5. Unleash Intellectual Capital

The key currency in the world today is not the US dollar or the euro. The key currency, the most valuable currency in the world at this time, is intellectual capital.

When people are asked how much of their brainpower they actually use, a common response is 20%. The actual percentage is estimated to be much lower. Leaders understand this. They recognize that one of their major challenges is to unleash the latent intellectual capital that already resides within every employee in their organization. In part, this is accomplished by establishing a culture of learning within a practice.

Practice culture consists of people's unquestioned assumptions and habits. Culture drives employee behavior. A culture that supports and celebrates learning is essential to developing human capital and releasing the brainpower that already exists within the team. Exceptional leaders help employees to understand that being a continuous student is not an option. It is an expectation!

6. Refocus the Practice

Even in the best of dental practices, the journey through change can run into difficulty. Challenges will arise. Failures can occur. The unexpected may happen. Clarity is replaced by cloudiness, and the group becomes lost. This is not uncommon.

But when it happens, exceptional leaders step in and refocus the group. Through their words and actions, they help people to reconnect with the core values of the practice. They bring the group back to the meaning and spirit of its purpose. They also review the vision of the practice, and help employees to become reconnected with this preferred picture and direction.

As a result, the group finds its way again, and clarity is restored. Refocusing can also be an energizing process, and one of its great byproducts is a sense of renewal.

The Great Versus The Good

These six leadership elements do not stand alone. The list of things that practices need from leaders is a longer one. But the elements described here begin to separate the great practices from the good ones.

How does your dental practice compare with these elements? Are you providing the leadership that your practice needs? As you consider these six areas, in which ones are you the strongest? Which areas need to be improved? How will you go about creating that improvement?

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From the Doug Young newsletter 2000

This article appeared on ISOC in April 2003. It is one of the most read articles on ISOC and is reprinted as part of the "Best of ISOC" series.