The most significant difference between the great and the good dental practices is almost always the strength of their leadership.

Good dental practices are everywhere. Great dental practices however are few in number. They are the ones that have endured through good times and bad.

They are the ones that have set the standards in the profession. They are the ones that have innovated creatively and implemented effectively, time after time. They are the ones that have successfully learned to embrace change to give them the competitive edge!

The difference? Great practices have a great leader!

WHAT DO PRACTICES NEED FROM LEADERS?

Let's look at six elements that exceptional leaders provide to their dental practices.

1. Deal with the Unknown

So much is changing in the world that conventional wisdom and "that's the way we have always done it" thinking often no longer apply. This is a time of pioneering. Leaders must have the courage to go first. Even though the path is not clearly marked, leaders must venture into unexplored territory, search for the new opportunities, and accept the risk of vulnerability.

The most important question that leaders must answer is what do we believe in?

Masterful leaders today must be discoverers. Think of the great discovers of the western world -- the Vikings, Columbus, and Lewis and Clark. They had no maps. They had no guides. All they had were their own abilities and a strong belief that opportunity, in some form, lay just ahead.

2. Define and Model Core Values

The most important question that leaders must answer is what do we believe in? The answer defines the three to five core values that become the foundation of the dental practice. They drive everything that the practice does. The tough part comes next. Leaders must act congruently with these values and demonstrate them in everything they say and do.

An even tougher moment comes when a practice's values are tested by the market place. The easy short-term solution may be to abandon these values. Doing so however can have a powerfully negative long-term effect. It can erode a practice's heart and soul! Practices that abandon their values often lose their position of prominence in their community. This is a failure of leadership.

3. Set the Tone

Tone is the long-term spirit of a practice. It is always set from the top down. Exceptional leaders accept this responsibility. Once again, modeling is the key. Leaders must be passionate examples of the tone they want to instill throughout their practices and with their teams -- things like optimism, commitment, risk taking, ethical behavior, and accountability. Leaders must mirror their message and become teachers.

When leaders walk their talk, they establish their credibility, and team members are more likely to choose to follow. After all, leaders cannot function effectively without followers. Leadership and followership are two sides of the same coin.

4. Attract and Retain Employees

We have been living in an era of unprecedented full employment. Although this situation has changed somewhat in the past 18 months, the greatest form of competition in dentistry today is not for a share of the market. It is for a share of the pool of exceptional people in the work force who can propel a practice into a leading position. The dental practice that loses the people race stands to lose the market race.

This means that leaders must establish a practice climate that attracts and retains the finest people available. Increasingly, it is the worker-friendly practices that create a climate of trust in which employees value their jobs and offer their deepest levels of support and commitment.

Worker-friendly however is not just about wages and benefits. It is much more than that. The old-style management days of "command and control" are over. They have been replaced by a style of leadership that places a premium on the leader's ability to "communicate and influence."

Of course people want to know how to do their jobs. But today's exceptional employees also want to know why they are doing them. They want their leaders to answer the question why are we in business? The answer to this question energizes a practice and its people with a sense of purpose. With purpose comes fulfillment, and from fulfillment comes commitment.

In these circumstances, employees don't just work for a practice. They belong to one. They become members, and with membership comes the most powerful form of ownership, psychological ownership. In effect, the employee becomes a shareholder, and commitment takes on a deeper meaning.

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.