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5 traits of great dental practice leaders and easy ways to develop them

By Jamie MorleyFebruary 15, 2024

Have you ever found yourself marvelling at the success of a dental practice and wondering what sets its leader apart from the rest? In this blog post, I'll explore five key traits that great dental practice leaders possess, offering insights into what sets them apart and how you can easily start to cultivate these qualities to elevate your own leadership. Read, listen or watch!

1. Energy, drive and enthusiasm

All the successful dental practice leaders that I have met have high levels of positive energy and enthusiasm for what they do. They love what they do either in it’s own right or in the impact that it has on others.

This enables them to transmit this enthusiasm to their team members and to their patients. It doesn’t necessarily have to be in a highly extraverted way. It can sometimes be in the form of quiet but intense effort and determination where it is clear for people to see the energy they have for what they do.

They can be resilient when the going gets tough. They are able to find a way, to keep moving forward and to resolve difficult situations because they have a drive and enthusiasm for what they do.

They are able to make courageous decisions because they have such a strong belief and enthusiasm for what they do. This overrides any fear that may be present.

They have an awareness of what drives them and they tap into that in order to maintain a constant source of energy and enthusiasm.

What do other sources say?

In this article by the Creative Centre for Leadership called 12 Characteristics of a good leader 3 of those qualities link strongly to levels of enthusiasm and energy for what you do. 

• Communication
• Courage
• Resilience

All 3 of these are possible when the leader has a high level of positive energy and enthusiasm for what they do.

Tony Robbins refers to Extraordinary Hunger in his article Elevate your impact: 10 Leadership Qualities of Remarkable Leaders. I think this captures it well. It is an enthusiasm and inner drive to make it happen and to do what you do.

How is this especially relevant for Dental Practice Leaders?

Most dental practice leaders are on the front line engaging with patients and staff. The passion they have for this transmits to patients and to team members through that direct interaction in the service that is provided. For most businesses the leader is not providing the service whereas a high number of dental practice principles still are. As a result this quality is even more important.

Easy steps to develop this

• Reflect on something that you love doing in your role as a dental practice leader. Spend an additional 30 minutes a week doing this
• Reflect on something that you don’t like doing in your role as a dental practice leader. Does it really need to be done? If it doesn’t, then stop doing it. If it does, find somebody else to do it instead

When you have clarity on this it will help you to understand why you do what you do, giving you more energy and drive.

2. Honesty and authenticity

The great dental leaders I have worked with are authentic and honest. They know what they are good add whilst also knowing what they are not so good add. They are honest in their own assessment of themselves as well as being honest with their team members about the dental practice itself and about situations that occur within the practice.

This authenticity leads to a level of inner confidence which in turn gives confidence to their team members to follow them.

The honesty leads to trust. The leader doesn’t get found out through doing or saying something that is dishonest. Team members start to trust them, to follow them and to believe in them.

Above all this you are creating a culture of honesty within your dental practice. If you behave honestly and with authenticity then you allow others to do the same.

What do other sources say?

This research from a consulting firm in the US stated that the most important thing that employees look for in their leader is integrity. Being honest and doing the right thing.

Michelle Obama states honesty as one or her 10 most important attributes for a great leader. 

How is this especially relevant for Dental Practice Leaders?

Healthcare and dentistry requires ethical and honest behaviour. Dental practice leaders are engaging with patients and have their health in their hands. It is a position of responsibility where they are caring for people. If the leader behaves in a way that is not honest then this potentially puts this all at risk and blows the trust of patients and will also blow the trust of team members.

Dental practice leaders have to be honest and have difficult conversations with patients and team members. In healthcare you are dealing with a person’s health and sometimes this will involve having difficult conversations. You will also have to have difficult conversations sometimes with team members when situations arise that require a behaviour or action to be highlighted in order that it changes moving forward. If you don’t do this, this runs the risk of not only affecting the rest of the team but also of directly impacting patients.

How to develop this

• Reflect on something that you have noticed a team member doing that you think is fantastic and is making a positive impact
• Have an honest and positive conversation with this person, describing what you have noticed and the positive impact this is having on the practice

3. Adaptability & creativity

Dentistry in a way is both fast moving and stuck in the dark ages. There are practices that exist which operate in a way that is very much stuck in the past yet there are other practices that are at the very forefront of the available technology. 

The great dental practice leaders are able to recognise the changes that are occurring in the environment and adapt to them through innovating what they do and how they do it. 

They don’t feel entitled to anything, they simply adapt and introduce new ways of doing things to keep leading the way.

What do other sources say?

In this article by the Harvard Business Review titled The 8 Essential Qualities of Successful team leaders it names adaptability as one of those essential qualities. They highlight the ever increasing speed of change, which is certainly true of dentistry, meaning that great leaders have to be able to adapt.

Jack Welch, the highly successful CEO of General Electric for many years made famous the quote ‘change before you have to’. This is very relevant in today’s dental world where fewer and fewer dental practices stuck in the past can survive.

How is this especially relevant for Dental Practice Leaders?

This is about what stands the great dental leaders apart from the average ones. They have not been scared to try and do new things. To embrace new ideas and technology whilst looking at the environment in an objective fashion rather than complaining about changes that might be occurring.

The technology in dentistry is fast moving because the regulatory barriers involved relative to other medical devices are not as high. Companies can get new technologies to market relatively quickly. This means things change fast. Great dental practice leaders are able to recognise the opportunities on those changes.

This has really enabled them and their practices to stand out from the rest.

How to develop this

• Think of a small change that you can make to benefit your practice
• Put a clear deadline in place and make the change

4. Ability to connect & communicate

Great dental practice leaders find the time to really connect with their people. They find the time to do this, even though they are often incredibly time poor. They are genuinely interested and concerned about their team. They display empathy.

They listen to them and engage with them. They don’t see themselves as superior. They try to reduce the power gradient rather than increase it.

They can also connect with groups and teams. To understand what is going on in the team and to communicate effectively to the overall group.

What do other sources say?

This article in the Harvard Business Review talks to the importance of connecting for leaders. Connection must come first, everything else follows.

Any research into the effectiveness of counselling or coaching shows that the number one most important factor in the success of those services is the level of connection between the patient and the coach or therapist. Connection is a must.

How is this especially relevant for Dental Practice Leaders?

Leading a Dental Practice is in essence a service business. This means you are interacting with patients and your team members are interacting with patients. If you connect effectively with your people and your patients it will be incredibly hard to be successful. 

The greater your ability to connect, the more successful you will be.

How to develop this

• Think of your most important team member
• Put aside a dedicated 30 minute slot with no other distractions to listen to them and ask them about the practice
• Make this a regular practice

5. Focus

Focus is a challenge for any leader. The ability of any leader to focus themselves and their team on what matters most is incredibly important.  Give areas of focus within which team members can be creative and make decisions. 

A great deal of energy in a particular area will lead to movement and progress. This further energises and motivates people.

Being able to say no. and focus on what’s most important.

What do other sources say?

In this article called the The Focused Leader in the Harvard Business Review Daniel Goleman speaks to the importance of a leader to be able to focus. Focusing on yourself, on others and on the wider world.

Steve Jobs was a man who was known for his incredible creativity at Apple. Yet, he has many quotes which refer to the importance of focus:

“I’m as proud of many of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done. Innovation is saying no to a thousand things.”

“That’s been one of my mantras—focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex; you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.”

How is this especially relevant for Dental Practice Leaders?

Focus is particularly challenging for dental practice leaders. They are trying to be a dentist, to actually provide the service, at the same time as leading the practice.

Great dental practice leaders manage to find the right balance for them. It can progress according to different stages of development of the practice and of themselves but they manage to find the right balance at an individual level.

They are also able to focus on specific areas that they want the practice to move forward with. They make that change happen.

How to develop this

• Think of something you are doing at your dental practice that really isn’t making a difference and isn’t moving your practice forward or is competing with something you want to move forward. 
• STOP doing it!

Start saying no and make choices. Focus and commit to those choices. Really go all out to learn, progress and move it forward.

In summary, these are 5 traits of great dental practice leaders.

• Energy, drive and enthusiasm
• Honesty and authenticity
• Adaptability & creativity
• Ability to connect & communicate
• Focus

A big part of all these is to do the work of improving your levels of self-awareness.

Take the Fitting Leadership Scorecard to evaluate your levels of awareness around your own leadership.