I know you don’t like that word and while we do want as few of them as possible, you want to be the owner of the highest level and most valuable responsibilities there are in your business.
That is a keyword, by the way, ‘your’ business. It’s good news because it means that you get to decide what you want it to look like, how you want to operate it, the type of results it produces and the lifestyle you want it to deliver. The thing is, all of ‘that’ comes with this – YOUR responsibilities.
My favorite way to say this is: the star player on the team wants the ball. They want to win the game and be the hero. Yes, you want a team around you with all star players but that does not mean you can delegate or abdicate the success that YOU desire.
Here’s the thing, and I know it may be hard to deal with but, you need to have realistic expectations with your team members. You see, just because someone is paid to work doesn’t mean they have a complete understanding of what ‘quality’ or ‘productive’ or ‘effective’ work is. That’s not just in your practice but in life in general.
Understand that people only know what they know, what experiences they have had and what lessons they have learned. Of course, it is easy for us to say a “good person is a hard worker” and that a “person of character will do positives things.” That is all subjective statements and beliefs.
You do get to have standards, that’s the beauty of owning your own business, but you don’t by default get to force them on other people. I mean, you can – but that doesn’t do any good because unless they are also the other person’s standards then you aren’t going to get very far.
This is fixed when you have clearly defined expectations of both what their responsibilities are and what the results of those responsibilities should look like. Then you also have to build the bridge between the two and show them what success looks like. It’s also a lot more effective if they too have some reward for winning too.
Very few practices and Doctors do all of what is necessary to help set their team members up for success individually and together. Now, realize I don’t mean that you personally have to do everything. First of all, we do a great majority of this for you and help our practices both doctor and team win together. Still, no one can set your expectations for you or force someone else to perform at them. They are going to perform at their own standard because we are all human.
Let me ask you how many things are on your “supposed to be done a long time ago” list right now? How many days do you go above and beyond in order to take initiative on things that can be put off until “tomorrow” (whatever distant and never to be arrived at day in the future tomorrow actually is).
I’m not judging; we all have the list. And even if you say “I can’t possibly do more,” or “I am already working late” or “I’m taking things home,” that isn’t what I asked. That’s just a lack of resourcefulness, time discipline or organization… which is the entire point of today’s message.
If you want to do less and have others do more, you have to do more of the right things and effectively leverage others by following the principles I have laid out here. If others aren’t doing enough (exceeding or at least meeting your expectations), then there are only one of three possible options…
1. You haven’t been clear about what they are
2. You haven’t given them the tools to be able to do it
3. They aren’t capable (or don’t care) and you’ve got the wrong person
No one is going to fail on purpose.
That said, the funniest (and by that I mean painfully funny or funnily painful) question to ask yourself is: how often do you live up to your own expectations?
And if you want to take the advanced course you need to answer honestly and then assess how you could be better leveraging and utilizing your team members and assets to help you close that gap for yourself.
You at your highest and best use of time is the single most important attainment we can possibly have in your practice. You productivity above all others because your responsibilities outweigh (not out number) everyone else’s. As it should be.
The goal of every business built on the backs of one central person (as is the case for most Doctors reading this), is to use everything and everyone else around you to their highest and best use of their time, skill, potential in order to serve your interests of being at your highest and best use of your time, skill, potential. How well are you doing that, is the ultimate question.
That said, just telling people to do something and paying them to do it isn’t good enough. Maybe to simply get it done but not to get it to the level you want to achieve. The real secret is they have to want to win as badly as you do and they have to not only want to help the patients but help you accomplish your goals. So everyone can achieve something special together as a team.
This is one of your core responsibilities: MOTIVATING YOUR TEAM to want to win, to want to do well, to want to be their best. That means not just going through the motions but rather executing like champions and making magic happen with your patients. And that’s where we’ll go next week.
I challenge you to step up as more than just doctor and business owner by default and move to purposefully leading your team to victory. You can if you understand your daily responsibilities.
