Identifying YOUR Leadership Style
Why do some Chiropractic Entrepreneurs make it look so eeeeasy? And why do so many Chiropractors look as if they were baptized in lemon juice? There is a simple explanation, so simple you may be tempted to dismiss it. It all begins and ends with the doctor’s core leadership style.
Your Core Leadership Style
Your core leadership system determines your happiness. Your style either brings joy and fulfillment or stress and anxiety regardless of the numbers. The Chiropractic Entrepreneur who makes it look effortless is able to have thousands of relationships simultaneously because their focus is on serving those who are aware, willing and able to accept their leadership. They “serve their patients through Chiropractic.”
The struggling Chiropractor is always stressed because they have a personal agenda that is played out in the office under the guise of serving. They “serve Chiropractic through their patients.” When a patient quits, this doctor takes it personally and begins the agonizing torture of the “what ifs”. They hold on emotionally to the experience and slowly adopt a pervasive feeling that they are failures. They either avoid running into these patients or wait for the opportunity to pounce on them.
Now the control game is in full stride. With one hand and leg the doctor holds onto the past while simultaneously stretching the other arm and leg toward acquiring new followers. Can you feel the tension build? Someone is going to snap. Who will be first? Will it be you, your staff, your patients, your marriage, or your kids?
Comfort & Control
Now, I am not measuring success by numbers alone, yet the smaller the practice the bigger the COMFORT/CONTROL ZONE. The smaller the practice the more stress the doctor experiences when patients quit and leave the practice. Busier doctors simply don’t “spend time and energy” holding onto the patients who left, they are concerned about “investing time and energy” into those in front of them and not playing the “How do I get them to stay, pay, and refer game?” How can you learn to think and act like a busier Chiropractic Entrepreneur? SIDECAR offers Brain Spa which is crafted in order to experience a higher order of thinking as attendees strip away their limiting beliefs and behaviors.
So why do so many doctors continue to carry their patients? It all begins with a harmless phrase that represents the “Old Practice” approach used by hard sale management systems. The phrase is “New Patient Acquisition.” Acquisition is defined as the act of acquiring or gaining possession. It sounds more like a territorial game of building a fiefdom of “true believers” than building a thriving service business, doesn’t it? What a waste of energy! It is the fast track to burnout and relationship conflicts.
What kind of leader are you?
This practice building myth or leadership style assumes that once we ACQUIRE/POSSESS these “new ones” (Objects) then all we need to do in order to guarantee our success is to retain them. No, the truth is when we approach practice with this leadership perspective we restrain them! The front door to the practice continues to shrink, letting in just the right people for the right reason, while the back door remains locked as we grow ever vigilant in protecting any and all escape routes.
What kind of a leader are you? Is it time for a change? SIDECAR’s Leadership Assessment can pinpoint exactly how you are getting in your way and help you develop a plan of behavioral change. There are nearly as many books on leadership as there are diet books. The best definition I have heard comes from Michael Gerber, “A leader is a person who others follow.” Leaders have power or a right to direct the actions and thoughts of others. And there is a huge difference between influencing others and controlling others. A leader can choose to INFLUENCE their followers or attempt to CONTROL them. Both work in the real world and your choice has consequences physically, emotionally and spiritually.
Your SIDECAR Team
