What Kind of Boss Are You? (Part 2)

On the second part of this series, we dig into Analyst and Superstar leadership personality types and discover what the strengths and possible kryptonite are. We also touch on:

• How leadership kryptonite can be applied to patients
• Illustrations of how strengths and weaknesses show up in business
• Leveraging your philosophy of care to attract the right support

DOWNLOAD “WHAT KIND OF BOSS AM I?”

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Regan Robertson here with Everyday Practices. Thank you for joining us for the second part of Dr. Chad Johnson and my conversation about discovering what type of boss you are.

REGAN: Let’s get into it. Let’s get into the data. That’s the that’s to me is the fun one. I think this is the the opposite of Mele, though learning to harness it has been an incredible superpower, the analyst, the analyst leaders mindset, Victoria says others describe analysts as a problem solver, someone who sees many options to every situation. I think you’re a bit of an analyzer, don’t you think?

CHAD: Sure, I think we all have aptitudes of some degree or more of these categories. I have my pet things that I’m good at being an analyst. And I think I like hiding them. So I don’t. So I don’t try and make a big stink of it. But my Excel files would prove otherwise, that I do actually analyze my big visionary ideas and kind of, you know, to offset and balance them. But, for example, where I get into well, where I am not a pure analyst is the blindside for analysts is that you can have analysis paralysis, so that you can be so bound down by Well, if I choose, you know, to go to a burger place for dinner, then I can’t have the cavatelli that I wanted. And if if I choose the cavatelli place, then I won’t be able to have the milkshake. And so maybe I should just skip dinner, you know, worrying about it the whole evening, when it’s just like, Listen, just pick the burger place next week at the cavatelli. You know, like, so there, there comes a point where I’m just like, Listen, let’s just make a choice.

REGAN: I have a feeling the analysts, one of my best friends is an analyst pure and true. She’s a CFO for a large defense company. And she we talk you know a lot just about business in general. And what I find is that she sees the story in numbers really well. And she so she that paints her landscape. So she uses data specifically to make decisions. And where I see the paralysis coming in is actually the blindside that I see to analysts is only relying on the data and, and tending to forget some of the human element that makes it up. So it goes between improver and analyst in my opinion.

So you can turn switches on and off as an analyst, you can see disruption and innovation sits in that analyst, you know, if we only did this, I’ve got my beautiful spreadsheet out. And if we only if we only did X amount of more procedures that X amount of time, we will gain this amount. And what we’re forgetting is okay, well, but my team can only handle this capacity. So I’ve got to bring this along together. And I think in that story between the data and the human element of business is where the paralysis can end up becoming a little bit, you know, of an infinity loop of frustration or tug of war, if you will.

CHAD: Sure. You know, this applies to patients who are analysts as well. For example, you get done explaining what’s like, while there’s five different ways that you can fix this problem, and they start going. I had a sales pitch this morning. It’s a Friday that we’re recording this. And so this morning, I had a sales pitch on a zoom call with a rep that was showing me stuff. And he was saying this is really comprehensive. And I got thinking I was just like, I don’t even know if I have any problems with any of the solutions that he has like, and it’s so comprehensive. I was just like, I don’t even know if this is something that I’m interested in. Maybe it is but like, and it blew my mind. I was I read and I did. I just didn’t know what to do with it.

At the end. I think they kind of did the like silence mode. And I was kind of silent too. I was like, I don’t know. And it got me thinking with patients, we do the same thing that you know, we say there’s five different treatments and they go, Oh, but it doesn’t even hurt. And they’re thinking, you know, like I don’t even know why this is something that I should address. What’s your thoughts?

REGAN: Well, you got me very excited when I heard that because it reminded me of watching Bruce in the OP and walking some patients through their comprehensive treatment plans and you could see where you couldn’t see, I could sense sort of that over that kind of overwhelm. It’s just a it’s a lot to process. Yes. And I think one of the strengths that an analyst can bring to it is being able to bring them along on that journey and break it down into a very small act.

So I watched him do that with one patient. And it was really a high focus was spent on step one, as opposed to the entire story. So I don’t know when yours is you explained each step along the way, if you kind of stayed on that step one. So the story that I’m thinking about my head was a patient that I watched him treat. And he, he needed a full mouth rehab. And there were so many steps up to getting just to be able to have the mouth healthy enough to be able to perform that treatment. And so he focused on, on getting the perio straight first to get the gums bleeding anymore.

And that’s all they ended up talking about. And before you knew it, he was he was opted into the entire treatment plan. But he had he stayed on that he stayed on that first step and talked about you know, being healthy in that first step. And let’s just get this part taken care of it doesn’t you know, any any. And he also said, you know, this can take as long or as little of time as you need, we’re going to get you there. Don’t be overwhelmed. If we’re going to go at your pace, which at PDA we always say as we meet you where you’re at being a guide for the patient’s sake.

CHAD: It’s as important and that’s why i a lot of times the more comprehensive that the treatment plan is and and let’s say that it includes perio therapy, that I say, Hey, you know what, that was a lot to consider. Here’s what I need you to the take home message. Melissa, my hygienist here has already explained to you about all the periodontal disease and how that’s not just affecting the gums, but it’s affecting the bone. We just talked about that. Okay. Let’s focus on that. First. Let’s get you back in that’s our top priority.

Okay, when we get that fixed, then we can start talking about moving on to phase two, you know, getting the rest of this done, but we can’t get to phase two, we can’t be talking about getting you a pretty teeth and solving you know the cavity problems getting rid of your wisdom teeth, you know, pulling multiple teeth, doing sinus lifts, placing in four implants, you know, blah, blah, blah, all that stuff. It’s like I need to get your perio under control. We’re not going to be able to do much else until we get your periodontal disease under control. So perio first, does that make sense? Okay, so you know, just breaking it down. Great. Lastly, I want to say the star superstar.

Victoria wrote, others likely describe you as a charismatic, one of a kind, high achiever, irreplaceable, unstoppable superpower, superpower, superstar leaders spend their time focusing on networking and building the marketplace. It says often seen as the Rainmaker, and it’s funny because my brother has talked before he’s in Realty and he talks about, you know, each realty company or whatever, sometimes they’ve got what’s called a Rainmaker, so I’ve heard that word before.

REGAN: Yeah, basically, they’re the tribal person that can make it happen. We used to have and we may still have in our in our little town, Roxy, I don’t even remember her last name. She was a real estate agent, Roxy she drove around town. No, she was driven around town in a limousine. Every home you bought. It contained a an oil portrait painting that she herself created. She had this over the top personality and she created this brand around herself, right. It wasn’t even about which realty house she belonged to it was Roxy houses by Roxy,

CHAD: What color was the limo?

REGAN: Black.

CHAD: Black? Oh,I was hoping it was pink for some reason, you know, like

REGAN: That I think when I think of superstar, that’s the type of leader that I see someone who really dominates the market and you know them by their, you know, them by their name.

CHAD: They’re so efficient at you know, rocking it, that their blind side might be Victoria wrote that they’re building a great lifestyle, but not necessarily building a great company. Again, this isn’t this isn’t their problem all the time. But it could be that someone who’s a superstar might just, you know, keep all the attraction to themselves, explicitly or implicitly. And, and so if you’re irreplaceable, the question becomes, how are you building a great company that lets you eventually go out? Reagan.

I’ve heard it said this way before if there’s if you have a company and I think it was a myth, you know, if you have a $10 million auto company that you’re trying to sell how many people number one are looking for an office auto company, you know to buy a car dealership? Not many. And if you have one that’s worth 10 million, or should we now say, you know, 100 million or something like that, how many people are looking to buy $100 million? You know, investment in, in an auto dealership? Not many, very few. And so as you then don’t surround yourself by someone that can help make a system to where you can step out of it, you can be the big guy, because that’s what the auto dealerships are about. Right? You know, come on down to Bob Brown auto, you know, and stuff like that. And it’s about the, the name of the practice.

And it can be about that guy. But like, then the question is, when they when they come in, are people always wanting to see cow? Are they always wanting to see Bob Brown? And, you know, are they expecting to see him on the commercials? And and is your and dentists are notorious for this, you know, is its Johnson dental, instead of a blank dental?

REGAN: One 100%. When I joined dentistry a decade ago, one that was one of the first, you know, really big projects that I worked on with dental practices was renaming. So one of the ways to protect yourself from that having happened and and it doesn’t necessarily have to happen, but with superstars in particular, if you want to be scalable, and you want to easily transition that that image in that power, rename your practice, yes, rename your practice, so and there’s a whole, you know, exercise naming exercise you can go through, so it still captures authentically you. But now, it’s not tied to Dr. Johnson dentistry. You know, it’s not tied to just the name.

CHAD: And I get why there’s an advantage to putting your name on it is it comes down to the idea of the buck stops here. My name is literally on the door, and I will see to it that everything goes well. But now you’ve assigned that and so how do you sell that? You know, it does become a little bit more than

REGAN: Think about you going? Yeah, I go into Dr. Gray, I go into Dr. Gray’s office, but I’m being seen by Dr. Kelly. Yeah, as a new patient already. I’m a little confused. As That’s right. I’m seeing Dr. Kelly. And I feel like I’m seeing second fiddle second string, I’d rather see Dr. Gray because that Dr. Gray’s often name is on the building.

CHAD: So superstar needs to harness their power to be the Rainmaker to bring in the business and everything like that, but they also then need to build up their team, I have a big enough problem with this that I’m trying, you know, I’ve got three associates that, you know, we’re trying to build their brand within the brand, and their their name and stuff like that. So within my company, we’ve got four of us doctors, but of course, it’s been the Chad Johnson show for you know, 10 plus years.

And so then eventually, I’d like to have the other doctors you know, have as much ownership within the brand, not just financially but also emotionally, you know, everything like that, that they have buy in to it. And that they want to be part of it. But if I’m if it’s always the Chad Johnson show, then I’m basically putting bug repellent on and then chasing bugs. It’s it’s not, you know, allowing for me to attract the very things that I’m looking at attracting getting associates to eventually want to buy you out. So you can leave and have an asset that you were able to cash in on.

REGAN: Boy, this is a great conversation I didn’t I like our free flow talks like this, because what that tells me is it gets back to your mission and vision again, and how you communicate and over communicate that mission and vision to your associates to get them on board. So you’ve got to get them bought into the dream and not you and that helps them get, you know, that helps them get buy in and having them put a little bit of skin in the game. So it’s really important like it to me, that’s important that you know, your philosophy of care, you’re very clear on it and you attract associates that either compliment or align with that philosophy of care.

CHAD: If you’re not looking there to start, that’s going to make your job a lot harder when it comes to to, you know, transition that practice out over time. So benefit of that. Speaking of philosophy of care, it gets us to your business impact foundations program, why don’t you tell us about that?

REGAN: Oh, again, it does actually. Well, what, what COVID what COVID did last year was it gave dentists a ton of time to to sit and think and ponder and for good, better or worse. I think it accelerated a lot of those who do I want to be conversations and Victoria and Bruce, it was interesting to see last year as they put their heads together and said we have to we have to pivot and provide something to this, you know, this need that has really bubbled to the surface and how do you you know, how do you ground yourself?

You ground yourself by reminding yourself who you are, why you why you came into dentistry in the first place and then asking your question, how you’ve evolved over time and are you are you serving yourself, not just your patients, but are you serving your And I feel like COVID definitely accelerated that need to be reflecting upon your inner reflection as opposed to just business as usual.

So, so yeah, Bruce and Vic came up with this, really, it’s a two month coaching intensive program, we have another one kicking off in April, this program really comes alongside you and helps you redefine who you are clarity to it, and then put a plan to it. So you’re not kind of, you know, back into the day to day grind of everything, but you’re able to get above the clouds and work towards a plan. It’s really it’s, it’s been, we’ve run a Gosh, I don’t know, a couple 100 doctors through it so far.

And it’s been incredible to see doctors saying they know they need to work on business, like everybody does. Everybody knows you need to work on your business, not just in your business, but they take their weekends to do admin work, or they just don’t, or they just choose not to invest the time because it’s a pain in the butt. So this is a really, I love how it’s structured, it’s really easy. It’s not overwhelming, it just takes you, you know, an hour a week to go through over two months time with, you know, with like minded peers, as well.

So you’re in a group Consortium, and you’re going through it together. And by the end of it, you know, you come you come away with that grounded confidence, knowing that you’ve got, you’ve got a two year plan that you can work towards and and your team can get buy in, because if you’re not clear, and you’re not really sure your team is guaranteed to not follow that they’ll have no idea where to go and the drama goes up, which is ridiculous. The turnover goes up, which is rough, all that stuff.

CHAD: Okay, so this is recorded early April, and you said that the next class is starting in April. It’s like, Oh, that’s like this month.

REGAN: So yes, we have what we have one more in 2021. We have one class starting September 24.

CHAD: Okay, so it’s either, like, get a hold of you guys ASAP, or wait until September, which wouldn’t be the end of the world. But you know, like, if they wanted to get into this April class, do they get ahold of Stacy? I mean, who do they get ahold of? Dana?

Okay. I’ve done it twice. And the second time, I got more clarity to myself in being able to complete it. So I think I just needed that read remediation effort to seal the deal in my mind about what you’re doing. Go to productivedentist.com/foundations.

REGAN: You’re not alone in that either. There’s been a few other doctors because you did it a second time, which was, which was something that I thought was really cool that that Victoria decided to include in that. And so we’ve had Yeah, so you’re one of a handful that have gone through it twice. And and it’s amazing to see, you know, the difference just between one and two for them. And they may have had other you know, other things in the way but it’s been been a great, great resource that way. Yeah.

CHAD: Well, Reagan, any other concluding thoughts about the white paper, we’re really thankful for Victoria kind of spelling that out. And it was kind of fun talking it out. Since that just came out recently. There’s been a lot of you know, buzz about it. So we are kind of happy to talk about it and invite people that listen to this, but might not know that, that that’s out there. So they should look for that.

REGAN: Yes, well, we’ll go ahead and put we’ll put the white paper in the in the show notes there. People could download it, I think it would be it was, it was great to have a conversation with you and see how you felt about it. And the white paper was just really helpful for me to you know, realize that I need to communicate with my team to what type of blind spots I know I have and reflect and see if they see if they share that you know, do they agree with that so that we can be better prepared just makes things a lot smoother when you identify right, right up front. We’ve got strengths. Here they are. And here’s some of the weaknesses. So let’s get support around us so we can be successful. I loved it. Thanks, Chad.

CHAD:  Yeah, exactly. Well, thanks, everyone. We’ll look forward to having you join us next week.