Dos and don'ts for leadership: Seeking expert advice

Dentists need to surround themselves with experts. Highly successful people recognize that they cannot do it all, should not try to do it all, and if they do, they will reach an absolute plateau and never move past it. Bill Gates didn't build Microsoft by doing everything himself.

Ask yourself the right questions. Ask yourself the following questions: Where do I want to be? Who can help me get there? Who has done it before? Different levels of expertise can help you achieve the more challenging goals in your practice and in your life.

Don't imagine you can do it all yourself. Perhaps it is because of our personalities that we like to micromanage every aspect of our practices. Perhaps it is ego -- as it is for many CEOs -- that have us believing we can do it better than everyone else. Whatever the reason, micromanaging is an extremely limiting factor.