Tag Archive for: communication

Be the Stream

In life you can be the stream and dictate your actions, or you can choose to stay stagnant. 

A stream is a small body of water that is constantly flowing. The stream is always running, continuously moving; it never stops. Around corners, through trees, the stream carves its own path. The stream slowly erodes and creates its own route. Even large rocks are no match for the consistent flowing water of the stream.

You need to be the stream in your life. Keep moving, keep pushing, strive for more. Remain consistent in everything you do and watch as you erode obstacles and create your own path. A stream never stops to take a rest. You can’t afford to rest, either. Over time a stream will wear out anything in its path; you need to possess the same demeanor.

A stream is active, it creates movement and generates action. The rock is passive. The only action the rock experiences is done unto it by another force. Eventually, the rock gives way to the desires of the stream.

Comfy Rocks

Are you stuck being a rock? Have you found yourself a “comfy” spot on the river bed where you’re safe from the flowing stream? I hate to break it to you but that stream’s time will come and you will be at the mercy of the stream! Outside circumstances, perhaps a large rain storm, may cause the stream to expand its reach and suddenly sweep you under.

Do you see the paradox here? If you’re the stream and it starts to rain, you’re going to pick up speed and start moving faster and creating a bigger path for yourself. If you’re the rock, you will be at the mercy of a larger, faster stream.

The opposite is also true, if the weather dries up your stream may become smaller. None the less, the stream will continue to flow and move until it is replenished.

You need to be the stream. There are enough rocks idly sitting by in your market and community. Differentiate yourself and make a difference by creating your own path.

Intention. Effort. Action.

Keep Flowing!

Dr. Nathan UnruhDr. Nathan Unruh, CXO SIDECAR

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Stuck in Your Business? Elevate Your Perspective!

Do you find yourself getting “stuck” in your business? Find out how elevating your perspective can give you the clarity you need to make the right decision. 

When we get stuck in our business or get stuck in a specific problem it can be extremely difficult to get out. Our thoughts become consumed on solving the issue we are confronted with. This can lead to tunnel vision that causes us to not only miss out on other aspects of our lives but oftentimes the solution to the problem itself!

Look out, Below!

I can relate this issue to looking out the window of a plane while flying. If you’ve flown in an airplane before I know you’ve done this online-apteekki.com! Peering out over the land, admiring the scenery and being naturally amused at the suddenly tiny appearances of houses and even entire cities! From spending most of our time on the ground we learn to view buildings and cities as big; but, from 30,000 feet we can appreciate how small they truly are in comparison with the rest of the world.

When we elevate our perspective, we become able to see things for what they really are and view them at the proper scale. The next time you run into a problem that seems to perplex you with no solution in sight, elevate your perspective. Remove yourself from the trenches and seek higher ground. From there you will better be able to see the solution that is more than likely closer than you thought.

Come Back Down!

Now, planes don’t stay up in the air forever. You can’t either. The plane operates to allow people to be up in the air for only as long as it takes to arrive to their destination. You too must come back down to the trenches and take action to solve the problem, with your newly enlightened solution.

The next time you get stuck, try elevating your perspective!

Dr. Nathan UnruhDr. Nathan Unruh, CXO SIDECAR

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When to Give Your Employee a Second Chance

When is it time to forgive an employee and when is it time to move on?

At SIDECAR, we know that people decisions are the most important decisions we make. Your business runs on systems that are operated by qualified people. Without the proper people in place, your business will never be able to reach new levels of success. While people decisions are the most rewarding, they also present difficult obstacles and dilemmas that you must deal with. One specific area that I want to address today is the topic of giving employees second chances.

Second Chances

Some business philosophies state that an employee should never receive a second chance. The expectations are set and if they are not met than the employee should find a new place to work. Other philosophies stress leniency and forgiveness often quoting the well-known statistics that show the high cost of employee turnover.

At SIDECAR, our philosophy lies somewhere in the middle of this spectrum. Expectations do need to be established, transparent, and followed closely in order for your business systems to run efficiently. However, understanding that no one is perfect, including you, and that mistakes can and will happen also plays a role in making these crucial employment decisions.

Look in the mirror!

In the past when I’ve experienced issues with employees and had to make decisions I stop and ask myself what my role was in the employee’s mishap. Instead of focusing on what the employee did or didn’t do; I turn the light on myself and examine what I did or didn’t do. Second chances aren’t just a grace gifted from employer to employee. If you as the employer give an employee a second chance, you are also granting yourself as the leader of your business a second chance.

An employee may not deserve a second chance if you:

  • Did everything you could from a leadership standpoint.
  • Followed every guideline you could find to handle the situation.
  • Led to the absolute best of your abilities.

However, if at any point during your introspection do you discover an area where you failed the employee as a leader; then, I recommend you take a long, hard look in the mirror before making any decisions on that employee’s future.

If you’re following the recommended SIDECAR Hiring System you understand how tedious the interview process is and should be confident in the quality of employee that comes out of that process and joins your team. Recognize when errors are made by good employees and understand the consequences of every personnel decision you make.

EVERYTHING in a business rises and falls on leadership.

Let’s Ride,

Dr. Nathan UnruhDr. Nathan Unruh, CXO SIDECAR

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Are You Hearing but Not Listening?

In order to connect with your patients you need to LISTEN to what they are saying.

I had the opportunity to spend some time in a SIDECAR client’s office recently; which is by far one of my favorite things to do.  I get to see first-hand how well a doctor is applying the new SIDECAR training to his/her practice and more importantly the bottom-line results that are occurring.

Golden Tickets

In this office the number of Golden Tickets that were being missed, side-stepped, or never addressed during the course of one morning was staggering!

To refresh, a Golden Ticket is something a patient may say or a question they may ask that opens the door to securing a referral, clearing up a patient’s confusion, or gives the doctor and staff an opportunity to go the extra mile to deliver on a great customer experience.

Here’s a few examples transcript that I heard:

Example 1

Patient: “Doc, I have a friend at work who is having headaches just like me. Is there any connection?”

Doctor: “It’s possible. Turn your head to the right”.

He was hearing but NOT listening!

Example 2

Patient: “Doc, my neck is really bad today”

Doctor: “What happened?”

Patient: “I was in the shampoo bowl at the beauty shop”

Doctor: *Nothing*

Crickets! You could feel the tension in the room as the patient was waiting for a response and the Doctor just continued working away, oblivious to the patient’s true needs.

Example 3

Patient: “My mid-back is really sore today.”

Doctor: “Right side or left?”

Patient: “Right”

Doctor: *Nothing*

The Doctor never acknowledged the patient’s concern, palpate the area of complaint, let alone make an adjustment!

Conclusion

I could site several more examples of lost opportunities to connect with a patient. The problem was this doctor was hearing but not listening!

Before you dismiss the importance of this lesson by saying, “That’s not me!” Think about it, how well do you listen to your spouse, your team or your coach?

During the debrief between this Doctor and myself, I pointed out to him all the specific examples of where exactly he was hearing but NOT listening.  I provided him with an analogy as we sat in his office. I could HEAR the music playing in the background in the reception area, but I was not LISTENING to it turk-eczanesi.com/.  My focus was entirely on my conversation with the doctor, not the music.  I could not name the tune, the artist or even the genre, yet I could still hear it.

Listening is the most critical component of communication.  If you are not listening and only hearing you too are missing Golden Tickets to build your practice and serve more people.

Dr. Douglas Sea, SIDECAR

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Communicating Well in a Busy World

How do you focus on communicating well while running your business?

As business owners, we tend to live our days based on the steady flow of emails into our inbox. Email is a wonderful form of communication and it makes our lives a lot easier. When we use email, are we communicating well? Most of the time, the answer is probably not. 

Email is simply one of many methods we can use to communicate with our associates and patients. In a world that is bombarded with emails daily, picking up the phone or talking in person can make all the difference.

When coordinating with a new vendor or patient, make sure you or your staff always reach out via phone or in-person when possible. This provides the personal touch and clear communication that will catapult your business into success. Emails can be used to outline the conversation and clarify any outstanding details. 

Sometimes sending an email is the only form of communication available to you. When this is the case, there are a few best practices to follow.

Best Practices When Sending E-mails

As with all written messages, be careful not to use that language that may be taken as potentially offensive. Research has proven that a substantial percentage of human communication is delivered through body language and tone-of-voice. Make sure that the email you are sending is communicated clearly and concisely explaining the subject matter.

A great rule of thumb is to read your message aloud before you hit send. Check your punctuation, spelling, and that the person or persons you are sending the email to are correct.

Never assume that someone has read your email, simply because you sent it. Remember, your associates and patients are busy too. A followup email or call as a gentle reminder can be helpful in getting the response you hope for.

Don’t Forget to Follow Up

Just because you send an email into cyberspace doesn’t mean it’s off your radar to follow up. Be sure to have a reminder for yourself in place, in the event you don’t hear back from your contact.

Finally, remember that if what you are communicating is truly important and requires immediate action on behalf of another person, sending an email is not your best bet. Reach out to have a conversation face-to-face or pick up the phone and give the person a ring. 

Communicating well in a busy world is one of the most important and undervalued parts of running a business. How will you choose to communicate today?

 

Dr. Nathan UnruhDr. Nathan Unruh, CXO SIDECAR

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Two Ducks on the Pond

What can ducks teach you about your business? 

Ducks on a Pond

Have you ever watched a duck gliding over the surface of a pond? On top of the water, the appearance is natural, smooth, and effortless. Underneath the surface, that duck is paddling like hell!

I’m sure you’ve heard a cliche or phrase like this example alluding to the point that certain people seem to have a natural talent or appear to make difficult tasks look easy. That’s not the point I want to make with this post. Let’s take this duck example and flip it on its head, literally!

“Working Harder”

Imagine two ducks swimming in a pond. One of them is operating just like the example above – swimming along smoothly. The other is flipped completely upside down. The duck’s head is completely submerged with both legs flailing in the air.

Which duck is working harder? Which duck is accomplishing more?

In business, we strive to be like the first duck. Projecting a calm, confident, and smooth demeanor on the surface while working tirelessly on the back end. Sometimes, things get flipped upside down and we end up like the second duck. Now, we’re flailing our legs and working just as hard but getting nothing accomplished. Even worse, we’ve got our heads underwater and can’t see where we are going.

Where are you in your business right now?

Get Your Head Up!

The second duck’s problem isn’t related to the amount of work it’s doing. If you were observing these two ducks, you wouldn’t say that the first one is doing better than the second one because it’s working harder. The second duck is working just as hard as the first duck! The problem is that the duck’s head is stuck under the water and it can’t see where it’s going. It has no way of knowing if it’s making any progress. More importantly, if that duck doesn’t get its head above the water it will die. Eventually, if you and your business don’t make any progress it will die, too.

Being a chiropractic entrepreneur is hard, especially if you don’t know where you’re going. SIDECAR can help guide you and get your head above water. We’ll help you find your “why” and create a business run by systems to achieve your goals.

After all, we’re not just a bunch of quacks!

Dr. Nathan UnruhDr. Nathan Unruh, CXO SIDECAR

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Good Patients and Bad Patients

Does your office have it’s share of good patients and bad patients?

At SIDECAR one of the things you will routinely hear is we believe that the words we choose to use are powerful. We believe that the words we use have a creative nature in them. If I say something’s ugly, it turns ugly.

The Iconic Moment

I was giving a talk at a seminar a while back to a group of doctors and their staff. I asked the audience to define to me what constitutes a “good” patient. Many of the responses that were given included: good patients keep their schedule, they pay their bill, they get better, they follow through with care… there was a long list!

I followed that question up by then asking the audience to define a bad patient. This time the answers included: they whine a lot, they are never on time, they are always complaining, they don’t pay their bill, they never refer, they don’t get better… and so on.

Then something truly iconic happened. A staff member in attendance sheepishly raised her hand. She said, “You know, the reality is that a bad patient really becomes a dead patient because after being labelled they can never come back in https://salud-hombres.com/.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

The Truth

Then everyone came to realize the truth – there is no such thing as a good patient or a bad patient. That’s the point of the message today, stop referring and regarding patients as being “good” or “bad”.

Patients are people, they are human beings. They are not perfect just like you and I are not perfect. As doctors, we don’t fully understand what every patient is going through and classifying a patient in terms of how we see them is truly an act of prejudice.

Monitor the gossip in your office that goes on between techs regarding patients. Watch the language used when talking about patients; you will be amazed at how many times you use the phrase “good” or “bad” patient. This terminology is embedded into our chiropractic lexicon.

Again, be careful on judging patients. Open your heart, meet them where they are, and be amazed at what transpires.

Dr. SeaDr. Douglas Sea

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Is Your Office Space Enhancing Your Culture?

Have you ever experienced walking into a new place and the design, layout, and feel of the environment just blew you away? Do you have that feeling every day when you walk into your office?

Back in the day, the badge of honor for success was the corner office. Once you were in that corner office on the top floor of the building, you had arrived! In today’s corporate society, our space still has that type of impact, albeit in a different fashion. Your space defines who you are and what your culture is.

Collaborate or Inhibit

Your office space can either create collaboration amongst your team or inhibit it. It can isolate your team members from one another, or increase their contactability.  If your work space has multiple isolation spots, your team is forced to work in silos. This decreases the amount of contact each team member has with each other, the doctor, and your patients.

Your office space should increase your team’s ability to respond and communicate with one another. The lines of sight between the doctor and staff need to be open. Make your space work for you, don’t adapt how you operate to accommodate your space.

Front Desk Barrier

An easy example of how to do this is the “front desk barrier.” When a patient walks into your entrance are they greeted by a bright and friendly face? Or are they greeted by a large stationary desk that belongs in a back office? I have seen, firsthand, the impact that opening up the entrance by removing the over-sized desk for an efficient front kiosk can have.

Take a walk around your space. What impressions does it give off? Are you blown away?

Dr. SeaDr. Douglas Sea

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How I’ve Developed Myself as a Leader

Becoming a better leader isn’t an overnight process. Following the Hierarchy of Leadership has helped me to enhance my leadership capabilities.

Leadership is a hot topic in the world of entrepreneurship and personal development. Many people have the desire to become a better leader, but do not have a plan in place to turn their thoughts and dreams into reality.

The Hierarchy of Leadership can be utilized as a ladder to becoming a better overall leader. The hierarchy of leadership is as follows: lead yourself, lead your family, lead your team, and lead your community. This model is a progression, you will struggle to lead others if you first cannot lead yourself.

Lead Yourself

If you desire to improve yourself as a leader, first examine your ability to lead yourself. Can you walk the walk? Are you able to execute on your own personal desires? Do you find yourself making excuses and justifying them with your actions?

This is the foundation and most important component of leadership. Effective leaders are extremely self-disciplined, intentional with their actions, and self-aware of who they truly are.

If what you want to achieve requires getting out of bed at 5 AM; you have to get yourself out of bed at 5 AM.

Lead your Family

After you’ve harnessed the ability to lead yourself, focus on leading your family. Those that surround you day in and day out! Whether this be your spouse, children, or other loved ones – develop the ability to lead them.

Your family will expose more about you and your leadership abilities than any other demographic. Your ability to communicate properly, make tough decisions, and lead day-in and day-out will be manifested in a family setting.

Lead your Team

Your team is similar to your family; in fact, you probably spend more time with them than you do your true relatives! The people you interact with everyday when you step foot in the office comprises your team.

Leading your team requires developing and implementing a vision, mission, values, code of honor, and “We Believe” statements. Your ability to lead will be directly determined by your ability to get your team to buy-in and commit to honoring these values.

Your ability to lead your team will determine your capability to serve those around you.

Lead your Community

The last step in the Hierarchy of Leadership is the ability to lead your community. By the time you’ve reached this point you should be confident and comfortable with your ability to lead. Leading in your community is simply an opportunity to extend your leadership skills elsewhere and serve.

To an extent, if you’ve reached this level of leadership ability it is your duty to go out and lead the community you live in. Possessing this level of leadership is rare and doesn’t come by chance. Reaching out at this level will allow you to leave an impact greater than you may have imagined.

Final Thoughts

Leadership isn’t easy and it isn’t for everyone. If you truly desire to become a better leader, examine where your leadership ability falls along the Leadership Hierarchy model.

The best advice I can give? Start by learning to lead yourself.

Let’s Ride!

Dr. SeaDr. Douglas Sea, CTO SIDECAR

To learn more about Dr. Douglas Sea click here. 

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In Command…Out Of Control

How many of you have felt like you had everything in place in one aspect or another in your life, but then all of a sudden something happened that you never expected? I think we have all felt this way at one time or another. This is the concept of being in command but still out of control. No matter how much planning we do, there are still those variables that we can’t account for. The take-away is that we need to continue to be strategic and plan, but keep in mind that at any given time you may need to adapt your plans. Adaptation and change are the real juice where possibilities take place.

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