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How to Make the Transition from Solo Clinician to Dentrepreneurial CEO

How to Make the Transition from Solo Clinician to Dentrepreneurial CEO

5/2/2016 8:28:00 AM   |   Comments: 0   |   Views: 101

“Unum, the insurance company, ran an ad some years ago showing a powerful grizzly bear in the middle of a roaring stream, with his neck extended to the limit, jaws wide open, teeth flaring. The bear was about to clamp on to an unsuspecting airborne salmon jumping upstream. The headline read: YOU PROBABLY FEEL LIKE THE BEAR, WE’D LIKE TO SUGGEST YOU’RE THE SALMON.” 1

How you see yourself and how you feel about that observation reveals a truth about your role as a Solopreneur and a Dentrepreneur®?. This is especially true as you make the transition from clinician to “CEO.”

It’s first an emotional transition. Then it’s a legitimate daily reality as your dental enterprise grows and thrives.

You charge in like a “bear,” ready for action! But the leadership transition can leave you feeling like a “salmon” in the jaws of bear-like responsibilities.

Face it, you’ve leapt into new territory. You have the “chops” to run a thriving dental practice or you wouldn’t be where you are at this moment.

But there’s more to it… You’ve expanded your vision. And with that comes a completely new stream of opportunity plus the somewhat overwhelming task of leading more than a single team.

You’re in deep now. It’s time to up your game and build your leadership muscles.

Making the Transition from Solo Clinician to Dental Enterprise Building CEO

1-Think operationally

There’s a common pitfall that you must avoid from the start. Many misunderstand this and infect their organization.

Thinking operationally isn’t micromanaging. The daily details you perhaps formerly managed must be trusted to other capable team members.

Your ability to attract, recruit, and release team members around your organization’s tasks will propel your dental enterprise forward. TWEET THIS

As a Dentrepreneur®?, become effective at recruiting and building into your intrapreneurs. Intrapreneurs like the tasks and drive associated with dentrepreneurship and solopreneurship. Unlike some entrepreneurs they don’t mind taking direction.

 It is to your advantage to spot them within your organization. Once you do, give them the freedom to assist with operational tasks, provide input, and generally be your “right-hand” to expand your dental enterprise.

2-Lead your leaders

This naturally follows your operational intuition. Your ability to spot current and rising leaders will serve you at every level of your growth.

Leadership development starts with spotting intrapreneurs as earlier mentioned. It moves beyond that to a process of creating an ever expanding culture of new leadership.

The growth of your dental enterprise relies on the quality and strength of your leadership development culture. TWEET THIS

Watch for clinical leaders, team leaders, and operational leaders. Each make a unique contribution to your enterprise as a Dentrepreneur®?.

Build rapport with them and build into them. This goes beyond the daily details associated with a dental practice morning huddle.

Leadership development isn’t always a specific moment. Though it’s important to be consistently intentional.

The better part of leading your leaders has more to do with your influence. Presence, time, talk, and task management are each a unique part of it.

Look for leaders. And influence those you lead.

3-Consistently clarify your vision

There’s a funny thing about vision. It leaks and drifts.

Vision drift happens the larger your dental enterprise grows. Drift is also common when the vision not regularly clarified. TWEET THIS

Your role as CEO can easily remove you from the daily fray of your organization. It’s much the same as when you were only focused on clinical duties to the exclusion of those practice management tasks that were easy to overlook.

Now you’re a dentrepreneurial leader. Your true-north vision is what guides your dental enterprise.

Fearlessly and clearly communicate your vision. Conversations, walk-around moments, vision-laced content, etc are your tools for effective vision casting.

Listen relentlessly to the tone of conversations throughout your organization. Sense how dialed-in your team is to the vision.

Leverage your insights. Use what you hear (whether negative or positive) to lift your team towards living-out the vision.

Owning the vision begins with you. Its organic quality will naturally begin to take root throughout your dental enterprise. TWEET THIS

Your transition from clinician to CEO can be among your top challenges as a Dentrepreneur®?. You’re not alone.

Contact us for solutions and consistent leadership coaching.

Source: 1, Source: Marshall Goldsmith, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, p. 16  
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