By definition

There are typically two kinds of practices—successful or dead. Samantha Trenoweth discovers how defining your purpose is the first step in producing results

Most dentists have thought about the purpose of their practice to some extent—to improve patients’ oral health, to make enough money to live well—but is that enough?

Not according to Tristan Bond, healthcare business consultant and founder of the HBC Group.

“A lot of dental practice owners go wrong by not being clear about what their vision is and what steps are needed to realise that vision,” he explains.

“Quite often, dentists and doctors have this ethereal idea of where they want to go, but I ask them to think clearly about what the end point looks like and how it will affect their life. I ask them to think about what they want on a lot of levels: family, friends, financial, personal, community contribution. If they can envisage what the end point looks like, then it’s a whole lot easier to get there.”

Which is not to say that the endpoint needs to remain static. Bond began his professional life as a physiotherapist. Now he steers a multimillion-dollar healthcare coaching business. In both instances, however, he’s defined his purpose, identified his guiding values and set achievable goals.

Bond recommends that those who struggle to find a clear sense of purpose begin by studying their motivations— “asking why”. Why are they doing what they do? Why do they want the things they want? This can all help to bring the ultimate purpose into focus.

“People often come to us because they have a general idea that they want to grow their business, and I’ve noticed that the people who do really well know why they want to grow it. Often it involves making a bigger impact, giving more to clients or gaining greater control of their lives. In any case, once the why is clear enough, the rest becomes easier to pin down.”

Bond also recommends identifying a core set of values. Often values and purpose go hand in hand and pinpointing one can clarify the other. Many practices nowadays have mission statements but he encourages dentists to also develop values statements.

“Your values statement might be to always provide exceptional service to your clients and treat them like family, or to always strive for the best and put your team first,” he suggests. “We encourage dentists to choose values that will lead to the outcome they want and to then ensure that every action they take is on track with their values.

“I believe that if the values statement is right and if they stick with those values, then they will end up with a practice in which patients are loyal and refer other patients, in which staff are happy and conscientious and work together as a great team, and in which it’s easier to push to the next level because everyone’s happy and excited to be there.”

Having some core values to refer to can also make practice management more efficient.

“I had a great conversation with a dentist recently,” Bond recalls. “He told me that a member of staff had done something that required him to take action and he’d been worrying about what he should do. The solution was simple: before you do anything, you check whether your response will be in line with your values statement. If it is, then you go ahead. It means you don’t have to spend hours worrying about what to do. You just check whether you’re on purpose, whether you’re in line with your values, and away you go.”

“If you want to be an exceptional dentist, you have to keep up-skilling and staying up-to-date with developments in dentistry.” Tristan Bond, HBC Group

For Bond, and for growing numbers of healthcare professionals, a clear sense of purpose and a set of values with which you feel comfortable are the cornerstones of a successful, rewarding practice. Once they’re in place, it’s relatively easy to fill in the bricks and mortar, in the form of short-term goals and steps that will help you reach them.

Most business, life and sporting coaches recommend that their clients break goals down into achievable, bite-sized pieces. Bond recommends a three-year and a one-year plan. “It’s easy for people to imagine what their life will look like in three years’ time,” he explains. “More than that is stretching it.”

He suggests that clients visualise what they would like their whole life to look like in three years’ time: their work and home environments; their family and relationships; their financial situation; their leisure time and so on. Then, because a three-year plan can appear overwhelming, he recommends that they track it back and ask, ‘where do I need to be in 12 months to make that vision eventually become a reality? To make those goals even more achievable, Bond’s clients then break the 12-month plan down even further—into 90-day “sprints”.

“We ask where they want to be in 90 days,” he explains. “Then they choose three major projects that they can accomplish to support that. I know that a client can knock off one project per month but it’s important to break it down into bite-sized chunks. If I suggested they get through 12 new projects in a year, it would seem daunting.

“Next, we break down each 90-day sprint into monthly projects and each monthly project has weekly actions that can be ticked off the checklist. So, it’s all very achievable. It just happens; it flows. The aim is that every action they take every day will be leading to that three-year vision. It makes it really simple.”

Of course, mistakes are made along the way. A common one, says Bond, is that the practice owner tries to take everything on board single-handed and doesn’t ask for help.

“Dentists are extremely smart people,” he points out, “and very driven, but they shouldn’t be afraid to ask for some external support. If you want to be an exceptional dentist, you have to keep up-skilling and staying up-to-date with developments in dentistry. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to do that and also stay abreast of changes in marketing and financial management, and still maintain some quality of life. I think most practice owners are spreading themselves thin. So, they need to be clear about what they want to do, how their time and expertise are best spent, and what they could get some help with.”

Of course, if their purpose and their values are clearly defined, they’ll pick this up early and turn their work-life balance around.

“I think every business should revolve around its purpose and its values,” explains Bond, “because if you do that, you’ll have happy patients, a happy team and you’ll grow like crazy. It will also help you put your whole life into a more balanced perspective.”