The Best You Can Be

    What does it mean to be the best you can be?  I think it changes minute to minute, patient to patient.  One quality that would be needed is flexibility.  To be able to switch gears and re-adapt to each patient and their unique situation and personality.  Another thing you need is the time and composure to deal with all the unexpected things that come up in the course of the day in a dental office.
    You can't do it all by yourself, so you need an excellent staff that will adopt your practice philosophy and uphold it with you.  That is how you can maintain your composure and stay fresh.  An excellent staff is one that you can delegate responsibilities to and that you can trust to do the right thing.
    Is your staff excellent?  Really, think about it, how would you rate them right now?  Are you tolerating anything or anyone just because you think it's too hard to deal with it or them or to make a change?  If you are, you are preventing yourself from being as good as you can be right now.
    It is only fair to your staff to let them know what you really want from them and to hold their feet to the fire to get it.  Yes, it takes effort and attention from you but, in the end you will get more than you give.  Even if you come to the realization that a staff member actually can't, or won't, perform to your standards, at least you've found out and can do something about it. 
    When dentists tolerate poor performance or attitude, they put success on hold.  Sometimes they even fall into a fatalistic attitude.  "Oh well, this is the best I can get."  I'm here to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way.
    When I accepted my boss's request to manage our practice three years ago, we knew we'd need to hire another assistant.  It took three years to get the right one, our Cady.  At first, I interviewed carefully and was secure in feeling that I'd hired the perfect assistant.  I didn't.  I kept interviewing carefully and kept coming up with people who couldn't or wouldn't give us what we wanted.  After a while, it seemed that I might as well just give them all a try.  Bad idea, it was very stressful on the staff and the patients.  We took a break for a few months and I did all the assisting and managing.  Finally, we had Cady come in on rotation from her assisting program.  Within 5 minutes I knew that she was the one we'd been looking for.
    What makes her different?  She is striving for excellence in each moment and to be better every day.  She is open to instruction and correction and grateful to be in a practice that gives her that.    Until we had her we did the best we could every day.  With her, we actually are the best we can be. 
    Nobody's perfect every minute of every day, or even every day of every week.  It's all about attitude.  Do they strive to be excellent?  Do they care, and care about more than their individual performance?  Do you care, or have you given up on having the staff and practice of your dreams?  You can do it but, you can't give up.  Even once you assemble a great team, you have to stay there with them expecting and encouraging them to be the best they can be.