They say good leaders are born. This could be true, there are better leaders than others, but there are some skills that can be learnt and applied if you become a leader.
You may have recently bought a practice and now must lead your team. You may be the senior dentist in someone else’s practice, but you still need to lead the team. Anyone who has other people to guide through their work is a leader and the following skills are a must if you are going to achieve results.
I was chatting with my brother about his leadership role at an engineering company in South Africa and how the principles apply to all industries. He shared the acronym PACT with me which is the basis for understanding your role as a leader. It stands for Purpose, Accountability, Communication and Trust:
Purpose
When you are running a business i.e. leading people you must have a clear purpose or goal. You are not going to be able to lead anyone anywhere if you don’t know where you are going or what you want yourself. Have a clear idea of the long-term goal, and the path you expect to take to get there. For example, do you want to be the best dental practice in your area, do you want to make money, or do you want to expand and improve the services you offer?
Accountable
As the leader, the boss, you are accountable for what happens – the buck stops with you. Be prepared to take the responsibility if things go wrong. Give praise when things go right and share that achievement with your staff. Accountability is for the good and the bad.
Communication
Once you have your goal you must be able to communicate this clearly to your people. Be clear and concise about what you want them to do and inspire them with your own enthusiasm.
Remember the most important thing about communication is listening. Listen to what your staff say about how things are running. Could one of them have a more efficient way of doing something? Give them the responsibility of implementing it and offer praise where it is due. Is something not working? Listen to why people think it isn’t and get them to suggest other ways of achieving it.
Look for the quieter or under achieving people and make sure they are not quiet because they are suffering in some way. Always reward achievement.
Trust
You need your staff to trust you if you are to get them working with you. This is a very difficult area. Trust and respect need to be earned and can take a bit of time to gain. It can be lost in a matter of minutes if you slip up. Being a great leader and boss at work can be lost in some foolish action outside work hours. A good leader is a leader all the time. Part of the trust you inspire in your staff is to be prepared to muck in with everyone when the going gets tough and remember to reward hard work when those tough times have been worked through. It is important not to ask someone to do something you wouldn’t be prepared to do yourself.
Treat people well and they will do anything for you.
We can help you with your leadership development, get in touch for more information.
