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Ten Leadership Skills You'll Need From Day One Rhonda R. Savage, DDS

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by Rhonda R. Savage, DDS
Fresh from dental school, in my crisp U.S. Navy uniform, I quickly learned how little I knew about leadership, communication and managing people. Then I went on to private practice, only to experience the pain of learning from mistakes again and again. From these mistakes and a career of experience, I have learned the skills I believe are crucial to leadership in a dental practice, and I'd like to share them with you herein.



1. Learn from Mistakes
The first rule of leadership is when you make a mistake, learn from it and move on – as gracefully as possible. Allow your staff to do the same thing, because if you or they are not making mistakes, no one is learning. Learning is hard and uncomfortable, but the ability to learn and experience discomfort is one of the key ways to motivate your team and yourself.

A life well lived includes some level of discomfort. If you’re completely comfortable, you’re probably not learning. As you grow into the new skill or challenge, the discomfort eases. When you no longer feel any discomfort though, it’s time to take on the next challenge. This learning process is what keeps us motivated and excited in the field of dentistry.

Nobody (including you) is perfect. With this in mind, it’s important to not accept poor performance or deliberate misbehavior either. Learn how to forgive an honest mistake. Verbally give your team members permission to make mistakes, while simultaneously training them.

2. Offer Daily Coaching
Daily coaching is critically important. This is true if you’re a military dentist, an associate or an owner dentist. Begin by being clear about your intention and expressing it to the person who needs coaching. Let your staff know what they’re doing well, but also clearly define what you need.

Explain your coaching intentions at a total team meeting. Let them know that coaching is a two-way street. This means that as a leader, you will earn their respect if you are willing to listen to constructive criticism without getting angry or having your feelings hurt. Your practice is not a democracy, but you need to hear from your team the things that need to change in order to grow your practice.

Coaching doesn’t have to consume every minute of your time. Make a commitment to talk to your staff for two minutes a day or every other day. This will ensure, especially with the front office staff, that they feel connected to you even though you’re not working directly with them.

3. Say “Thank You”
Staff (employees) need to know why they’re doing something significant and also, that what they do matters! Money is important, but number-one on a team member’s list is praise and appreciation. This doesn’t mean artificial flattery or insincerity (or worse yet, sarcasm). Praise is best when it’s timely, specific and genuine. Slapping someone on the shoulder and saying, “Great job” has little meaning and can be taken the wrong way. Say thank you when you hand them their paychecks – after all, they did earn it.

4. Provide Motivation for Hard Work
When asked about a bonus structure by your staff for their hard work, you might reply, “You get to keep your job!” True, but this statement will not motivate your team to do more for you! Bonus plans can be motivational, but can also be fraught with problems. Bonus is “extra pay for extra effort” and should not be undertaken if the practice isn’t healthy. In addition, bonuses should be earned, not expected. Contact me at rhonda@milesglobal.net for a complimentary copy of our bonus plan methods.

If your bottom line or percentages of overhead are out of whack, don’t start a bonus plan. Instead, ask your team to create a wish list of benefits that you can add to as the bottom line improves; let them know what they need to accomplish and many times, they will surprise you!

5. Establish a Formal Review Process
Use the formal review process as a goal-setting session and then give timely feedback. You’ll need a performance- tracking mechanism. An annual review should be a minimum requirement for an office. I recommend you consider half-yearly reviews, or quarterly reviews.

Break up the review process by having the reviews in the anniversary month of the employee’s hiring date. No reviews in your office? I’ve visited some offices where they’ve never had a review or regular staff meetings. The only time the team hears from the doctor is if they’re all in trouble. If this is the case, staff will dread any kind of meeting.

A well-done performance review is motivational. The staff member should never be surprised by your feelings or thoughts regarding his or her performance, behavior or attitude. Instead, you should make certain that your team member knows daily what he or she needs to change.

For a well-done, motivational performance review, have the team member fill out a review form; the doctor (and office manager) should fill out the same form. Even if you have an office manager, you still need to be involved in the review process. Your employees will feel motivated and appreciated when they know they’ll have a chance to talk with you regularly about performance and goals.

6. Be Approachable
Team meetings improve communication. A well-run team meeting has parameters and boundaries, as well as clearly defined expectations regarding behavior. A productive team meeting is organized, has an agenda, has different facilitators on a rotational basis and is interesting and fun!

Team members, including the doctor, must be present – not just physically. Choose your attitude and come with one or two positive suggestions for change. The meeting will not be a gripe session. The format should be interesting; changing the topics on a regular basis to include office goals, statistics on the health of the practice, areas of concern, what’s going well and team training.

7. Keep Staff In the Know
No one wants to work in an information void. When employees, coworkers or enlisted personnel know how they’re doing, and can see the results of their work, they will be more inclined to work harder. Do not surprise employees. Involve them in the decision making process whenever possible. Meet often. Staff meetings are so important for both team morale and communication.

8. Be Consistent
You can build motivation on a foundation of trust. Trust and respect are earned with consistent behavior and clearly defined expectations. Sit down and draft a list of your expectations and office protocol. Perhaps you already have this defined in an Office Policy Manual. If so, dust off your office manual and review it.

Doctors and office managers need to be held at a higher standard when it comes to consistency. Every person should be held accountable to the office standards. If one person or more are allowed to get away with poor behavior or if favoritism exists, you’ll either lose the respect of other team members or other team members will begin to act like the poorly behaved person.

9. Don’t Micromanage
Micromanagement will drive down morale. People give up. They say to themselves, “Why should I bother? She’s just going to do it again anyway. I can’t ever do it well enough for her.” Resentment and frustration build. Staff turnover will exist.

Instead of micromanaging, review the guidelines of the project with the employee to whom it has been assigned. Allow the other person to give input. Set dates to check in and review the progress. Put these dates on a calendar with reminders; it is the employee’s responsibility to follow up with you, but you need a tickler system. Hold the employee accountable if the person does not follow through, but be certain you provide the staff member with the time needed to complete the task.

10. Act Like a Leader
Doctors are the leaders of their practices, regardless of whether there is an office manager or not. This means the OM reports to the doctor directly on a regular basis. If you or your office manager has not had formal training in facilitating communication, staff training, the business of the practice or leadership skill training, I recommend a workshop. Managing, motivating people, communication, the numbers of the practice and leadership were not skills I learned in dental school.

Conclusion: Take the gut-wrenching leap toward new challenges. Be willing to make mistakes, show some vulnerability, tell the truth and ask your team for their help. Be willing, as a strong leader, to let your team know that you need them to make the practice successful. Ask them for ideas. Let them share issues and concerns. Learn to work together. Denis Waitley stated it best when he said, “Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now.”

Author's Bio
Dr. Rhonda Savage began her career in dentistry as a dental assistant in 1976. After four years of chairside assisting, she took over front office duties for the next two years. She loved working with patients and decided to become a dentist. Savage graduated with a B.S. in biology, cum laude, from Seattle University in 1985; she then attended the University of Washington School of Dentistry, graduating in 1989 with multiple honors. Savage went on active duty as a dental officer in the U.S. Navy during Desert Shield/Desert Storm and was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal, the National Defense Medal and an Expert Pistol Medal. While in private practice for 16 years, Savage authored many peer-reviewed articles and lectured internationally. She is active in organized dentistry and has represented the State of Washington as President of the Washington State Dental Association. Savage is the CEO for Miles Global, formerly Linda L. Miles and Associates, known internationally for dental management and consulting services. She is a noted speaker who lectures on practice management, women’s health issues, periodontal disease, communication and marketing and zoo dentistry. To speak with Dr. Savage about your practice concerns or to schedule her to speak at your dental society or study club, please e-mail rhonda@milesglobal.net, or call 877-343-0909. You can also find Rhonda on Dentaltown.com by her display name “rsavage”.
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September 2025
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