Episode 640: Do You Have This Must Have?

Kiera and Tiff are at the Rocky Mountain Dental Convention, and they share how a situation could’ve been bad, but was pivoted to good. This is something that can happen in your practice, and it’s important to proactively create solutions for potential problems. Listen up as Kiera and Tiff talk about how to pivot when things go sour:

1. Know there’s a solution

2. Debrief for the future

3. Take ownership

Episode resources:

Reach out to Tiff and Kiera 

Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast

Become Dental A-Team Platinum!

Review the podcast

Transcript:

0:00:05.6 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.

[music]

0:00:51.6 KD: Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and you guys, I have the one and only spiffy Tiffy here on the podcast. We are podcasting in the podcast pavilion at Rocky Mountain Dental Convention, right here right now. If you wanted to see us, when you hear this, you missed us. Tiff, how are you today? Welcome to the show.

0:01:09.4 Tiff: I'm good. I literally was thinking like, "Oh yeah, stop by," but they're not gonna be here anymore.

0:01:16.1 KD: No, they're not. And so it's okay, guys, you can hear this. But honestly Tiff, how have you loved being at Rocky Mountain, you and I... Oh my gosh. Yesterday, guys, Rocky Mountain is so nice. So it's we gotta present three different topics, I was rocking and rolling and Tiff was like Vanna White rocking in the back and ready to go for anything I was asked for. Tiff, how was it yesterday?

0:01:34.4 Tiff: It was so much fun. And I think we haven't done an event like this... I don't think we've done the dental convention event yet, so it was really cool to experience that. But in general, we really haven't done an event together in so long, so it was just really cool to be up there with you and I think one of my favorite things about being... When I was in practice and I was chair side, and then I moved to all my other positions, but working with my doctor was that he loved that I could predict what he needed or wanted or... He would ask me, sometimes I still get text from him to this day, that he's like, "What do I want for lunch today?" I'm like, "I don't know," but whatever I say, he's gonna just get it. But that's how I kind of felt or I feel with you no matter what, because we yin and we yang so well, we just flow off of each other, so it was really cool to just be walking around the room and trying to guess or knowing what you were gonna need from me and keeping the, I was gonna say team.

0:02:32.6 KD: Keeping the audience.

0:02:33.5 Tiff: Yeah, keeping the audience engaged and excited. It was just... It's so much fun. I love presenting, I love when we get our energies together because I feel like we do really well separate and we're super happy people, but you put us together and it's unmatched. Nobody can come close to it. I don't know what it is, it's just this magic we have, and I think the whole... I think all 700 people that we saw coming through our courses yesterday got to feel it, it was cool.

0:03:00.0 KD: Amen, it was so much fun, and I think to your point, it was fun to present with you. I'd never thought about it being a doctor in an assistant situation, but you're right, and I thought it was just really, really fun for us to present in person again, to rally a crowd, so guys, we... And I think that I would also like to say though, I think today's podcast, yes, we're gonna talk about Rocky Mountain, but I feel like the theme that I wanna really dive into is how to pivot when life is unexpected. So just to give you guys a little bit of a background. Tiff and I get to Rocky Mountain, the weather is junk, guys. We're flying into Denver, we don't even know if we're gonna make it. Tiff's flight is delayed. We lost some of our shipping luggage when it got here, so we're trying to set up the booth, we're missing things lost in transit, which I don't think that ever happens, and it happened to us. And then we're going to bed, I'm exhausted, I'm stressed out, I've gotta present for six hours the next morning, and lo and behold, we find out that I'm supposed to have a host that introduces me. And at 8:30 at night, I get an email saying, we're really sorry, you won't have a host, but you need to read your statement and your bio about yourself, and we wish you the best.

0:04:07.7 Tiff: Have fun and good luck.

0:04:10.3 KD: And so, I think to play that out for us, Tiff was awesome, Tiff came in and she was host and she hosted it, and she did an amazing job, and the event went super well. We had hundreds of people at every single one of our courses, which, kudos to Rocky Mountain and all those people who were there. I'm sure some of you have become podcast fans and so we're so grateful for you. But bottom line is, Tiff, how do you pivot and not freak out and have life go awry when things don't go as planned? Because honest to goodness, I feel like that is dental 101. That is our dentistry day in day out, and we're like, "What the heck?" Our patients don't show up and they're calling and cancelling and I'm like, "Hey guys, that's reality."

0:04:47.4 Tiff: Or the emergency that as a front office, I stuck into the schedule at 11:30, and was like, "It's 30 minutes, it'll be fine," and then it's a root canal and my dental assistants hate me.

0:04:56.4 KD: Yes, so Tiff, what are some thoughts, because I felt you and I, we pivoted and I got that email at 8:30 at night. I texted you and said, "Tiff, I don't have a host," you said, "I'll be your host." For a lot of speakers, I think that would have thrown them off. Losing stuff with your booth, things like that, Tiff, how do you in life, personally and with your offices that you coach, how do you find that you can handle the unexpected and not have that throw you for a loop?

0:05:25.1 Tiff: Yeah, that's a very deep question.

0:05:28.0 KD: It is, you're welcome. It was the topic that came to mind when we were chatting.

0:05:31.8 Tiff: I love it. I love it. Because I am a very calm natured person, and I try not to allow stress to invade my space for a couple of reasons. And truth be told, I wasn't always this way. What was it, three, almost four years ago now. I found out that I had Hashimoto's, which I think is a really common autoimmune disorder that a lot of people have super easily managed if you know how to do it. But it threw my whole life kind of for a curveball because it was stress-induced and I realized that the little things that I was allowing to really cause so much havoc and chaos in my life were not worth the toll that it was taking on my body. And so I know you want a super simple tactical way and we'll get there, but the long story of it is, I just really learned how to feel what it felt like not to be stressed.

0:06:23.4 Tiff: So that when I was stressed, I could tell the difference very easily and just not let it invade my space. I don't like how it feels in my body. I don't like how it feels when I'm upset or angry, I choose not to feel that way. And the way around that, your tactical piece is finding a solution and being okay with whatever that is because there's...

0:06:46.7 Tiff: The word pivot, I think we love that word and we use it all the time, but we learn to hate that word because as a company, we had it as our core value, and it made sense to you and I. But as a company, we realized that it just meant that things were constantly pivoting and changing and turning, and what we meant by it was being willing to pivot in the spaces where you need it to and find a solution around something that's not working, but it doesn't translate that way. So to say that we can pivot is one thing but when things happen, when you get an email at 8:30 at night and you're speaking 13 hours later, that your doctor speaker host isn't... Well, I don't even know what happened. Hopefully he's okay. He's just not coming. And then it's fine though, it's fine 'cause there's always a solution, there's always someone... If I hadn't been here, you would have grabbed Zeke as well, you know what I mean? There's so many people in our resources that we forget to reach out to that can help us through just about anything and helps manage that stress and those issues for us when things do come about. And I think that's really important, and I think that's something that within Dental A team we've developed as a culture, but with that we also train practices to do is to really see, okay, yeah, this is a curve ball and it's come into our day, but one...

0:08:02.9 Tiff: Is it worth ruining your entire day over? Probably not? Ms. Jones is gonna be here again in six months, just prep yourself. It's fine. She was cranky today. Hopefully she's not when she comes back, it's whatever. And so is it worth of ruining your day? And then also, what can you do to fix the problem now that's arised, and what can you do in the future to make whatever... To change whatever caused this situation? Because something happened, not the speaker, obviously, we found a solution and whatever, we'll just make sure we're always prepared with a host just in case that's our solution for the future. But if there's something that happened with a patient or in your day, don't schedule emergency patients at 11:30 because you don't know what's gonna happen. So if you're tired of your lunches getting ran into, schedule more appropriately in the future. So, I think it's two-fold of really just not allowing it to invade your space and not allowing it to affect you, and then also figuring out the solutions now, and how can you prevent it from happening again in the future.

0:09:02.7 KD: Amen. I think so many things that you said were so paramount, and I feel like you're right, it is two-fold, 'cause I was thinking the same thing of number one, I think it's you as a person and how you choose to respond. You don't like the way it feels when you're stressed, I don't like to not have a solution. People, I'm constantly thinking of a second plan, I'm thinking up, what am I going to do next, I'm thinking about how am I going to be able to create this and make a solution? For example, when there was snow, I thought, "All right, back-up plan is, Tiff can actually fly in and she can present," so if I can't make it in, that's my backup plan. So I'm constantly thinking, and I actually love to do it for real life, I love to think about, like if I'm driving down the freeway and assume I lost a tyre in front of me, how am I going to respond 'cause I feel like I'm constantly trying to train myself for those emergency situations, that way I'm not reactive and I've already got a plan in play. Again, I always come up with that, for me at least it's come with that back-up plan. If I'm gonna run through lunch, what am I going to do about it? And then not allow that to stress you out, and I do think that that's a discipline that you have to really strengthen continually.

0:10:10.3 KD: So when I got that email at 8:30, my first thought was, there's a solution. We'll find it, it's not that big of a deal. If they would have said, "Kiera, we're canceling out your first class," guys, there's a solution, it's not that big of a deal. And I think almost saying a mantra to yourself, it's like a self-soothing as silly as that sounds, but that really will create your own reality. If I'm like, "Oh my gosh, this is gonna throw me off, I'm gonna freak out as a speaker," that could have been a radically different experience than what we had. So there's always a solution and I'm going to find it, and I'm not gonna let that throw my day by any stretch, 'cause I wanna be in control of my emotions rather than letting life extend... Outside things impact me. But then second, I think we did a really good job. And this is coming from Extreme Ownership. Our whole team's reading it right now, feel free to join our book club guys, we are having a monthly book club, you guys can join us, this month it's Extreme Ownership. But we literally did a debrief at the end of our day, so you guys can debrief at the end of your days and figure out what didn't go well, especially on those crazy days, what went well, what didn't go well, and how can you fix it for future? Because if you can create a solution, it's...

0:11:08.5 KD: Problems are always going to happen, and I think we also have to change our mindsets and realize problems aren't the problem, it's us not wanting the problems or us thinking problems aren't going to happen that is the problem. 'Cause if you can realize that this is just life and this is just going to happen, and you can find the solution at any moment, you instantly take back that stress. You're not stressed out, you're not freaking out, and of course, some things happen. Honestly, you might get a phone call or you might have different things show up and that could be a stressor for you, but if you can, more so often control those emotions, find the solution and then figure out a long-term solution so that doesn't happen again. I'm never worried to not have a host. It's either gonna be Tiff or someone else. That's not a big deal. But up until this moment, I never had that, so I really feel... And this isn't to rag on Rocky Mountain. I hope they don't feel that if they listen to this.

0:11:55.1 Tiff: Oh my Gosh.

0:11:56.1 KD: It's truly using an example and saying how 'cause life is full of examples and if we can learn from it, we can grow. And I really thought about you guys in practices when that happened of, what do you do and what's your go-to response when a patient cancels? Because that go-to response is how you're going to filter your life, what's your go-to response when that crown fails?

0:12:15.1 KD: What's that go-to response when an assistant calls out? What's your go-to response? Are you always in the uptight, frustrated, oh my gosh, this shouldn't have happened, or could you maybe start to shift your reality and realize this happens, I need to create solution so we're not always in a fearful state, but in a proactive, I'm ready to solve and I can find a solution state.

0:12:37.6 KD: Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and you guys, how was your 2022? I want you to look back and tell me, was it the year of years, or was it a really hard year? Did you crush it? Or did it crush you? This is the time, guys, for end of year to know A Team Platinum is welcoming you where we will physically fly two your practice, we will come and we will elevate your dreams and make them into a reality. And guys, space is limited and prices are going up. This is not a sales pitch, this is not something where I'm trying to scare you into it, I'm just facing the reality of inflation is here, flights are expensive, and I want to see as many people as we possibly can and serve as many as we can. So if you wanna be part of our elite group of people, there are limited spaces, 'cause our consultants can only see as many.

0:13:28.8 KD: We are taking on 10 new Platinum offices by the end of the year, and that's it. That's all we have space for, so if you wanna be one of the elite 10, come join us, be a part of our top notch elite doctor community, be a part of our office manager and hygiene and front office communities, get your operations manual done and live the life that you've only been dreaming of, today. Email me, [email protected], and make 2023 truly a year that's unforgettable. We are a complete tax write-off, and like I said, we are only taking 10 offices, so don't get left behind, be one of those 10, and I cannot wait to give you the biggest, warmest welcome to completely and utterly changing your life for good. Welcome to The Dental A Team. I can't wait for you to join us, [email protected]. Cheers to 2023 and making you your best self yet.

0:14:24.9 Tiff: For sure, I think that something I picked up on that you said the word a few times and I was like, "Oh my gosh," it just dawned on me like what it is and why we react, it's, you said the word control. We have to control our emotions, we couldn't... The situation arised and we couldn't control it, it was out of our control. So no matter what it is, even if you're the dental assistant that didn't schedule the emergency appointment, I guarantee you that if you were the dental assistant that scheduled the emergency patient at 11:30 and it ran into lunch, you're like, "I got this. It's fine." You might be a little frustrated, but you're gonna be more willing to just be like, yes, whereas I know it's way more frustrating 'cause I've been on both sides. It's way more frustrating when it gets put in your schedule and then you have to deal with the repercussions, because again, it is out of your control so as you were speaking, I was like, "Oh my gosh," that was like a light bulb moment. It's the pieces of life that are out of our control, we don't react well to that.

0:15:19.1 Tiff: It's human nature and it's just sub-consciously, we want to make sure that it's our survival mode. We wanna make sure that we're safe, and when something's outside of our control, it's no longer safe and we react and our reaction is always a heightened, elevated reaction where we're trying to just... We freak out, right? We freak out, it's not usually like, "Oh, rainbows and butterflies, everything's fine." So you really have to take a moment and gut check ourselves, what does that reaction feel like, is it a lack of control that I'm actually upset about, and how do I make sure that in the future, this isn't an uncontrolled situation? That I have control over it, and it can be handled.

0:16:00.1 KD: And I think the answer to that is the control you have is how you respond, and I know people say that all the time, and that's where I really do think it's changing up the mantras of what we say to ourselves when that stress out of control happens. Because for me, it is a lot of, there's a solution and I can find it. Guys, that has come from being stuck on planes, having missed flights. Having it to where you're not gonna be able to get somewhere. Guys, I haven't shared 'cause it's been a while since I podcasted about my Bali Belly, I'm sure I'll get there. You guys, I'm throwing up on an entire flight home. Yeah, I could have freaked out and been like [0:16:31.9] ____, "Can you guys let me off in the middle of the ocean?" That's not a reality, and so it's really learning to control our minds and not allow our external circumstances to control us. And so in dental practices, I might say to take this tactical for your team, let's talk about those stressful statements, experiences and ask ourselves, what do we say to ourselves when they happen? Is it like, "Oh my gosh, why is this happening to me?" Well, then you're in a victim state, and there's nothing you can really do to get out of that instead of...

0:17:01.1 KD: It's like, guys, realize that people falling off your schedule is normal, keeping a full schedule is abnormal, so if you can flip those expectations and realize that patients are going to fall off. Then you can prepare for that and realize, all right, I just need to make extra phone calls and send out more phone calls every single day because I know and I should plan and assume that I'm gonna lose at least 10% of the patients on my schedule for that day. Instead, we assume that they're all gonna sit there magically like glue and they don't, guys. It's one of those things that I'm like, "Realize what reality really is, rather than always trying to find the ultimate that's not going to... " It's gonna happen maybe one, two, three percent of the time. Let's prepare and control our emotions that other side and switch those expectations, minimize that frustration and find the solutions.

0:17:46.9 Tiff: And switching them and saying, "Yeah, the schedule is gonna fall apart, that's human nature," but not then using that as you're out. Because it would be very easy to say, "Well, you know, Kiera and Tiff told me schedules fall apart doc, you just gotta learn to live with it, and that's just what happens."

0:18:04.6 KD: But you missed the fact that I said schedules fall apart, so I need to proactively be putting them out because my job is still to keep a schedule full. So agreed, just because that happens... Guys, it's not always sunny, but that doesn't mean you don't go outside when it's not sunny. Maybe for Tiff in Arizona, it's always sunny except for she just had some rain over there, but that's where we also have to take ownership.

0:18:25.1 Tiff: Exactly.

0:18:25.7 KD: Except what's reality and then be proactive to fix that consistently. 'Cause I agree. That was a good catch. Tiff, I can hear people being, Kiera and Tiff said, doc, Kiera and Tiff said.

0:18:35.3 Tiff: You told me to listen to The Dental A Team podcast. I did, and this is what they told me.

0:18:38.9 KD: And we're not saying that, we're saying realize what reality is, and proactively prepare because at the end of the day, your job is still to fill the schedule, to see the patients, to do great dentistry. That's our job. How can we proactively control our emotions, create solutions so that way we're not stuck in that and not get frustrated when patients falling off our schedule is normal, but we need to proactively be preparing for that.

0:19:02.9 Tiff: Yeah, I love that. And if you're able to then... And thinking there's so many spinoffs, but if you can learn to control those emotions and you can control your reactions to different things when that happens, I'm also thinking like, okay, at 9:00 AM when Miss Jones comes in and she's angry that she has to pay her $79 copay for her perio maintenance that isn't covered, you've told her 15 times and she's paid it before, are you then leaving that with Mrs. Jones when she walks out? Or are you carrying that frustration onto your next patient? And you started that at 9:00 AM.

0:19:35.0 Tiff: So I'm thinking, as you're saying that, I think there's so many areas that this can be applied to, where even phone calls. You get no, no, no, where I'm leaving message and I'm leaving... And it's so frustrating if you could just control those emotions and just be like, "It really doesn't matter. It is what it is," you're gonna get through so many more calls or patients or whatever it is throughout the day, and your day is gonna just feel so much better. You're not gonna always be so frustrated and you're gonna be willing to pick up the phone more. I hated making calls, I still do.

0:20:08.0 Tiff: But you know what, when I go into offices and I'm like, "What the heck happened to your schedule?" I don't know how many times. And Kiera, I know you've done this too, I have sat down at that computer with a phone and been like, "Okay, you guys say you've called every patient, I'm totally believing you but I'm gonna just check. I'm gonna call 15 patients right now," and I've gotten people on the schedule, I don't know these patients. So I'm like, "I know if you came about it from a more proactive rather than reactive space, it's gonna feel better."

0:20:37.8 KD: Right. And as you said that, I truly think... So we said first it was figuring out that there's a solution, so it's that mindset, then it was debriefing and figuring out what to do for future, and then I'm thinking the third piece is also ownership. For me, I own the fact that I'm gonna put on a killer presentation, no matter when I speak, always, that's my standard. That's what I'll do. And so it's that ownership piece of, the schedule falls apart, I'm an owner of the schedule, I'm a master scheduler. And I'm gonna find a way, no matter if patients fall off or not, that I always hit goal. I'm a master dental assistant that no matter what, if my doctor put something in, I'm gonna be so prepared that I'm not wasting time. There's so many pieces, and I feel like it's that ownership of our role, ownership of our emotions, ownership of soul and self that I feel to me is also that third piece because that's a standard of how I live. So no matter what, I don't care what people would have thrown at me, I was ready to drive to Colorado if my flight got cancelled to be here because that's a standard of expectations that I have for myself and owning the commitments I've made. I feel like those three pieces, guys, hopefully you're taking from mine and Tiff's Rocky Mountain experience.

0:21:42.0 Tiff: Which has been wonderful by the way, we are so happy here.

0:21:44.7 KD: We'll do another podcast on it of just kind of the experience that we had and the fun and how exciting it was to be back in person, but I thought this one would be such a tactical relevant because you guys could relate. Think of how you would feel if it at 8:30 at night before you're supposed to speak the next morning...

0:21:58.5 Tiff: Six hours, by the way, four, six hours.

0:22:01.9 KD: There was a decent amount of speaking, which was so fun, guys. My heart and soul is so full. I went to bed last night bone tired but victorious, and I just feel for you guys, you could empathize and relate with something outside of your control, but you can take those same lessons and principles and apply them to your daily life. So I'm gonna encourage you guys talk about this one as an office, I think this is a great podcast to use as a full office to take care of, to realize what are we saying to ourselves, what are the emotions or what are the solutions we can proactively create, and then what's the ownership each of us are taking? I think you guys, if you truly put this into play, you are gonna have a radically different practice, radically different life, radically different relationships with friends and spouses, if you'll take this on.

0:22:45.5 Tiff: I love it, and I think I have to just say, right now, one thing that I noticed being in person again and with other speakers and other exhibitors and all of these things, and so many doctors and team members coming through our classes, I'm so proud and so just enthusiastic about the different energy that we're able to bring to the world of dentistry, I feel like... I love that you allow me to be exactly who I am and that you resonate that so much with me that we can bring that soft side and that woo-woo exciting just feel your feelings and figure it out side and create it into a tactical piece. Because I think we blend two worlds with Dental A Team, and I just think it's the one of the most incredible thing we've ever created, and we've created some really cool stuff. But I think that blend is the most creative thing we've ever done, and it literally fills my soul up.

0:23:45.1 KD: I love it. I love it, guys. And I would agree, yes, it was funny in the presentation, 'cause there was one time where I'm like, "All right, guys, I'm taking care of the woo-woo people in the room, and I'm going to the tactical people in the room," because for this... And if you notice, there was woo-woo and tactical within this topic of, one, we're gonna come up with the tactical. First of all, it's controlling your emotions, which is technically a woo-woo portion. Then we're moving into tactical or proactively debriefing, and then we're going back into woo-woo of ownership. And if you notice, I actually think a lot more is about self-emotions and ownership than about the tactical. And if you guys can realize that and take true ownership and then apply the systems and the equations that work, life becomes magical. Tiff, thanks for being here, thanks for being on the podcast, thank you all for listening, and as always thanks for listening, I'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team podcast. 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.