People skills
Technical skills
Business skills
Here is another way I presented this to a group of 8th grade boys who were interested in dentistry as a career:
Are you interested in becoming a dentist?Dentistry requires three things: your head, your hands and your heart.
Your head for the intelligence and knowledge that is necessary; your hands for the artistic skill and dexterity needed; and your heart for caring for your fellow human beings (and yourself). (The above In a Spirit of Caring logo came from this).
The term triathlon explains this well. Triathletes are outstanding athletes, but they are not outstanding in each of the three disciplines of a triathlon - running, biking and swimming.
If they went up against an outstanding athlete in one of the above disciplines, they would lose by a large margin. But, this one event athlete would be trounced by the triathlete in the other two disciplines because they have not paid the price by training in these disciplines.
A triathlete is naturally stronger in one of the disciplines, but has to work harder to be adept at one of the other disciplines and the third can be a real struggle to compete in.
The same applies to a dentist. He or she can have a natural aptitude at the technical aspects of dentistry, but can have poor people skills and average business skills. (Obviously there are many examples of skill level combinations of these three disciplines.)
The tendency for dentists is to do what is easiest and only focus on improving their technical skills because it is much harder to focus on their weaker areas - usually people and business skills.
Dentistry is full of people who focus exclusively on the technical. They always struggle to practice at the highest level because they are like a three legged stool that has one leg longer than the others - they are always wobbling trying to find a fulfilling, rewarding professional life.
I was not one of these people. When I started practicing dentistry, I struggled with the technical and people part of dentistry, but had a natural interest in the business side. I felt inferior as a dentist until I went to the Pankey Institute and then worked with Carl Rogers and his group of psychologists at the Center for the Studies of the Person to improve my technical and people skills.
I had to work very hard to bring these two areas "up the ladder" to practice dentistry at a high level. I enjoyed practicing dentistry much more, when my three legged stool was in balance with competence in all three levels.
Do you know which of these areas is your strongest and weakest? Are you working on your weak areas and your strong areas to bring balance to your professional life? Are your head, hands and heart in balance?
(See Related Articles below for more information on these areas)
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Lynn-
Your perspective is valuable IMHO for 3 major reasons: #1- It's an insightful perspective that allowed me to view this issue in a way that I did not have before the reading. #2- This POV take the pressure off (removes the stress, if adequately internalized) of becoming a supreme master in all three elements and still be in the running for achieving all my goals. #3- The thinking behind your article can be applied to any business pursuit by simply substituting whatever technical talent or trade one has--whether dentist, hygienist, public speaker, baker, etc.
Anything that contributes to one's stress reduction is extremely valuable.
Thanks,
Marty Warner
Marty,
I agree the myth of perfection that is rampant in dentistry is one of the biggest stressors for dentists.
L.D. Pankey said that only 1% of dentists are masters and when questioned further said that is probably a generous number.
I am reminded of Henry Tanner's admonition to "Do you best, let go of the rest".
Good stress reduction advice for all of us.
I appreciate your comments on the article.
Lynn
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