The Level 1 Dentist -  Is the least mature, the least developed (as a human being) the least evolved of all dentists.  As I wrote in a previous Blog and perhaps elsewhere, there are so many Level 1 dentists because it’s so easy to be one.

• You don’t have to plan your days, you can just show up at work and react to whatever shows up that day.
• You can simply treat people’s disease (isn’t that what we were trained to do?)
• You don’t have to spend time or money on organization, leadership or advanced technical skills.
• You get all your CE at state meetings and have your staff run around to various meetings and pick up all the ‘nuggets’ they can.
• You don’t have to join study groups or get better at much of anything.
• You don’t have to be challenged by anything.
• You don’t have to spend money on Advanced Technical, Management, Leadership or Communication Training and Development.
• You don’t have to form relationships with people and help them establish goals. Heck you can’t—you don’t even do it for yourself.
• You don’t have to learn about human behavior and behavior modification.
• You really don’t have to Care about people and interact with them very much.
• You can just put them to sleep with IV Sedation and fix their disease and send them on their way. (Rescue dentistry)
• You don’ t have to have a really excellent Preventive Program.
• You can just run 25 hygiene patients through every day. What the heck it’s money making isn’t it?

There are advantages to being a LEVEL 1 DENTIST. I think most of them are just plain lazy and disinterested.  They lack self-image and self-esteem. They are too busy treating disease to ever stop and think about preventing it.  They are the least developed, least trained and least evolved group in dentistry. They are  NOT PROFESSIONALS in any sense of the word PROFESSIONAL.

As you think, you travel; and as you love, you attract. You are today where your thoughts take you. You cannot escape the results of your thoughts, but you can endure and learn; can accept and be at peace. You will realize the vision (not the idle wish) of your heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both, for you will always gravitate toward that which you secretly most love. Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your thoughts; you will receive that which you earn — no more, no less. Whatever your present environment may be, you will fail, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your vision your ideal. You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration.

Law of Attraction

Law of attraction says that all your thoughts, all images in your mind, and all the feelings connected to your thoughts will later manifest as your reality. In other words; everything you have in your life now has been attracted to you through thoughts in your mind.

Understanding And “Consciously” Implementing The Power Of Thought

If you would like to read the entire article on The Power of Thought please visit our website at: www.schustercenter.com, click on FREE NEWSLETTER link for our complimentary subscription to our bi-monthly newsletter, The Schuster Perspective. Every 2 months you will receive our newsletter via a .pdf file that you can download and read at your leisure. We cover dental management, investing in a troubled time, doubling your net profits, dental team development, case presentation and much more. If you are new to our blog site, please take a look at us while you’re on the website for our schedule of events and seminars throughout the United States. 3.5 AGD credit hours apply to any attended event sponsored by The Schuster Center.

Employees ARE Assets – NOT Liabilities!

I received a wake-up cup of coffee in the form of a direct mail “letter” and I simply am compelled to respond. Normally, I can’t take the time to read a 4-page formatted letter, but since if was from one of our wannabe competitors, I was curious. Then by the 4th page, I was downright appalled at his message to dentists to FORSAKE your employees so you can make ALL THE MONEY and that money is the ONLY IMPORTANT thing!

If ever someone had something so wrong, this letter is a perfect example. I hope his direct mailing list was short because I don’t want to think of the damage this may have done to the profession we represent and their employees!

If there’s coffee in the cup that this letter is serving, it’s straight black with no cream and definitely no sugar! In fact, it was brewed in a witches cauldron along with toad’s ears and snake tails.

BEWARE Dentists! Don’t drink it!

The old adage, “You get what you pay for!” is repeated in the book referring to employees of a business in, The Vital Corporation, by Garry Jacobs and Robert MacFarlane. I suggest that the direct mailer of whom I’ve been referring, read at least Chapter Nine, Energizing Your People: An Inexhaustible Resource, before sending out any more coffee cup letters of this nature.

I know times are tough – very tough – right now. But below is just common sense information:

No matter what business you’re in (even dentistry), models and protocol must be followed for a business to be successful. All business owners want to make money and create a sustainable business because they “love” their business and spend so much time in the office working at it. It’s gratifying and rewarding to do something you love and get paid for it. Making money makes the business run, which makes the owner happy and successful.

But for God’s sake, don’t do it on the backs of your employees – as the direct mail piece I received suggests! The fellow who wrote this must be a direct descendant of Ebenezer Scrooge. He argues that YOU are in business solely to make money and therefore reward yourself first, the employees can have the crumbs. “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

Well, if you are in business only to make money for yourself, then ask the man or woman business owner who is having problems why he or she has now started putting his/her personal money back into the business to keep it going? Why he hasn’t fired every employee but keeps them on because in tough times – a company needs to pull together, not apart.

To be a “smart” business owner you must look at your employees as “assets” – not “liabilities”. Freezing pay raises and raising only employees whose performance you deem “beneficial” is blind bigotry and frankly stupid. If people don’t perform then you know what you have to do. If you keep them, they deserve raises.

How do you think your employees will feel when they do not get raises or see some “favorites” getting raises? Then, to add insult to injury, you drive up in your brand new mercedes, talk about your vacation home, new boat, etc. while they are driving 10-year-old cars and can’t buy the things they need for their children because you tell them the business can’t afford to give them a raise? Apparently, the business can afford to give YOU everything YOU want!

How disgruntled do you think they might get? How much goodwill do you think is going to be spread in the office and even to your patients? How soon do you think their work habits are going to deteriorate – resentment taking over instead of friendship and camaraderie?

In a service business you are “in service” to others. In dentistry you are very much “in service” to others. Dentists should be astounded at their ability to help someone whose health may be failing; as well as educate them on the importance of systemic whole-body health which includes a healthy mouth.

The employee of a dental practice is there to help as well. Health care professionals aren’t simply in health care for the money. And if they are, they shouldn’t be. A dentist must also educate his employees and reward them. The dentist, or business owner, can sure make the big bucks, but he must be willing to share a piece of the pie.

Can you hug your mercedes? Car manufacturers don’t make them as one-seaters. Must be they expect you to share with family, friends and those you love; and IF you’re a good business owner, you will begin to love your employees.

Author’s Note: “I’ve been there, I know!”: Prior to working in-house for The Schuster Center starting in 1998 (the Center was one of my clients since 1981), I owned a graphic design business employing an office of 8. All worked for me and my business partner for 10 to 14 years. As the traditional graphic design studio lost clients to the electronic age of “in-house” computers for graphic design, many graphic arts industries failed to grasp the rapid technological changes taking place. When this happened in my business and as clients dwindled and revenues declined, some of my employees chose to move out-of-state or retire. I found jobs for the rest. I still receive thank you notes, text messages and phone calls from most of them every so often. One, who was my office manager for 14 years and now lives in Denver, became a best and life-long friend.

The economic slowdown has created a general sense of insecurity and restlessness. It is often during the hardest times, rather than the most peaceful times that you find a purpose that gives you meaning. As dentists and business owners, purpose and peace must prevail. Albert Einstein once said of life, “It’s simple, but not easy.”

Every day brings a choice: to practice stress or to practice peace. Finding inner peace does not require hours of daily practice. You don’t have to stand on your head or sit in a meditative position. All it takes is a little willingness and common sense. Life is a precious gift to be savored, not an endless series of chores to complete while you complain about your “practice life.” Remember, your to-do list is immortal. It will live on long after you are gone.

It is impractical to believe that peace is some distant goal, attainable only by a few fortunate souls blessed with good genes, superior brain chemistry, plenty of money, or a calling to become a monk. Peace has not deserted even the craziest and busiest among us. The most basic fact about being human is that peace is our own true nature, our fundamental state of mind. There is a Buddhist saying that peace is like a sun that’s always shining in your heart. It’s just hidden behind clouds of fear, doubt, worry, and desire that continually orient you towards the past or future. The sun comes out only when you’re in the present moment.

The happiest and most productive people are passionate about life. They radiate an infectious enthusiasm that makes “business” a pleasure rather than a problem. Passion focuses your personal energy. Without purpose, energy tends to remain scattered. Periods of letting go are also critical to the creative process. The history of invention and discovery are filled with stories of people who work with enthusiasm, but can’t quite get to that “Aha!” The answer usually comes when they stop thinking and striving. Einstein had his greatest “Aha!” (related to his theory of relativity) while sailing on a boat one weekend after spending many fruitless weeks laboring in his study.

One workable strategy for maintaining peace (sometimes defined as productivity and profitability) over the long haul is to learn how to relax and take care of yourself. There are literally thousands of ways to relax. This week put aside an hour a day to relax in whatever you enjoy. You will find that instead of constricting the amount of time available for you to get things done, the day will seem to unfold in a more languorous, spacious way. The to-do list will still get done, and you will live to tell about it.

Learn to take care of yourself. Think of a person whom you love and respect. For the next week, each time you forget to take care of yourself, pretend that someone dear and precious lives inside you. Honor that person; treat them with all the respect they deserve. If you adopt this daily practice, little by little a strange and wonderful transformation will occur. You will remember how to be good to yourself. And you will experience how much more creative and productive you are when you know you are worthy of your own care and love.

Peace is not a distant goal. It is already within you. Release the sunlight of your spirit by learning to relax and take care of yourself. Practice peace – you’re worth it!

Part 1 of 2

Several years ago Mike and I were discussing staff meetings and he suggested to me that if possible he would take the staff to lunch weekly. At the time I thought that it would be too often, and my attempt at weekly was not received as I anticipated. I am writing here to share my experience with this pearl of an idea with you as to the untold benefits that it can bring you and your practice.

After trying for weekly I asked my receptionist to schedule it as often as possible. Four years later we are now consistently doing this twice a month. We go to breakfast or lunch with each meal having a different advantage. We allow an hour for breakfast and one and a half hours for lunch. Lunch needs more time as we may not consistently be able to leave on time due to patient treatment.

Breakfast has distinct advantages over lunch that are important. We have our staff huddle for the day before we leave the office for this meal to be ready for the day. The major advantage of this meal time is that for the most part no member of the staff has had to receive any stress from a patient. This is a very important fact. The breakfast meeting allows for exchange that is not tainted with patient stress and their behavior. The breakfast time allows for personal exchange that is most important. These meals do not have an agenda related to business. For the most part we do not talk business as this is a time for socializing.

Occasionally, I will bring issues that affect our team dynamics. Whenever you have group dynamics, you will have friction. It is inevitable that this occurs, and it is the handling of this problem that is important to your practice. You may have considerable different ages with your staff, and the problems at home do differ with age. Some of your staff may have teenagers at home, and some may have adult children who have left the nest only to return with their children and different stresses. It is good to become a supportive, interactive group with a concern for the mental and physical health of each member of the staff. The breakfast meeting facilitates this interaction if it is laced with honesty from each member. This is the essence of handling interpersonal friction. Life is hard and it is suffering as the first great truth of Buddha states to his followers. Keeping this fact in mind with the group dynamic is invaluable.

Sharing must be honest for this meeting to be of help to your group, and it may take some time before everyone feels safe to be honest. You will have to allow time for this process to happen, and it will. Do not try to force this issue; it will only make things worse and stress staff members.

See Part 2 Coming Soon!

One of the goals of the Schuster Management Program is to teach your team to better define your practice systems, thereby enabling you to work in unison toward a common goal of success. Staff meetings not only allow opportunities for enhancing communication within your practice but they give your employees an environment of predictability and stability. A common comment we hear from our graduates is that after they have completed the Management Program, they are not certain what they should be working on during staff meeting times. The purpose of this article is to give you some suggestions and topics to ensure the success of your staff meetings for years to come!

1. Case Studies - Many of our clients have told us how much they have benefited by reviewing a completed case as a team. Questions such as, “What could we have done better relative to the patient’s treatment”, and “Clinically, what could we have done to improve the outcome?” are great customer service questions.

2. Recare Review - Once a month, the hygienist should report on the patients who were due for hygiene this month, who is accounted for and who is now missing in action. What is their strategy for contacting those patients and more importantly, why did they not respond to the retention efforts?

3. Structured Messages - This should be an ongoing project. You created a number of messages during your Management Program but your practice has an enormous opportunity to refine and create more as a team. Many offices only use structured messages for phone conversations but you can use these for virtually any face-to-face interaction. The format can be used to help with your pre-clinical interviews, chair-side education, and financial arrangement conversations.

4. Communication – Your ability to communicate your thoughts, feelings, ideas, values and beliefs are determined by how well your practice runs. We often limit ourselves by only thinking about how we communicate person to person. However, you might consider reviewing all of your printed materials to check for the consistency of the appearance and the message you are sending. Your web site, yellow page ad, signage, phone messages, collection calls, etc. should be evaluated on a consistent interval.

5. Career Development - The best practices hire and retain the best people as employees and are responding quickly to changing market conditions. The doctors are not satisfied with the status quo. They continually upgrade facilities, processes, and the skill of their employees. Many of my doctors lament about not having enough time to get trained on power point or digital photography. Why not send a team member?? Don’t forget to invest in talent and keep them intellectually challenged. Many of my best clients have mismanaged very talented team members by not investing in their development. Take time to plan out your employee’s career path so they continue to be renewed and recommitted to your practice.

The opportunities for creating the practice of your dreams are unprecedented. But so are the difficulties, for competition is more intense than ever. The critical success factor for your practice is the quality of your team. Authentic team members who are mature and committed will make your vision become a reality. However without meaningful staff meetings in place, your opportunities for success will be limited.

Small businesses are the most vulnerable to occupational fraud and abuse. According to a report by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, small organizations suffer higher median losses than large organizations. Based on its survey, which was conducted between January 2006 and February 2008, small business losses averaged $200,000. Check tampering and fraudulent billing were the most common small business fraud schemes.

Considering the potential losses, it behooves small-business owners to make the prevention of fraud a priority in their business. Though no business owner wants to feel it employs unscrupulous people, sometimes temptation or personal financial pressures can push even the hardest working, most trusted employee into perpetrating fraud.

The first step in preventing employee fraud is letting employees know you’re watching for it. Perception of detection is a very powerful deterrent. Create a way to let your team know that you are educated about the cash flow systems in your practice.

The Schuster Center has identified a few methods you can use to minimize your risk. Some methods seem common sense. But when taken into consideration with other preventive measures, they help fortify a business against fraudulent activity.

First and foremost, hire the right employees. Conduct background checks for people handling inventory and money. Check past employment, criminal convictions, references, and education and certifications. Remember to always get the written consent of candidates before doing research since many federal and state laws govern the gathering of such information.

Maintain strong internal controls. Have checks and balances in place.  For example, you don’t want a signatory on the bank account balancing the checkbook. If that employee can write checks on the account, they can reconcile the bankbook and would be free to manipulate the check register.

Make sure expenditures are approved. For every expense, the doctor should approve it. The doctor will ensure that the expenses are valid, while your accounts payable officer will run the math.

Monitor cash situations. If you don’t have a petty cash control policy/system, you should consider writing one.

Balance your accounts receivables daily. If you do not know how to do this, get the training.

Conduct surprise audits. Catching an employee off guard could be your best bet in discovering fraud. The key is that an employee generally doesn’t know what’s coming and won’t have the time to change the records to hide the fraud.  If you suspect it, hire a professional auditor. Using sampling and analysis techniques, auditors can quickly examine invoices in detail, including invoice numbers, to whom payments were made, when payments were made, and quickly determine those that are suspicious.

We heard of a practice with an employee that actually created a phony dental supply company, submitted invoices to the accounts payable officer (doctor’s spouse) and then sent the payment to a P.O. box! A surprise audit also can uncover duplicate invoice amounts and duplicate invoice numbers, both of which can be red flags for possible wrongdoing.

Create a fraud policy. Simply inform employees during employee orientation, training programs, memorandums, or other communication, that fraud is not tolerated. Be sure to inform employees of the actions you will take if you suspect or determine that fraud has been committed.

Enforce mandatory vacations. Our clients have found that if their employees don’t take time off, they may be afraid to go on vacation because someone may notice that something is not right. Requiring employees to take time off can aid in the prevention of fraud.

–For help with dental practice management, dental case presentation, hygiene as a profit center, business plans for the dental practice, dental continuing education seminars and more, go to www.SchusterCenter.com or call 1-800-288-9393

Dentist – Being a good leader requires good followers!

At first glance, Followership seems to be the antithesis of Leadership. In sharp contrast to leadership, there is a dearth of writing on the art of following. The superhighway is replaced by the dirt track. While some authors make reference to it in their writings on leadership, relatively few have focused on the follower as a key player in successful leadership.

Developing an adequate definition of a “follower” is made difficult because the concept is seen as trivial, obvious and lacking substance. The words “minion”, “subjection”, “underling”, may come to mind when conceptualizing followership. The following definition draws on the thoughts of R. Kelley (not to be confused with the singer), a major contributor to the literature on the role of the follower.

“A follower is one who pursues a course of action in common with a leader to achieve an organizational goal. Effective followers make an active decision to contribute towards the achievement of the goals and demonstrate enthusiasm, intelligence, self-reliance and the ability to work with others in pursuit of the goal. Effective followers recognize the authority of the leader and limitations this imposes on their own actions, consider all issues on their merits, make their own decisions, hold their own values, speak their minds and hold themselves accountable for the consequences for their actions.”

In other words, effective followers, given the necessary information and room to move, can be trusted to take independent action to achieve a specific objective, subject to their receiving ongoing assistance and support to resolve issues beyond their spheres of competence and influence and to their receiving recognition for the work they are doing. It is important to note that while the behavior of the followers may be seen to be simply doing as they are told, their actions are the result of independent thought and decision making and would have been seen the same in the absence of the direction from the leader.

Followers actively evaluate their leaders and in many cases find their performance below par. Often it is the limitations imposed by a leader that stops the follower from performing at their best. From the follower’s viewpoint, effective leaders embrace them as partners and are influenced by their words and actions. Effective followers choose to follow a good leader (regardless of whether their participation in the team is a matter of choice) and accept all the consequences of that decision. In exchange, followers want their leaders to share information, involve them in decision making and create working environments in which the efforts of the followers are recognized, respected and rewarded.

• Principles of ideal followership include:
• Demonstrating respect
  
• Thinking win/win
  
• Working within the system
  
• Acting proactively to fulfill or exceed expectations
  
• Appreciating differences
  
• Striving for a common goal (one shared with leaders)
  
• Recognizing authority leaders possess
  
• Being enthusiastic about organizational goals without complete reliance on the leader
  
• Recognizing the hierarchy of leadership while becoming a self-motivated mini-leader

Followers must have the confidence to speak out. They understand the necessity of the discomfort they may feel while communicating concisely with the leader, and they realize their role in helping the leader to make better decisions. Having the fortitude to speak candidly with the leader also comprises a leadership trait. Followers, according to this point of view, must regard silence as unacceptable. Becoming an “effective” follower within the leader/follower conceptual universe takes just as much work as becoming an “effective” leader.

–For more information on effective dental practice management and team development, go to www.SchusterCenter.com or simply call 1-800-288-9393.

There can be confusion as to when an employee is truly insubordinate or is guilty of some other infraction. We commonly deal with this issue when a dental practice has a new policy/system and it is ready for implementation.

Insubordination may be described as “resistance to” or “defiance of” authority, disobedience, refusal or failure to obey reasonable and lawful instructions, rudeness, rebelliousness, disobedient gestures, dismissive gestures, walking away, abusive language or other negative behaviors that result in an actual work stoppage.

Disciplinary sanctions can include written warning, final written warning or even dismissal depending on the severity of the offense. In our experience, most of our dentists have weak or non-existent systems when it comes to implementing disciplinary systems. Every employee not only has the responsibility to come to work and be on time and so on, but also the duty to obey all reasonable and lawful instructions. In other words, to do as he/she is told, within the parameters of what is accepted as being a reasonable and lawful instruction is at the heart of “insubordination”.

Obviously, any instruction that can be carried out without breaking any statute, common law or practice policy is regarded as “a lawful instruction.” This would also be the first requirement of a “reasonable” instruction.

But for the instruction to be reasonable, there are other elements required. An instruction can quite easily be lawful, but at the same time it can be unreasonable. For example, it would be appropriate for a dentist to instruct an employee to clean her operatory at the end of the day. But it would be unreasonable if you telephoned her late at night to return to work to do this.

It is a simple matter to determine whether an instruction is lawful or not. But defining “reasonable” simply means that the employee must have the necessary knowledge, skill, capability and ability to carry out the instruction. Instructing an employee to do something that she cannot do is not only unfair and unreasonable, but it is also unlawful.

It is not always clear whether or not a particular task falls within the parameters of an employee’s job description, when not specifically stated in writing. So it is a question of reasonable and rational judgment that must be applied here. Also worth consideration is whether the task in question is merely a “one time” thing, or is it likely to become a permanent element of that employee’s job description? An example may be asking a team member to arrange personal travel plans for the dentist.

Perhaps the best approach in those “one-time” situations is to use a bit of the old psychology, “Don’t assume, simply ask..” However, if the task would now become a permanent part of the employee’s job, then you would have to consult and reach agreement on the matter.

Please note, providing there is no dispute about whether or not the task falls within the parameters of the existing job description, that the consultation with the employee is purely to discuss the new task, the reasons for it, how it must be done, what standards must be met and any problems or difficulties the employee may wish to discuss. The consultation is NOT a negotiation during which you have to offer an increase in salary or improved benefits because of the extra work.

A Job Description, by definition, is a written description of those tasks that the employee is expected to do. Therefore, the fact that a specific task is not mentioned in writing in the Job Description, does not give the employee the right to refuse to do it now or in the future. If the employee and/or others doing the same job have performed the task in the past, and it is lawful and reasonable, then the employee(s) must continue doing it now even if she has suddenly discovered that it is not written in her Job Description.

Resistance should be brought to the employee’s attention, and she should be warned, that her continued unreasonable refusal may lead to disciplinary action, and the dental office should proceed accordingly.

–For help with dental practice management, dental case presentation, hygiene as a profit center, business plans for the dental practice, dental continuing education seminars and more, go to www.SchusterCenter.com or call 1-800-288-9393

It is a fact that the most profitable dentists are financially successful because of the team. No one person in your dental practice is responsible for increasing profits and revenue. It is achieved by the office receptionist making sure the patient is confirmed to show up to their appointment. The dental assistant who takes in the patient must make sure that the patient is promptly sat in the dental chair at the designated appointment slot. The dentist must be available to start work on the patient on time and finish on time. The dental assistant who ushers out the patient after treatment must remind the patient to schedule the follow up appointment with the office manager. And lastly, your accounting department should be on top of all outgoing invoices to the patient and insurance companies. Of course the team and their functions may vary from practice to practice, but what is more important is the way the team operates to make sure every aspect of the “business” and “service” are taken care of and that the accounts receivable have nothing to hinder the cash flow.

Dentists have to be the leaders of the system so each team member knows their role in the profitability of the practice. Many dentists would prefer to be doing dentistry than managing staff. Dentists would gladly spend continuing education hours improving their clinical skills rather than managerial skills. Dentists didn’t go to dental school looking forward to challenges with the staff, such as when someone quits suddenly, the computers die, or how to get more patients. Nobody goes into practice for those reasons.

But what is interesting, is that by putting a good management system into place, dentists actually have more time to do the dentistry they want to do. Dentists need management skills that are as precise as their clinical skills. I advocate managing by statistics, a method that enables the owner to measure the effectiveness of each individual staff member. This, in turn, will result in the practice making more money.