Dental Practice Heroes
Where dentists learn how to cut clinical days while increasing profits - without sacrificing patient care, cutting corners, or cranking volume. We teach you how to grow a scalable practice through communication, leadership, and effective management.
Hosted by Dr. Paul Etchison, author of two books on dental practice management, dental coach, and owner of a $6M collections group practice in the south suburbs of Chicago, we provide actionable advice for practice owners who want to intentionally create more time to enjoy their families, wealth, and deep personal fulfillment.
If you want to build a scalable practice framework that no longer stresses, drains, or relies on you for every little thing, we will teach you how and share stories of other dentists who have done it!
Dental Practice Heroes
Fun IS Profitable: How to Create a Practice You and Your Team Enjoy!
Have you ever noticed how some dental teams thrive even on the most challenging days? They laugh together, support each other, and somehow make even the toughest situations enjoyable. It's not magic—it's intentional leadership and genuine connection.
The relationships within your dental team matter more than anything else—even more than compensation or perks. When team members genuinely enjoy each other's company, they create a resilient culture that pulls together during stressful times. As practice owner, you set the emotional tone that ripples through your entire organization. This doesn't mean faking positivity, but rather bringing authentic leadership that includes appropriate vulnerability.
Take Control of Your Practice and Your Life
We help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams.
Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.
Now there's an old story about a group of researchers who wanted to study optimism and pessimism in kids. So they had two boys and they put one of them in a room full of like the most awesomest, like brand new, coolest, expensive toys. And then the other boy they put him in a room that was filled like floor to ceiling with horse manure, and so they let the kids play and they wanted to see what was going to happen. So the kids were playing for an hour they give them a time limit and then they went and checked on the boys. Now the first boy that was in the room full of toys he was sitting there in the corner, he was pouting, he was all pissed off, arms crossed, and he said these toys are boring, I don't want to play with them anymore. I wish I had different ones. I hate them. So he was just not having a good day. He was done with the toys.
Speaker 0:So then they went and checked on the other boy that was with all the horse manure, and when they opened that up they were surprised because he was covered in it and he was digging around in it. He was smiling, laughing and he was having a great time. And they said what the heck are you doing? And the boy looked up and he was having a great time. And they said what the heck are you doing? And the boy looked up and he smiled and he said well, with all this horse shit in here, there's got to be a pony somewhere. Well, dentistry has both rooms and some days we get the shiny toys, we get the smooth schedule, the great cases, the happy patients, but on some other days we get the manure. We get the bad patients, the last minute cancellations, the staff not getting along and all of the insurance headaches, and the difference between burnout and joy isn't really the size of the pile. It's what you do with it and, even better, if you've got the right people in the room with you digging alongside you, you might actually find that looking for that pony is fun. That's what we're going to talk about today how to make work enjoyable even on the hard days, and why the people you work with matter more than anything else. Now you're listening to Dental Practice Heroes, where we teach you how to create and manage a team-driven practice that allows you the time, money and, most of all, the freedom to live an amazing life.
Speaker 0:I'm Dr Paul Edgison, author of two books on dental practice management, a dental coach and the owner of a large group practice in the south suburbs of Chicago. Every day you make a decision as a practice owner, and one day you will decide that you're ready for more. I hope that you will reach out to me when that day arrives. Now, this episode today, this one's about fun. And speaking of fun, there are still two seats left in the upcoming 12-month Mastermind program that is getting ready to kick off right at the beginning of September. So if you are ready to make a commitment to having a systematized practice with a leadership team to run it for you, go to dentalpracticeheroescom, set up a free strategy call with me. I guarantee you you will get something out of the call, and if you join the mastermind, you will get the results you want. All right, let's jump into our topic Now.
Speaker 0:Many owners equate hard with valuable. We grind and we believe that it's necessary to continue to push harder in order to grow, and we just talk it up to like. That's the season of life that we're in, and our American culture I mean it celebrates this type of activity. We love being busy, we love showing that we're so important and we're needed and we're willing to put in the work. But the thing is is that every time in my career that I look back and I've seen exponential growth, it hasn't been because I was grinding harder been because I was grinding harder. It's nearly always when I did something systematically that brought more people into the game of dental practice management, like giving more responsibilities to my team. Maybe it's a new system or maybe it's some new training, but usually it's just the delegation. It's the delegation of the responsibilities and getting more collaboration from my team. And yet sometimes, as practice owners, we just feel like to get better results, we have to try harder, and that couldn't be further from the truth and, honestly, that is the fast track to burnout.
Speaker 0:Now ask yourself should work be challenging? Yes, I do believe it should be, absolutely, but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be enjoyable. It really can be both. Work can be challenging and enjoyable. And just think back to, like, some really challenging cases that you're proud of that turned out all right, or maybe you learned a lot from them. Or think about when you're just getting into that flow and you and your assistant are just clicking and everything's working and you're working like a pit crew together. Or those days when the team comes together and you just blast through this like busy schedule and everything runs like clockwork, everyone knows where they're supposed to be and it just works out and you get through it together. Or the days that you laugh with your team or during the workday you're giving high fives or fist bumps or elbows. Those can be challenging times but they're still enjoyable. And not to mention my favorite, when you have a very anxious patient that is just scared and difficult to work on and you're just like stressed out, you're like this sucks, but then, after they're so thankful and so grateful to you, they get up, they give you a hug. It makes it all worth it.
Speaker 0:So we need a mindset shift here. Work should be fun. It does not need to be a grind, and if you're feeling like it's a grind and it's unpleasant, that should be an indication to you that you're doing something wrong and it might be time for some reflection and possibly some changes. And I can't tell you what that change will be, because it's gonna depend on what's going on. But I assure you the answer is not going to be to work faster or work harder. So we need to understand that work, although challenging, should be fun, all right.
Speaker 0:Next, one of the things that we're often told is that we should hire all sorts of personalities on our team so that we can be balanced and we have a little bit of everything. But I've always personally struggled with this because I just felt like it's bad advice. I've always hired people that I like talking to. They're enthusiastic, they're outgoing, they're energetic, they make me laugh. So when I'm looking at my team as a whole, I think we have different personalities, but we're all very similar in a lot of regards. Which brings me to point number two, the co-shoveler principle that work can be fun even when you are shoveling shit, if you like the people you're shoveling it with.
Speaker 0:Now, this principle comes from a book that I just finished by Brie Goff. It's called Today Work Was Fun, and it was a great read. I think everybody should read it. Man, I was really surprised with this book. It had a lot of really great tips. It was just a refresher to remind me that work can be fun and we've got to make it that.
Speaker 0:So in her book she mentioned that the relationships at work are usually the biggest driver of the happiness, more than the money, more than the perks, more than the titles. And in dentistry we got to think that we spend more waking hours with our team than we usually do with our families. So if you don't like your team, that can be a really big problem. And the book the author talks about this principle, called most of the time, most days, meaning that work is not always going to be fun. It's going to be stressful occasionally, but realistically it should be fun most of the time, most days. And the thing is, if your team enjoys being together, they will stick it out and they will band together during those really stressful days. It's gonna bring you closer. When you get through it together, there's that camaraderie that comes through doing tough things together.
Speaker 0:So here's some tactical ideas I have for you to build more connection and better relationships at work. All right, first relationships they're very important. Never fail to take the time to check in with your team and see what's going on in their lives. It can't always be about business. Number two celebrate those small wins in the moment when they happen. When you get through something difficult together, acknowledge how awesome it was that you got through it and how awesome everyone did. Thank your team for the help and the expertise that they brought to the situation. Number three start every single day with intention.
Speaker 0:Make it part of your culture that you're supposed to have fun at work. Make it an important principle, put it in your core values. If you and your team are have fun at work, make it an important principle, put it in your core values. If you and your team are having fun at work, I assure you that the patients will benefit as well. Patients have mentioned so many times in my office that they love how everybody is always laughing. There's a ton of laughter there and that's because my team is having fun. It's a fun place to be. That is the vibe, and it's not just because I told everybody to have fun. It's truly because they are. You can't fake it, but it can come from you as the leader setting it up that way. Which brings me to my next point is that fun can be a leadership strategy.
Speaker 0:Fun is not just random. It comes from building trust and safety with your team and having connection through those relationships that you build. And it also comes from building trust and safety with your team and having connection through those relationships that you build. And it also comes from the way that you manage. I mean ask your team during a meeting, say, hey, what are, like, the most fun things that you guys do at work, like when are you really having a good time, what are you doing? And can we do anything so we can have more of those? And then, conversely, ask them what are the most stressful things that happen at work and the least fun times at work and how can we reduce those? And when people at work are having fun together, a lot of that has to do with the relationships that they have, good relationships with each other. So how can we, as the leaders, increase the relationships of the people at work? Can we encourage more get togethers, more group activities, more fun things at our meetings? I mean, I sincerely believe a lot of the secret sauce that we have at the practice of our, like Nelson Ridge family dental culture. It really is how much we all like hanging out with each other and how much we like each other. I mean we do a lot of social functions, so don't be afraid to do those with your team. It is worth it. And if you can make your practice a fun place to work with fun people that all get along with each other, then your team's morale is going to be completely off the charts, which is going to lead to better retention, happier employees, less turnover, less training, more consistency, higher production, higher profits. All of it can stem from making your practice a fun place to be and, like I said, you can't fake it. It comes from those authentic relationships and if your leadership encourages it, it makes it all that much better.
Speaker 0:I remember reading somewhere that the person with the most power at an organization will set the emotional tone for the whole team. So that's usually us, as the dental practice owner and the leader. So we might have to sometimes check ourselves, take a look in that mirror and ask yourself what kind of attitude and what kind of energy are you bringing to the team? Are you in a funk? Are you having a tough time? Maybe you're going through something at home and that's totally okay, but just know that your team is going to follow your lead. So just be aware of that energy that you're bringing.
Speaker 0:Now I'm not saying that you should fake it all the time, because, let's face it, we are going to go through tough times in our lives. Things are going to happen. But what I want to add is that there's nothing wrong with being vulnerable and honest with your team, like letting them know that you're in a funk because of this or you're struggling with this, or you're having a hard time because of this or you're worried about this. If they care about you, they're going to understand, they're going to be willing to help. What I don't want you to do is to keep it to yourself and just walk around being a boss hole the whole time and nobody knows why you're pissed off and being short with everybody and it's because you're going through something at home but you don't want to share it with anybody. But you justify in your mind it's okay because you're allowed to have a bad day. I hope that makes sense. Just be aware of the energy that you're bringing.
Speaker 0:So how can we inject more fun into our practices? Well, first, declare it explicitly, make it part of your core values. Say it every morning huddle, like right before you're going into the day and you're ending that morning huddle, say, hey, let's have fun today. Let's sincerely have fun today and be playful. Add lightness to everything that you do. Maybe some trivia questions here and there, maybe a word of the day Play some games, do some fun things together, be silly and create space for connection with your team.
Speaker 0:Don't make every conversation purely about work. Put you and your team together with each other in situations where they can talk and get to know each other and don't walk around every day scolding everybody who's having a conversation that's not work-related. That is unrealistic. We can't expect our teams to work 100% of the time. They are allowed to have conversations with each other and spend time together and enjoy their time at work and have conversations that have nothing to do with our practice and nothing to do with dentistry. Don't create the practice that when you walk in the room, everybody stops talking. You want to walk in that room and you should want to be part of that conversation.
Speaker 0:Have fun with your team. Celebrate the really difficult days when you get through them. You know you get those challenging days, but you end it with thank yous with your team. You're giving them appreciation, acknowledging that you and your team I mean sometimes we do some pretty amazing things together and we take it for granted. So don't be scared to acknowledge it. And lastly, ask your team what is fun and what is not. See if you can make some system changes, maybe some training or just change the way that you're doing things to maximize that fun and minimize the stressful. So, in closing, you don't need to wait for your work to get easier before it gets fun. It doesn't have to be easy to be fun. It can be challenging, and you can make the hard days enjoyable right now by investing in your team, investing in the relationships and the people and sharing positive energy and enjoyment with them. And because, like it says in the book, if you love your co -shovelers, that manure pile, it's not so bad. Now, if this is something you want more of in your practice, where your team looks forward to the workday they like being there, even the tough ones, and you reduce your turnover, you get a high-functioning team that's doing what they're supposed to be doing without you asking oh my God, it's so good.
Speaker 0:Check out the upcoming mastermind. All three of us DPH coaches, we have all created amazing practices with amazing cultures, and we know exactly how to guide you to do the same. So if you are ready to declare this is your year, let's have a talk about it. And even if it's not for you, I promise you're gonna leave our strategy call with valuable advice nonetheless. So please give me a call. I want you to join the mastermind. There's two seats left. Thank you so much for listening and we will talk to you next time.
