I recently listened to a conversation on my local sports radio station that was highly relevant to the world of dentistry.

The discussion was about the state of the New York Rangers. Last year, the Rangers had the best record in the regular season. They followed that up with a long playoff run, losing the Eastern Conference Finals in 6 games to the Florida Panthers. The Panthers, of course, went on to win the Stanley Cup.

This season, with many of the same stars still in the lineup, the Rangers failed to make the playoffs. So how does a team, which many had predicted was a team on the rise, go from the best record one season to missing the playoffs the next?

The discussion on sports radio was all about how dissatisfied players were with the team, how so many of them wanted to leave and play elsewhere.

Seriously? I mean…this is New York. This is not a small market franchise players try to avoid playing for. This is a destination city many young players would love to be part of.

Yes—New York is not a city in a “no tax” state à la Vegas, Dallas or the two Florida teams. But it is still New York! One of the most exciting cities in North America. Why would players NOT want to be part of an original 6 franchise and play home games in one of the most famous stadiums in the world?

The answer…leadership. Or more importantly, the lack of good leadership. And it was plain to the panel, based on their discussions with colleagues in New York, the problems all started with poor leadership at the ownership level. Ownership had created an atmosphere where players felt they were not being valued, that they were treated unfairly.

Does that sound familiar? How often have you heard that many of the problems faced by dental offices that seem to underperform can be traced to lack of quality leadership coming from the practice owner? The owner does not value the efforts of the team? Sadly, this is something I hear far too often.

As a clinician, you may have the skills of Connor McDavid! You may spare no expense when it comes to investing in technology in your practice. Everything could be state of the art and your work…cutting edge.

But can you inspire your team? Collectively, can you inspire your patients?

Dentistry is a lot like hockey in that it is a team sport. Everyone on your team has their role to play. As the owner, your role is not just to be a great dentist. You need to be a great leader, someone who makes the people around them also want to be great.

Achieving this means you need to understand more than great dentistry. You also need to:

• understand the tasks that need to be performed in your office;
• hire the best people to fill those roles;
• clearly delegate responsibility to team members;
• ensure your team has the skills and training necessary to perform their role;
• provide regular feedback as to their performance with the right encouragement to allow them to learn and grow;
• always be a positive communicator; and
• LISTEN!

Great leaders do not preach from the pulpit. They engage their team; they listen and learn from them. They understand that if they meet the needs of their team members, those individuals will perform at a higher level.

Your team can try to create a great work environment without you. But the reality is their efforts will be undermined if the leadership does not start from the top.

You don’t want flashes of greatness that you fail to maintain like what happened to the Rangers. You want consistency. And consistency can only be achieved when you embrace your role as the CEO—as the leader of your practice.