How and when do I stop being a control freak? I was raised in a family of control freaks. Everyone thinks they know best, and they probably do know best. On top of that, no one has the patience to teach anyone else, and therefore end up doing everything themselves. Naturally, I grew up to be exactly the same. Now, as a new business owner, I realize that the family trait I have is actually a curse.
I started my own practice a little short of a year ago, and I did everything myself at first. Although I started fully staffed, at times I was my own receptionist, treatment coordinator, biller, assistant, hygienist, marketer, manager, designer, HR, etc. I’m sure that sounds very familiar. I used to think that I had to take on these roles regardless of the staff being present. They were new and they did not have the proper training yet. It never even occurred to me that it may just be my handicap of not being able to let go.
Now that my staff is fully trained and fully capable of doing all they were hired to do, I still find myself immersing into their tasks and taking over their responsibilities. This results in my being very tired and feeling hopeless that as the practice grows, my load will keep getting heavier, for no good reason. I have realized that my inability to delegate is the source of my problems. I’ve also that heard many other practitioners go through the same phase, but eventually learn to adapt. I’m doing my best to adapt, but keep finding myself taking over pretty much everyone. I think I can do it best, though that probably isn’t true anymore.
How do I stop? Should I stop at all? Will I stop naturally as the practice keeps growing and I just don’t have the time? Should I even worry about it now? I don’t know how to handle this and I find it to be one of the most challenging issues I’ve encountered in this quest to have my prefect practice.
Mona Goodarzi, DDS
3 comments:
Dr. Goodarzi- You aren't alone! While I'm not a dentist, I can relate to your "control freak" nature. Something that really helped me was reading Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People." I also took the Dale Carnegie course and now I'm hooked. It turns out, a key part of being a good leader and people manager is being able to delegate effectively. At the end of the day, you'll never be able to accomplish as much by yourself as your team can as a whole.
Good luck in your journey! I hope Dale Carnegie's insights can help you as much as they helped me.
Kim Schneider, publications manager
The American Student Dental Association
Thank you for your comment and recommendation Kim. I will look for Dale Carnegie's readings. I appreciate it and glad i'm not alone :)
Mona, now that it is one year later after this post, how are you doing? I too, found it difficult to delegate. I had to hire a dental business coach to teach me how to let go. Roger Levin, Steve Anderson of Total Patient Services (ToPS) are my 2 favourites and worked with both to great success. Good luck on this most amazing journey
warm regards,
Larry Stanleigh
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