Reduce Stress, Lead With More Confidence & Stop Micromanaging

It’s book club time! Kiera talks about The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins and how the method can propel leaders into the best versions of themselves.

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Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today is book club time. It's been a hot minute since we've done a book club and there's a book club that I feel like is just a really good one. It's a popular book right now. If you've read it, great. If you haven't, well, welcome. I'm excited to share with you and it's from Mel Robbins and it's the Let Them Theory. I was very fascinated by this. I'm still fascinated by it and I think it's something of like when Mel Robbins said that you do not need to control everything.

 

and that peace might come from letting go, not holding tighter. I thought, hmm, I might know a couple of dentists, CEOs, business owners, AKA myself, which means that there's probably several of you that might be struggling with some of these pieces. So whether you wanna read the book or not, just giving some highlights of how you can truly reduce your stress, lead with more confidence and stop micromanaging team and patient behavior, like that might be something worthwhile today. So I wanted to just.

 

Bring that on today, share with you some quick tips and tricks on how you can even apply this principle in your practice that I've been seeing. As always, Dental A Team is here to grow leaders that are not just successful, but truly like having sanity and happiness in life. ⁓ Today, our podcast is going to be giving you tactical practical tips. Our mission is to positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. And we do that through expert consulting for dentists and teams. I am not.

 

Shy to admit that I think Dental A Team is probably one of the top-notch consulting companies out there where we don't just understand you But we are you that we don't just sit here and tell you doctors what to do But we actually actively work with your team to help them We have grown practices 10 20 30 percent within their first 90 days of working with us. We've added multiple millions We've added hundreds of thousands to offices and we've done it with ease simplicity fun teams actually love to work with us they enjoy working with us and that's something I'm really really proud of as a company of

 

We don't just come in and like dictate to your team and force them to become robots. We literally help them, ⁓ give them some tools and then elevate them to be their best selves. And doctors, we teach you how to be successful owners for your path, for what makes you happy. And we do it in such an easy way. People are always shocked at the gains and the growth that we're able to do in such an easy, non-confrontational, non-stressful way. So that's what we're about. And I'm super, super excited about the let them theory.

 

⁓ Because the let them theory I think works so well for leaders. So anybody listening today this is really is leaders and I remember in the book she talks about how like She just has to let them like let people be who they are and it's actually helped me with my family So today I don't think it's necessary just solely for your practice But also pieces for you within your personal life and that's something Dental A Team were really big on is growing you as a person not just as a practice I just got a

 

a voice memo from a doctor I worked with a couple of years ago. And this doctor said to me, they said, Kiera, ⁓ the year working with you was actually one of the most impactful years in all of my dentistry career. ⁓ This doctor is doing incredible things. And the doctor told me like just the mindset shifts that we were able to help them have ⁓ of helping them become more efficient of, they said, you pushed me to do certain things like hire an assistant and to

 

Be accountable to you. And this doctor was really, really, really, really brilliant doctor. And to hear that compliment that ⁓ their time working with us was something that was the most impactful in their growth of their business. I just took as such a huge compliment to what we do because we're not just shaping you as a business owner, we're shaping you as a human. My background is marriage and family therapy. My passion is dentistry and my love of all things is life. Dentistry just happens to be the platform that I get to talk about it on.

 

And so for this within the let them theory, it's let people be who they are. Truly we can't control other people's actions, but we can control how we are responding. And I know that sounds so simple, but ⁓ in there, like if we let team members show up late, it tells you who they're going to be. We let a patient cancel last minute. It's information for better boundaries in the future. Letting an OCA ignore feedback, it reveals growth readiness. And so like for that, I'm not here for you just to like...

 

allow people to walk all over you. do believe that there is a standard within a practice that you should maintain and that is perfectly acceptable. However, you can allow people to be who they want to be and that doesn't mean that they need to be on your ship. It's allow them to have the opportunities outside of your location that are perfect for them, but you don't need to try to control every person's actions. ⁓ With my mom, my mom and I view the world so differently and when I read this book, I realized

 

what my mom wants. Now she's not an employee. Employees for me, there is a code of conduct and there is a way that we show up. That's the standard of Dental A Team. And if you choose an elect not to be there, rock on, we're going to coach you through it. And then we're going to coach you out of it. Like it's one or the other where they're going to coach up or coach out. Both are amazing because I want you ultimately in your dream space. ⁓ and there is a, there is a code of conduct that Dental A Team will operate by. And so with that, with my mom, I realized in my personal life, my mom just wants to be loved for who she is.

 

She doesn't want to be coached. She doesn't want to be corrected. She just wants to be loved for who she is. And so for me to let my mom do things that make me absolutely crazy, there actually is this whole relief. And when you realize like, can allow team members to be who they want to be in, that just means that there's isn't a place for them. Like that's okay. I can allow patients who don't want to follow our processes, like allow them to find another practice and to have that. Now there's ways that we can coach them through this. There's ways that we can do this.

 

But I've had practices when they finally decide to stop having patients just show up, cancel last minute, and they're like, no more, this is how it's going to be. Here's the rules of the game. And patients who do like not to, they get to leave the practice. Their production actually exponentially increases. Their patients exponentially become better patients. Like all of it rises up. The ones who decide that they're going to allow team members to be who they are, this is how we're going to operate. And if you choose not to, that's okay. Their practices actually start to thrive. And so

 

The question is, who are you trying to force right now to change? And what if you let them and focus on our... The word boundaries is so obnoxious to me, because I feel like people put boundaries up of like, this is what I will or won't do, which is great. And for me, it's more like, what are the standards? What are the standard processes? What's the culture of our company or our patient base? That's I'm going to enforce. That's what we're going to focus on instead. And then I'm going to allow people to be who they are. And I'm going to attract the people that I want in here.

 

Like what would be, who am I trying to force to change right now? And what if I let them and just change my focus to the standards and the processes in our company? Question number one. Okay, number two, stop micromanaging and start leading. So micromanagement's rooted in fear, not in leadership. And so what they did is they said like, let them miss the mark once, they'll learn faster. Let your office manager handle the upset patient, it builds ownership. Let your hygienist structure their day ⁓ that's within, again, the parameters of our company culture.

 

That way they'll be happier. so like ⁓ micromanaging, do feel there needs to be a foundation first in place. And then once we have that, we don't have to micromanage everything. And for me, something I found, there's the founder's theory too, and something I've been learning is as a founder, as someone who started a business, you tend to hold onto so many things because you've had to. Like you've been in the day to day. And so being able to let people and stop

 

being obsessed with every single detail because we've got the foundations in place. Now, if you don't have the foundations in place, it becomes a lot harder and a lot scarier. But if you have those things in place, what we can do is we actually see a team rise up and what we're telling our team is they're empowered. Like here's the rules of the game within our practice. Now go create our consultants. Here's how we consult. I want you to go be the most autonomous humans and I want you to figure out how to help these practices. And it's crazy because the consultants rise up, they take ownership, they love to be able to do that.

 

anything within your team being able to see that as well is really something beautiful for them. looking at the call to action on this would be look at your life, look at your practice and where are you holding on so tight? And let's figure out what protocols or processes need to be put into place so our company standards and expectations can be met. And then can we put into practice the let them this week and observe what shifts. Two questions for you to consider. And don't worry for those type A's who are just like gritting.

 

They're like knuckles right now. Don't worry, that's me too. So I'm not here to say that I'm perfect at this. I just think it's a good perspective shift to help us have more space, more happiness, more peace, and also to figure out where we can like set up the parameters within our company. Number three is let go to grow. ⁓ And so when we hold on tight, just like I talking about, like the white knuckling.

 

Like even my body, there's stress, there's resistance, there's burnout. Like this is what causes it, because we're trying to hold all the balls in the air. We're trying to do all the pieces and literary practice will outgrow you. ⁓ I watched it happen time and time and time again, and doctors will either learn to let them and like build the processes, build the structure, allow the team members to grow, or they're going to hold on and they're going to shrink. It's one of the two and it happens every single time. There's no right path. It's your path. ⁓ But like let your leadership team run the meetings.

 

Let your team opt in and out of culture. Don't force it. If they choose not to rock on, they can go find another dream job. That's okay. Let other opinions be theirs. It doesn't define our worth. Like what can we allow like letting go of that? So when we, ⁓ when we stop obsessing about this, like, for example, we stopped trying to hold onto a toxic team member. watched this constantly in offices where it's like, no, I have to keep them and I need to have them like, let them not be great and let them leave because they're not fitting the culture.

 

And what's crazy is like even that, like my whole body releases, like let them. And I know we're so afraid of like, yeah, but then I won't have team members. Or could it be like, yes, and I've created space for the ideal team member. I will tell you when I have done this every single time. There's not been a single time when I've been like, and we release it, we let them. Someone just as good, if not better has shown up every single time. And so looking at this of...

 

Where are you maybe holding on too tight that you could allow team members to rise up that you could allow them to take ownership that you could allow them to start to put into place the things you've done. And what's wild is like, tell doctors all the time, like you have to go on vacation. Like that's it. That's a necessity to see where are things broken in your practice? Where do things need to shift and change? ⁓ where can you let your team rise? And if they choose not to rise, that's okay. You know, you don't have the right leaders in place. Like all of it's just data back for you. There's nothing wrong. There's nothing broken. There's nothing that you need to be mad about.

 

It's just truly data and information to help you then set better foundations, put better protocols into place and to hire team members that more align. ⁓ You will outgrow your team and your team will outgrow you or you will grow together. It'll be one of those three things. And so looking at that and all of that's okay. So I think for this, as we look at it of let people be who they are and stop micromanaging and release what's weighing us down.

 

This isn't a passive theory. It's very powerful. Letting go is leadership. Letting go is ⁓ truly putting the parameters in place and allowing team members to grow and to thrive within. And again, me coming on here, I feel a little like imposter syndrome because I don't feel like I am always here. I feel like I'm holding on so many times and I'm having the control. But when I like, I make lists, you guys, I feel like a crazy person. Like it's a beautiful mind. That's my office. I have...

 

papers everywhere and I'm looking at different things. And when I look at what causes me the most amount of stress, it's because I'm trying to do it all. And I'm trying to hold on to everything rather than saying, okay, what's the protocol I need in place? What are the things that truly I need to care for? And as a founder, again, I think that this is, this is a stripping of identity. It's a stripping of things you've always done, but it's also freeing and it's also creating and it's also allowing you to flourish versus just survive. And so for this, ⁓ think like,

 

Let it looking to see where can I let go and where should I let go? What parameters do I need to put in place? And how can I allow my team to flourish and thrive? I promise you autonomous people and great team members want you to let go. They want to know the rules of the game. They want to know how can I excel? And then once I know the rules of the game, let me like get out of my way and let me show you, let me do more than you ever imagined I could do. ⁓ let me, let me blow your mind with the ideas that I have.

 

Those are great team members. That's what we want all of our team to be. And so I think for this of possibly, if you haven't read the book, go read the book. If you've read it, maybe read it again and look at yourself to see where am I holding on that's holding us back? Where could I let team members or patients be different and maybe create space for people that I want that have a different code of conduct, not right or wrong, just different. ⁓

 

And where can I be a stronger leader where I can truly lead and not manage? Leading versus managing, they're two, they feel so interchangeable and they're so separated. And so where can I show up differently? And again, this isn't letting go of standards. This isn't letting go of your standard of excellence. This isn't saying that we're just going to allow chaos because we're just gonna let people be themselves. It's saying, here's the code of conduct. This is what we do. And then we allow people to show up as that.

 

rise up or rise out, both are great options. ⁓ And so looking at that. really something powerful on the podcast is not just giving you tactical pieces within your practice, but helping you show up as a better leader because leadership is ultimately going to impact the success of your business. I can always tell if a practices as a consulting client will be successful and it's due to the leader. Truly a hundred percent. Who's on my leadership team? How are their behaviors? What are they willing to do? That is the number one indicator of success in consulting and in your practice.

 

And so for this, I feel it's very relevant that we have to give leadership tips for you, that we have to help you evolve into the next version of leadership that you can be. This is for me, this is for you, this is for all of us. And remembering leadership's not a destination, it's a journey, it's an evolution of soul. Someone once told me having kids will strip you down to the bare ⁓ bones of who you thought you were and ultimately helps evolve you into who you want to be. And I would say, I think business is very much...

 

a similar and different process. ⁓ It strips you down to nothing. It rips away all the things that you thought you were. We build these businesses to create these different cultures and we end up creating very similar cultures and we have to work so hard to become these different versions of ourselves, to show up differently for our teams, to show up differently for ourselves, ⁓ to evolve. The person that you were is not the person that you need to be to take you to where you want to go. I hope you heard that. The person that you need to be is not who you were.

 

to take you to where you want to be. And so you have to evolve, you have to grow. And so I would also say, let you become that person. Let you evolve into a different version. Let you become the person that you were meant to be. Leadership is a growth. This is something that I love helping offices do. This is what our consultants obsess about. So if we can help you in any way, reach out, ⁓ figure out how you can lead with clarity, calm and confidence. See how you can be like that practice I told you about where.

 

your best year of your life or the best year practices lives or the years that you're with Dental A Team because you became a better person. You became a higher version of yourself and we did that for you and your team. That's what we're about. That's what we're obsessed about. And that's what I'd love to help you with. So reach out if that's, if that's what you want, let's chat. [email protected] or click on our website, TheDentalATeam.com and book a call. I'd love to help you. I'd love to evolve who you are meant to be for the practice that you deserve to have. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team podcast.