How to be successful!

I have been reading Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers - The Story of Success (Gladwell.com) , and was struck by the conclusions he has reached about becoming a 'success'. If you haven't read the book I would recommend it highly. It is fantastically researched and gives wonderful examples of how certain famous people got where they are today. One of his theories is that to be successful you have to spend many, many hours working on your talent (10,000 hours to be precise!).

This got me looking at our private practice (again!) and thinking about the older members of our team - if you are successful, clearly you have to be of a certain age if you have spent loads of hours doing what you are good at. One of our winning combinations is Peter (orthodontist) and Carole (nurse), who have been working together for some years and their combined ages make lots and lots - can't tell you how many or they might be upset! These two people have created a partnership that is a huge success, not only do they make beautiful smiles, but their patients are truly delighted with the process - patients tell us how much they look forward to their appointments with the two of them.

But what I also realised when looking at their success, is that they really love what they do, and so they are motivated to do it even better. And then I look at the other, younger members of the team and see the same - people who are loving what they do. Although they have not been doing it for 10,000 hours, they have been doing their jobs with joy - successfully. So I am now imagining how amazing they will all be at their jobs by the time they reach Carole and Peter's ages!! Sorry both.

Hello!

In the olden days, dentists did dentistry and people were glad of it! Not so any more. We are now a society of 'discerning customers' and a jolly good thing that is too. We are less likely to tolerate poor service, from the receptionist who continues her conversation with her colleague rather than dealing with us, to the shop assistant who hasn't a clue about the product. We are likely to take our custom elsewhere. Yes, I have revealed myself as a grumpy old woman! But, more importantly, I represent a very big group of society, all of whom want to spend their money on high quality service. To get this you need a talented, engaged and high performing workforce. This is not easy, nor is it cheap to achieve. It will shave off some of your profit, yet the benefits are manifold, not least because people want to tell other people how great you are.

So at our private orthodontic practice, my role is to ensure that my team deliver this service to our patients. I was delighted to find some chocolates on my desk yesterday from a patient whom had brought, champagne, chocolates, flowers and I heard was in floods of tears with Peter (the orthodontist), because she was so happy with her beautiful new smile. I am sure that the chocolates, and flowers (the champagne was for Peter) meant that she had been happy with the experiences over her two years with all of us involved in her care - no, not happy, absolutely delighted. I want to get chocolates on my desk every day (yes, I am a pig), because I want to exceed every one of our patients expectations. And it is proof that the investment in training, mentoring and rewarding our team is giving a 'return' to the owners of the business.

Amanda Reed

Managing Director