Episode 816: How to Truly Notice Your Team 

 It’s time for another book club episode! This month’s review is on The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs is a Little Perspective by Andy Andrews. Kiera reflects on how everyone can notice the positives in each other, personally, professionally, etc. — and how this can improve the culture in your practice.

Find the full book club rundown here!

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Transcript:

Kiera Dent (00:00.888)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and happy book club day. I hope you guys are having an awesome day today. I am excited for today's podcast. It's a fun one. It was an interesting book. I learned a lot from this book and I hope you guys are just remembering to, you know, live your best life. You guys, honestly, we are so blessed to have the life that we get to live and I am just excited. I hope you guys are enjoying our book club. I've had...

heard of some of you who have joined our team as our consulting team. You guys are actually really, really, really enjoying this book club and we're talking about it. We're talking about the crucial conversations from last month and now this one we're going to be talking about The Noticer. It's the the book's called The Noticer. Sometimes all a person needs is a little perspective by Andy Andrews and this is such an interesting book. It's a fable and this one was something of talking just about the perspectives we have in life.

And I think it's so applicable to dentistry, which is why I was excited for us to actually talk about it this round, because the reality is if we are, uh, making sure that we are noticing the good in our life, we're actually able to do a lot more with our lives. And so I just think it's such an interesting concept for us to realize that it's just perspective and, you it goes through this fable. And so I think it's just a fun read for teams and for doctors, but they go through this fable and they talk about like, there was this guy and they were on.

the ocean and they were eating fish and one guy said, what are you eating? And he said, you know, I'm just having fish. And the other guy said, I'm having surf and turf with an ocean view. Both were accurate, but one was actually seeing the perspective of how amazing life was. And the other one was realizing maybe they could have a different perspective. And so they talked about so much in this book of perspective. And for me, I feel like it was just a good book to remind myself of.

what's wrong is just as available as what's right. And the good in life is always there. It's just like the bad in life is always there. It just depends on what I'm choosing to focus on, what I'm focusing on. And something that I've noticed over time is like, we don't get the life that we think we're living. We get the one that we're focusing on. And so finding different ways to just notice and noticing the good in our team, noticing the good in our patients, noticing the good in our life. And...

Kiera Dent (02:19.95)

I actually think it's a habit. It's a habit of how we live our lives. It's a habit of how we engage with other people. It's a habit and it's a muscle that we build. And sometimes I notice that I'm very negative and other times I notice that I'm very positive and both of those are available. And so it's like, what am I feeling my mind with? What am I fueling my mind with? And is it causing me to be more positive in life or more negative in life? And so that's, I think what all around this, I just enjoyed that this book just reminded me of like all of our lives.

are in crisis and we're either headed for crisis or headed out of a crisis and back into it. And like that's really what's going on, but yet you can find the joy in it no matter what's going on. We can always find the joy no matter where we are. And so he kind of talked about as a bunch of different stories, different people. I think this book in our book club with our Dental A team family, we were talking about the book and I asked the question of, do you think that these principles still apply? Do you think that these are things or do you think that this is maybe?

an older generation? Like, is it just a Pollyanna lifestyle, right? Or is it something where this really is real? And I think the principles, what we decided on is this might be an older generation style, but I don't think it's ever an older generation to be kind and to notice and to see that we can actually change our perspectives.

And I was thinking about that. I'm like, okay, so how do I relate this to dentistry? How would I take this into my team? One, I would ask the questions of what are we noticing day in and day out about our teammates? And how could we actually make this a bit stronger? How could we have it to where we focus on the good in each other, not the bad in each other, right? How can we find a way to notice what we're doing well? And so in offices, I've implemented like a high five jar, a kudos jar, you name it, whatever you wanna call it.

but it forces team members to look for the good in each other. It forces us to focus on the good because again, what's right and what's good is just as available as what's wrong and bad. And so oftentimes we're starting to snowball. And so I was really thinking of how can I help you guys take this and make it an actionable piece of like, what are we noticing about each other? There's a point to help grow and refine, but there's also beauty in noticing the good of people. I can criticize my husband all day long, but that's never gonna get me anywhere. Compliments and praise and...

Kiera Dent (04:38.602)

constructive feedback is going to actually get us a lot further than noticing all the negatives that they're doing. And so when they were in it, I just thought like beautiful thoughts of how can we as a team members and as a culture of our practice, notice the positives of one another and not just within our own departments, noticing the good that our front office is doing, noticing the good our hygiene teams are doing, noticing the good our doctors are doing, noticing the good that our patients are doing and building a culture where we focus on that as opposed to always what's wrong.

Like I said, there's a place for everything. There's a place for us to be noticing the areas to improve. But generally speaking, I think that those are for meetings probably. And then this is going to be a spot where generally speaking, day in and day out, we're noticing the good that we bring to one another. We're noticing those pieces. So that was a thing that I thought of how to make this applicable and asking your team, what are our habits? I go back to thinking about grade school and I had a desk and you take the pencil and you just really, really, really enhance those grooves.

Well, what grooves am I enhancing in my mind day in and day out? Am I looking for the red car moments, AKA the positive moments in my life, or am I constantly focused on the negative? You guys can do a fun exercise right now. Everybody can close their eyes. Don't close your eyes yet. Actually, I'm gonna let you guys take 10 seconds and I want you to look around the room and I want you to count everything that is white. Go ahead. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.

Okay, close your eyes, and I want you to tell me everything that you saw that was red. Yeah, you probably giggled the first time I did this. I giggled and I was like, what the heck? I was counting white. And then it's like, how many things did I count that were maybe a little off white or a little beige or cream? Try to get more points. But that's reality. The red was there just as much as the white was. But what was...

What were we actually noticing? What were we focusing on? And how can we train our minds to find more of the good in life as opposed to finding the bad in life? So I just thought it was a really interesting thing. And they said that there were just a few things of like wisdom. We see into the future the impacts of my decisions right now, long -term influences. My perspective will be influenced by what I listen to, read, and what I'm around. And so again, our perspectives are molded and shaped.

Kiera Dent (06:50.318)

the news that we're filling our minds with, the social media that we're filling our minds with, the podcasts we're listening to, the books we're listening to, the conversations we're having, religion, friends, politics, you name it, those things are influencing our perspectives and they become beliefs and beliefs become very hard. And so really thinking about for yourself, what are those grooves that we're enhancing and are those the ones that we actually want? Or could we go and shift and have a different group? So I think for all of us thinking about that, what are we actually going for? And is there a way that we could change that?

There were other things that they talked about of time and money are just a perspective too. And I really loved this one where they talked about really time and money are perspectives. You think about someone who doesn't have as long to live, time becomes very valuable, money is very irrelevant. You talk to people who are young. I think about younger people in their careers and how money just seems to kind of escape them sometimes and yet...

Is that really true or can we be the wealthiest person today because we have our loved ones. It's all perspective. And so this book was just a really awesome reminder of all the perspectives. Everything there is, is always there. And so, um, they talked about also like change can happen in a heartbeat. Your reputation will take a bit to catch up with you once you change. And so I love this of like, maybe we have been negative. Maybe we have been a little.

maybe we haven't get these things are wrong. It's just, is that our go -to method and is that the method we want it to be? And so you can actually change yourself in a heartbeat. I know sometimes we don't think that, but go turn on your favorite music and your mood can drastically change in an instant. But yet sometimes our reputation might take a while to catch up with that. People might say that we're a certain way. You just think about it. If you moved, I know I moved in high school. I was in seventh grade, so middle school and...

I was able to become a whole new person. Went to a new town, no one knew me, no one knew me from growing up, no one knew who I had been, and I was able to blossom into who I wanted to be. I think about when we go off to college and who do we get to become. Sometimes people go off to college and become these incredible people and then they come back to their hometown and they go back into the person that everyone believed they were from high school. And it's interesting to watch. Same thing with us at work. Maybe people have said that we're a certain type of person. Well, we can change ourselves instantly.

Kiera Dent (09:06.094)

but our reputation might take a little while to catch up with that, but that's okay. That doesn't mean we should give up on that. And so looking at yourself as a team member and as a leader, what is your reputation with your team and how are you showing up? And is that who you ultimately want to be? And if not, we can change it today. You can change instantly, but then realize that our reputation might take a little while to catch up, but that doesn't mean that we don't go forward. As a teammate, Confessions of Kira Dent over here, I was not a great team member.

at certain times, I think back to the dental office I worked at, sorry, Robert, Sue, Janine. I was selfish and I thought about myself all the time and I was concerned about money and I felt like things weren't fair and I felt like the schedule was never done right. And I focused on that and I was really bitter. I think I was a really good assistant. So my skills were awesome, but I think my personality was not as awesome. I don't think I was as kind. I don't think I was as team player.

And I think some of my past coworkers would tell you, I actually know they would tell you because I talked to one of them a few years ago and she's like, Kira, you own Dental A team? And I was like, I know I'm a different person. But what is your reputation in your practice? And is that who you want to be known as? Or is there a way that we could level up? Is there a way that we could notice the good in other people? And it's crazy because who we start to become and who we act with our teammates, it takes a while. And I know we want that instant gratification, but things do take a while.

Just like dentistry, right? Those patients, the decay didn't just happen overnight. It took a while, it took a process. Our reputation wasn't built overnight. It was built over a process. And so changing it, refining it is going to be a process to get us back to where we wanna be. But that doesn't mean we need to change. It doesn't mean that we don't change. We do change and we start making the progress today, regardless of how hard it could be, regardless of the different things that we're afraid of. We start making those changes today. And I just think like, as team members,

as teams, if there was a way for us to all be able to grow and to notice the positives of one another, start changing our culture to be more of that, being more kind, being more kind to others. I saw a sign once that said, be kinder than necessary. And I think about that often. And am I noticing the kindness of others? Am I being kind to others? Am I being that great teammate that everybody would want to work with? Or am I maybe a little more selfish? I think again, it's noticing, but noticing the good and having that perspective.

Kiera Dent (11:32.654)

Where like, am I just having fish sitting on the beach, like with sand everywhere? Or am I having surf and turf with an ocean view? Am I working at the best practice with the best dentist? Or am I complaining that our handoffs are not perfect? Am I maybe a little more critical of my team as opposed to being grateful for the team that's helped me get here? Of course, it doesn't mean that we give up. It just means that we are seeing it through a different lens, putting on a different filter, looking through it for the different sunglasses. Everything's there.

Are you liking the view you've got or could we change it? Can we be a little bit better as teammates? Can we be a little less selfish? Can we be more grateful for the things people do and focus on that within our families, our friends, our personal life? I think it's an interesting perspective. So that's the book club for you guys. I hope you enjoyed it. It was a very, very, very short read. So if you haven't read it, I might recommend it. It was just a fun read to remind myself that there's so much good in this world if I'm willing to look for it.

So go have the best time. I hope you guys really truly enjoyed this one. Next month, we're gonna be going through Buy Back Your Time, Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your Empire by Dan Martell. I cannot wait for you guys to hear this one. It's gonna be awesome. I cannot wait because this is a great way for business owners and for teams to just think about how could we buy back our time. Time is our one limited commodity, again, with perspective. Maybe we have endless time. Maybe we only have limited time.

Perspective right from the noticer, but I'm excited about this one I'm excited for you guys to read it because again this gives a different perspective Than maybe the way that we've always been living. So I hope you guys enjoy the book clubs I'm excited This one was a little bit more soft feel goods to remind us to be incredible people Next one's gonna be very tactical on being able to buy back your time I cannot wait and if you've already read this book or you want a second one the EOS life By Gina Wickman's also a great one that really talks about how we get our time back. So go read enjoy I will see you guys next month

for, as I said, buy back your time on Dental A Team, our book club. As always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.