New Articles
Creating a Vision for Your Practice
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
It can be difficult for a woman in a leadership position to show sensitivity for fear it will be perceived as weakness. I remember the first time Dr. Jim Pride, our founder, broached with me the subject of leading with vision. My response was, "Even if we are a California-based company, I don't want to link hands and sing Kum Ba Yah!"
Originally published in Woman Dentist Journal , January 2008.
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Interviewing and Hiring for the Best
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
In filling a vacancy on your team, the first thing to recognize is that your small business is like your very own party. This means that you get to decide the guest list—and you don’t have to invite just anyone. Hiring always reminds me of the old StarKist commercial in which cartoon mascot Charlie the Tuna is perennially sent away with the exclamation: Sorry, Charlie, only good-tasting tuna get to be StarKist. The same thing applies to your hiring: Only the best-tasting tuna should get to join your team. With the StarKist vision in mind, you can find and retain quality employees who exceed expectations. The challenge is: How do you attract only the best tuna? Here is some bait to lure them to your net.
Originally published in Woman Dentist Journal , October 2007.
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Sudden Impact Solutions :
Six Steps to Implementing Technology
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
Today's technology has created amazing treatments and outcomes that dazzle patients and dentists alike. At Chicago Midwinter, Hinman, and other meetings, are you magnetized by all that is new, wanting to purchase everything? (The grapevine has it that the latest must-have equipment runs $200,000-plus.) How can you implement costly, rapidly changing innovations that enhance patient care and also guarantee a return on investment (ROI)? There are six critical steps to help you meet this challenge successfully always.
Originally published in Dental Economics, August 2007.
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What Women Dentists Really Want to Know:
How to Overcome Change Resistance
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
We have a natural internal resistance to change, and if we are to overcome it, the potential consequences of not making the change must be greater than the fear of change. There are certain questions you can ask that help others to see the value of making an important improvement and the risks of not making it. Asking these questions will encourage your patients to accept comprehensive treatment and your team members to support practice innovations. We call these the "APEA" questions.
Originally published in Woman Dentist Journal, August 2007.
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Sudden Impact Solutions:
Separating Good From Bad Advice on Transitions
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
At my recent seminars for practicing dentists and dental-school seniors, the question causing a lot of angst was: "Who can I trust to give me good advice on practice transitions?" Because dentists lack a thorough understanding of legal and financial issues, they can feel as if they are held hostage by accountants, lawyers, consultants, or other advisors.
Originally published in Dental Economics, June 2007.
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What Women Dentists Really Want to Know:
How to Train Your Staff
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
When staff members enter the practice, before struggling with performance shortfalls, they are enthusiastic and willing to learn. If you capitalize on their initial enthusiasm during the training phase, you won't need to invest unpleasant time later in correction, counseling, confrontation, and termination. If you dread confronting and firing staff, the antidote is to train them. Two basic tools to make training easier are the job description and training plan.
Originally published in Woman Dental Journal, June 2007.
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How to Hire and Retain Your First Staff Member
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
The entire hiring and training process can seem daunting to most dentists, who choose their profession because they love doing clinical procedures. However, we known from many years of practice failures that dentists can competently and effectively deliver ideal clinical dentistry only when they have developed a self-directed, competent team to keep the practice running.
Originally published in Dental Entrepreneur, Spring 2007.
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The E-Myth for Dentists:
Why Most Dental Practices Don't Work and What to Do About It
By Michael Gerber and Amy Morgan
Michael Gerber, the creator and CEO of E-Myth Worldwide and In the Dreaming Room, tools to revolutionize small businesses based on his series of bestselling E-Myth books, is working with Pride Institute to bring his teachings to dentists. In this article, he describes the E-Myth and the obstacles he observes small business owners encountering that prevent them from realizing their true potential, and Amy Morgan, Pride's CEO, adds her insights on the application of these concepts to the world of dentistry
Originally published in Dental Economics, May 2007.
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Sudden Impact Solutions: Nipping Performance Shortfalls in the Bud
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
The employee handbook, feedback, and growth conferences are powerful tools for molding a practice culture that inspires people to address performance shortfalls and grow in their jobs. These tools provide a pathway to excellent service and care of your patients.
Originally published in Dental Economics, April 2007.
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What Women Dentists Really Want to Know:
How to Confront Your Staff
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
Confrontation isn’t easy. If I had a nickel for every staff issue that made me squirm, I’d be retired and confronting coconuts.Confrontation requires the courage to look someone in the eye and say: “This is what I’m getting. This is what I need. You have a choice to make.”
Originally published in Woman Dental Journal, April 2007.
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Sudden Impact Solutions:
Taking the Fear Out of Fees
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
I have five tenets to help you take the fear out of fees. If you’re still fearful after learning them, raise your fees anyway.
Originally published in Dental Economics, February 2007.
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Sudden Impact Solutions:
Avoiding the Monsters under the Bed - Your Strategic Plan for 2007
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
In previous columns, I discussed the merits and impact of creating an annual plan by which you indicate the goals for your practice and forecast them numerically for the upcoming 12 months. If you do only this much, you’ll discover that the numbers by themselves—such as the forecast of a 20-percent increase in production, or a 30-percent rise in new patients—do not insure success. The rubber only hits the road when you create a solid strategy for achieving your goals and numbers, which is the purpose of a strategic plan.
Originally published in Dental Economics, December 2006 .
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Santa's Leadership Secrets
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
I’ve always been a believer in Santa. Because of his genuineness, vulnerability, and willingness to represent something wonderful for everyone, he became a compelling character in my life.
This is why I was excited to discover that Santa has leadership secrets we all could use! He reveals them in a book called “The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus,” by Eric Harvey, David Cottrell, and Al Lucia. The subtitle is: How to Get Big Things Done in YOUR “Workshop” All Year Long.
Originally published in RDH, November 2006.
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Taking the Guesswork Out of Staff Compensation:
A Scientific and Human Approach
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
Do you get knots in your stomach when you discuss salary, rewards, and benefits with your team? A sound compensation system can boost morale and performance. However, this topic too often becomes an emotional mine field, wounding the staff’s self-respect and personal validation. Not surprisingly, therefore, compensation is also the practice system most likely to be powered by a doctor’s confusion, guilt, and fear.
Originally published in Dentistry Today, November 2006.
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Stop Kidding Yourself: Business 101
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
The marrying of business and dentistry can be an uneasy relationship for any dentist. For women, there are additional issues that make business even harder to embrace. Statistical measures of practice success can sometimes be viewed as competitive, filled with sports analogies such as “drop-kicking through the goalpost,” “hitting a home run,” or “huddle-up, people.” Many women feel uncomfortable with the competitiveness often associated with business. In addition, if a woman dentist feels obligated to serve others in Mother Teresa-like fashion, she may have great difficulty pursuing profit.
Originally published in Woman Dentist Journal, October 2006.
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Building Your Patient's Trust
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
A doctor-centered relationship focuses on biomedical facts, clinical data, technical details of treatment plans, and reinforcement of rules and guidelines. A patient-centered relationship, however, focuses on the patient’s wants and needs, questions about the diagnosis, fears of treatment, and concerns about time, cost, and follow through. The patient-centered approach is what you need for true practice success.
Originally published in Dental Economics, October 2006.
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Implementing Technology to its Fullest Advantage
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
Do you spend a fortune on technological advances but are unable to incorporate them fully into your practice? Innovation is often stalled due to resistance to change or the daunting challenge of implementing wide-sweeping improvements while running an already busy practice. For these reasons, some dentists shun new technology entirely. As a result, many are missing out on the substantial benefits of today’s advances.
Originally printed in Dentristy Today, September 2006.
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Finding Your Leader's Voice
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
Every day you have to delve into your leadership bag for tools to apply to new situations that arise. This is why dentists often feel that the “cure” for staff issues—leadership—is worse than the disease. What would be an approach to leadership that would provide a true cure for frazzled dentists overwhelmed by staff issues, and also would feel completely natural and comfortable to apply?
Originally printed in Dental Economics, November 2006.
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Customer Service: How Do You Rate?
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
Ever wonder why patients reject treatment, pay late, cancel appointments, or otherwise fail to do what you want them to do? For the answer, try looking in the mirror. A basic truth of leadership is that those who want to influence others cannot really control anyone but themselves. This is good news, because the sooner we stop blaming customers, the staff, the economy, etc., and look to ourselves to change things, the sooner we solve the mystery of the uncooperative patient. The million-dollar question then becomes: How does a dentist and team inspire patient loyalty and commitment?
Originally printed in Dental Economics, June 2006.
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The Boomers are Booming: Are you ready?
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
I recently met a dentist whom I'll call Dr. Woeful. During a mid-life crisis, he decided to raise his family 100 miles from his current office. He bought a new practice in the desired location before selling the old one, only to discover that his original rural location is attractive to nobody. He now has two practices. To make matters worse, the dentist who sold him the new practice is old, ornery, and unwilling to change or leave...
Originally printed in Dental Economics, May 2006.
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Are You Prey to the Failure Patterns of Women Dentists?
Four Management Mysteries Revealed
By Amy Morgan, CEO, Pride Institute
Being a professional woman, I know how we are often expected to be all things to all people at all times. As the head of a company, mother of teenage daughters, and semi-decent wife when I'm not asleep, I can tell you, it's a tall task to be superwoman. This is particularly true for the woman dentist, who often takes on the roles of mother, wife, business owner, caregiver, patient's counselor, staff's nurturer....
Originally printed in Woman's Dentist Journal, May 2006.
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