"The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership." General Colin Powell, Chairman (Ret), Joint Chiefs of Staff

This great military leader’s quote can apply to a broad variety of leadership roles that many of us share.

Parent. Spouse. Friend. Department Manager. Owner.

Don’t let yourself get trapped into thinking that when others seek you counsel and advice it is a distraction from getting other (more important) tasks done. To be sure, management is about doing things right.  Leadership is about doing right things. We need both skills in our dental laboratory profession. It is not right to focus solely on task completions with extreme accuracy and expect to be successful. We have to perform the right tasks: internally with our team and externally with our client doctors and their staffs.

INTERNALLY

“It takes about two weeks for employees to begin to treat your customers they same way you treat them”.  Sam Walton Former CEO WalMart.

Our clients can feel the way we reflect internal leadership through customer service and communication. Optimism versus pessimism. Future focused versus the good old days. New technology versus the way we have always done It.  There are so many subtle and overt examples of leadership that we can enjoy internally and give our co-workers hope. How are we handling this economy and the impact it may have on revenue? With our staff? Our family? Are we being consistent across these relationships? Have we responded to change and prepared for the upturn?

EXTERNALLY

Create a value proposition that goes beyond selling them more or different stuff. It is so easy to see our relationships with dentists and their practices as centered around selling products and services. Don’t miss hear me, we do just that. But our sale to them is a result of the relationship we have  with them and the trust that they have in us. The sale is not the relationship. Be a resource for success. Help them grow and have less stress.

"People never care how much you know until they know how much you care." John C. Maxwell

Surveys have shown things our doctors wish we knew about them and did for them. Ask me what you can do to improve my practice. Show that you are as concerned with my success as your own. Do something occasionally that does not involve making a profit on me. Understand I’m in business to make money for me, not your laboratory. Learn to ask me questions and listen.

About the author:Murphy is the vice president of educational services for Mercer Advisors, director of professional relations for Quantum Dental Resources, and consults and lectures for dental laboratories, manufacturers and dentists throughout the United States and Canada through Funktional Design Group. He can be reached at mtmurphydds@gmail.com or mark.murphy@merceradvisors.com.