Episode 687: Scaling Back from 5-Day Work Weeks

 Dr. Paul Etchison is on the DAT podcast again! In this episode, Dr. Etchison shares his experience on scaling back his work week — from five days to his current two half-days. He talks about

• How he gained confidence to cut back and not lose his sense of identity and finances

• What he does during his off days

• Why and how he’s grown from his takeaways

Episode resources:

Subscribe to The Dental Practice Heroes podcast

Read Dr. Etchison’s book, Dental Practice Hero II the Sequel: How a 3 Day Work Week Can Give You the Life You Want

Listen to episode 77, Live in a World of Yeses

Reach out to Kiera: [email protected] 

Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast

Become Dental A-Team Platinum!

Review the podcast

Transcript:

[music]

0:00:05.8 Kiera Dent: Hey. Everyone. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent, and I have 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, filler, 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.

0:00:51.6 KD: Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And you guys, I am so excited because I actually get to have one of my good friends. He and I podcast on each other's podcast. He's got an incredible podcast, Dr. Paul Etchison, he's coming in today, guys. He is going to be talking all things about ownership and how we shift our practices and how not to have to work five days a week. And I knew that was a topic for the Dental A Team family. So, Paul, welcome to the show. How are you today?

0:01:15.5 Paul Etchison: Hey, I'm good. Thanks for having me. I'm excited. It's always fun to talk to you, Kiera.

0:01:19.7 KD: You know, Paul, I feel like you and I have really been hanging out a lot. Last week, I actually did... I got to do a training with Paul's team, guys. I legit got to be with his team training them. And it was fun 'cause I felt, Paul, you and I go back and forth between coaching and let's talk practices and let's talk podcasting. And you're mentoring me on how to get a book published. I did print it. I'm following up with you. You follow up with me. Here we are in the podcast, having accountability moment. [laughter] But, Paul, you got a lot of good things going on over in your practice right now.

0:01:52.0 PE: Yeah, yeah, it's really good. Can't complain. As much as I want to work and I don't want to retire, I'm not working very much at the practice, so I'm thankful for that.

0:02:03.1 KD: And I think that that's actually a real fun conversation to have. And that's what we want to get on the podcast for today because I want to know how were you as... I knew you... I looked back, it was April 20, 2019. Easter weekend, epic fell on our part. I don't know if you remember that, but the whole team wanted to get out early. We're like, "Nope. We're doing this."

[laughter]

0:02:24.1 PE: Oh, yeah. That's right.

0:02:24.2 KD: That was back in 2019, and you were a full blown clinician [0:02:27.1] ____. You were practicing all the time. You were in the trenches every single day when I met you back in 2019, came and coached your team. And now, fast forward, 2023, you have scaled yourself radically back. You still are able to practice. But I wanted to talk about how. How did you actually get to do that? Let's dive into the nitty gritty 'cause you know how I am, Paul. I'm all things tactical. If we're going to get into this, let's talk about the specifics 'cause I'm sure there's lots of doctors listening and also offices of how do we get from where we are today five days a week to scaling back. But more than that, I want to know why did you think that was necessary as well?

0:03:02.7 PE: Yeah. So I'll just unpack that a little bit. When I met you back then, I was actually three days a week, but the most I've ever done was four. I did five days a week right out of school for two months, and I'm like, "This is not for me. This is too much." I worked at a very busy DSO high volume, and I think it just drains you. I think to think that we can do this 40 hours a week is a... That's pretty ridiculous. We need to relax and just say, "Hey, what's enough? Let's just do that. Let's enjoy our lives." But when I met you, when you came to my practice in 2019, I was down to three days from four days. But then since then, it's been a big transition from three days to two days and then eventually to two half days where I'm at now. But it's been a lot of push and pull. It hasn't been as clear cut as it sounds because when you cut back, your team wants to... They want to bring you back in and the patients want to bring you back in because they want to see you and they know you and they don't want to see your associates.

0:03:56.7 PE: So I would say the main thing behind that was just we had a practice that was doing really well and it was growing. And when I made my first transition, bringing on an associate five days a week, I cut myself down to three. And then that's when I realized that when I cut myself down, when I'd spend actually some quality time, some energy, and I had the energy for it to work on the business, to train my team, to talk to my leads, to collaborate, just come up with new systems. That's when the practice really started growing. And when I made that transition, I was totally ready to take a big pay cut. I'm like, "I just want some time. I want more balance in my life." And I didn't have to take a pay cut. And then it just kept growing and then we added more associates. And so for me, primarily, it was to keep myself sane. But as the practice grew, I couldn't wear both hats anymore. There just wasn't enough time. And I got to the point where I had my open door policy, "Come talk to me anytime, team. My door is always open."

0:04:52.6 PE: Where I had one team member tell me, "You know what? You say your door is open, but anytime we ask you something, you seem really bothered by it." And I was. I was really burnt out. I was miserable. I was trying to get to all these things that I wanted to do and all these things that I had to do for the practice, but yet I had to see these patients. And this person called, they want to see you. She wants you to do her exam. She knows you're here. She heard you in the hallway. And so, it was this evolution of creating a leadership team, also putting boundaries and saying, "You know what? I'm here today to work on the business, and I'm not seeing patients. I don't care who's in the chair and I don't care if... " And it got to the point where I told my team, I said, "Hey, if it's a deal breaker for a patient to stay in this practice that I have to be their dentist, I have to do their exam and do all of their dentistry, then we're not a good fit anymore. And they were just blown away." They said, "Wait, you would lose a patient over this?"

0:05:46.9 PE: And I said, "Absolutely, it's not a good fit. It doesn't fit with my life. I don't want to do this anymore." So, just to give the listeners where I'm at now, I do two half days a week. One of them is ortho and then the other one is just veneers, cosmetics, and just a few implants here and there. But pretty simple days, procedures I like doing. I don't check hygiene, I don't see general new patients anymore. And I've got a leadership team that's just been fantastic. And I can tell you, in the past year and a half, two years, I've really gotten out of the way. And this practice has never run better with me, the bottleneck getting out of the way and just trusting them to do what they're good at doing. I think we all have teams that have smart, capable people, and we just need to trust in them and let them run with it 'cause they've surprised me over and over again, and they continue to every day that I work with them. They're just great. So that's where I'm at now. And that's how that transition worked. But it sounds easier than it was.

[laughter]

0:06:41.8 PE: There was a lot in between. But yeah, that was a lot.

0:06:45.1 KD: Well, and on Paul's off days, he is doing investment deals, guys. He is writing books. He's got two books out. He's got the Dental Practice Hero: From Ordinary Practice to Extraordinary Experience and Dental Practice Hero II: How a 3 Day Work Week Can Give You the Life You Want. He also has the Dental Practice Heroes podcast, guys. So if you want more Paul, definitely go check that out. And he still is able to be a dentist. So, Paul, I think I've got so many pieces that I'm sure our listeners are also curious on of like, okay, number one, how did you have the confidence and trust that you realistically could cut back and not lose your sense of identity, not lose your finances? You clearly got to a spot where you're like, "Okay, I guess if I lose patience, I'm okay with that." But financially, I think that that's an identity and also a real big fear factor. And I hear it from doctors all the time like, "Kiera, I want this," but somehow, Paul, you took your want and made it a must. I must have this.

0:07:42.6 KD: So, I'm like, did some catastrophe happen? Did life happen? Did your wife say like, "Paul, either get on board or get out?" I'm sure she didn't. She's so ridiculously nice. Paul's wife is the nicest one I think I've ever met. Beautiful daughters you've got.

0:07:56.3 PE: Thank you.

0:07:57.1 KD: But what was the catalyst? Or was it just you? You wanted a different life and you knew you could have that? 'Cause that I think if we can figure out that catalyst for more people, they might be able to follow suit. But I think that that catalyst, that piece is what keeps people stuck. So how did you get unstuck and get out of what most people stay stuck in for their whole careers?

0:08:13.1 PE: Yeah, and I have an easy catalyst 'cause there was one thing that tipped the scales a little bit was that I sold equity to a DSO. But what I realized in this process is as I sold equity to the DSO, I was like, "Okay, the risk is off the table so much, I can give in a little bit." But what I realized through this whole process is I could have done this my whole career. I didn't have to do that to get to this point to relinquish that control. Now, fast forward, or rewind two years ago before I sold, I would have told you my leads were doing everything. I wasn't doing anything at all. But when we shut down for the pandemic, it was very obvious to me that this was a big emotional burden that I was still doing a lot because when I really didn't have anything to do with the practice, it was like, "Wow, look at that contrast." [laughter] So when I came back, that was... Coming back from the pandemic was like, "Okay, I want this." We were eating dinner as a family almost every night. It was just great being shut down for the pandemic. And I came back and said I got to do things differently.

0:09:16.0 PE: And coming back from that was two days a week then. But I was coming in on Mondays to do admin stuff and just work with the team, but I would always get scheduled, and it would be like, "Well, you're going to be here, right? Can you just see this one patient?" "Sure." And then since the team sees one on there, they put another one next to it. And so that was part of coming back. But for me, it was a mix of just burnout, just getting stressed out, feeling like I wasn't in a good place with... I was just turning... I was almost 40. I was 39 at the time I sold. And it was just this realization of saying, "This is my identity." Yes, I am a dentist, and I am a practice owner, but saying, "You know what? I'm comfortable with my next ten years or my next... Whatever, this next decade of my life being different. And if I really, truly love owning a dental practice and being part of that, I can continue to be part of my dental practice. But if I want to do something different, I can go ahead and go do something different." It's about having options for me and the freedom to do so.

0:10:18.2 KD: Okay. So that was the catalyst. And I'm glad you did talk about it because I know personally you've sold to a DSO. I don't know if everybody listening knows that. And you and I talked about that on a prior podcast of the pros and cons. And I know you've been really happy with that sell. And I know I've personally talked to you, Jason, my husband, we talked to you. And I was like, "Paul, tell me what you do with your time." You're like, "Honestly, Kiera, it's really nice to do nothing." And I remember when you said that, you're like, "People always say you want to do something." You're like, "No, I actually like doing nothing."

0:10:46.0 PE: Guess what I did this morning? I told you I was editing some videos this morning, but I actually I slept till about noon, which is unheard of.

[laughter]

0:10:54.6 KD: Especially as a dentist who can still be a dentist. I think one thing I love, and that's what I want to do on the podcast, is to talk about how this can be a reality. And I think that it's one of those things we hear all the time, you work less, you create more. But I think people feel like, "Yeah, that's for everyone else, but it's not for me." So, Paul, what are some of the things that you have found? What are some of the why do you feel... I mean, you literally wrote an entire book about this, and being on the writing the book journey, that is no small feat to do. So you wrote a book about how a three day work week can truly give you the life you want. What is your reasoning that you think three days is the ideal work week for a dentist? You dropped down before you've been sold out to three days. What did you find were the changes? 'Cause I have a lot of thoughts from a team side, but what did you find as the owner?

0:11:39.1 PE: I don't know if it's some innate human thing, but three days just feels right. It feels like it's the right amount of grind and the right amount of time just to rest, recharge, and plan. Now, I mean, I have two half days a week now, but I also have the podcast. And like you mentioned, I'm doing a lot of other things, too. So regardless of what my family and friends think, I actually do work. I do sleep till noon a lot of days, but...

[laughter]

0:12:06.0 KD: I mean, you did today, Paul. It's fine. You do whatever you want. I'm not judging you.

0:12:08.2 PE: Right. I do do that. But it's just like... I actually forgot where you were... Where I was going with this. What did you ask me, Kiera?

[laughter]

0:12:16.7 KD: I was asking you, how did you go? People always talk about how this is the dream and it can't happen to me. And Paul's just the lucky one. And you say in your book, you wrote this book of how a three day work week can give you the life you want. And so you were mentioning how it's balanced and three just feels right. And as you said that, I actually have the thought of like, well, that's a reverse, right? You're only working three days in a seven day work week, which means you have four days that are for you. And I actually like that it's more you than work because I think a lot of people do it reverse. There's more work than there is life. And so for you, you really switched it. But what did you find on those two other days? I mean, you probably got personal time for you, but you've also mentioned you've got your leadership team, you're working on the business. And you said that that was truly the catalyst that made your practice take off so much so that it could be acquired by a DSO. So what do you do on those other two days?

0:13:10.0 KD: I think people don't even know, "What do I do with myself? I'm going to sit on the couch and sleep till noon when I'm used to being up at 6:00 AM and hitting the gym. I'll feel like a schmuck and I'm going to turn into a schmuck."

0:13:20.0 PE: Well, sometimes I do feel like a schmuck. [laughter] It's true. Sometimes I do. I have some sometimes I still take a lot of time off as well, which people are like, "How could you do that?" But I had to take some time off.

0:13:33.2 KD: Only two half days, Paul.

[laughter]

0:13:33.3 PE: I know, but you got to have stuff to do. So if I didn't have the podcast and stuff, two half days might not be enough because what I'm doing on my other days is I'll tell you, for instance, right now, what I'm looking at is our block out schedules, our scheduling template for 2024. So I'm starting to plan that out.

0:13:50.8 KD: Guys, it's March 2nd right now. This will release pretty soon. But just so you know, March 2nd, he's planning 2024. Just pointing out he's a year in advance is what I'm trying to point out. How many of you have thought of 2024 right now? Probably not many.

0:14:02.5 PE: Well, see, the thing is, is our practice is very much at capacity, so we're scheduling six month recalls at eight months. So which means right now we're scheduling them into November. So if I don't get out in front of this, what's going to happen is I'm going to have a bunch of appointments on the schedule that are going to ruin my template. So I've got to get in front of it. And what will happen is I'll talk about doing it for four or five weeks until the pressure gets really tight, then I'll actually pound up. But that's what I do on days like this. I was talking to my hygiene lead today about just sitting down with other hygienists, just some conversations she had with some other hygienists, doing weekly [0:14:36.8] ____ performance reviews. I think going back to one thing that you asked is, what makes this possible with the leads is that I started giving them things that I would do, such as doing one on ones with team members. It's too hard. I've got 40 team members. I can't do a one on one with everybody. I started doing, I said, "Hey, do you guys think you could do this?"

0:14:57.4 PE: "Here's what I want you to do. I want you to build people up. I want you to let them know how much you appreciate them. Be thankful and really mean it. And then find out what issues they're having. What are some things that frustrate them? Get input from them." But now I only have to answer to my four leads I have now instead of everybody. And what's interesting is I think a lot of dentists want to do this and they want this practice, but they don't really allow the people... They're people that autonomy that they really, one, deserve and need. I'll tell you, we have a new hygiene lead because our previous hygiene lead had her second baby, she wanted to stay home for a little bit. And this new hygiene lead came in and she started doing all these teamwork exercises, writing up a new way that we're doing performance reviews, started sitting down doing case reviews with the hygienist. And it's just like, "Wow, she really took it to another level." And it wasn't me saying, "Hey, do this, do this, that." It was me saying, "Hey, whatever you think, I'm behind you. I believe in you. I trust you." And I think that's the big turning point is you just got to get out of the way and trust. Now, is that hard to do for some people? Yeah, I was really hard for me.

0:16:06.2 KD: Yeah, I was going to say, how do you not let the wheels fall off the train? Or you let go of that control. Weren't you scared that your whole culture would change or that you would not know what's going on. And then all of a sudden you're going to have a mass exit. 'Cause you got 40 employees. What happens if your leads tick them off? You lose your whole hygiene department. How did you overcome those fears?

0:16:25.2 PE: And I think it was from just getting bruised up a little bit. I mean, we had a very low turnover in our practice, very great culture. And for almost nine years, we had nobody leave, which was amazing. Now, this past year and a half has just been bonkers with labor market, people moving to take a three, four dollar hour raise, really hard to hire people. But I think through this whole process, what I've learned is that our culture is stronger than anything, is that we can lose people and we can find people and everything just works out no matter what happens. And behind this is just this confidence in my heart that nothing can take this practice down, nothing can sink it at this point. And as you know, we were talking last week, we're going through or dropping Delta very soon. Then we're hoping dropping more insurances in the summertime. I truly... Are we going to lose some people? Yeah. Are we going to retain some people? I hope so. But I truly believe no matter what, we're going to come out on top because I just believe that strongly in our culture, in my team.

0:17:27.0 PE: But that's through me seeing, going through some hard times where I was worried having a hygienist go to a different practice and take a key front desk team member. That one hurt pretty bad. Every time these big things happen, I'm just like, "Oh, my gosh, this is the start of it. The house of cards is falling." 'Cause this is how I tend to think. And I think that's just my high anxiety mind. I don't think everybody thinks that way, but I tend to think of it.

0:17:55.3 KD: I think most do actually. I'm glad you're saying it 'cause I think that this is very common.

[laughter]

0:18:00.3 PE: That's how I feel. I feel like it's about to tumble. Here we go. Then I looked back and I'm like, "I felt like this thing was about to tip over 10 years ago." That is just my mentality. That's just the way I... It's my thinking, my reptile brain just says, "Something bad is going to happen." And through just some maybe bad things happening, I realized, "You know what? We're stronger than this. We're going to get through this." And I believe that. So I think that's a big part of it is the confidence to know that... Just to give, for example, just for somebody to bring an associate, 'cause that was a big fear for me. It was bringing our first associate. You bring an associate, they're a horrible dentist. They really stink. They're making all your patients pissed off. They're doing horrible work. You get rid of them and you move on. They didn't see every single patient in your practice. We almost get trapped in this mindset that we don't think we have the ability to pivot, to assess the situation and pivot it. Same thing with hiring team members. If they don't work out, you say goodbye and you move on.

0:19:02.9 PE: Nothing is fixed, but we tend to think these little things, one thing like that is going to be so major that all of our patients are going to leave and everything is going to go downhill. It's just not true. It's just we have to reframe our thinking.

0:19:12.7 KD: Well, and I think that that's a really, really, really brilliant way to look at this because I feel so many doctors... Like I coach Paul, you know that, we coach dentists and teams, you coach a lot of doctors too, I think it's real fun. You and I, I think, have actually shared some different clients together. But what I think is really awesome is, you are one of the select few... So many people have this dream. I hear it all the time. "Kiera, I wanna get down to three days," and I can work them down to three days, literally work them out of their practices and we get there and they're like, "Hmm, actually, no. I still need to be in this." And they actually start to make excuses as to why they need to be there. And I think it's almost like my dad's about to retire and I'm listening to him freak out about it because he's like, "Oh, what's my purpose after this?" And so what I love is you just executed and believed that there was a different life, a different path. And like you said, I was okay for my next decade to look differently, if I'm not making as much, if I've got more time. It's crazy when we really break it down to what we actually need to be happy.

0:20:09.1 KD: It's not all the things we have. And when we take that stress and pressure off and then really lift up a team. And as a team member, I will say, thank you for finally recognizing that we want to serve. We have so much capacity to do so. And usually what stops us is our doctors chokehold us and they're really just bottlenecking and not allowing us. They're so busy and they put us in charge of it, but then they literally come in and, not intentionally, but they undermine us as team members, they don't allow us to grow. You'll start doing something... And I do this too, and I'm even a team member, where you think as an owner, you're helping out, but in actuality, you're just undermining, you're undercutting and what you're saying without saying it is, "I don't trust you."

0:20:50.0 KD: And so, by you just really like, "Alright, here you go, I support you, I trust you, report back," I think that's one of the most beautiful things if you're really ready for this. If you're not ready for it, then don't do it. And like you said, people will either rise up or they'll rise out. And both are great options. And I love what you said was nothing's fixed. Nothing's fixed. It's all... You can have the illusion that your practice is going to crank and be exactly how it is forever and things can come in and pivot and change and we can have shutdowns and COVID, like nothing is fixed, but I do think the lifestyle that we want is something we can create rather than just sitting here hoping and wishing for it.

0:21:26.2 KD: So Paul, I wanted to actually do something that's going to be a little different probably for you, but before I move into that part of this podcast, is there anything else you wanna wrap up on? Like how to have this three day work week, why it's essential. Of course, I want people like, if they want more, read your book. And then I'm going to do kind of a funny pivot on you on my podcast. So anything you wanna wrap up on this before we move on?

0:21:48.8 PE: Yeah, I would just like to say it's... I mean, this isn't my book. It's more than just nuts and bolts. It's more than just systems. A lot of it's the leadership. And my book talks about that. It's about creating a safe environment that your employees and your staff feel safe to talk to you, that you don't berate people, you don't make people feel bad for mistakes, you expect mistakes, you encourage discussing mistakes, things like that. Being the leader in casting that vision and not just to the clinical team that sees the big difference, but to the whole entire team saying that, how the way you answer the phone creates an experience for the patient that allows them to get some dental work. And a lot of times we look at the dental work, we say, "Hey, we do this every day. No big deal. It's just a deal filling. It's just a... We're just doing scaling and root planning." But then when we look at, what happens to these patients when we go really far out and we say, "What if they don't get this treatment? What if they didn't come to our dental office where we're nice and accepting?" We make it easy for them. We're compassionate.

0:22:43.7 PE: We create a great experience. What happens to these little issues? They turn into big issues and big life-changing issues. We always hear the dental cripple, someone who would cover their mouth every time they smile, or someone who's not going out with friends out to dinner because they don't want something to fall out of their mouth or they're ashamed of their teeth. That all starts with a little problem in the day-to-day stuff. So it's not just our clinical team doing big cosmetic makeovers that's making a difference. It's the person answering the phone. It's the person being knowledgeable about treatment, the person who's presenting the finances in a manner that they can make it work with the patient, the treatment coordinator. It's the assistant greeting the patient in the office. So it's all these little things that make a big difference. And just being the leader that casts that, that let's the team see that worth. There's... So that's kind of what my book's about. It's about all this little stuff. It does get into some systems and stuff like that, but half of it's all leadership. 'Cause I think it's the leadership stuff.

0:23:37.0 PE: And I think for me personally, the next level in my leadership was getting out of the way. And my team doesn't always do things the way that I would personally do them. But I have to say, you know what, I don't care so much about the process as much as I care about the goals. And if my goal is that they have a autonomy and they run the practice without my direction for the most part, I have to step back and I have to trust them. And they haven't failed me yet. And I'm sure they will one day and it's going to be okay. We'll discuss, we'll pivot, we'll move on. The house of cards is not falling.

0:24:10.8 KD: Ah, that's beautiful. And I really do love that you talk so much about leadership because I think it's very easy. People come to us and ask all the time, "Kiera, what are the systems?" and I'm like, at the end of the day, I'm not trying to sound cheesy or cliche, but I can tell if a practice will be successful or will not every single time and it's a 100% dependent on the leader, every time. You can give the most brilliant person, who's a terrible leader, all the systems in the world and that practice will fail. But you can give someone who's a great leader, minimal skills and minimal systems and they can frickin' flourish. So I just love that you spend so much time on that. And it's fun to have a real life dentist, guys. Paul, I know him personally, I've watched him. I think, Paul, something you do very brilliantly that I wanna just highlight is you reach out to your network of people and you hire experts for the things you need. I came in and taught your team about treatment coordinating and I did a whole team. You were like, "Kiera, we need to increase this. Let's have you just come in, teach my team. We're going to take it and run with it."

0:25:07.3 KD: Right now we're going through some other pieces with your practice. But I just wanted to highlight, you are very intentional on your leadership with your team, so kudos that way. Thanks for sharing that. And now I'm going to pivot because on Paul's podcast, I get to go through... And I didn't prepare you, but I feel like you ask this question all the time. So we have three sections, Paul, and the first one is... [laughter] Guys, on Paul's podcast, he asked three sections and I was like, "Oh my gosh, I'm going to ask Paul this." So I'm going to pivot his own podcast on him today and ask him, 'cause I think these are actually really cool. And so Paul, hopefully you're not panicking, you know the order, you know it's coming.

0:25:42.5 PE: I do, I do.

0:25:43.3 KD: First one is little systems. So in this part, Paul, in your podcast... I actually love this. I'm not taking this. It's just 'cause you're now a guest, and then I think you should replay this. So this is the segment in the Dental A Team podcast acting like Dental Heroes Podcast, where we have you share a little system that leads to big results. So Paul, what is your little system that you feel leads to big results?

0:26:06.9 PE: I love that this is on-the-spot. I think I'm going to do well on all these questions. I think I have an answer.

0:26:10.3 KD: I think you're going to do great. You made these questions up.

[laughter]

0:26:14.0 PE: I never get to answer them. I would say my big little system that I would like to share with everybody is to-do lists and, and having multiple to-do lists, having a today to-do list, having a short-term to-do list, and also having something that's in progress to-do list. I have like five to-do lists, but I wanna put everything from my other four to-do lists and I put it on my one today to-do list, because I want to complete my today to-do list every single day and I think what a lot of us do is we just have a long running list where things sit on there for a very long time. So I wanna make sure that I pull things from my other two list based on priority. I put it on my today. If there's something I can't get to, if there's something that stays for one or two days, I go onto my calendar and I schedule time to do it and I just wipe it off my to-do list because I don't wanna see that, I wanna empty that thing every single day.

0:26:57.9 PE: And I think it's such a more better way to, to keep control of maybe not a chaotic life, but just keep tabs on everything that you're doing and also keep moving the needle forward. And then also get that gratifying... You don't feel... I remember when I had this long to-do list, I'd be like, "Oh gosh, there's eight things left. I just wanna get one more done, just one more done." And it's like, for me, it's now, "Okay, I got five things I start with, I get them all done and if I still wanna do something, I'll grab something from the other ones. But if I wanna be done, I can be done because it's not all about grinding all day long." So, I use an app on my phone. I use something called Tasks. I'm a Droid person. I know people are going to hate me for that, but I like Droid. But I think you could do it with any app. But I think it's something very important just to have a reasonable amount of things to do today and not have this running list that just keeps on going and going and going and never ending. 'Cause it will never end. There's always more to do.

0:27:47.6 KD: Sure. And then that also gives you mental stamina to keep going because you know that there's a true end every day rather than feeling like you can never end. Oh, I like that. I was like, "Oh my gosh, tell me how you do this," but good to know it's on an app. Okay. In this section of the Dental A Team's version of the Dental Hero Podcast, it is the Get Real segment. So this is the part where it's going to be, where we celebrate the all of us are human and none of us is perfect. So Paul, are you ready to get real?

0:28:13.2 PE: Ready to get real.

0:28:14.0 KD: Okay, here we go. I'm going to ask you the following three questions. I really love being your host right now, just so you know. Okay. So what is the biggest struggle at your practice or business right now and what are you doing about it?

0:28:26.8 PE: Yeah, I mean, I would say that the biggest struggle right now is our process to go insurance-independent, but I think that's kind of... I wanna go a different way because I think the purpose of this segment is to show vulnerability and failures. And I want to just acknowledge that one thing that we went through is we had to let an assistant go. She was a very nice person, really liked working with her, but when things would get high... When we would get behind or high volume, I don't think she was the best person at handling that kind of stress and some bad parts of her personality came out, just overwhelmed. And I can relate to this completely because I am somebody, when I have a lot of things thrown at me, I get very overwhelmed and I can snap at people and I don't always... I'm not always proud of my behavior when that happens to me.

0:29:07.8 PE: So this was somebody that we tried to find someone to replace for a long time. We went back and forth with coaching or maybe it'll work out long term, maybe this, and we just pulled the cord and it's just like every time you do it, you just wonder why you didn't do it sooner. It's like you just know when it's just not working out. It's not a fit. And I've told every person I've had to let go. It's just when I start hearing about you daily, when I hear your name daily and it's not in a good way, it's just time to go. So, one thing we are working on right now, our biggest struggle at our practice I guess would be training up a new assistant and trying to look at our schedules in a certain part of our practice that's running a little bit behind on schedule and working on efficiencies as well as working on verbiages with team members and stuff like that.

0:29:57.4 PE: So what am I doing about it? I have taken some of my Wednesdays in which I would do veneers and cosmetic stuff and I just block them off and I'm just floating around in the hallways, making everybody very uncomfortable. [laughter] And I say that like joking. They tell me, they're like, "Oh gosh, I hate when you're watching me." I'm like, "Why?" Like, I will never... I've never made anyone feel bad about anything, but they always like feel like I'm like... They can feel me like watching and listening and they don't like it. But there's so much stuff you can learn. I mean, I've heard people say some things about our membership plan that I was sharing with you last week and verbiages like that. There's... I've seen somebody numb a top tooth and then go and sit in their office for 15 minutes and then wonder why their schedule's behind. It's like, "That thing's ready to go in two minutes, let's go. What are you waiting for?" So it's like you see all these things that as an owner of an associate-driven practice, it's hard to see unless you're in the trenches looking at it. So that's what I'm doing about it. I'm working on efficiencies and I'm back in the trenches and I'm just walking around with a little clipboard and making everybody sweat a little bit.

0:30:58.3 KD: I like it. I like it a lot. Okay, thanks. If you could go, go back in time to the beginning of your career, what do you wish you could tell yourself?

0:31:05.4 PE: Run. Just run. No, I'm just kidding. [laughter] No, I...

0:31:09.7 KD: I was like, "Peace out, guys. He doesn't wanna be a dentist anymore. That's why he's sold. That's why he's on half-days. Next up, he's going to be like some ski bum. I don't know."

[laughter]

0:31:17.1 PE: No, I'd say, if I could go back, I tied a lot of my identity as a person into how people felt at my practice. There was so much out of my control, people's... What was going on in other people's lives, what was going on with them emotionally and the stuff that they brought to work that I would almost take personally, self-imposed, give this burden to myself that this is evidence of my failure and leadership. This is evidence of my failing my team, failing my systems, failing my patients. And it just kind of came around like long term just saying that, "You know what, I don't need everybody to be 100% happy and just, 'Oh my gosh, this is the greatest place ever.'" I just need them to be content because I don't think everyone's going to be, that works for you is going to be a truly raving fan of yours every moment of every day.

0:32:01.6 PE: And that's an unrealistic expectation. And I think I really put that on myself a lot in my early career. And when I say early career, I'm talking about just like up to... I mean, I've been a dentist 14 years now. I'm saying probably until about four years ago, that was a big burden, even maybe in less... This was something that's a new realization for me. But just so much pressure on myself. I would tell myself, "It's not all about you. It's not all... It was never all about me. People have their own things going on and that you need to accept that and just love people, give them grace and also giving grace to yourself." So that's what I would go back and tell myself.

0:32:34.3 KD: I think it's brilliant. And thank you for sharing that 'cause I think a lot of people do get caught up in that. And I like the benchmark of content and realizing that that's a great benchmark to strive for. And your next question, this is your question that I'm asking you, so share a story where you learned a valuable business lesson from an experience or the hard way.

0:32:55.3 PE: Mm-hmm. So I'm going to bring up one that we have typically in the past, when we say, "Hey, hygienist, hey team, we want you to take this course. We think it's going to be really cool. We will send you there. We will pay your hours. We're going to pay for your tuition. It's going to be like a chill day. You're still going to make money. Wooh, great stuff." It was approached by a hygienist and she said, "What do you think about this Crest seminar on new fluorides and stuff like that?" It was just like, "Okay, let's, let's get our CE hours so we can renew our license." It was that sort of course. I'm like, "I don't know. I mean, if people wanna go to it... If you guys wanna go, I'll be nice and I'll just... I'll pay the tuition for you, just like as kind of a gift and just... " But I had never intended on paying for the hours because I thought it was just a ridiculous course.

0:33:43.4 PE: Now, fast-forward maybe five or six hygienists, I have like 12 hygienists, five or six went to this course, and then they were upset that they didn't get paid for the hours. And then they said, "I don't even think I would've went to this course if I wasn't getting paid." So me saying who's right and who's wrong, now, I feel like I am right. I never said I was going to pay for these hours. I just was doing something nice. I didn't even have to pay for the damn tuition. [laughter] But in their perspective, they thought it was getting paid. So I've got one or two choices I can do here. I can say, "You know what, I didn't say I was going to pay for it. I'm sorry. I didn't think the course was important and it is what it is."

0:34:21.7 PE: Or what I did do is I said, "You know what, I totally understand why you guys might have thought that. I apologize for not being clear about something that I didn't realize at the time I had to be clear about. I'm going to pay you guys for your hours because I value you and I respect you and I appreciate you guys being part of this team, but in the future, I'll do a better job of clarifying whether this is a paid class or not." And I think a lot of leaders would go a different direction about that. And I think it's not... You don't always have to be right. And I don't... To me, to assert that I was right there and I was correct and not paying them was just was not worth the fallout and how it would've made my team feel about me as a leader and as an owner. So that was something I had to learn through the process, but I think I did make the right decision in the end. But it was a... That was... That's what comes to mind when you ask me that.

0:35:11.8 KD: I love that. And thank you for sharing that 'cause I don't think that that's an easy one. I also really love that it's back into this like leadership and you took ownership on that instead of making your team fall out. And I hope people listening, like he said, he didn't have any turnover on his team for several years, I hope you guys are noticing that and recognizing that and listening to that because these are some tips of how he's been able to achieve that. So, Paul, I wanna... I'm just going to ask you your Dental Practice Heroes 66 because I like these ones. But I do know... Guys, if you heard like... Definitely go check out Paul on his podcast, the Dental Practice Heroes. Also, Paul, if they're interested in reading any of your books, where can they snag those just so that way they can learn more about this? 'Cause I think guys, honestly, leadership teams, you wanna figure out how to get to three weeks or three days. This is Paul telling you exactly how he did it. So Paul, how can they snag that info?

0:35:58.0 PE: It's on Amazon. So you can get on Amazon. There's an audio book for both books. The audio book for the second book is coming out.

0:36:04.9 KD: Did you read it?

0:36:05.8 PE: I read the second one.

0:36:07.4 KD: Guys, it's so good that you can hear him.

0:36:09.4 PE: It was a challenge. [laughter] It's harder than you think. And that should be out any day now. I'm sure that'll be out by the time this is released. People always wonder like, "Do I have to read the first book to read the second book?" If I had to recommend one of them to read, I'd say the second book. I really like the second book. I'm really proud of it. I don't think the first... The first one was great too, but I'm noticing people feeling like they have to read them in order and they both stand by themselves. And so the first one's more focused on the extraordinary patient experience and just everything running a practice. The second one's more focused on running a practice from stepping out and stepping more into putting that business owner's hat on a little bit more than the clinician and just leading a larger team. So both great books, both on Amazon. And dentalpracticeheroes.com, that's my website, so all my other stuff's on there.

0:36:53.3 KD: That's awesome. And guys, I think one of the biggest things you guys can do, if you love Paul and he's given you value today, if you buy his book or you see things, definitely leave those five-star reviews, those help a lot to get his book out to other people who may not have heard him. So guys, if you feel like it's worthwhile of that, I think that's a great way you can also give back to the knowledge he's given. So Paul, let's wrap this...

0:37:11.2 PE: It makes my day, too. I'm like, 'cause I read this and I go, "Aww... " And then like I have a four-star review on my first book, it's because of grammar. And I'm just like, "Dude, screw that guy. It's hard to write a book."

[laughter]

0:37:21.6 KD: It is hard. And I'm like, "Do you know how hard this is?" I agree. I get an ego boost when I go... I wake up in the middle of the night and I check my podcast for reviews. So I'm right there with you of like, "Guys, just leave it because we put out this content and we do it for you, but we also love the ego stroke. So thank you for that." [laughter]

0:37:38.0 PE: We do, we do. I hope everyone's listening like, "Oh, their souls are so empty. They just need... They need that gratification. What's wrong with... "

0:37:45.1 KD: We do. Paul, I am super appreciative of you hopping on the podcast today. And guys, go check out Paul's new book. It is epic. It's amazing. If you haven't noticed, Paul is absolutely incredible. So Paul, thank you so much for being on the podcast today. And for all of you listening, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

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0:38:04.8 KD: And 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.

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