Episode 252: Proper Strength Application

“If you know someone loves doing something and you put that person in the right position, their day gets better because they’re really good at it.” ~Dr. Maggie Augustyn

In this insightful episode of the Everyday Practices Dental Podcast, hosts Regan Robertson and Dr. Chad Johnson are joined by Dr. Maggie Augustyn for a deep dive into the strengths that drive dental entrepreneurs to success. Building on their previous conversation about fear and its impact on practice leadership (see ep. 247), Dr. Augustyn shifts the focus to strengths-based growth, sharing how discovering her own strengths through the CliftonStrengths test transformed her approach to business.

As you listen to this episode, we want you to think about the following questions:

• What steps have I taken to understand my own strengths and how they influence my work?
• How can I better foster trust within my team to make sure individual strengths are celebrated and used effectively?
• How can I apply the knowledge of my strengths and my team’s strengths to improve our overall performance and collaboration?

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Announcer: The Productive Dentist Academy Podcast Network.

[00:00:03] Regan Robertson: Your blind spots are not your hindrances, but your job is to find a teammate that can see those blind spots. Welcome to the Everyday Practices Podcast. I’m Regan Robertson and my co-host, Dr. Chad Johnson and I are on a mission to share the stories of everyday dentists who generate extraordinary results using practical proven methods you can take right into your own dental practice. If you’re ready to elevate patient care and produce results that are anything but ordinary, Buckle up!

[00:00:40] Chad Johnson: Hey everybody, welcome to Everyday Practices Dental Podcast and Robertson, my co-host. How’re you doing?

[00:00:45] Regan Robertson: I’m doing fantastic. Happy to be with two of my favorite people on the planet.

[00:00:49] Chad Johnson: Dr. Maggie Augustin, Maggie, how you doing today?

[00:00:53] Maggie Augustyn: I’m doing great. Thank you.

[00:00:54] Chad Johnson: We had just talked about at the last podcast that Maggie and I were together about fear, strengths, anxiety, uh, and stuff like that. So we kind of hit on the. Fear topic, Maggie, where did you want to take it for this podcast?

[00:01:07] Maggie Augustyn: So one of the really important parts in running our lives as entrepreneurs and as business owners. So we talked about fear and how that can drive where we take our practices but the other important component in where we take our entrepreneurship and our practices is dependent on where our strengths lie. I have discovered that I began to understand where I can take my practice. I understood my strengths and there is a very specific test. It’s called the Gallup strength test, right? Regan. That’s what it’s called.

[00:01:40] Regan Robertson: Yeah. Gallup Clifton Strengths Finder. Yes. Yeah. I think Gallup is the parent company. Absolutely fantastic.

[00:01:43] Maggie Augustyn: And so we take that for a dental entrepreneur woman to go to, to their meeting and it gives you a list of, I think 32 or 34 strengths and it writes them in order and it is really eye-opening. Uh, I know Chad hasn’t taken it and that you should absolutely take it because we’d be curious to hear what yours are, but Regan, you’ve taken it. Tell me what was it like when you found out what your top five were? What did you think?

[00:02:11] Regan Robertson:  Okay. Well,

[00:02:13] Maggie Augustyn: What are they?

[00:02:14] Regan Robertson: I’ll tell you what they are, but I want to preface this with, I am the queen of personality assessments. I think I have taken all of them. I can’t say with 100 percent certainty, but I know that I have taken so many. That is the gift of being mentored under Victoria Peterson for 13, 14 years now. So I’ve done the disc. I’ve done the Myers Briggs. I’ve done the Clifton’s I’ve done, um, other strengths, finders, many Forte, you name it, Enneagram. Lots and lots and lots of them. Our CHRO, our chief human resources officer will tell you that none of these are scientifically based and she has a different methodology. I hear that and I accept it and my yes and to that is they have incredibly, they’re fun and they’re insightful and I think the goal of these is to help get you out of your own mindset and reflect to you with the way that you answer certain questions. So all of these tests take you through a series of questions and ask you based on a scale, you know, does this resonate with you or does it not resonate with you? So you go through these questions and like you said, Maggie, it pops out. You’re 32 from priority, like what you resonate with most. So how you show up to the world most to least. So my top five and Maggie, when you tell us yours, you’re going to love this. We are very, uh, we have similarities in our top five. My number one is connectedness. Let’s apply this to business. So connectedness is valuable because it can build trust and unify teams through shared meaning. I am a chief communications officer. I sure hope that I could do that. My second is strategic. Which means I should be excellent at problem-solving and decision-making. Um, my third is input and I, I, this one’s probably one of my favorites because it’s about providing valuable information and resources to others. So I, if you guys are following along here, why do I love PDA so much? Uh, my other is futuristic, which motivates teams supposedly and is forward-thinking, um, hitching myself to Bruce Baird and Victoria Peterson, duh. I’m always wanting to know what’s next. What’s new, where are we going? And my final is learner. And I think learner speaks for itself. I’m I’m never ending. I always am curious and I always want to learn more. So those are my top five.

[00:04:16] Maggie Augustyn: Regan, do you know what mine are?

[00:04:17] Regan Robertson: Yes. I don’t, I mean, I don’t know off the top of my head, but I know you and I had a couple of similarities and I was shocked that we had similar, just in our top five.

[00:04:24] Maggie Augustyn: We’re four for five.

[00:04:26] Regan Robertson: We’re four for five?

[00:04:27] Maggie Augustyn: Four for five. So I am learner, achiever, strategic in telecom and input

[00:04:31] Regan Robertson: Oh, wow. That makes so much sense and I admire you so much and you know what? I’m going to nerd this out. I’ve got to nerd this out, right? Here’s this makes sense. You guys, I admire you so much and oftentimes when we admire people, one, you can see similarities but two, there’s something else that they have that little X factor achiever, achiever. I am not super competitive. Now, Brent Hogan, if you ever meet him, he’ll tell you that that’s completely untrue and maybe he’s right but achievers very interesting to me cause I do see you always reaching and always pulling.

[00:05:00] Chad Johnson: I can see that. Yeah.

[00:05:02] Regan Robertson: Chad, you can’t believe how similar we are.

[00:05:05] Chad Johnson: No, I feel like I’m going to be inadequate. Cause I’m only going to score three out of the five of you. When you say those things, they actually resonate with me. So it’s not, I wouldn’t be surprised if I didn’t hit somewhere between 4.5 of all of you. So

[00:05:21] Regan Robertson: We took, um, so this was years ago, uh, but we took our entire company through the Clifton and in fact, I, oh gosh, which tab would it possibly be? I have a tab open that showcases everybody’s shared traits. So it gives every single employee that we had their top five and then we categorized, you know, how many achievers do we have? How many learners do we have? It was just a really interesting exercise.

[00:05:45] Chad Johnson: Yeah,

[00:05:45] Maggie Augustyn: Beyond just kind of geeking out and having fun with who it is that we are. This is what I found to be really fascinating about this test. When we, when we’re in huddle, I will find things that other people don’t find discrepancies and for the longest time, everyone on my team just that I was a jerk that I was just trying to pick people apart until I took this test and I understood that one of my greatest strengths was finding inaccuracies in discrepancies. That is one of my strengths. I cannot get through 10 minutes of a day without finding an inaccuracy in something and so once I understood that to be my strength. Then I explained that to my team, “Hey guys, I’m actually not being a jerk. This comes second nature to me and we can use that in me as a strength in our entire team. So don’t look at me as being a jerk, trying to pick you apart. Let me be the person to find indiscrepancies on our schedule and you know, somebody else has a different strength than me and let’s just work together as a team,” and then it’s really neat. 34 for me as an includer. I really, yes, I like to be one on one with people. I cannot do big groups. So using these Clifton strengths for yourself. Can help you put who you are as an entrepreneur, as a practice owner and everyone else in your team, it can help you put them in positions where they pursue in the words of the alchemist, the personal legend, right? I mean, if you do, if you do what you love to do, if this is your strength and you put that person in the position of finding indiscrepancies in the practice, their day just gets better because they’re really good at that,

[00:07:36] Chad Johnson: right?

[00:07:36] Regan Robertson: If trust is established, I would say my caveat to that comment is it can be your best superpower ever. I am very passionate about what you said, Maggie, because if you are able to have self-reflection and understand that your blind spots are not your hindrances but your job is to find a teammate that can see those blind spots. That is the one area where I went from individual contributor  into leadership. Was understanding that I can’t do it alone. No, I’m not perfect and it’s okay to embrace it. So consistency is like my 32 Maggie or my 34. I can’t remember how low it is but it is low and can you see the natural friction that comes from somebody who is consistent as a strength dealing with miscreative, you know, has to go make things off the fly. If you have trust and you understand it, like this is a good tool in my opinion for that Adrianne, don’t kill me, but it is a good tool to kind of translate and show from that, that perspective of, okay, I now know that that is their particular strength. I think Adrianne uses something called corn fairy. They do a lot of competencies and they put it to the job role specifically and that’s a whole other podcast in itself, but it does

[00:08:43] Chad Johnson: Not like the band?

[00:08:44] Regan Robertson: No, not like the land. No, no, I don’t want a good freak on a leash metaphor would be there for that. No, it’s not that, but it’s kind of the business been on it. My point being, if you do it for fun and you see it like Maggie, that’s how I would apply it for

[00:08:55] Chad Johnson: Take it for what it’s worth.

[00:08:56] Regan Robertson: Yeah. Yeah and I wonder if it’s your input. It’s either your input or your and, uh, intellect, the intellection part that makes you, you know, so keen to spotting those things that are, that are out of alignment ut if somebody has trust with you, it becomes a superpower. It just really becomes a huge benefit to the team and instead of dreading it, it’s, it’s embraced and it’s loved and it’s cherished.

[00:09:17] Maggie Augustyn: And we do these things disc is talked about a lot in dental offices and doing that with our patients and understanding our patients But I think it’s just as important to understand ourselves and understand our teams and so we’ve done the enantiogram. I think that’s how you pronounce it. Eniogram? Eniogram? Uh huh. Yeah. and to understand each other and it’s really neat. Once we begin to understand ourselves and each other, because we work with each other all the time And so some of the decisions that we make and some of the behaviors that we exhibit and some of the way that we interact with one another, we understand why we do that now. You know, some of us are really rule followers. I’m a huge rule follower and,

[00:09:55] Chad Johnson: I love finding real followers

[00:09:57] Maggie Augustyn: So you can break them?

[00:09:58] Chad Johnson: So I can break them.

[00:10:00] Regan Robertson: I knew it

[00:10:00] Chad Johnson: Hey, yeah. Hey, can I, I’ll share something that we can cut out if this is too inappropriate, but you know, it’s a podcast. It’s not judged by the FCC. So we’ve joked around for a couple of years that I have autistic behaviors and stuff and so, I mean, I don’t know. We’ve joked around about it. Maybe there’s some truth to it. Maybe there’s a truth to it. Yeah. So. So I took a screening test online and it was like, okay, zero to 30, you know, 20 and above you’re, you’re autistic. I scored a 19.

[00:10:33] Regan Robertson: So you’re not,

[00:10:34] Chad Johnson: No, but I’m as close as you get without being it. I just like, I actually have been weighing in and thinking like that makes more sense why this and that, and why this and that, okay. So if there’s a spectrum of autism and whatnot, then there’s people who are subclinical, you know, that they haven’t really been judged as, and then I’m just like, “That’s me,” and then I think back and I go my whole life when people are like, “You’re, you’re different and you’re funny and you’re weird and you’re this and that,” and I just go, “I guess I am,” and then it’s just like, maybe they could innately see you’re not fitting the norm and I mean that in a normative, like statistical curve and it’s like, you’re not fitting the norm in a

[00:11:10] Regan Robertson: A neurotypical way.

[00:11:10] Chad Johnson: Yeah. When I start piecing it together and thinking about stuff, I’m like, that’s why this, and that’s why this, and then I go, I mean, cause I’m not diagnosing myself, right but I’m just. I’m halfway just going, maybe that explains why I have strengths in certain areas and also weaknesses in areas. It’s just one explanation, right? Cause we’re more than just a diagnosis. We’re more than just a label. We’re more than this and that, but I just go, “Huh. I wonder if that’s my autism show, you know, or, or whatever. And if someone takes offense to this, I’m not trying to be

[00:11:38] Regan Robertson: You’re just a jerk. Chad,

[00:11:40] Chad Johnson: right. I’m not trying to be offensive, but I am like introspecting. It’s just like, you know, what if we all have a curve of zero Percent of autism, whatever autism is, you know, ringing the bell of whatever that means. Right. Cause it’s just such a catch all, but like I’m in this subclinical range where I’m just like, okay, that gives me better understanding of people that have it snd then also maybe why some people are just like, why, why can’t you this and be more normative of this and that? And I’m just like, “I mean, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m just me,” and it’s just like, there it is. It’s not exactly a, again, a foolproof test. I haven’t been, you know, I haven’t gone to the, the clinic to talk this through, but when I did the online thing, so Regan, I will, I will just tell you in, in passing, I was at the IntelliCon meeting and yeah, and we did a dinner and there was a certain person who was there who said that she also at work, um, has been told that maybe she has that. And, um, and she said, so she took the test and she was like, “Oh yeah, I scored right under the, the thing too.” She, you know, so for what it’s worth, you guys both would know who it is. Oh,

[00:12:50] Regan Robertson: I don’t know, but

[00:12:53] Chad Johnson: no, but yeah, but I was like, that’s why we click. We’re friends but so

[00:12:58] Maggie Augustyn: Let me ask you this. Has this made you feel like, have you gained some more self-acceptance or understanding? That’s what it makes you stop. I mean, yeah. It sounds like you’ve gained some sort of understanding or self acceptance for yourself as a result of that.

[00:13:11] Chad Johnson: Yeah. Um, and then, yeah, and I, I don’t know if I can formulate it in words, but I’ve been thinking about when am I inadequate on whatever, you know, like even maybe interpersonal skills and then I go, I mean, but I’m very sociable, but you can, I mean, you can be sociable, but like still like be awkward interpersonally or like sometimes when I’ll say something and I’ll be like, “I don’t know if that would have come out of most people’s mouths or if like, they wouldn’t have said that,” and sometimes it’s super nice and then sometimes it might not be, you know, it’s not necessarily that it was rude, but you know, there are other times when I’ll just go, hold on a second. I love the texture of your shirt,” and they’re probably thinking, “What?” And I’m just like, “I don’t know. I just had to say that.” Right. So it just,

[00:13:55] Regan Robertson: That’s it. Funny for yes. So there are inadequacies over menu. Yes.

[00:13:58] Chad Johnson: Yeah, there are inadequacies and then there’s over adequacies too. Like for example, when you got, got me in front of an Excel sheet, like, uh, this last week or two as I’ve been kind of auditing our AR and all that stuff as we’re trying to figure out problems at work. Mm-Hmm. And I just go, this is my jam. I mean, I’m just, you know, people are like, how are you doing that so quick? So quick and I’m like, I don’t have time to explain it to you. Just, just look, you know, just, okay.

[00:14:20] Regan Robertson: So I’m going to summarize for us here. I think our next step is Chad’s going to take the Gallup test. So you can go take a strength. So can I come back together?

[00:14:29] Maggie Augustyn: In fact, I think everyone should take this. The Gallup strength.

[00:14:31] Regan Robertson: Give it. Yeah. Give it a try. See what, see what comes, uh, see what comes of it and what your interpretations are. I like how you’ve, you’ve kind of wrapped this together, just

[00:14:40] Chad Johnson: Just the test. Yes.

[00:14:41] Regan Robertson: Well, it’s a, I think it speaks to our search for meaning and our search for ourselves and leaders in particular, everybody benefits from being more self aware and what I reflect to you and I love so much about what you said, regardless of labels, um, regardless of the tests and the autism and the, this and that it’s, it’s your search for understanding and it’s your search to being aware and you’re listening to what people are saying or reflecting to you nd you’re asking, well, you know, is there a reason for that? And I think that’s. Gosh, it’s like, you know, Viktor Frankl search for meaning. I mean, it is, it is looking deeper. That’s this is best 15 minutes. I just spent all day.

[00:15:14] Chad Johnson: Well, good. Now, listen, listeners, uh, we want you to gallop on over to the, the test. Take that. Uh, it’s what the Clifton. So I looked for it. I looked on Google. Yes.

[00:15:27] Regan Robertson: Gallop Clifton Strengths and it’s Clifton, C L I F T O N.

[00:15:31] Chad Johnson: It’ll probably on Google, CliftonStrengths. com. Chrome already start filling it in

[00:15:33] Regan Robertson: My PDA asterisk to that is, is we, I do not, we do not, we PDA, I should say, we don’t approve it as like a competency method to be used in hiring, but it’s something fun. That’s my PDA to say whatever you want.

[00:15:49] Maggie Augustyn: I made my husband take it. I made my daughter take it. There’s a teen version of it. I was going to say that Maggie, like it’s really cool. It’s, it’s really neat. If nothing else, it’s for fun. I found it to be, I don’t know.

[00:16:00] Chad Johnson: I’m going over to Maggie’s office. This next week, and I have a feeling she’s going to be like, here, take it.

[00:16:03] Maggie Augustyn: No, no, no. You’re going to take it before you get here.

[00:16:05] Regan Robertson:  You will know that you’re my friend. If at some point in our life together, I will, I will make you take a personality test. It is because we take so many of them.

[00:16:16] Chad Johnson: I’m going to be like, I’m so three four ing with you or whatever you said. It’s just like, if you notice to the listeners, I was sitting kind of quiet the first half of this discussion, but, um, so listeners, what are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What are you anxious about? What do you have anxiety about? You know, and are you evaluating those? And then are you also comfortable with someone that you can share that with so that way they can help you almost as a counselor, but that’s what friends are that we counsel one another, we attorney one another, we guide one another. I mean, even on a spiritual level. Our, the Holy Spirit is called the counselor, and the advocates in the Portuguese Ado is, is attorney and it’s advocate in, in Spanish, you know, like, so those words to advocate avocado. Advocate like to advocate, advocate, not avocado. So yes, to advocate and so like, you know, there’s something spiritual about in friendships advocating for one another, counseling one another and listening to one another and building one another up and that requires for you to be vulnerable in your anxiety to get through it and, and not to, not to not being anxious anymore, not to not have weaknesses, but through those weaknesses to be able to like Regan, you said to [air with someone to be able to balance the weaknesses.

[00:17:34] Regan Robertson: You guys are my avocados.

[00:17:39] Chad Johnson: Advocato right. Listeners. Thanks for listening until next week.

[00:17:43] Regan Robertson: Thank you for listening to another episode of Everyday Practices Podcast. Chad and I are here every week. Thanks to our community of listeners, just like you, and we’d love your help. It would mean the world if you can help spread the word by sharing this episode with a fellow dentist and leave us a review on iTunes or Spotify. Do you have an extraordinary story you’d like to share or feedback on how we can make this podcast even more awesome? Drop us an email at podcast@productivedentist.com and don’t forget to check out our other podcasts from Productive Dentist Academy at productivedentist.com/podcasts. See you next week.