Paul Henny, DDS

Paul Henny, DDS offers some thoughts on integrating change into your life and dental practice.

Your ten o'clock patient just canceled for the second time, the copying machine is malfunctioning, and you just learned that your dental assistant of ten years is moving. Change and challenges are all around us each and every day. And when we live within a profession where seemingly every moment and dollar is planned and scheduled, the smallest of events can cause our blood pressure to rise.

Change will always be a constant in our life, but what we often forget is that we have the option of making friends with change. Clearly there are times when this is difficult, but by doing so we are given the opportunity to learn more about who we are inside and about our full potential. Growing as a result of change enhances our self-confidence. And with greater self-confidence, we have more capacity to turn today's frustrations into tomorrow's victories.

Dentists who have a healthy attitude toward change view it as a potentially positive force that challenges them to grow and adapt.

Dentists who have a healthy attitude toward change view it as a potentially positive force that challenges them to grow and adapt. To successfully compete in our world today, we must strive to not only be our very best, but we must also "make our mark" by properly positioning ourselves in the minds of current and prospective patients. To successfully compete, we must be willing to continuously expand our knowledge, advance our skills, and manage our time, team, and money more effectively. Thus, successful dentists today embrace change and make every effort to transform it into a positive long-term experience each and every time.

Twelve years ago, I attended my first Dawson meeting. I still have a vivid memory of how I felt - both excited and terrified. Pete helped me to learn that dentistry could become so much more if I desired it. He also helped me to become aware that if I truly desired my "preferred future" that there was much to learn and that there were many changes to be made. My decision to embrace this change lead me to many years of study with Pete, The Pankey Insititute, Frank Spear, and others. It also led me to design and build a new facility, redirect the focus and mission of my care team, and ultimately to take my practice to a level that I couldn't have imagined twelve years ago.

Successfully adapting to this type of change required a lot of motivation. Motivation is a natural resource that lies within each of us. It is a power that is capable of not only moving us in our chosen direction but also moving us through the inevitable obstacles encountered along the way. Career-changing motivation is only possible through the clarification of a vision and the implementation of a supporting mission that maps the course.

Conversely, when our life lacks a vision and principle-centered game plan, most of our energy is expended to maintain the status quo. By so doing we surrender the opportunity to grow and stretch ourselves. Worse, we tend to lose energy fighting against the naturally occurring ever-present forces of change in our life. As a result, it becomes easy for our life to resemble a rut with too many bumps and no resiliency to absorb them.

Have you thought again about what you want for yourself long term? I would guess that health, happiness, and prosperity would probably be on the top of your list if you had one. Are your current practice strategies likely to get you where you want to go? If not, now is the best time to make new plans and adjustments.

Paul is a visiting faculty member of the Pankey Insititute as well as a principle in Mark 4 Associates, a practice development firm focused in the area of marketing and practice brand development. He can be reached via e-mail at paul@Mark4Associates.com

See: Paul Henny, DDS for more information on Paul.

This article appeared in the March 2006 issue of Kirk Behrendt's newsletter The Ripple Effect