Each day, I read multiple dental forums and get a sense of how stressful the industry has become and ways to get out of the dental field. Do people want to get out of dental, or are they tired, frustrated, and lacking support? Is your management causing stress? Or is it patients? What can be done to ease the frustration, desire to leave the industry, or relieve your dread of going to work? Is it a matter of changing your attitude or changing your circumstances? When I read these posts in the forums, there is a lot of “venting” and support. I get that sometimes you need to say it out loud. You don’t need help or want someone to fix it; you just need to vent to someone or people that understand. I don’t ever see many solutions, so I’ve come up with a few ideas.
What is the solution other than quitting? It depends on the challenge. Is it patients? If you have crabby patients, are you receiving the support you need from your manager/owner dentist? You’ve seen the quote, “Be the leader you wish you had.” Do you need to change the rhetoric when speaking to patients about their estimated copay or insurance? Collaborate with the team, see if there is a common denominator, and then work on that verbiage. However, it’s okay to understand you can’t be the dentist for everyone.
Is the frustration with your boss? I’m also reading about how difficult it is to find people to work with. Are they crabby because they are stressed? Are they battling challenges at home? Or just being a bitter Bill on the regular? Can you have a conversation? If you’re unable to have a successful discussion, can you remain professional and limit your communication? And then be the leader you wish you had for your team?
Perhaps your team is your challenge. Have you checked in with them? Maybe they’re feeding off their manager the same way the manager feeds off the doctor. Teams know when something is off, and if it’s been off for a bit, their attitude can be less than desirable. Sit with the team. What are their goals? Do they share the mission of the office? Are they exhausted from the same crabby patients? Getting blamed if someone fails their appointment? Did you correctly onboard your team members? Did you set them up for success? Are you sharing your needs?
As the team leader (or dentist leader), what if you rallied your team to do more and be more? Speak life into your team. After all, they’re working for you and your goals. Are you tracking your purposes and discussing these in morning huddles? If they meet your goals, they should be meeting their goals too. Together everyone achieves more. You come to work with a smile on your face. Greet the team in the morning. Empower your team. If you’re uncomfortable with leading, consider a coach. Dream big!
