The 12 Days of Critical Factors: The 12th Day

12.  Attitude.  I would hire attitude over any other characteristic.  Give me a person that has a willing spirit and a positive attitude and we can provide instruction for the skills required.  (in most cases)  A person with a great attitude brings harmony and joy into the day to day activities of the workplace while a person with a negative attitude will "bring down" the enthusiasm and energy of everyone else, including patients.

Life is much too short not to be surrounded by people who are excited about the practice, who are interested in excellence, and who are willing to walk the extra mile to make sure that things go well.  Do not let anyone pull you away from your dreams.  There is no reason not to have your ideal practice.  Life is all about choice.  Make a choice to surround yourself with people who have a positive attitude and who are willing to work at maintaining that attitude. 

• Is your team cohesive?
• Is your team goal-oriented?
• Is your team supportive of practice building and practice development? Or, are they comfortable with the status quo?--which is the"kiss of death". There is no such thing as status quo. You are either going up or going down. There is no status quo.
• Does conflict among your team members cause stress for you or any other member of the team?
• Is communication effective among team members?

In Summary

I have outlined twelve of the critical factors of the business of dentistry.  There are many others.  However, these twelve are foundational to your practice health and well being.  As you look toward the new year, take the time to evaluate.  How effectively have these systems been functioning over the past year?  What is going well?  Do more of that.  Then ask yourself, "How can we do this better?"  Be about the business of improving each and every one of these critical factors/systems.  Being on a path of continuous improvement is the way to the "road of success".