Goals vs. reality, Part 1

Jul 25, 2010

Editor's note: The Coaches Corner column appears regularly on the DrBicuspid.com advice and opinion page, Second Opinion.

Now that you have defined your goals, you need to check in with your reality -- or at least make sure your version of reality is shared by those you work with, your staff.

You can either start with your goals for your practice, or you can start from "what is" -- as in, what is your reality in your practice when introducing your leadership initiatives.

It doesn't really matter which approach you take. What matters is your purpose. Sharing a common purpose creates the needed possibility for a shared vision that supports your aligned purpose.

Unfortunately, a vision not shared is just a hallucination. Knowing your goals and your reality does not give you enough to make what you want happen. Purpose is essential for workability. From that you can build your goals from almost any reality -- given you are able to align your core values and your sense of purpose with those you employ.

The reality you seek is based on objective criteria, and it often gets co-opted by the subjective dimensions of opinions, gossip, blame, judgments, concerns, fears, and hopes involved in all the individual points of view among the various personalities of your office.

The reality that your practice exists as both a service and a business is a key point in the context of your purpose; sharing this reality with your team means "management by measurement," all within the envelope of profitability.

There is a tendency toward subjective qualifiers -- opinions, blame, concerns, etc. -- that can greatly distort reality. This is a more typical reality or "false reality" of an office dynamic, and it can greatly reduce the power to your purpose as you establish your goals.

Dan Kingsbury, D.D.S., life and dental coach, is a co-founder of the Dental Coaches Association, an organization of dentists who are professional coaches committed to bringing coaching to the dental profession. Learn more by visiting DentalCoachesAssociation.org.

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