376: Becoming a Student of Leadership

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the Dental A-Team’s FIRST male consultant! It’s Hunter Christensen! Kiera and Hunter use the podcast to discuss leadership in the dental industry — how to get there and how to build up those around you as leaders.

A big part of being a leader is considering who you surround yourself with, how to reach out to potential mentors, and books and podcasts that help, too.

At the end of the day, though, know that the path to leadership is an internal one.

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Podcast Transcript

Kiera Dent:

Hey everyone. Welcome to the Dental A Team Podcast. I'm your host Kiera Dent and I had this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective, because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, [inaudible 00:00:21], office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants where we have traveled to over 165 different offices, coaching teams. Yep, we don't just understand you, we are you. Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental and I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress, and create A Teams. Welcome to the Dental A Team Podcast.

            Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera and you guys, this is an epic moment in Dental A Team's history. Not only do we have a massive fan of the podcast, but sometimes dreams come true for both parties, and the person who I have as our guest today is actually one of Dental A Team's newest consultants. He has actually been working with us for quite a while, and yes you heard right, it's a he, not a she, so we're so excited to have our first guy consultant. He's been a massive fan of the podcast. I am so excited to have him on our podcast and in our company. Welcome to the show, Hunter, how are you today? Good.

Hunter Christensen:

Good, I am super excited. This is a super fun moment for me, as I listened to so many of these podcasts, to now be talking with you. And like you said, I broke the trend, right? I'm the first he, so it's super exciting for me.

Kiera Dent:

Yes, I'm so excited. You guys, just so you know, Hunter had been a fan of the podcast, so this is how it works out. We do not poach from any offices. Hunter was working for an office, we chatted, he was super upfront with his office he was working for. We connected, then we ended up going different ways, but stayed in touch. I think the way we reconnected was you were actually listening to the podcast and texted me, I think on one of my holiday, December podcasts about my s'mores cereal, because you had to go try it, right? That's how we reconnected after a few months?

Hunter Christensen:

Yeah, that is. S'mores cereal is the best cereal ever, I had to go try it.

Kiera Dent:

And, verdict?

Hunter Christensen:

I s'mores myself out. It was great for a week, after that I haven't really ventured back into it, but-

Kiera Dent:

I know, I do go through phases as well with it. I just love it. So that's how it worked out, and then I just randomly texted Hunter when I was actually at an airport to see where his life was at, and lo and behold, the stars all aligned. And now here he is, as one of our latest traveling consultants, he's going to be on the road and I am so dang jazzed, because you've been working with us for quite a while. You've been just very associated with Dental A Team, and you come with a huge background of dental experience. So Hunter, just share how you got to being a Dental A Team consultant. What was your path? Walk us through your dental experience, just so people have your background and bio on you as well. I think it's such a fascinating story.

Hunter Christensen:

Yeah, thank you for all of that. But background on me dental-wise, I went to business school. I got my bachelor's degree and then I went and got my master's degree. I had this plan that I was going to go work for a Fortune 500 company. I was going to go work for the Coca Cola of the world, and that's the only path I felt I could go. As I came home, I actually had a chance, I married my high school sweetheart, and she's actually a dental assistant. And the whole time, she'd always tell me like, "You should learn dental. You should get into dental. You should learn your teeth numbers." I was like, "No, no, no, no, I'll never venture into dental. I'll never do that." Two weeks after that conversation, boom, I'm into dental.

            Since then I've been infected with that dentistry bug. I get a chance to manage offices and we started managing more and more locations. Just getting up every day and being in dentistry, knowing that what dentistry is, allows people to change lives for patients, team members, doctors, I just got infected with it and I love it. Then like I said, the stars aligned, we were able to join forces with Dental A Team. It's super exciting for me because I get to do what I like to do. I get to do what my passion is. I get to wake up every day and know I'm doing the purpose that I was put here for, so it's super exciting for me.

Kiera Dent:

I love your story, Hunter, every time I've heard it. Because you go from being like MBA, going to a Fortune 500 company, to just like myself, falling in love with dentistry and then never leaving and never looking back. I know Hunter, you have such incredible experience. You had multiple locations, so you're a multi-practice, is where you were working. You were managing and overseeing multiple different locations. I know you helped with picking out locations, starting it up, KPIs, personal development. You're helping grow people, billing, scheduling, treatment coordinating. I know you did all those positions, office management, regional manager, and your wife's a dental assistant, and you've just got the whole dental world to you.

            I love that you come with that perspective because I've been having you on a lot of calls with my clients, of just having another perspective on there. I know you and I just did a leadership meeting the other day, it was a four hour leadership meeting and I saw you just shine. We got on a call with that office again today, just giving feedback and help. And Hunter, I feel like it's fun because you bring a different perspective than I do, and I feel like it's been a really good ying to yang. It's been fun to have you on my calls. I know our clients are loving you, so I'm so just jazzed with your story, with your massive passion for dentistry, and that you're also here on the Dental A Team with us, with so much experience that you can now give back to so many other clients and help them as well.

Hunter Christensen:

Well, thank you. I enjoy doing [inaudible 00:06:02], I enjoy the leadership aspect. It's something that I speak a lot about. I speak a lot about leadership, I speak a lot about building the right team, because I've found that surrounding yourself with the right team in dentistry is one of the quickest ways to succeed. I think that's what we're going to spend some time talking about today.

Kiera Dent:

It is.

Hunter Christensen:

So I'm excited for that.

Kiera Dent:

I was going to say, way to segue that in perfectly. Because this is a huge piece that I feel so many people want to scratch that itch of leadership, so I wanted to dive in with you, from your perspective of how do you even become a leader? what does that even? I mean, so often we hear like, "Okay, I'm going to be a leader," or, "You should be a leader," or, "You need to work on your leadership," but how do you even become a leader? So Hunter, from your angle, how do you become a leader?

Hunter Christensen:

Yeah, it's the daunting task that a lot of us have heard before, right? I want to be a leader, or you need to work on leadership skills. What is that [inaudible 00:07:02]? It's a very daunting task. Until you break it down, it'll remain daunting for you. I think to look at that, there's two ways. First is building yourself as a leader first, and then second is now I've built myself as a leader, how do I lead other people? There's two aspects to that.

            I think most importantly is building yourself as a leader before even interacting with others. Something that comes to mind for me with this is just learning to be a great follower first. So following other great leaders and watching how they network, watch how they speak with people, watch how they put in their hours and learn, and then use what you've learned to help others. That's where I started, so become a student of the game, read and find the people that you admire and see what they do with their time. That's always been a big aspect of my approach to leadership, for developing me first.

Kiera Dent:

I think that's a really interesting perspective that I hadn't thought of, because I think oftentimes we feel like we are just donned with the birthright of leadership, or we're not. It's almost like Hercules, like you just come down from heaven and you are just this leader. Where I would venture to say that... I mean, yes, there are natural born leaders, for sure, however, even those natural born leaders... I love that you just said to become a student of leadership and to watch people that you're very intrigued by. Because you guys, I'll be honest, this is right up my alley right now. I literally started listening to [inaudible 00:08:33] like, I've got to be a better leader. I feel like I'm so trying to have people like me all the time, and I feel like I don't hold people accountable, like the basic 101s of leadership.

            I think oftentimes there's a skewed perspective that leadership is this glorified nature, but I think it's important to remember, leaders lead and people follow, whether they're... There's two different ways to follow, you can either be forced to follow, or you can just follow because that's somebody you want to be like. That's somebody you believe in their vision, and that's my style of leadership, is I want to empower and inspire people to be their best selves and have them follow, not necessarily me, but the direction that we're guiding and leading. With that, what are some of your favorite things that you found Hunter, that have helped shape and [inaudible 00:09:17] like who have been some mentors? What have been some books, podcasts, things that have helped you? Because I know you had a pretty fast trajectory in life from going from MBA to running multiple locations, to now being a consultant. That's a pretty fast trajectory, so what were some of the things that really helped you evolve in that leadership state quickly in your life?

Hunter Christensen:

Yes, it's super important. I think looking back on that, there's a variety of things, obviously great podcasts. Big fan of [Gary Vaynerchuk 00:09:46]. Obviously the Dental A Team, I listen to that podcast as well.

Kiera Dent:

Good, everyone should.

Hunter Christensen:

And books, reading Extreme Ownership by Jocko, and The Having is another great book as well. But lots of different varieties, there's different things that I've done over the years. And I think really what it boils down to, I think the most important thing for me was the people that I surrounded myself with. So the sayings that you hear of the five closest people around you, they matter the most, that stuff is tried and true. That is something I take to the bank, and I work to surround myself with people in my friend groups, people that are like-minded, people that I know have the same vision in mind for me.

            Even my best friend to this day, I met him in seventh grade. Walked in in seventh grade, language arts class, and he was playing cards and I'm like, "Hey, I want to play cards with you because that's a cool thing to do." Ever since that day, my best friend and I have been on the same wavelength, we know how each other think. I can call him up and say like, "Hey, I'm having a down day," and he won't hesitate to say, "Hey, these are your goals. This is what we're working towards. This is what I'm working towards," and those type of people I have around me are ones that are on the same mission for me. I've removed people that weren't on the same mission for me, I think that's helped speed that path along for me.

Kiera Dent:

I agree with you in the sense of, you've got to have people that are surrounding you, that actually are pushing you forward as well. That can look in a lot of different ways, it doesn't mean you always have to be setting goals. It can be personal, it can be professional, it can be relationships. And I know as I've ventured through life, I actually shift those five people around me, based on where I want to go. So for a while it was all business, so you better believe I was picking people's brains, choosing all these different people that really were strong business leaders, business owners. Then I was like, "Okay, got that under wraps, and now my relationship's struggling, so who are the people around me that have super strong relationships? Let me start hanging out with those more."

            And I don't know about you Hunter, but I sometimes feel guilty not staying with the same group of people, even though there might come a time... I'm going to say this very delicately, and I'm curious if you agree or disagree. That you might actually outgrow your group of friends or your circle of people you're hanging out with all the time, and it might be time to find people in a different circle. Have you found that? I feel so uncomfortable saying this out loud, but hey, it's a podcast. I'm supposed to say the dicey conversations.

Hunter Christensen:

Yeah.

Kiera Dent:

Hello Dental A Team listeners. All right, one of my absolute favorite quotes is you are always one decision away from a totally different life. So what life do you want to have? Do you want more accountability? Do you want a team that's trained? Do you want to have somebody who thinks outside the box and create just for you? Do you want to have a coach? Do you want to have team training? Do you just need somebody to kick you in the rear and get you going?

            Okay, don't worry, I'm in every single one of those boxes and that's why we created Dental A Team Silver, Gold, and Platinum. It's going to be customized team training for you, on the terms you want. So Silver, Silver is more for accountability. Gold, Gold includes all of our online training plus the accountability. And Platinum includes all of that and in-office. You guys, I would strongly suggest you go join Dental A Team Gold today because you're always one decision away from a totally different life. So what are you waiting for? Hop on over to thedentalateam.com today. You guys, we only have so many spaces, so get over there today and sign up for Dental A Team Silver, Gold or Platinum.

Hunter Christensen:

Yeah, no, you have that, right? I think there's a saying, Steve Harvey's actually the one who says it. It's, if you're the smartest one in the group of friends, you should find a new group of friends. But not saying that you need to go find a new group of friends, but growing and evolving is part of that and I think that's huge self-reflection to understand and say, "Hey, the people that I have around me are no longer on the same mission for me, and I need to go find different friends or a different group of people," that happens, it's happened for me. I think I've found a really great group now, but it happens over time. I think that happens to all great leaders and all those who are working on bettering themselves first, for sure.

Kiera Dent:

I agree, and I wanted to put that out there on a dicey topic of helping people realize you don't have to give up your friends, it's not like you're going to be friends with them. It's just, who are you spending your time with and is it taking you where you want to go? I've gone back to this example so many times in my life whenever I'm starting to get complacent or I don't want to push myself because it feels comfortable. One of my favorite quotes is there is no comfort in the growth zone and there's no growth in the comfort zone. I think that that's a lot about leadership. I remember one of my best friends in high school, her and I were great friends. We went off, she ended up going one path, I went another path.

            And I remember I was really struggling. My husband and I, our marriage was on the rocks. I had moved back in with my parents. I didn't quite know what my life was going to look like and I remember thinking, oh I'm just going to go call so-and-so. I had driven past her house, she had just recently divorced her husband and there was nothing wrong with that but I remember I had a very distinct moment in my life where I thought Kiera Dent, what outcome do you want in your life? And the people that you're going to go talk to, hang out with, you are going to become them so choose your decision wisely. Now, me and that friend in high school, we hadn't chatted for years. It wasn't like I was judging her for having a divorce because at the end of the day, I don't think divorce or marriage are right or wrong. I think it's your path.

            I just knew for me, I did not want to go down a path of getting divorced. That was not something I wanted to do. It wasn't something that I had as my desire. And I remember that decision, I told myself, "Kiera, you're going to pick people who have freaking strong marriages, who have gone through things, and that's who you're going to go talk to and you're going to spend all your time with." I say that with love, because that was a really hard decision for me. The easiest decision was to go knock on my best friend from high school's door and say, "Hey, I'm struggling in my marriage. Can we chat?" But I knew if I did that, we'd probably go down a path of who knows what? And I just thought, if I'm going to spend time with people, why don't I pick people that are headed in the direction I want to go in this area of my life?

            Now that friend in high school, her and I could be joining on so many different levels. And again, I think people come in our lives for certain reasons, but I purposely am going to bring this up because if you want to be a stronger leader, make sure the people you're around truly are possessing the skills you want. And I will tell you, getting in that new group of friends freaking scares me. I am so terrified. One of my best friends now, his name is Pierce, he's in Canada, he's a multi-bajillionaire. He is so genius on his business and I purposely picked him out of a crowd at Tony Robinson, said, "Pierce, we're going to be friends and you're going to be my accountability partner." It scared me, I almost threw up because I was so scared to ask this brilliant business owner, but that's who I wanted to be.

            And that's who I want to be and so I make sure... And Pierce and I have a call every single month. We talk pretty regularly and we've been friends for over two years now. That's something that scared me to death, but that's who I knew I wanted to be. That's what I would say, those are some of my experiences. Again zero judgment to anyone. You pick your own path, it's who you want to be. But I think you're right, Hunter, of you've got to become a leader yourself first, make sure you're surrounding yourself with the people that take you where you want to go. Work on yourself internally first, and I think so many people just want to jump the gun to, perfect, I'm a leader. Everybody follow me, or I'm going to tell people what to do. When they forget that, I personally think the path to leadership is an internal one more so than an external.

Hunter Christensen:

Right, I totally agree with you there. I really like that you mention reaching out is scary, it requires a bit of vulnerability. I'm going to talk a little bit about that, but I think this is a perfect time to transition into there's working on yourself and then there's okay, I'm working on myself. My team sees me working on myself, people around me see me working on myself. How do I work with other people? Because that's the second part of leadership, right? That is it's no longer... I can lead myself, and if you want to be a solo leader, great. You can lead your own life. There is a part of leadership, and especially in dentistry, that we have to lead other people as well.

            You hinted on it earlier, that there's two types of leadership, right? There's what I would consider inspirational leadership, and then there's manipulative leadership. It's more common to hear about manipulative leadership. These are the bad examples, it's the Hitler, the Mussolini, the Stalin. For my Harry Potter fans, this is Voldemort, right? This is how he gets his followers and stuff like that, he manipulates them. That's not what I'm after. I don't want that and I don't want that for any of our listeners. I want inspirational leadership, and what that means for me is, it's a unique position where... Have you ever heard of crossing the chasm? Have you ever heard of that?

Kiera Dent:

I've heard of crossing the chasm, I'm excited to see how you are going to take this into leadership.

Hunter Christensen:

Yes, yeah, so for those who are listening, crossing the chasm, just going to refresh memory, is based off of an old technology adoption life cycle. So it's based off of marketing techniques where, when a new product is introduced, you have innovators and early adopters, and then there's this little small gap that's called the chasm. That's where it's the biggest struggle. When you attack that, then you start to get the majority of people to take on a [inaudible 00:19:34]. This falls directly into inspirational leadership.

            When venturing into leadership, it's very easy to have initial followers, you're going to get a one or two that follow you just because of who you are. But there is a chasm of, if we focus on this gap, how can we get large amounts of people to follow us? How can we get large amounts of people to buy in and trust and let us lead them? That's the chasm of leadership. And there's two tasks that an individual has to master in order to cross that chasm. One is trust and two is empathy, and I'll speak on trust first. I know this is a lot of information, but I want to get it out there.

Kiera Dent:

I like that you just said that there's a chasm and it's a small one, and that's where it's the hardest spot. Because I think so often we... At least myself, I'll speak on my own right now, is I think it's these big grand things. Like I need to be doing this or that, and it's the smallest little chasm and you just said trust and empathy. Like, I'm sorry, what? Like, that's where we're going to focus? Because that's not the sexy, that's not the fun. That's like these small little nitty-gritty pieces that I think so many people overlook. So continue on, I just wanted to reemphasize that you pointed out it's a small chasm that goes from having a few people that are just early adopters, to getting lots and lots of people to actually follow you, is a very small chasm. It's not a large jump that you actually have to make.

Hunter Christensen:

Right and when we were talking about dental teams who are 10 or so people, maybe 15, 20, but they're usually a smaller team. So the difference of having one person follow you versus eight people, that can be a whole team, that can be your whole team on board. So just the small things can have a huge, huge difference when we talk about that chasm. But speaking on trust first, trust requires vulnerability, which is what I was tying that back into. You've mentioned becoming vulnerability, so vulnerability for me is having the courage to show up when you can't control the outcome. I don't know what vulnerability is for you, I imagine it's something similar, but for me having the courage to show up when you can't control the outcome.

Kiera Dent:

I love that definition. I'm definitely going to use that, Hunter, thank you. Because I feel like that just encompasses all the feelings of vulnerability.

Hunter Christensen:

Right, it's showing up when you don't know what's going to happen. And vulnerability, historically has actually been talked about quite a bit, is there's systemic vulnerability and this is like, is our practice vulnerable? As a dental practice, do we have the right systems in place? Are we vulnerable in that? And that's not what I'm speaking about. We're speaking more about relational vulnerability, so opening up as people and opening up as relationships and that type of thing. You've heard this analogy a lot, but Dr. Martin Luther King, great, great example of emotional vulnerability leading to leadership.

            You hear people talk about this quite a bit, but Dr. King's famous I have a dream speech, something like 250,000 people showed up with no invitations, no website, nowhere they could go to look to see where it was going to be. And Dr. Martin Luther King was not the only great speaker and not the only the man of his time, not the only one who had suffered. In fact, he often suffered less because of being at universities as opposed to other people of the era, but he had a gift of making himself vulnerable. And all those people who joined his cause, and out of all those people who showed up, very few showed up for him, they all showed up for themselves.

            If you remember some of the quotes from his speech, I mean, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It's a dream deeply rooted in the American Dream. You hear that type of stuff, and can you imagine what non-violent protesting in this time of racism, violence, and hate must've been like? Think about it. Since I was a kid, I was always taught to protect myself at all costs. And Martin Luther King understood that people can disagree, hate, and even try to hurt you, that can not stop your ability to be vulnerable and believe in what you truly believe in and care about. I think that's super powerful and it gets overlooked, and it even ties back into finding those people that you want to emulate, and Dr. King is one of them.

Kiera Dent:

I think that that's such a incredible point, and I've thought about Martin Luther King and his speech, of how he was able to influence and have that great of a following. There was no social media, there were no email blasts, there were no sales funnels, there were no click campaigns. It was literally him being an inspirational leader and people believed in him. He had that empathy. He also did it in a different way, he was innovative.

            I love just that imagery because I think that that shows so much of what a truly inspirational leader is, and what the outcome was. So for me, I like to see tangibles like that, of Kiera, if you truly are vulnerable, if you have trust and then you're willing to speak up, possibly in a different way, it doesn't mean always going against the grain, but that's what inspires people. People believed in what he was looking for and he wasn't afraid, when it was the most unpopular thing to bring up. That was a very unpopular thing and yet he moved forward, and I think that that really truly is a great example of vulnerability in leadership as well.

Hunter Christensen:

Right. I think it's an awesome example, especially I think now is an awesome time to talk about leadership because we're coming off of the COVID crank, I think I've heard you call it.

Kiera Dent:

I do call it the COVID crank.

Hunter Christensen:

Where we've been cooped up and team members have been cranky, and it's not uncommon, it's a very common thing that we're seeing in lots and lots of teams out there. A lot of leaders in teams have spent these last couple of months running from meeting to meeting and dealing with fires, and it can be easy to overlook your own feelings as a leader. Great leaders break that pattern of behavior by checking with themselves, are you feeling frustrated, upset, guilty? Give yourself time to sit with those emotions and unpack them, and then share them with your team. Remember that vulnerability, it's not about oversharing or making others uncomfortable, but you should share information with the end goal of creating strong relationships with your team as well.

Kiera Dent:

Hunter, I'm going to play devil's advocate here. Listening in, I'm hearing, okay to be a strong leader and inspirational leader, make sure I check on myself first. So do that inside work first, look at the book that I'm listening to or reading, that podcast I'm listening to, the people I'm surrounded by. Go find mentors that can help me, look to see great leaders around me and basically emulate and mirror them. So that's check one of internal, and then external is like you said, to cross the chasm with trust and empathy.

            I hear a lot of that trust and empathy is relationships, so I think for some people, especially for type As, which we have a ton of those people in dentistry, how do you measure your "progress" or see that you're actually being this inspirational leader, when they're the soft skills of trust and empathy? So people know that they really are... Like what they're learning and internalizing is actually executing into an inspirational leader. How do they check that scorecard, or measure up against that to know they really are mastering that skill?

Hunter Christensen:

I think [crosstalk 00:27:36].

Kiera Dent:

That was a hard question, by the way.

Hunter Christensen:

It is.

Kiera Dent:

I'm impressed you just rolled right into that. I was curious what you'd say, I'm excited.

Hunter Christensen:

That is a tough question. No preparation for this question.

Kiera Dent:

There is none on this one. This is me just rifting with Hunter because I just want to know his side on this.

Hunter Christensen:

Right. I think when we talk about what does this look like, that was the message up on a scorecard. Is really how are we putting it into practice? How are you seeing it in practice with your teams? When somebody asks in a meeting, "How are you?" As your team member asking a leader, "How are you?" At the start of a meeting or in passing, if you're able to resist the urge to reply with, "I'm fine," instead if you can share something feeling... Are you feeling excited about your day, or are you feeling worn out and disengaged?

            And being able to be vulnerable and be uncomfortable in those type of situations. That's a tangible that I look at is am I learning the skills in order to make myself vulnerable? Am I resisting those type of urges in those situations that come up, when someone asks me, "How's your day going?" Am I saying, "I'm fine," even though there's something underneath that I haven't shared? I think that's a good check mark you can check off if you were to see, okay these things are starting to come to fruition in my life.

Kiera Dent:

I like that a lot because that's something that I've been working on, of being very present, because I think when you are that way, like, "Hey Hunter, how are you?" And you're like, "Actually you know, [inaudible 00:29:07], today's a great day. I'm super excited about the cases that are coming up and I think it's just going to be a great day. I'm actually doing really, really well. I feel really happy," that gives people space to be a human. You just became humanized versus very robotic and I think that that actually is a key factor of what people are looking for for leadership. That's what they want to follow. They want to follow someone that they can be like.

            I think another tangible for me is what's the culture of my practice? Look at your practice and who are they and how are they acting? Because that's a direct reflection of leadership as well. Are you willing to have those uncomfortable conversations? Are you willing to hold people accountable? Is your team an accountable team that's looking out for one another? Are you guys vulnerable with each other in the sense that you do actually have heartfelt conversations? Do you have strong relationships with your team? If I were to come in and ask you for every team member, "Do you know what they want to achieve in their next one year, five years, personally and professionally?" The answer for me is I know 50% of my team, I do not know the other 50%, and that's an area that I can grow as a leader because I think that that bonds people to you.

            I would say a huge check mark for me as well is what is your culture of your practice? Because I think practices are always a direct reflection of the leader at the head. And that comes from Oms, that comes from doctors, that comes from departmental leads. It comes from the team members there. That's also another area, and I would also say, "Are you working on trust and empathy?" Two areas that I think, as leaders, we try often to... At least myself, I try to... I don't even want to say hide. It's just trust to say the things that I'm really feeling and empathy to really check in with my team. What were you going to say, Hunter? I know you had a thought on that as well.

Hunter Christensen:

[inaudible 00:30:54], I think that that's a second point, the empathy piece to cross the chasm is, remember we never love our leaders by their titles. Especially in a dental practice, being an office manager, being the doctor doesn't necessarily make you a leader of the practice. We love our leaders by the way they make us feel. Are they connecting with direct reports? Are they... I hate to say it, but to be frank, do they give a damn? Is there some sort of investment into us and that empathy piece? Is there a genuine, "Hey, how are you doing?" Seeing and hearing your people, understanding different personality types. I could go into all of that and I will at summit, so if you want to understand some personality types and how to assess them, come to summit. I'm going to be there. I'm going to be talking about that.

Kiera Dent:

I'm so excited. Yeah, Hunter actually has a 90 minute breakout session on leadership and development. And I will say Hunter, I know more of your background, and I will say that I feel you were able to overcome a lot of "barriers". You and I chatted with an office earlier that both you and I come from a gladiator personality. Our natural go-to as leaders was slay the day, get out of our way, we're going to dictate, manipulate. Not in a horrible way, that's just our natural stance and I know you and I have both worked heavily on refining. And I think that that's leadership 101, is it's just a constant refinement of who you are. So Hunter, I'm so excited that you have all these tangible nuggets that you're going to be sharing at summit.

            So yes, I agree with Hunter. Everybody should come to summit, amp up, ramp up your practice. There's no reason you guys should have a dry 2021. Come join us, it's a virtual summit for all. We're going to implement in your practice May 14th and 15th. If you have not snagged your tickets yet, be sure to do so, summit.thedentalateam.com. We will see you guys there. And Hunter, gosh, I'm so excited for this. I love what you talked about. You guys, go back and listen to it, write it down, check yourself up against the things that Hunter has said. See where you can do that 1% improvement. And Hunter, thanks for being just an awesome, awesome addition to our company and our team. I'm so excited for offices to get to experience and learn from you.

Hunter Christensen:

Yes, I'm excited to share things as well, and this is a dream come true for me, to share this type of stuff. I have a lot of passion on talking about this type of stuff. And I'm here. I'm here for people. People are my passion so I want people to reach out that have questions, or who have rebuttals of this conversation and want to have these open discussions. Because as leaders, that's how we grow. It's how we refine these type of things, so I'm all for it. I'm all for this.

Kiera Dent:

I love it. So you guys, you can email Hunter, [email protected]. You can email us [email protected]. And I just love that, that open invitation you guys, that is where I believe leaders can go to the next level. Ask the questions, go up against it. That's maybe a little scary. If things didn't resonate with you or you have questions, ask, we would love to hear from you.

            And as always guys, thank you for listening. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for reviewing. If you have yet to do so, please do so, we'd love to hear from you. And as always, thank you for listening and we'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast. That wraps it up for another episode of the Dental A Team Podcast. Thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you next time.