Kiera walks listeners through a list of questions that should be answered before officially stepping away from your job.
Episode resources:
Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast
Schedule a Practice Assessment
Leave us a review
Transcript:
The Dental A Team (00:01)
Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today is gonna be a fun day. Like, are you ready about it? Let's talk about when you wanna quit. All team members, all bosses, every single one of us has that. And yet we're so freaking scared to say that out loud. And I just want you to know that like, it's okay to say you wanna quit. It's okay to say you don't wanna do it. And I want to just give you some tactical pieces to navigate through these tricky times. And also like, what do we do when we wanna quit? And to know, are we really ready to be done?
or is it a season that we can change? So you guys at the Dental A Team, I'm obsessed. Our job is to love on you to positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. I love doing dentistry. My last name's freaking Dent. I love working with clients. We work with clients one-on-one. We fly to practices. We work with you virtually. And we also have in-person masterminds where doctors and leadership teams come together to truly like be inspired. We call it life and dentistry on purpose. I'm super excited and I hope you can be a part of that. So let's talk about like, all right.
When do I want to quit? And like, let's kind of matrix it down. So when I'm looking at when I want to quit, I break it down to like, what things do I still enjoy doing? Do you still like doing dentistry? Do still like like helping team members? Do you still have patients? It's okay. You can have the list of like, what things do I still love and what things do I absolutely hate? And I just think it's like, most of the time, when I talk to doctors and like, I want to sell my freaking practice care, I want to just give up and quit or office manager like, I'm just sick of this.
When I asked them like, okay, let's talk about what you really don't like. Most of the time for owner doctors, it's usually cashflow and it's usually people management. Well, guess what? Great news. Doctor, you weren't meant to be the people manager. High five. Congratulations. Like, let's get you out of that seat. You're not the right person for that seat. So you're exhausted because you're trying to be the dentist. You're trying to be like the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, all within the practice. And that's freaking exhausting. And it's not what you were even like meant to be. Dentists, a lot of you are introverts. How do I know this? Cause you work in a like teeny tiny little mouth all day long.
And you're like, gosh, I'm not gonna go like wow and dazzle these people. And I know you're more extroverted but introverted, but like you have to have a piece of that because you work in like such small, small, small mouths all day long and work on smudge, small tiny teeth that like trying to be this expansive human and be on social media and be this person, it's exhausting. And so I just want you to show like, okay, what can we do and how do we figure out what this is going to be? And I just think like, this is our role. This is how we look at it. And for everybody to figure out like,
What happens when I feel this way? So number one is I want you to think of what do I really, really love doing and do I still love doing that? Then number two, what things are like exhausting and draining? Now, it might get thrilling. You might say, hmm, I don't enjoy anything. Well, great. Today's not the day for you to be answering this question then. I want you to be honest because I look at it and sometimes I'm like, hey, well, I still really love getting on the podcast. Some days I look at my day and I'm like, ? I'm terrified for it.
Other days though, most of the time, I was like 90 % of the time, I genuinely get so lit up and so excited to podcast and meet new people and give you guys great tips and tactical pieces and like, cool, let's go to the next thousands of episodes and how can I help you guys and like come up with topics you haven't heard of or change it with the landscape? I genuinely still love that. I still love coaching clients. love like, brush my shoulders off. Like I love to help a client like go from where they are to where they didn't believe was possible and to help them get there with ease and help their team and help them and like,
Like when I get off calls and I get text messages from team members saying like, here, you just totally changed your mind or we always love them and get on your calls because you bring so much positivity or doctors like, gosh, that was like such a good call, like you were looking so far down the line, things we didn't even think about. Like I still light up on that. I still love going into offices and just like brush my shoulders off, like killer visit that you didn't even know was possible. I still love to do mastermind events. I love to bring doctors together. It freaking scares me. I usually cry every single time. It's like so many emotions that like
come into me and out of me all in one moment. Like, I don't know why I do them, but I love it. I love hearing how we're changing people's lives. love when people are like, my gosh, I didn't even know this. Or like, we share resources together and people get to meet. Like, I'm so excited. We're about to run one. And like, I am giddy to see all these people that I love so much in one room and get to share like best friends with each other. I still love that. I still love figuring out new content and new ways to help dentists like thrive. I still love that. Things I don't love doing. ?
I hate running meetings. Like I hate them. I do. So what do I do instead of sitting here complaining and saying, I want to quit. Is there another option? And, um, I had a business coach tell me, said, Kiera, instead of thinking like, which door do I need to go through? Why don't I look at all the doors that are available for me? And that to me was such a freeing thing. Like, okay, so we could quit. You can like, let's just put that as an option. We can also sell the practice, like another option.
Then the third thing is like, well, if managing people stressing me out, I can hire a fractional COO. Didn't even know that was a thing. So if you've got like multiple practices and you're like, can't find a regional, they're expensive. I'm talking like 180 to 250. I'm not joking. That's like literally how much they cost and they're working part time. It's really fun, but they're smart and they know how to run businesses and drive things. You can hire a regional manager. You can hire, if you're like, I'm so tired of doing dentistry, you can hire an associate like.
Could I have this? they're like, yeah, but Kiera, I still have to manage. Not wrong. What if my manager became a partner in the practice? So they're tethered in and they're like part of the practice. You can do this. Like, what if it's like, I just feel like I can't ever take vacations. Well, great. Let's like figure out how many vacations you want. Let's figure out the numbers of what we need to produce when you're there. Or we change up our overhead. Like, great. These are all solutions. ? Kiera, I'm just so tired of managing teams. Well, let's see how many team members you're managing and do we need to add leadership members and train them to be leaders?
We've got books, we've got training, we've got courses that we can send them to, to help them be great leaders. Like, I think so often we just feel like it's a, I'm sick of it I'm going to quit or I'm going to sell my practice. And then I think about it. This is how I play the game. I've actually talked to a decent amount of brokers working with clients over the years. And I think something that gets lost is what do we do afterwards? What's your plan after? And is that something that's going to be fulfilling for you or not? You're like, I'm
for me, I'm like, I know exactly what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna take two years off. I'm not gonna talk to a single soul. It's gonna last me two months, guarantee you. I'm gonna go out and work out every single day. Well, great, I could do that now, I? I'm going to travel and see my family more. Okay, great, like talk me through. What is it really gonna look like? Could we do that now? And I think we oftentimes limit our opportunities in the moment of what we're doing and we like exasperate our opportunities thinking of what it would be like versus
Could I not have this life that I'm dreaming up today? And could I actually delegate or pay? Like I think about this, a lot of dentists, make pretty good money. A lot of our clients are usually making 200 on my low end a year, up to like 10 to 12 million a year plus. Okay? So when I look at this, I remember I had an office, they were netting, I think 1.2 million. And they're like, it's just not worth it for me to do this anymore. And I said, really? You're taking home 1.2 post-tax.
You're only working four days a week. You're off every single day at three. 1.2 is not worth it. You're gonna have freaking problems. Like you will, that's part of it. You signed up for a business. It's not gonna all go away. You're still gonna have issues. Things are gonna break. But you're also making 1.2. You could go be an associate and make 200,000, no issue and have none of these problems. Is that what you wanna do? There is no right or wrong answer. But I really think it's like, let's look at this and let's see how can we actually make this better? How can we like?
Could I fix any of these things? For me, when I look at it, I'm like, all right, I'm sick of running meetings. We're hiring a full-time COO. I can't wait. It's gonna cost me my arm, my leg, and my throat. Like, awesome. But it's gonna give me so much of my time back and they're gonna help grow us so much. someone told me something so great the other day. They said hiring right people, right seat should not cost you any more money. It's wrong people, wrong seat that cost you money.
The right person, right seat, you should look back. I remember we did this, we hired a treatment coordinator and I was like, my gosh, we can't afford her. Like I remember this day and I was like begging the doctor, we are partners. And I was like, give me three months with this person. Like I think we can like navigate three months and if she's not paying for herself, we'll cut bait. And I remember I interviewed this girl, her name was Kristen. And I said, Kristen, you got three months to prove yourself. Otherwise I have to fire you. Like, I can't keep you going. Like I've gotten the doctor to like say yes to it. Within her first month, this girl was paying for herself. And that's how right people, right seat should be.
You should be in 90 days, be like, what have we ever done without them? They're paying for themselves, they're driving our practice forward. Wrong people, wrong seat, or what cost you money? So when I look at this and I'm like, okay, so like I'm gonna give up my arm, my leg, and my soul. It's gonna be great to hire this person, but my stress goes down. Am I willing to take that much of a pay decrease? Yeah, I am. Because what it's gonna equate to is I'm gonna have more of this, this, and this while still being able to do all the things in the business I love.
And this is Kiera coming to you where I've definitely had that moment, like catch me on the wrong day, Dental A Team's yours for a buck. And I say that out of jest, not because I actually mean it, but I say that in hopes that you can empathize and you can relate and you can see that I'm a true business owner just like you. That I have hard days, I have great days, I have days where I'm like, ? I built this, I coach on this. You want to talk about imposter syndrome? Well, hi, I'm Kiera.
I think we so often just feel like, don't know, we feel like this isn't what it was supposed to look like. And I'm like, you're right, because you didn't know. And if you would have known, you wouldn't taken the risk. But there's so much good in beauty, if I can see it. So action items are tactical when you want to quit. Number one, make the list of things that you still love doing. Push yourself. Number two, have every single door that possibly could be open still open. And then let's figure out what's the other side of the equation for that. If I sell.
What is my life going to look like? If I quit, what's my life going to look like? If I hire a COO or an office manager or a regional manager, what can my life look like? There's recruiters that hire these people. What about an associate doctor that could take the load off? I'm going to take a pay cut, but like I would have the freedom that I want. What if I scaled back and only work two days a week and I have the rest of it? Like, I don't think that practice owners realize that you have so many more cards in your deck than you give yourself credit for.
And I think for you to maybe step back, even office managers, like, guess what? You're living a great life over there. You got a lot of freedoms. So when I look at this, I just feel like it's okay. And then I think next to have like detach our feelings from leadership standard. Being a big CEO is a shift. You're not going to feel inspired every day. You're not going to feel patient every day. You're not going to feel energized every day. Leadership's not a mood. It's a standard.
And I want you to remember your team does not need a perfect leader. They need a steady one. Showing up calmly on hard days will build more trust than showing up energized on an easy one. And so I think when you look at this, I think it's recognizing that the fabric of business ownership is not going to be the highs and it's not going to be the lows. It's the everything in between. And if you can figure out what still energizes you, how you can make that life today, and then realizing if all that's gone,
it might be time for you to quit and that's also okay. But I'd encourage you to explore and sometimes having a coach that can see outside like I got like 200 more crayons in the box compared to your 10. Like let's color. Let's see what other things could we do before you give up and maybe guess what it is. But why not give it a try of something different before we try that route? And that's just what I'd encourage you because a lot of people do sell and a lot of people give up and they quit and then they regret it and they wish. I know one friend out of about 50
that does not regret it. But if I've got 49 others that do, maybe that's telling us to maybe be a little more cautious, recognize that this is day in, day out, and also find the joy, find the beauty, find the fun within so we can show up in the best way possible. This is what we live to do. We live to help CEOs become CEOs and own office managers become great office managers and to get your team and your practice working for you, not you working for your practice. Did you hear that? It should work for you, not you working for it.
So let's work together. Let's figure it out. Let's paint with more crayons in the crayon box. Let's see how we can help you out with this. So reach out because honestly, ownership will feel heavier than you ever expected. It's not a problem. It's nothing wrong with you. You're not broken. It's just a signal for you to look for different opportunities. This is what we're obsessed with. So reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com or click on our website and go book a call. It's complimentary. We'll just give you a good roadmap. So at least you have like direction of where to go. So reach out. I'd love to help you. And as always just know I'm giving you a giant hug.
I'm rooting for you and I'd love to do it with you in real life at the mastermind. I'd love to do it with you in your office with our team, or I'd love to just have you closer to my inner circle. You're doing better than you think you are. I'm giving you a giant hug. I'm cheering you on and I'd love to connect with you. Thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.