Changing Course with Flexibility
Change and adaptable are not always easy, and sometimes we are slow to recognize the need to be flexible. Flexibility, when used appropriately, is a great tool for effective leadership. There is… Continue On +
Getting the Most Out of Feedback
Management guru Ken Blanchard once said, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” But what if the feedback is tough to swallow? Inc. magazine has an excellent article about how to handle tough… Continue On +
Commonly Overlooked Dental Procedures
During the course of a busy day, dentists and their teams sometimes post production without accounting for every service performed. Three commonly missed dental procedures are limited scaling and root planing, crown… Continue On +
Stay out of Trouble with Discounts and Credits
One of the fundamental concepts about dental insurance billing is often missed by practices, and even though the oversights are typically innocent in nature, the consequences can be significant. The fundamental concept… Continue On +
Speaking the Patient’s Language
Imagine if an exterminator informed you, after inspecting your house, that you had isopterans. What would you ask next? Let’s assume the exterminator noticed a puzzled look on your face, so he… Continue On +
The Sweet Sound of Our Own Name
Dale Carnegie once said, “When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.” As you consider how to make stronger connections with those creatures… Continue On +
Know What You’re Getting into before You Hire Someone
Whenever we discuss embezzlement prevention, we always include the following in our discussion: protect your practice by not hiring embezzlers. Whenever I communicate this to a group of dentists, I always see… Continue On +
Show and Tell
Since we were kids, we have learned through show and tell, which engages our senses and motivates us to listen to what comes next. Unfortunately, the power of show and tell is… Continue On +
Know Yourself and Others to Make Better Decisions
Our decision making ability is greatly enhanced when we can discern what is happening around us as well as how we feel about the situation. In practice, this is often more difficult… Continue On +
Patient Push-Back Does Not Signal Retreat
The French Mathematician Renee Descartes once said, “The first precept was never to accept a thing as true until I knew it as such without a single doubt.” If Descartes was alive… Continue On +
Tires and Teeth
A dental practice can sometimes be viewed just like an automotive tire store. Not in the sense that they both sell similar products, or even have similar processes. What they have in… Continue On +
Build Leadership Through Assertiveness
Assertiveness is an essential skill for effective leadership; yet this skill is often misunderstood. What is the difference between assertiveness and aggressiveness? When you act assertively, you express beliefs, recommendations, and/or feelings… Continue On +