7 Barriers That Might Be Preventing You From Becoming the Leader You Want To Be?
Are the skills that helped you excel in your profession in potential conflict with strong leadership?
You face unique challenges in becoming a strong leader because many of the skills that helped you excel in your profession are in potential conflict with strong leadership.
In many dental practices, as the owner, you work largely alone (apart from your staff). And I would offer that you do not lead but rather you manage! The purpose of this article is to facilitate discussion and debate. I would further offer that you face unique challenges in becoming a strong leader because many of the skills that helped you excel in your profession are in potential conflict with strong leadership.
In your dental practice – you spend most of your day focused on one thing, providing quality services to your patients. In fact, as the CEO of your practice you are most productive not when you are managing people and developing systems but rather when you are treating patients. This is how you grew your practice and achieved your goals. However, as your practice grows, and you are faced with an increasingly competitive environment many practice owners realize that being a better leader is necessary.
Step back for a minute and compare the many responsibilities that you have compared to CEOs in larger companies. For example, think about Loblaw’s, Toronto Dominion Bank or even Shoppers Drug Mart. How many of those CEOs must do the marketing, research new products, develop and test products, deliver or sell products face-to-face, provide direct service to patients, hire and train staff in addition to running their company?
The reality is, the day-to-day demands of running your practice leaves you very little time to lead your business.
What are the barriers that are preventing you from becoming the leader you want to be?
- Denying the importance of leadership
Not everyone grows or develops into leaders. Being a leader in your practice is not inevitable and events, attitudes, skills, and history are just a few of the things that can stop you from becoming a leader. If you are in denial about the need to develop strong leadership skills you will not be able to honestly identify the barriers that might be blocking your growth.
- Mistakes Accelerate Leadership Development
You can only learn from a mistake after you admit you’ve made it! By admitting that you made a mistake (even if just to yourself, but even more powerful is when you acknowledge it to others) you can get past the negative blaming behaviours and move on to more positive behaviours. Admitting their mistakes easily and directly reflects leadership. Experienced leaders know that their progress is accelerated when they do.
- Refusing Help
Everyone benefits from having a mentor, a coach, a revered elder – someone that promotes self awareness and personal learning. Why is it then that so many potential leaders do not seek help? There are many reasons, often related to their personal insecurity, but also it is not unusual to be so focused on the needs of others (patients, clients, staff) that they don’t look at their own needs. For some, getting help is seen as a sign of weakness and for others they view the need for help as a sign of failure.
- Not Being Able to Get Out of Your Own Way!
This barrier can take many forms such as an inability to delegate, needing to control all aspects of the work being done, micromanaging. Strong leaders develop the ability to create and maintain a workplace where others succeed. This means you have to get out of your own way and let your team help you be successful by doing its work.
- Assume Functional Credibility Equals Leadership
In most practices the owner has significant “functional creditability”. You understand fully the fundamentals of the services being provided. The skills needed to be a great dentist are not the same skills needed to be a strong leader.
- Letting Go of Old Habits and Courageously Embracing New Skills
New skills such as selecting the team and organizing and defining goals, setting priorities, identifying strategic direction, allocating resources, personal and team accountability, are just a few of the things leaders must balance.
- Development of Effective Power Dynamics in Leadership
Strong leaders must learn to acquire and use power to accomplish specific organizational goals as this in turns leads to successful companies. Power obviously is a reality in the life process of all modern-day organizations. Many leaders must learn to be comfortable with their power. But also, to use that power wisely, respectfully, ethically and for the greater good of everyone in the organization. If you are uncomfortable with your leadership status and the power that goes with it, you will struggle to fully take on all the functions leadership requires.
Conclusion
Leadership principles can be learned, but learning to lead can’t be taught in a classroom. Combining leadership principles with real life experiences offers the best opportunities for learning. And the greatest learning – is through those very difficult, often adverse experiences – experiences that bring you the greatest insights and leadership development.
Like many business owners in professional practices you are a very skilled “technician”. That skill is acquired through years of education, training and practice and you are not used to making mistakes. The journey to strong leadership however is shaped by real life experiences and hence many mistakes are made and that is where lessons are learned.
If I could leave you with one significant “take away” today it would be that in those stressful, mistake-making moments, real life experiences are offering you a tremendous opportunity for learning. Step back, step into a place of leadership and embrace the lesson being taught.
Kathy D. Harris
