Today we discussed the process and how to measure the effectiveness of your Dental Marketing Efforts.

Dental team problems holding your practice back?

I want to write about a book that has had a profound impact on my life - "Leadership and Self-Deception" by The Arbinger Institute.  The reason why it had a profound impact on me, and I think it might you as well, is that it opened my eyes to some issues within myself.  In the book they discuss, at great length, the concept of Self-Deception.  Self-Deception happens when we justify our behavior to make ourselves feel better about something.  Here are a few examples:

Not too terribly long ago, my wife and I had our third child.  At that time I was working some pretty extensive hours with my business and traveling a bunch.  When home on the weekends, I found myself pretty worn out and in desperate need of sleep.  One night as Mason was screaming in the middle of the night, I woke up and, feeling quite tired, decided to lay there thinking my wife could and should take care of him.  The next morning when she asked if I heard him, I said, "no, I was really tired."  Now in my head I was feeling justified as I was exhausted, stressed and really needing some sleep.  I would guess if someone asked her, she would probably say the same thing.  As I laid there pretending to be asleep getting upset that she wasn't getting up with him, I actually got upset at how slow she was to get up.  What I find interesting about all of this is that I thought I was totally justified in my thinking and actions, after all I was really tired and stressed.  The fact I actually got upset she didn't respond quickly enough, is even more embarrassing in hindsight.  Why is it that some of us get so wrapped up in ourselves that we actually get angry when the other person fails to think of us first when in actuality, we certainly are only thinking of ourselves?

Is this a problem within your dental office?  Statistics would say it is in many instances.