Episode 468: Are You Overcommitting and Under-Delivering?

This episode dives into confidence in leadership and a focus on small victories. When you’re setting your weekly goals, are you finding any of the following taking place: You’ve overcommitted yourself; you didn’t prioritize what needed to be done; or you didn’t delegate.

Kiera encourages listeners to make small promises instead of unwieldy ones — this also gets your team to believe in you! Look to see where you’re setting yourself up for failure and commit to fixing it.

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Transcript: 

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 in dental assistant, treatment coordinator, schedule filler, office manager, regional manager, practice owner and I have a team of traveling consultants, where we have traveled 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 team. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast.

0:00:51.8 KD: Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and you guys, today is one of those days that did not turn out quite like I had planned it. Any of you ever have that? It's actually a Monday morning, I was headed to a practice actually and it ended up that 17 members were not feeling well and so we all just pivoted on a dime and now I am driving a good six hours to the next practice and as I was getting ready to card cast, 'cause we all know I love to do some card casting, I literally was thinking about, how did your practice do with pivoting? Does it throw you for a loop or do you look at it and realize that, Hey, everything in life is happening for a reason and it's happening for you versus to you. I know you've said that a lot on the podcast, but just kind of thinking about that, I think I definitely was smack dab with reality today on that and then I thought, Hey, I've got six hours lots of time to do some podcasting before I take off holidays are coming up. And so it just is one of those small opportunities, and I think we can either look at them as challenges or opportunities and I would just ask you, how do you view it?

0:01:58.4 KD: Do you view this as something that's an opportunity? When changes happen, whether for positive or negative, do you view it as a positive that happened for you versus to you? So just kind of think about that. Definitely, have is like, Okay, here we are, and massive shout out to my team, they are so fantastic. Shelby was getting messages early in the morning and I said, Shelbs, I need some help and she's just incredible, and we found a game plan and the offices were incredible, and just questioning, how does your team do? Do you guys have a culture of pivot, do you have a culture of stress and freak out, like What is your culture and maybe evaluating that so you can ensure that it's a positive one versus a negative one. So with that, thank you guys so much, all of you who are sending us reviews online. Gosh, I massively, massively, massively. Appreciate all of you, thank you so much. Thanks for following along. We have a lot of you following us on Instagram, and like Dr. Lewis Chen mentioned on a podcast the other day that I was doing with him, how much he values our newsletter, so if you are somebody who's following us on Instagram.

0:03:00.9 KD: You've left us a review. You're an avid podcast listener, you're part of our Dental A Team family, or you're also subscribed to our newsletter. Thank you. I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you, how much I value you, because at the end of the day, guys, I can sit here and make content and write content, and our team can do it, but guess what? We do it for you. So I'm super excited that it's benefiting you. If you're not in all four of those areas, so leaving us a review following us on social, subscribe to our podcast, or a Dental A Team member, we'd love to have you in one or all four of those areas, so thank you guys be sure to email us any time. [email protected], you guys can head on over to our website, you can go subscribe to our newsletter, we make sure that they're super, super informative every single week, sending you guys really great content that's actually written by our consultants for you. So with that said, today's topic is one that actually came from a coaching call client and something I was noticing was she told me when she signed up with us, she said, Kiera, what I really want is I really want some confidence.

0:04:04.0 KD: What I really want is to be a more confident leader and I thought, Okay, well, I love to do this, I love to help grow people into a stronger leaders. I love to find out what they want and be able to help them achieve what they want. And so with that, we've been working really, really hard. And I give her massive kudos, I know she's an avid podcast listener, so she's shout-outs, and this is a shout out to her, but I will say for you guys, something that I've noticed is, a lot of times, and this is for this client, it's also for me, it's also for all of you, I know I have struggled with this in the past, it's something that I've definitely had to learn and something that I'm constantly working on is making sure that I am making smaller promises that I actually deliver on versus making large, lofty promises that I hope I deliver on. So let me say that again, making smaller promises that I actually deliver on versus making larger promises that I hope to deliver on, what that does is a couple of things, the first and foremost thing is actually a benefit for you.

0:05:07.0 KD: Yep, that's right for you. Because guess what, it builds your confidence, you are able to be a much stronger, more confident leader because you know that whatever you say you're going to do, you actually will execute on. Talk about a confidence booster for you. So with that said, You actually are going to be able be a much stronger leader, and so I want you to really think about that when you say things, when you promise your team, when you're asking them questions, are you over-promising and actually dropping in your confidence when you tell people, Hey, I'm gonna work on this bonus and get back to you. Do you actually go back to them? So this, this person that I'm chatting about today, I really, really, really respect her and admire her a lot and I just noticed that her confidence kept lacking, she wasn't able to have accountability in her practice, and I just noticed, does she even have accountability with herself? I know you guys, I want to work out. I feel like I'm getting squishy around the edges. Guys, like what has happened, I turned 35. Had a mid-life crisis, and now I'm getting all squishy.

0:06:12.5 KD: Like what had happened to me? If any of you have great workouts that are faster for on the road or a workout that you really like, Guys help a sister out over here, email me Hello at the Dental A Team dot com. I am open for all ideas, but the reality is, I would love to say I'm gonna work out five days a week. Guess what, if I do that to myself. I'm definitely going to lie to myself, I'm not going to do it, I'm not going to follow through, and then I question when I say I'm going to get other things done, Will I actually follow through or have I just created a pattern where I say things just for the sake of saying them versus saying things, because I actually am going to execute on them.

0:06:48.3 KD: This is where I really feel like a lot of leaders are made, this is where I feel like so many people build their confidence of, Well, I know I was able to build my confidence a lot stronger when I started actually executing on the things I said I was going to do, so not over-promising. Guys, if you're not gonna be able to get back to that email until this day or this day, don't promise it.

0:07:10.0 KD: Make sure when you say you're going to do it. You actually follow through. So again, a lot of times on say, Monday morning, we're very lofty, you guys... I am very lofty early in the morning, and by the end of the day for... Get it. So thinking about this, I was watching a couple of other office managers and even doctors, team members, and they would say, "Okay, this week I'm going to get this, this, this done," at the end of the week, we'd have a check-in and they got nothing done and I thought, okay, there's something wrong, like we have very, very lofty goals, but we're not actually executing on them, is it possibly a few things one, did we just over-commit ourselves. Two, did we not prioritize what actually needed to get done and three, did we not delegate? I think on this example of, wouldn't it be better to actually commit to just doing one thing and actually accomplishing that one thing versus attempting to do 10 different things and accomplishing none of them. Your to-do list will actually get substantially less when you actually start getting things done and I mean done to completion.

0:08:16.1 KD: So just looking at that, so when I have people, they ask me. "Kiera, how do you map your week out?" I have my must, these are musts that must get done that day, if they're not a must for that day or that week, they don't go on the list. Everything else on top of that is a gravy. But that way I know when I actually connect to this or I say, I'm going to do this, I know I will actually get it done.

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0:08:39.1 KD: Are you guys sick of trying to figure it out on your own? I know I am when I'm trying to run a business. Sometimes I just think, there's got to be a better way to do this. And so for me, my answer has been to find someone who's done it and does it really, really, really well, like I'm talking the best of the best of the best. I want someone who's been in my shoes, somebody who understands what I'm going through when I was looking for the consulting business, I found a coach who literally has run a consulting business. Well, that seemed like the perfect fit. So you guys right now, we have a few spaces open in our platinum consulting that is in the consulting where we actually come to your practice, we help you get systems implemented, we don't just tell you a system to implement, we actually implement them with you and for you. You guys it is one of the best investments I've ever made is to hire a coach who understands the business I'm in, who's lived it, who's done it, and that's what we in the Dental A Team do, we literally physically fly to you, so if you're sick of trying to figure it out on your own, if you just want somebody who understands you, join our platinum, I'd love to have you... I'd love to have our consulting team come out and see you be in your office, be with your team, and truly help you get onto the easy path of dentistry. It doesn't have to be hard. So join us in the Platinum, we'd love to have you.

0:10:00.5 KD: So I want you to really think about it, I want you to look to see what needs to happen for you. What can you do to improve that? Where are you possibly over-committing even to yourself that if you were to scale it back just a smidge, no, it does not mean that you are failing, it does not mean that you cannot get everything done, what it means is you're actually setting yourself up for success because success builds upon success. So by nature, it will be like a snowball effect for you, you will gain momentum, you will get excited, you'll start to check off more things versus always looking at that to-do list and be like, Oh, I got nothing done, well, then you're worried that the next day when you look at that to-do list, you'll get nothing done and you're training yourself in a pattern to say that when you have these lists, there actually nothing ever gets done, all they are just simple patterns of items that make you feel good, 'cause you see them, maybe you check off a thing here or there, but that's not actually something that must get done, so again, having small victories, small wins actually can build to greater victories and greater wins because you're committed to it and you have confidence and trust in yourself.

0:11:04.4 KD: So I hope that that is actually connecting with you guys of... I would much rather you have smaller promises to your team and follow through, then your team feels confident they know when you say something, you will execute on it. I also really love the thought of making smaller, smaller tasks, I guess every week that must get done, so I have a client and she sends me her priorities for the week, you guys... I'm not gonna lie, I feel like we jump over hula hoops and spin around and dance and do everything to help our clients stay accountable, I will do about any possible way to help keep our clients accountable and successful. So with this one client, she asked me, Hey, can you please email me on Sundays, I don't care what day it is, they get to choose their day, whatever I can do to set them up for success. I say, she said, Can you email me every Sunday and ask me what my priorities are for the week, and then every single Friday check back in with me. Absolutely, no problem. I'm your coach, I'm here for you.

0:12:00.3 KD: This is something that I love to do, not a worry whatsoever. So then I sent her and I started watching a lot of times on her Sunday email, it would be quite a few items, and then on her Friday email, it was actually starting to have less and less and less actually accomplished from the week. And there were a lot of excuses or justification, again, nothing wrong with this client whatsoever, this is used as an experience in a training, 'cause if we could help other people rock on. We were able to help this client. And so I started looking at it and said, Why don't we actually scale that back, or why don't we make it more measurable? So for example, if you say, I'm going to work on the operations manual on the beginning of your week, that's your must Well, by Friday, how do you know you actually accomplish it, so could we actually make that easier, also the daunting task of working on the operations manual, there's a lot of gray in there. There's a lot of zones where you can hide and be like, well, by... I wrote one sentence to get more specific, I'm going to complete the hygiene portion of my manual.

0:12:56.3 KD: Well, now when I look at that, I'm like, Wow, this week's a busy week, Why am I adding that on there? Maybe I actually don't wanna do that. So then you can actually start to look at this and say, hey, I overextended myself, I cannot do that. So instead, I'm gonna get my hygiene job description completed this week. Yes, that feels solid. I am solid, I know I can accomplish this, I know I will accomplish this. That's what I'm going to work on this week.

0:13:19.7 KD: So again, having those small victories will lead to larger victories versus constantly throwing ourselves up for failure, I'm not gonna lie right now, when I look at our production goals for the year, I'm like gosh, that was a stupid goal. It feels so far away every single day a morning huddle, our bookkeepers don't updates, it's not like dental software where we can check it every single day and see where we're at every day, it's like, Well, that's not our actual number, and I'm like, This is so defeating I need to come up with a different way to do it, because then I'm telling my team every single day that we're losing, every single day, it's okay to lose when that's actually just a bad benchmark that I'm having them measure, I should be looking at different markers so that way they're winning and getting that success of winning versus having the constant failure of failing, because guess what?

0:14:04.9 KD: I'm building momentum in either direction, it just depends on which direction we want to build it in, so with you guys, how do you take this home, number one is check to see, do you have full integrity with your team and with yourself. I will give you a little secret to success, the answer is, if you do not have it with yourself, it's gonna be very hard to actually have it with your team, if you don't have integrity with yourself, like, Hey, I'm gonna work out three times this week and you know, you actually will work out three times this week. Don't bother. You should bother, I don't mean that in a very harsh way that came across a little more harsh than I meant for it to come through, but like scale it back, scale it back to where you're actually confident and sure that Whatever you commit to yourself, you will actually finish, you will actually achieve, and I will promise you you'll be so much happier, you'll be so much more confident, so that's number one, number two is going to be how smaller to-dos if you will, have musts that must get done versus a long list, guys, I have a totally long list of all the things I need to get done that is whatever, you can do it however you want, but then I build every single week, or every single day, my must, those are the things that must get done.

0:15:16.9 KD: It does not matter if I'm tired, it does not matter if the day gets away from me, it does not matter because I have integrity within myself, and I'd rather set myself up for success. You guys better believe when I'm on the road traveling, I don't put a lot of tasks on me. Today, I didn't know it was going to be podcasting, you better believe that there were no podcast goals on my radar, but that's part of my larger to do, so when my day opens up today, I knew, Hey, first thing I could do is podcast, let me get some podcast done, I already have my list ready to go, 'cause it was an unexpected success of having a few more hours than I was planning to have. So have that to do, ready to go. So when you do have unexpected pockets of time, you have a quick list of items that you can do, but also my main goals today were to get some sleep and add massive value to this practice. Well, I know I'm gonna accomplish both of those, I was able to give them a lot of value, I'm going to see them when they actually have all their team together, able to add massive, massive value to them, and I'm gonna get to my hotel early and go to sleep tonight.

0:16:17.7 KD: Those are my items, guys, like I'm not saying I go crazy big 'cause I know I'm on the road, so if you know you got a team member out for that week, don't set yourself up for failure, set yourself up for success. Maybe the goal, if you've got a team member out is just to get through the week, and I mean, not just get through it, but we're gonna win, so I'm gonna schedule my goal to production every single day. I'm not gonna try and get my operations manual done, I'm not gonna try and get my re-care program put into play. Yes, those are on my to-do list and if I get around it. Fantastic, but my main objective this week is to schedule every single day to go, I don't have other team members, so I'm gonna set myself up for a winning week, again, still stretching myself, so pushing myself. But at the end of the day, I'm gonna set myself up for success. I used to put a ton of tasks on me when I'd be traveling and I'd feel very defeated and very discouraged because guess what, guys, I go to work eight, nine, 10 hours when I'm in an office and it is full on my mind, and then if I had other projects like, Get this done.

0:17:12.7 KD: Have this signed, create this form. Holy cow. Okay, so I just worked a full day, then I gotta come home, do emails, and then I've also got to fall through on my commitment where I said I'd get this done, I was getting burnt out, exhausted, hating life, hated traveling to offices because I was always setting myself up for failure. So for each of you, look to see where you may be setting yourself up for failure, how could you scale that back, not in a way because you're going to fail, or because you can't do it, or because you're so weak, but literally because you know small victories will lead to larger ones. And try it, just try it, guys, at the end of the day, it might not work for you, or it might work for you, so I want you guys to try it out, and I'm excited to hear how it goes for you. Emails, if you need help, emails, if you'd like to have an accountability partner, that is literally what we do on our coaching, you have an accountability partner, somebody who thinks outside the box with you and helps you succeed and win.

0:18:05.7 KD: This office manager, I give her massive kudos, I've talked about a few of them, but the main one that I'm chatting about massive kudos, guys. I've watched a shift in her over the last month, she's become more confident, she's committing more, she's being able to hold her team accountable 'cause she's holding herself accountable, so try it out, guys, I'm so excited for you. If there's any way we can serve you, if we can help you make your life easier, less stress and a better patient experience, that's what we're here for, email is Hello at the Dental A Team dot com and as always. Thanks for listening, guys, and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

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0:18:38.8 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.