m a part of this and because I feel a sense of co-ownership, I want to work toward the success of this business. And I care about every patient who comes here. I care about those people having a great experience with us.\u201d<\/p>\n Right along with that is that that type of person who\u2019s attracted to a practice, and who thrives in that kind of a practice, wants to work in an environment where there is compatibility, where there\u2019s camaraderie, where there truly is teamwork. It\u2019s not a clich\u00e9 but it\u2019s a reality that people do work together, supporting one another in a healthy manner. Where there\u2019s cooperation, there\u2019s open lines or open channels of communication that are constructive.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s a spirit of unity. My definition of a great dental team is it\u2019s a group of leaders working cohesively toward a common set of goals. You put that kind of structure. You integrate that kind of leadership into a practice and the practice can\u2019t help but thrive.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah. I agree. I was just going to ask you about that, what do you think about the idea that everyone is a leader? I know you\u2019ve written about that before. So, when you say that, you mean they\u2019re a leader in their own area, they\u2019re a leader in the way that they behave, they\u2019re responsible. What do you mean by that? Because some people still think in the hierarchical manner. So if you have leaders in every position, how does that, what do you mean by that?<\/p>\n Cathy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well we really do believe that everybody is a leader of themselves first of all. What I mean by that is, that one of the great things that has been discovered or acknowledged in our time is that we really do have this ability to make choices. The choice of maybe not what impacts us, but how we respond to that. So I really do get to choose how I face each and every day. I get to choose how I\u2019m going to\u2014if I\u2019m going to bring a smile to the workplace or if I\u2019m going to bring a frown and if I\u2019m going to gripe all day long.<\/p>\n I really make a choice as to whether I\u2019m going to be an asset to the organization or just a bump on the log. I really do get to make a choice as to how I will handle adversity. And even though there may be challenging times, am I going to be able to flex? Am I going to be able to persevere? Am I going to be able to support people through difficult times, etc.<\/p>\n So I make a decision as a leader of myself, what type of team member I will be. What I will bring to the table, so to speak, and of course we all hope to have leaders who are self-motivated and who really want to seek the ideal and are interested in supporting that.<\/p>\n We\u2019re also leaders of our teammates and by that I mean, we think that there\u2019s approximately 25, we consider there\u2019s 25 major management systems in a dental practice. That sounds like a lot and it is. The dental practice is very sophisticated. And while there\u2019s many subsystems, there\u2019s more than 25 systems. But there\u2019s 25 major ones like scheduling and financing and interest management, the new patient experience, etc., hygiene.<\/p>\n So there\u2019s many, many, many systems and all those systems really need to be working well. If one of those systems isn\u2019t working well because of the total integration of one system with another. If one of the systems isn\u2019t working well that\u2019s going to take away from the health and well-being of the other 24.<\/p>\n If we\u2019re really leaders of each other, if we\u2019re leaders of our teammates, that means that I\u2019m going to do what I\u2019ve said I will do, that I\u2019m going to fulfill the expectations of me and my role. And I\u2019m going to do that in a timely fashion. In a nutshell, that\u2019s accountability. Accountability is people being able to count on you to do what you\u2019ll say you\u2019ll do in an effective manner and in a timely fashion. So I\u2019m a leader of other members of my team.<\/p>\n The other thing is, and this is a characteristic of outstanding leadership, from the doctor\u2019s viewpoint as well as teammates, is that if I know what the members of my team want to accomplish, what their goals are, what they hope to accomplish, personally and professionally. And I help them reach those goals. I\u2019m going to do so from a sincere caring for that person.<\/p>\n But in the end, you put a group of leaders working together towards a common set of goals and you set up an environment where people can reach their own professional goals in your environment. You take talent, in essence, and focus it like a laser beam. And that will generate additional productivity.<\/p>\n Last but not least, we\u2019re leaders of our patients. We can\u2019t, nor would we, want to ever push people into making a decision but we can certainly lead people into making decisions and that comes through good communication. From certainly a level of caring, being able to listen, being good teachers, good educators of dentistry. But again, that\u2019s all based on leadership as well.<\/p>\n The characteristics of leadership that are brought to the table, no matter who the person on the team, and no matter what their role, will determine whether the system or systems that they\u2019re involved with are working and working well. And if we really care about one another, if something isn\u2019t working well, we\u2019re going to be willing to step up to the plate and help make necessary changes.<\/p>\n So I do think every single person on the team is as important as every other member of the team. I don\u2019t think anyone is any more important than anybody else. Again, in establishing an environment, which I call creating a healthy work environment, where people understand how important they are to the whole, and how important they are to the health and well-being of the systems, which translates to the health and well-being of the practice.<\/p>\n I think they\u2019ll do better if you have people that really are motivated from inside and they want to do well in an environment that allows that to happen and encourages that, people are going to thrive. That\u2019s really where healthy environments are created.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So do you think you hire for that? You hire somebody who\u2019s already kind of a leader, or it\u2019s a little bit of both? You hire them and develop them, right?<\/p>\n Cathy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, absolutely, I think it\u2019s both. I always say hire slow and hire right. One of the worst things that we can do in terms of costs of energy, costs of time, costs of money, is to hire inappropriately or inaccurately. That happens, it happens to everybody. You may do everything that you can, that is, in order to hire as positively and constructively as possible. And you may do everything that is absolutely top-notch to get someone integrated into the practice and into their role and it still may not work out.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not going to ever say that it\u2019s 100 percent but we want to hire slow and hire right. I think all of us would probably agree, if we can hire the attitude\u2014if the appropriate licenses are in effect, of course\u2014if we hire the attitude, then we can really then teach people the skills, teach people the systems that are up and running in an individual practice. If they\u2019ve got a good attitude, they\u2019re going to alter to that and they\u2019re going to make those systems work and work well.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to hire. A lot of times I\u2019ll hear from doctors, \u201cWell, so-and-so on my team is really a challenge, she always stirs the pot, she brings negativity, she isn\u2019t very good at what she does, blah blah blah.\u201d All of a sudden you\u2019re thinking, what have you done number one, to help her be successful? And number two, if you\u2019ve done everything you can to be successful, then what is she still doing on the team if you\u2019ve just given me all these things that you\u2019ve just said?<\/p>\n Then they\u2019ll say, \u201cWell, I\u2019m afraid to let her go because there\u2019s nobody out there that\u2019s good that I can hire. Or what if I hire somebody and they\u2019re worse?\u201d I have to kind of catch myself when I hear those things. I\u2019m going, \u201cAre you kidding me?\u201d There are great people out there that are looking for jobs. There\u2019s a lot of great people that are out there looking for jobs.<\/p>\n And number two, if someone is not functioning and functioning well on the team, or is not helping the practice, and if truly the doctor and\/or managers, whoever it may be, have done everything they believe they can do to help that person be successful, then this may not be the right person.<\/p>\n Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great<\/em> says they were studying the Fortune 500 companies and they found they had measurable entities, including financial health and well-being that they were measuring. They found as they were studying over a five-year period of time, the Fortune 500 companies.<\/p>\n They found that there were certainly companies who went high, what he calls good to great in measurable entities, but then they\u2019d fall back down. Or come back down to a more average level. But eleven of the companies that they studied went from good to great again by predetermined, measurable entities. But only eleven of the companies went up and stayed there.<\/p>\n He says, he and his 21 PhD researchers, so we thought, \u201cGee, they must have gotten a new vision. They have a new strategic plan.\u201d And I might have thought that very same thing because I\u2019m very interested in those two things. But he said, \u201cWe were wrong. That\u2019s not what happened at all.\u201d<\/p>\n What happened is, and here\u2019s a quote from him, \u201cThey got the right people on the bus, they got the wrong people off the bus, and they got the right people in the right seats.\u201d And I would add, and here comes the systems aspect of this, doing the right things in the right way.<\/p>\n You might have great people on the team but if the systems aren\u2019t working and working well, if the team isn\u2019t continuously working on improving those systems, success may not be accessible. You\u2019ve got to have the right people on the bus. I think we all know also that you\u2019ll never get any higher than the lowest person on the team. You may have let\u2019s say ten people on the team and you\u2019ve got nine superstars doing great things. Doing things in the right way, enthusiastic, and awesome, and willing to pitch in, everything\u2019s great.<\/p>\n But you\u2019ve got one doomsayer, and that person, \u201cWe tried that once, it didn\u2019t work.\u201d Or, \u201cGee, that won\u2019t work here, we practice in a small town. Gee, that won\u2019t work here because we practice in a large city.\u201d Or, \u201cGee, I\u2019ve been doing this all my life and this is the way I do it. That\u2019s the only way\u2026\u201d All those kinds of things. Doomsayers. It just takes one, and the one doomsayer will pull away from the positiveness of the other people on the team. It\u2019s just unacceptable.<\/p>\n The energy of the practice is going to be reflected by number one the doctors, and then number two by the team members. Patients pick up on that automatically. I actually was talking to a team fairly recently, this particular doctor, a female doctor, has a fantastic practice, and really great team members, so forth, but had a doomsayer in the practice.<\/p>\n Finally made the decision to make a change and brought in another person. She says, \u201cOh my gosh, I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s like roaring trains are going through my practice.\u201d And she meant that in a positive way. She said, \u201cThe energy level has changed so drastically I can\u2019t believe it.\u201d Which is interesting that not only is this person more capable of doing the job, but the energy level that she brought into the practice translated almost immediately to everyone else.<\/p>\n Oftentimes, if you talk to employees after somebody has been released or left or whatever that wasn\u2019t functioning well in that particular practice, again, that doesn\u2019t mean that that\u2019s a bad person. Doesn\u2019t mean like I\u2019m right and they\u2019re wrong, or they\u2019re right and I\u2019m wrong. It doesn\u2019t mean that. It just may mean that a person is on a different path than an individual doctor. Or has a different vision of what\u2019s healthy or good or dynamic or creative. There\u2019s just differences but those differences may not be compatible. There may need to be some changes made from time to time.<\/p>\n Most of the time if that happens the people that are remaining on the team will pick up the slack and do whatever is necessary while the doctor does take the time to hire properly. Then they will pitch in and help, especially if they\u2019re involved in deciding who\u2019s hired. They\u2019ll pitch in to help that person learn their job, learn their job well, learn the systems of the practice so they can fit in well, and they\u2019ll have a co-ownership of that person\u2019s success. I see that happen often and also the team members will say, \u201cI wonder why it took so long.\u201d Everyone has said that out loud about a teammate. After somebody is gone sometimes that will be brought up.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh, yeah. Patients sometimes will say that too.<\/p>\n Cathy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, and patients will sometimes say that too. Some of these doctors are afraid to let someone go because they\u2019ll say, \u201cOh, it\u2019ll upset the patients if so-and-so is gone.\u201d Well, patients are going to be pretty adaptable. If the doctor believes that someone that is on board is absolutely an asset to their care, the patients will pick up on that as well.<\/p>\n Part of building a strong team obviously is having great people on the team. Again, let me just repeat, I really do believe that every person on the team is as important as everybody else on the team. Because of that, Jim Collins, referring to him again, says that, \u201cMediocrity is always in opposition to greatness.\u201d Let me say that again, \u201cMediocrity is always in opposition to greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n So if I\u2019m the owner of a business and I have a vision of having my ideal practice, whatever that is to me, and it\u2019s different for every doctor, I need to have people that are on board with me about that vision. Part of that comes back to me as a leader.<\/p>\n My responsibility is to develop clarity of the vision. Again, what is my practice going to be like? What\u2019s the treatment we\u2019re going to provide? What kind of team members will we have? What kind of continuing education program will we commit to in our practice? What is the quality of care that epitomizes everything that we do? What is the image that we profess to our community, in our medium, on our website, to the way we look and dress, to our systems, and certainly to the people that are working here.<\/p>\n Is it all the same? Is there a theme? Is there an image? Is there a thread that runs through everything where patients can say, \u201cHey, I get this. This really is the truth about how this practice functions.\u201d If things aren\u2019t in alignment, people will question that and they\u2019ll wonder, well, that didn\u2019t really fit. What\u2019s that mean? If that doesn\u2019t fit here, can I really trust them to tell me the truth, etc.?<\/p>\n So you want that consistency of quality throughout everything and that includes the team. But the doctor needs to take a\u2014not very long\u2014it doesn\u2019t really take very long to do this, but I really encourage people to write out their vision of their ideal practice. I also believe that there isn\u2019t a single person, a single dentist on the face of the earth that doesn\u2019t have not only the right, but the opportunity to have his or her ideal practice. Whatever that is in their unique situation. It\u2019s just a matter of being clear about what that vision is.<\/p>\n And then the second part of that, is sharing the vision with the team. This is what I consider the ideal. And joining them in the discussion about that. Getting them excited about the possibilities about this being the ideal and what it takes to make the ideal become a reality. Very motivational to people, actually.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, very. I know part of what you wanted to talk about tonight was about how this translates. I know some dentists\u2014money is not a big part but we have to have it to work. I know a lot of people, I even met a dentist recently, she was thinking about moving to my town. I was talking to her about leadership and she said, \u201cOh, I\u2019m not a leader. I\u2019m not a leader.\u201d I was thinking, \u201cIf you own a dental practice and you have a team, you\u2019re going to be a leader.\u201d<\/p>\n First of all, I think a lot of people think leadership\u2019s kind of fluffy and kind of like, you know, I don\u2019t know what you call it, just woo-woo or something. I don\u2019t think the word leadership is woo-woo, but I think a lot of dentists go after the clinical and they go after the management. At least I know I did when I first started, but I didn\u2019t totally understand the people part and the leadership part.<\/p>\n How does that actually translate into bottom line productivity, or because you wrote, did you call it an article or was that part of your thesis or\u2026?<\/p>\n Cathy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right, it\u2019s part of my dissertation. The title of the dissertation was \u201cThe Impact of Training in Transformational Leadership on the Productivity of a Dental Practice.\u201d It\u2019s a 200-page long research project and the analysis of the research. I\u2019m married to a dentist and we work with dentists.<\/p>\n You made a very important statement. I really believe, although data shows that this is changing, but I really believe, and I guess I want to believe, that a doctor doesn\u2019t necessarily go into dentistry or a person doesn\u2019t go into dentistry because they want to make money. They go into dentistry because they want to take care of people. They want to be a part of health care. They want to make a difference in people\u2019s lives. Although, I will say, and that has been true in surveys done by research institutions within the organization.<\/p>\n However, very recent research surveys in the industry itself have shown that money shows as the number one motivator of people going into dental school today. That\u2019s a pretty drastic change in recent decades. I\u2019m not saying that critically, it\u2019s just a fact. Because number one, young people come out with a lot more debt than they historically did. It\u2019s hard to buy into practices. It\u2019s a very changing and evolving dental world, it has been always. So that\u2019s one of the changes.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s go back to the premise that all of the things we\u2019ve talked about, about creating a healthy work environment. I do believe that\u2019s critical because if you\u2019re going to go to work eight hours a day or 34 hours a week, which is what the average is in the country for doctors. Some work more, some less, that\u2019s the average.<\/p>\n We want to be happy. We want to go and have fun and enjoy what we\u2019re doing. We want to care about the people we work with. We want to like, we want to have friends, we want to have compatibility, we want to be congenial with the people we work with as well as enjoy our patients. So there\u2019s all that.<\/p>\n I think leadership is a part of making that happen. But it is also true, and the reason I connected the study of leadership with productivity, is because it is important. We are running a business and there are bills to pay. There are school loans. There\u2019s light bills, there\u2019s lab bills, there\u2019s salary. The overhead. Average overhead in the country 65 to70 percent depending on what data you\u2019re studying, 65 to 70 percent for a general practice. Differs for the specialists. So, we have to produce. We have to produce, we have to collect the monies.<\/p>\n I wrote a book called Great Communication Equals Great Production<\/em>. I was connecting our ability to communicate with productivity, which is critical, and then I was writing the chapter on case presentation. The next chapter was handling objections. Well, obviously the major objection to people going ahead with dentistry is the money. So where I was dealing with that in the first book, I thought, \u201cThis takes more than a chapter.\u201d So I wrote the book called Collect What You Produce<\/em>. People can find those on our website, www.JamesonManagement.com. And they are textbooks on those two subjects.<\/p>\n Again, I\u2019m married to a dentist. We had to pay the bills. We wanted to pay our staff well. In order to do that, we needed to be financially secure. Again, that\u2019s a part of a healthy work environment, is having financial security. Interesting, again, studies, actually by the American Dental Association, show that the number one source of stress for dental families is financial stress. It\u2019s not particularly surprising. If any of you have ever experienced financial stress, which I have, it\u2019s not pleasant and it can be difficult on relationships. So there\u2019s a lot of reasons to be financially secure.<\/p>\n So I wanted to prove, as you said, it was true, that leadership isn\u2019t just something, \u201cThis is a nice thing to go here, but I need to go to a course on composite restoration so I can make more money. I need to go study how to do a better crown so I can make more money.\u201d Well what the management and the leadership allow a doctor to do is to do the kind of dentistry that she or he want to do in the way they want to do it.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the management systems that are generated and supported and move forward by the leadership that make it possible for people to come to the practice in the first place. To be well-educated through comprehensive diagnosis, treatment planning, and beautiful case presentations. Which is really all about communication and leadership. Then to say yes to treatment.<\/p>\n If people don\u2019t say, number one, if people don\u2019t come to you, what do you get to do? Number two, if people don\u2019t say yes to treatment, so what? Why are you there? We\u2019re there to do dentistry. So knowing how to do great dentistry is critical. I\u2019m here to do a course here in San Francisco, I\u2019m doing a couple days and then some long courses. It\u2019s a clinical group\u2014well I\u2019m doing quite a bit of their clinical course but I\u2019m inserting leadership and management. Because they get it. They get it. So what if you do good dentistry if you\u2019re not able to do it because people aren\u2019t accepting treatment? Or the systems aren\u2019t allowing you to do it? They go hand in hand.<\/p>\n If you imagine a circle, you have great communication as the foundation of everything that you do. How you communicate will make all the difference in the world. In relationships and certainly in whether or not people say yes to treatment. You have clinical systems that are outstanding and continuously improve throughout the career of a doctor and team. Management systems that support the clinical dentistry and the ability to do the dentistry in an effective fashion.<\/p>\n Again, that\u2019s all driven by leadership in my opinion. The difference between management and leadership, Drucker says that you manage projects and you lead people. That\u2019s pretty true. When you\u2019re talking about management, you\u2019re talking about systems and you\u2019re talking about processes. Processes that are in the practice that are going to assure you that what you want to do and the goals that you want to accomplish are indeed accomplished in an ongoing fashion throughout time.<\/p>\n Again, systems thinking is a criteria for any healthy business. Step 1, step 2, step 3, step 4, I say to doctors, I say, \u201cIn your clinical procedures, you have a step 1, step 2, step 3, step 4 because you want to accomplish an excellent result for your patient.\u201d Well the management systems are the same way, step 1, step 2, step 3, step 4. Whether it\u2019s scheduling or financing or insurance management or marketing or the new patient experience or case presentation. Whatever, all those 25.<\/p>\n You expect to get a good result. If you start leaving out parts of those systems then you are making a decision for that system not to work well. Again as I said earlier, you got one system not working well, that\u2019s going to turn around and have a negative impact on the other 24 systems. I\u2019ll give you an example of that.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say that you do the world\u2019s best case presentation, consultation. You present your dentistry better than anybody that\u2019s ever walked the face of the dental world. Great, but if you don\u2019t have good financial systems in place, or somebody that is outstanding at making a financial arrangement, overcoming financial barriers, committed to finding a financial solution for the patient, well, if the patient can\u2019t finance it, they\u2019re not going to do it. That means they\u2019re not going to schedule it.<\/p>\n If they don\u2019t schedule it, then the doctor doesn\u2019t get to do the dentistry. That turns around to have a negative impact on the productivity, which will have a negative impact on the collections, which will have a negative impact. If they come to you as a new patient, but they don\u2019t say yes to treatment and they don\u2019t stay, that\u2019s also then down the road going to have a negative impact on hygiene and hygiene retention. Then that translates to have a negative impact on productivity.<\/p>\n Again, i6t\u2019s a cycle. Every system, you can think of every single system in the practice. By the way I\u2019ll download that list of the 25 systems on my website. If you go to the website, if you go to events, go to recent events, I\u2019ll list this. I\u2019ll download some things and people can\u2014I always tell people, I said, look at these 25 systems and there\u2019s a 1 through 10 beside each one. Teamwork, communication, strategic planning, mission, vision, goals, marketing, all through the 25 systems. Then I encourage the teams to all individually fill that out.<\/p>\n Teamwork, do I think we\u2019re at a 1, which is pathetic? Or 10, which is perfect? Where would I put us? Maybe a 7. Maybe I think we do a lot of things right but we could do things better. New patient experience, how do we do? Financing patients\u2019 dentistry, how do we do? Collections, how do we do? And so on.<\/p>\n Everyone rates each of the systems. Then you pick those up, collect those, add all the numbers individually by system, divide it by the number of team members and you\u2019ll get an average, obviously. If you as a team rate yourself 8, 9, or 10, hey, that means you\u2019re doing a lot of things right. And great. This is an important part of transformational leadership as well, recognizing what is going well and reinforcing that.<\/p>\n But then if things are 7 or less, that means those systems may be working okay, but they have some glitches in them. Or they could be better. Again, that\u2019s another part of a great team, it\u2019s a part of transformational leadership, recognizing that there really is no end, there is but a continuous improvement. As a team, led by a strong leader, that we are committed to saying how can we do tomorrow things that are better than we did things today?<\/p>\n If a practice will improve each of those 25 systems even a little bit, well the overall impact on the practice as a whole is pretty dynamic. I would start\u2014if it was my practice\u2014I\u2019d start on the systems that we rated the lowest, and I wouldn\u2019t be offended by that. As a leader, I\u2019m not going to be offended by that, you hope your teams aren\u2019t offended by that because you want to relate the feedback for the improvement of a system to just that. What\u2019s working well? Let\u2019s do more of it. How can we improve this? How can we make this better than it is? Which is really the more challenging question. We want to direct our feedback toward the system, more than directly to a person.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean that from time to time, I\u2019m not going to have to sit down with a person. I want to give positive feedback and I want to definitely give people recognition privately and\/or publicly for work well done. I want to give that kind of feedback. I want to sit down with people and say, \u201cThis is what\u2019s going well, this is what we determined you were going to do. You\u2019re doing that, it\u2019s great. Look at the end results we\u2019re getting as a result of the work you\u2019re doing.\u201d So I want to give that kind of feedback.<\/p>\n Also, if there\u2019s challenging things going on, I need to give people feedback on that. The interesting thing about feedback, which is again a part of transformational leadership, and it\u2019s a part of a healthy practice, is that people want feedback. You might think, \u201cOh, people don\u2019t want to hear if they\u2019re not doing well.\u201d No, they really do. People want an outstanding\u2014and remember we\u2019re all leaders\u2014an outstanding leader wants to know if there are things that aren\u2019t working as well as possible.<\/p>\n Step up to the plate to identify the problem or what\u2019s going on, and be willing to either alter my performance myself, or as a team we want to alter our performance so that we can move forward. Peter Senge says that the feedback perspective suggests that everyone shares responsibility for problems generated by a system.<\/p>\n I have found through time that when or if there is conflict on a team, then it\u2019s usually\u2014I\u2019m an optimist, I don\u2019t believe people get up in the morning and they say, \u201cOh my gosh, it\u2019s Monday, I\u2019m going to go to work, I\u2019m going to see how miserable I can make everybody in the practice.\u201d Or one person. I just don\u2019t think people do that.<\/p>\n But people do get to work and they do have conflict from time to time. Again, I don\u2019t really find that it\u2019s people disliking one another. If you really peel the layers of the onion, what happens when and if there\u2019s conflict on the team, it\u2019s usually when a system or systems are not working well and those glitches in the systems are inadvertently pitting one person against another. You need to clean up those systems.<\/p>\n Again, that\u2019s a part of transformational leadership. It\u2019s a part of creating a healthy work environment. If things aren\u2019t working well, change them. First of all, you identify the problem, try to identify the problem of the system, don\u2019t necessarily blame someone else for what\u2019s going on. Identify the problem and then as a team move forward with improvements that we really believe will work and work well. You can do that on a continuous basis.<\/p>\n First of all, analyze the systems. What\u2019s working, what\u2019s not. Ask yourself, be willing as leaders to say what\u2019s working well and then give the kind of positive reinforcement to keep on doing those things and doing those things well. But be interested in making even the things that are going well a little bit better, but then that challenging question is how can we do, like the 7s or less, how can we make sure that we are addressing what\u2019s the cause of the problem now? And as a team committed to making changes that are going to make things better. That\u2019s a key element of productivity.<\/p>\n But when you really look back, how does that relate to leadership? It is leadership. Leadership has to do with casting vision, and we talked about that earlier, what is the vision of the ideal? Are we accomplishing that or not? If we\u2019re not accomplishing the ideal, it\u2019s probably because there is a system\u2019s got a problem with it. Then we\u2019re going to motivate people. We talked a little bit about what to do if we had a person on the team that simply was not willing to step up to the plate and be a part of that vision.<\/p>\n So again, I really don\u2019t know that there\u2019s anything that impacts the ultimate productivity of a practice any more than leadership. It\u2019s important to me. It\u2019s important to everybody. It needs to be important to all people. As the owner of a business, the doctors must always make decisions that are good for the practice including things that are good for the practice financially. Because without a healthy practice, a healthy financial practice, we can\u2019t keep the doors open. If we can\u2019t keep the doors open, like, so what? Nobody has a job.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What it\u2019s done over the years when I\u2019ve been in financial stress, it puts me in survival mode and then you don\u2019t really make good decisions. You\u2019re so busy trying to survive that you\u2019re not really thinking about your vision and you\u2019re not really on the path that you had designed when you weren\u2019t in that state.<\/p>\n Cathy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You know, when you have smooth systems and things are working well, and they can, they really can. You\u2019re right, you can spend more time with patients. You can take off the roller skates and really focus on the people. You can educate the people about what you\u2019ve diagnosed and why the treatment you\u2019re recommending would be beneficial. You\u2019ll ultimately have a higher level of case acceptance and be able to slowly but surely move out of that survival mode.<\/p>\n So profit is important. It\u2019s interesting that the most highly successful businesses are really focused on, not focused on making a profit, but they are profitable because they\u2019re successful. That kind of flips it around but it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n If you focus on making money and that\u2019s the number one focus, it\u2019s hard to be successful. If you focus on being successful and continuously improving and leading yourself, your teammates, and your patients, then in the end the profit will be there. It will be a highly successful practice.<\/p>\n But it takes work. Like I said earlier, there\u2019s no end to the work. I have doctors often say to me, \u201cWhen am I ever going to arrive?\u201d I say, \u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019ll ever really arrive unless it\u2019s the day you maybe aren\u2019t living anymore.\u201d But you certainly will be in the process of arriving for a lifetime. If the practice is working and working well, and the people are working well together, it\u2019ll be a joyful path. It can be a joyful path and that\u2019s really what we\u2019re all about is finding the road to happiness. Pankey said that.<\/p>\n He took Aristotle\u2019s cross of life and said, in a cross of life, we want a balance between love and work and worship and play. And at the center of that is what all human beings are seeking, and that\u2019s happiness. As simple as that sounds, it\u2019s really true. If we ever find ourselves out of balance, or in a state of dysfunction or disharmony, more than likely one of those things is out of balance.<\/p>\n So the work that we do is not a separate part of who we are, it\u2019s a part of who we are. We want to make that as healthy and happy as possible.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Awesome. I don\u2019t really have any other questions. I loved what you said. You just almost gave us steps, let me think where you were. Not identify the problem\u2014I\u2019m taking notes, Cathy, if you can\u2019t tell\u2014can you hear my paper scribbling around?<\/p>\n [Laughter]<\/p>\n Cathy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Good for you. That\u2019s good. May I give you some steps? If I may give the audience some steps, yes, I think\u2014I\u2019m going to download this 25 systems. I really challenge you. This won\u2019t take long, you can do this at one team meeting. But it\u2019s like taking a periodontal evaluation of your own practice. You wouldn\u2019t do this once, but do it fairly often. A couple of times a year. Then really rate the systems and do that without becoming offended.<\/p>\n You may find that somebody in the clinical team may rate something totally different than somebody in the business office. Well, that\u2019s okay. Let\u2019s hear the different perspectives. Then once you have done that evaluation of your practice, you will really have begun to do what\u2019s called a SWOT analysis. SWOT being an acronym. S stands for the strengths, W stands for the weaknesses, O stands for the opportunities, and T stands for the threats. That\u2019s a SWOT analysis.<\/p>\n So when you\u2019re doing strategic planning, which is a critical part of leadership, you want to do a SWOT analysis. You want to focus and build on your strengths, you want to work on any weaknesses and improve upon those. Those translate, working on either your strengths or your weaknesses, to either expand strengths, overcome weaknesses, or develop the weaknesses. Those become opportunities. There\u2019s often opportunities in the communities and the industry as well.<\/p>\n The threats, again, systems that aren\u2019t working well is a threat. Team members who may not be on board that need some additional help, may be a threat. The economy is a threat. Changes in the industry may\u2014there are some things that may be considered a threat. Insurance. The changes in insurance. Changes in national health care. Those could be seen as a threat.<\/p>\n You want to see those threats and look at those almost before the fact so that you can begin to create systems and strategic plans to face those and work through those in a healthy way before the fact. So do this SWOT analysis, which includes the 25 systems.<\/p>\n I\u2019m also going to download a five-step goal sheet. My husband used this in his dental practice and I stole it from him. We\u2019ve used it ever since. It\u2019s a place to write a goal, it\u2019s a place where you have the strategies of the steps. Okay, you might say, \u201cWe\u2019re going to increase our productivity by 10 percent or 20 percent or whatever in 2014.\u201d Okay, well, great, that\u2019s a good goal. But what are you doing to do to make that happen? Step 1, step 2, step 3, step 4. Who\u2019s going to do what? By when? Then you evaluate that.<\/p>\n That five-step process is strategic planning in a nutshell. Or it\u2019s goal accomplishment in a nutshell. Write the goal down, what are you going to do, what are the steps, what\u2019s the plan of action, what are you going to do, how you going to do it, why? Don\u2019t leave off the why. Why is, are these steps important to the whole? Who\u2019s going to do what? Time activate each step of the plan. Then bring those back to your team meetings on a regular basis and see how you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t want to write a goal or do a strategic plan then stick it in a drawer and never pay attention to it. So as you\u2019re closing the year and looking to the new year, please do these things, download this. The SWOT analysis\u2014strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats\u2014do the 25 systems, plan for improvement, make plans for improvement, and use the goal sheet to do that.<\/p>\n Write down the things that are the most important in the improvement of your business for the 2014. Write down what you consider the most important things to improve in your business in 2014. What are your 2014 goals? Number two, who do you need to connect with in order to achieve this? Your lab, your suppliers, courses you need to go to, coaches you need to bring into your life.<\/p>\n Number three, what everyday actions must you take in order to make continuous improvement throughout the year? Remember to always ask yourself, how can we do this better tomorrow than we did today? Be on that continuous path of improvement.<\/p>\n Number four, what is your desired end result? You have to say, okay, so we write this goal, what\u2019s the end result we want to accomplish? And number five, how will you monitor that? That which is not monitored cannot be measured. You won\u2019t know how you\u2019re doing, you won\u2019t know if you are on path or not. You won\u2019t be able to change when you need to change, if you aren\u2019t monitoring your improvement.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ll take those steps, all kinds of amazing things can happen. Now and always into the future.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Awesome. That\u2019s great. Okay. You\u2019re going to put all of those where we can get to them on your website?<\/p>\n Cathy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I will. If you go to www.JamesonManagement.com, and you will see an icon that says events. Then go to recent events and I will put, in fact I\u2019ll send a message to my office tonight. I will list this teleseminar on this date and I’ll put Dr. Allison Watts and I will then download those forms I\u2019ve talked about. Then I really encourage you to download them and use them and use them to the benefit of your practices and to your own self.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thank you so much, Cathy.<\/p>\n Cathy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You are welcome.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Great. All right, everybody, thank you for being on here. Goodnight, bye.<\/p>\n Thanks for listening to Practicing with the Masters<\/em> for dentists, with your host, Dr. Allison Watts. For more about how Allison Watts and Transformational Practices can help you create a successful and fulfilling practice and life, visit transformationalpractices.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/div> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This week I am honored to welcome Cathy Jameson. Cathy is the founder and chief visionary officer at Jameson Management, an international dental management, marketing and hygiene coaching firm. Cathy developed her Jameson Method of Management through years of hard work and firsthand experiences in dental offices. Her method offers proven management, marketing, and hygiene […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[303],"tags":[309,305,304,307],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Allison's-Button\"](\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/transformational-practices-llc\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1587010383\/Allisons-Button\/Allisons-Button.jpg?_i=AA)
<\/a><\/p>\nTransformational Leadership in Your Practice with Cathy Jameson<\/h3>\n
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