#1,154: Getting Your Team to Live and Breathe Your Vision

Tiff and Nikki continue the topic of your practice's vision by discussing how to turn it into something your entire team believes in. They discuss believing in your own vision first, communicating it to your team, establishing consistency and repetition so everyone remembers it, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello Dental A Team listeners. I'm so excited to be here with you guys today. You know I say that every single time because I truly love what we do. I love what Dental A Team stands for and I love the podcast. and set out a long time ago to really, really, really just provide so much amazing, incredible information for the dental world and beyond. We have listeners on here who are not a part of the dental world. We serve all kinds of business owners and ⁓ healthcare providers and all kinds of people. So it's just really cool. And I want you guys to know how special you are.   And today I have with me a super special guest, someone you guys have not heard from before. I get the amazing privilege of bringing Ms. Nikki Mack onto the stage with us here today in our little podcast universe. Nikki, welcome. How are you today?   Nikki Mack (00:31) Okay.   I'm so good, I'm so excited to finally get to be a part of it. I'm on the other side now, long time listener, first time participator. ⁓   The Dental A Team (00:53) Yeah.   I love that you have been a long time listener. So thank you for that. And for those of you who have not yet met Nikki, you probably were not at our in-person event in February, which means you should get your tail over there next time so that you can meet all of us in person. And very specifically, Miss Nikki Mack here. She has joined our team. She is new to Dental A Team is what we like to say, but she has been in consulting in the DSO world in the   you know, general practitioner role, the family practice role, like all over the place. She's been, she has so much experience. She's been all over the block. We'll call her Nikki from the block from now on. I've got your nickname, Nikki. Yeah, there you go. Carol come up with a new one. But Nikki's, Nikki has been with our team for a few months now. We are just so, so happy to have you, Nikki, a wealth of knowledge. Your clients are already seeing massive results. They are.   Nikki Mack (01:36) love it.   The Dental A Team (01:49) loving you and you connect so easily. So everyone just give Nikki a huge shout out and come meet her at our next in-person event in September here in Phoenix. So Nikki, welcome and gosh tell me I'll do an icebreaker for you for the world here. I know, I didn't prep you for this. Yep, unscripted, that happens. That's how my brain works. So let's talk   Nikki Mack (02:03) Yeah.   Ooh, okay, unscripted. Love it.   The Dental A Team (02:16) Let's talk dental, we won't get too crazy. Tell us your favorite position within the dental world. It doesn't have to be within the practice, it can be outside. What's your favorite position you've ever held?   Nikki Mack (02:28) that I've ever held. ⁓ This is probably gonna come as a surprise or not. ⁓ Marketing, like doing the like B2B marketing and stuff. ⁓ I just, I love being able to get out and connect with lots of practices and being able to represent my team. You know, when I go out like on behalf of a doctor, it's super exciting. Cause like I love the office I'm in. I love the team I work with and the doctor I work for and getting to be the person that   The Dental A Team (02:35) I'll ask them.   Nikki Mack (02:56) like shares our office with the world. ⁓ It's just, it's so fun. So, and you get to meet new people, yeah.   The Dental A Team (03:01) That's really cool.   Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like you thrive meeting new people so I could see that for sure. That's awesome. What kind of practice did you do B2B marketing for?   Nikki Mack (03:06) Hahaha.   So that was my time with ⁓ pediatrics and orthodontics. Yep, the most. So yeah, fun events and things like that.   The Dental A Team (03:16) Awesome. I figured. Yeah, that's so cool. Yeah,   yeah, we have a lot of pediatric practices and a few ortho actually. So I know the team will be picking your brain because marketing for pediatrics is a massive space to ⁓ unfold, we shall say. Awesome. Very cool.   Nikki Mack (03:33) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (03:36) Well, today, you guys, we really wanted to chat with you some about your vision and communicating your vision. So we walked you through quite a few times. And if you haven't heard them go back through and listen. If you haven't worked with your consultant yet to get your vision out, go call your consultant. We've worked through kind of how to get your vision, how to get there. And I think you guys might remember, I think it was Dana and I, or Christie and I, really chatting about how like your vision, your mission, your reason for being here isn't necessarily.   what is scripted on your wall that says bringing great smiles to our community. Like, yeah, we're bringing great smiles to our community, but what does that great smile mean? How are we actually impacting the people? And today we wanted to chat. I wanted to pick Nikki's brain here on how to communicate that across to your team. So your team actually believes it. And I think more than anything, Nikki, it's really how do dentists and how do you coach your doctors on   expressing their vision in a way that the team not only believes it, because I think there's a difference in like believing it, I can believe that that's your vision, like cool, yep, that's your vision. And me as a team member living it and breathing it, it's a massive difference. So believing it and standing behind it. And with your experience, the things that you've done and the coaching you do now,   How do you help doctors to really, practice owners to really take that vision and create it to be something that a team can move forward with?   Nikki Mack (05:07) Well, and I think a big part of it really stems from that leadership piece and having a team that values you and believes in you as a leader. And then the vision just supports that. But you kind of hit on it. You have to believe it too. If I'm the doctor or the practice owner and I'm unclear on my vision, how can I expect my team to understand it or follow it? Now you'll always have those employees that just value you and will lead wherever you go. Right. doc, we're going to be, I want it. But   The Dental A Team (05:35) Yeah.   Nikki Mack (05:36) Some need to know why we're going there. They'll do what you need, but why are we doing it? So my first step with a team or a doctor is usually what really is your vision? Not what you think your vision is. Let's talk about what is your vision and how do we use that to get ourselves where we want to be? How do we use that to support our goals?   The Dental A Team (05:56) I love that I actually are making me think of something that I heard the other day on is on a Mel Robbins was actually her book, the left them theory. So some of you guys may have heard this or read it. And she talks about, I'm going to botch the first name, but one of the Toyota brothers has the theory of five wise and ask it was forced like she is in context. I'm sure he is in context of when you're bothered by something or you have like a miscommunication or an upset in life, asking yourself like, why does this bother me but   As you're speaking, Nikki, I'm actually thinking it's so hard to dig to your root. why I think is for me, my quote unquote, why are my vision is it feels like it's my purpose. And I think we spend our entire lives seeking our purpose. And we're like, why am I, we've read the purpose driven, you know, books and all these things. And we're constantly looking for it, but realistically it's getting under the surface layers of your thoughts.   because there's so much wrapped around what you think it should be, how you think it should be perceived, how you think it should be ⁓ communicated to anyone. And so I wonder even like that five why theory is, you know, why do I want to change smiles in my community? Well, because, okay, why is that important to me? Well, because and really taking it so deep. I feel like when you feel that emotional tug, and then you speak from that emotion,   that's your why. And the people around you, I mean, I guess if they're the right people, right, if they're the wrong people on the right bus, they're probably not going to feel the emotional tug to it as well, you know, right alongside with you. But when you do finally get to that emotional tug why, I feel like people can't help but be like, yeah, let's do that. Like that sounds freaking amazing. And it might not be specifically my why, but I want to support you in it because I'm so excited.   by your excitement for what you're about to step into the world to do.   Nikki Mack (07:57) Yep, I think excitement is the key word there. You have to be excited about your why and your team has to as well. It's some of the doctors I still think about, you all these years later that I worked for, it's their why and how excited they were to fulfill that purpose, right? And we get to, you know, change the face of dentistry, right? All these people that hate going to the dentist and then they get to come to our office and now they have a different outlook. Like those whys that drive you.   they inspire your team. And that's that kind of key to leadership. You have to understand that piece and be super clear because that's what drives your team, I think, at their core too. Especially to your point, when it's the right people, you're aligned and you guys are just rowing that boat forward, right?   The Dental A Team (08:39) Yeah.   Yeah, and then allows   them the space your team to search for their own. So I know when Kiera got really clear on her why and the vision for this company, it was like, I can live that. And then I saw, this is how mine actually like follow suit or attaches to Kiera's and the company's why how I serve a purpose in this company based on what I want to do in the world.   how I want to show up and how I want to impact the world, I can see how my purpose is served within the company, why as well.   Nikki Mack (09:22) Exactly. Yep. And that I think too, when you're working at a team, because if you're a doctor or a practice owner and you're growing or you're just leveling up, it's challenging sometimes. And it's that drive and that why that helps keep both you and your team motivated to push towards that end result. That's why we see a patient through lunch. That's why we start a same day for someone who really needs it. It's why we do those things. And that makes it to where   the goal makes sense. It's not just spinning our wheels. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (09:52) Yeah.   Yeah,   and ⁓ working through lunch makes me think of, ⁓ you know, one, we've all done that, right, the freaking root canal that has to go through lunch every single time. But when you're attached to how we're here to serve and show up for our patients, working through lunch is a lot less daunting. I know there are some days that I'm like, heck yeah, let's do it. Let's go. Let's go. Let's help this person. And there are other days that I was like, ⁓ another lunch hour. Like, what the heck, but like, I still got lunch. I just took lunch after.   Nikki Mack (09:58) Hahaha   Ha   The Dental A Team (10:22) lunch or before lunch, like we still worked it out, but there were some days that it was like inspiring to help this person. And then there were other days that it was like, I kind of forgot our reason and our purpose. And it was more like it was being forced on me. And those were different seasons of practice and different seasons of, of life there within. But I agree. That's my point there. And I think once you have that, then you're literally, you're speaking it. And, and I think   Nikki Mack (10:45) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (10:51) Something that we often miss is the repetition that's needed in life for everything. needs to be repeated. We have to build systems. People, I think, think life can be so mundane and it's like routines suck. Like you shouldn't have like all of your life shouldn't be a routine. Like no, actually consistency is human nature. We want to be consistent. We want the routines. And when we're not repeating things, they get lost and they get forgotten.   Nikki Mack (10:57) Yes.   The Dental A Team (11:20) And I think Nikki, something I've noticed in coaching is that we'll key in on it. Doctors are like, heck yeah, let's do it. And then six months later, they're just in the mundane and they're like, I'm working through lunch again, this sucks. So how do you help your doctors and your teams to stay in their why in that vision?   Nikki Mack (11:41) Well, and it's funny you mentioned how you do get to that point where you're like, why are we doing this? You have to revisit it. So I think the same way that we talk about doctors and practice owners being clear with themselves before they hit the team, you also have to revisit it as a team. So one of the things I've suggested in my coaching before is like about quarterly or at least twice a year in our team meetings, we're readdressing that why and our mission, our values.   so that the team is clear. Because the day-to-day in a dental office is a whirlwind, right? And talk about routine and repetition. Sometimes it can be a grind, and that's a good thing, but you have to be able to circle back. And ⁓ what is that expression, slow down to speed up? We have to take a step back, and what is that vision? Why are we doing this? And is what we're doing aligning with our values, right? Working through lunch to help a patient, amazing. Love it, always wanna do it.   The Dental A Team (12:16) Yeah.   Yeah.   Nikki Mack (12:40) working through lunch just as a routine, because we're not scheduling well, that probably doesn't align with our vision and we need to kind of revisit it. So it's okay to evaluate our systems and our processes and how does this align with our vision and does it get us where we want to go? So I usually recommend absolutely quarterly is like my dream as your consultant, but at least a couple of times a year, how does this fit? Where are we at? Because you're going to have team change too, right? People are going to change positions. We might grow and get new team members.   And so we have to make sure that everybody's kind of on that same page and approaching it from the same place, I think is what keeps us ⁓ consistent and in that, you know, good mindset, that good position.   The Dental A Team (13:22) Yeah, and something you said sparked a thought. said, is this an alignment? like working through lunch to help somebody is an alignment. Working through lunch just because it's a routine, it may not be an alignment. And I think you keyed in on something really special there of really looking at what are we doing that is serving ROI and what are we doing that is pulling us away from ROI or just.   opposing our why because it's so easy in dentistry to get so like keyed in on just what's not working. So like let's just complain bucket and we're always working through lunch. Well, why does it suck? It sucks because it's not in alignment with what we said we wanted to do. That's why it sucks. If we said we are an office that works through lunch every single time, great.   we can be upset about it, but that we are in alignment with, this is what I'm choosing to do. But when that's not an alignment, that's where we get those upsets and that like rubbing raw situation. so Nikki, even like going through as often as you can, love the quarterly, love, I mean, do you guys want to talk about it every week? Please talk about it all the time. And Nikki is, yeah, it's like, bring those examples. What did we do this week? What did we do this quarter?   Nikki Mack (14:31) We're in.   The Dental A Team (14:41) that served our why, how did we help people? And when you start from there, you're inspired again. So we wanna talk about communicating your vision to your team so they believe it. Like what is your vision and how are we serving it? And how is that serving us as humans and serving our community I think is huge.   Nikki Mack (15:02) Yeah, 100%. It's how I think it establishes for you that baseline. You know, like we said, because we can always bring it back to our vision is what we're doing in alignment, is what we're doing supporting it, is what we're doing helping move it forward. And it's a way to not only grow, but hold ourselves accountable to, you know, the choices and decisions we're making, the systems we use, how do we reevaluate those and make sure that they make sense for the practice, the patients, you know, the team.   It's that mission, it's that values that we talk about that are gonna steer that ship, I think, yeah.   The Dental A Team (15:37) I think so too. And you keyed in again on like something massive is really how we choose to consult, how our company consults. Because what you just said is really looking at the systems, the protocols, the procedures, the things that we are doing every day, are they serving us and our mission and our vision and where we are going? And the reason Dental A Team doesn't pop into your team and into your practice with this massive cookbook that says A to Z, this is how you should do things.   is because you are an individual practice with an individual mission that's serving a different purpose than the guy down the street. And if we gave you and the guy down the street the same recipe book, it's not guaranteed to work. Are some things going to stick and some things going to work? Absolutely, 100 % hands down. Do we do the same systems and similar systems with each practice? 100 % hands down. But the autonomy in it is how does this system   serve you and what you said there Nikki is how are they how how are the systems and things that we're doing every day how are they pushing us forward it's exactly how we consult and you keying in on that is huge because your teams your practices Nikki are getting something really special from you because I know you lead with their why I've watched you do it I get to watch it on recap so I've watched your recap from your in-office visit you just had in Vegas it's   It just looked freaking incredible. And I know you know him as a human. You know his why. And everything that you did with that team served that and taught them to go back and see, OK, is this working to progress towards what our goals are for our vision and our practice goals, or is it detracting us?   Nikki Mack (17:27) Yeah, it's honestly, it's one of the things I love the best about being a part of Dental A Team is that we truly understand that every practice is different. And a lot of people say that because we know it, right? But I've worked in the dental sphere in a few different like worlds and specialties and, you know, like ownership profiles and everyone is so different. And that's not even counting demographics, right? You know, where we are, are we urban or we rural? Is it saturated? Is it not?   The Dental A Team (17:51) Yeah.   Nikki Mack (17:56) And I think that's why there's just no blanket answer that fixes things. And Dental A Team does such a good job of getting to that why. And why do you want to get to a place? And here's how I can help you get there that stays true to you and your practice and your identity. For me, that's kind of the most fun part is if we know where we're going, then perfect. I've got some tools to put in your toolbox and help get us there, but it's got to feel like you. I can't do it for you or tell you how to be perfect.   I'm here to help you get there and make it work. And I think that's why teams get on board. We're not asking them to just do a cookie cutter situation. The doctor's involved, the team's involved, and it feels like you. It feels authentic. It's something that you can present. Circling back to my marketing thing, right? It's something your team can be proud of and sharing that with the world, whether it's the patients in their chair or the oral surgeon down the street or whatever that looks like.   The Dental A Team (18:43) Yeah.   Nikki Mack (18:54) That's why it's so important. It truly shapes every decision that you make in your practice. And I love getting to kind of help that discovery and then finding out those next steps. That's so important and empowering. I love it.   The Dental A Team (19:09) Yeah, I completely agree. You circle back to the marketing and I, I love that kind of marketing too. I really do. I love the beat. I love marketing. You can listen to a couple podcasts ago. ⁓ I love the marketing, but this is why because to me, the marketing is that relationship build and that like speaking of the vision because when you believe in a practice, you believe in what we're doing. You want people   to know, you want to talk about it, you want to invite them to the practice, you want to invite them to invite their friends and family members to the practice and leave great reviews and you want to do all of these things and when you think about it, if you're bought into it, you're like, yes, I want to serve this mission too in this vision, you're showing up different every day because now I'm showing up as the person, okay, wait, back up, like I said when we first started, right?   I said, know, I told you, before we got on here, told you, Kiera, prior to knowing me in person, personally, she stalked me on Facebook and she saw, wow, she's super fun. She's always on Facebook Live. She's doing Beachbody coaching. And I did, and I loved it. I loved it because I loved the energy and I loved the people. And obviously it like forced me to work out. Kiera thought she was hiring this like,   heck yeah, let's go cheerleader who is just 100 % on all the time. But what she didn't realize is I'm secretly like, not even secretly, I'm a very, I'm a Taurus through and through, like I'm the bull sleeping in the pasture as often as I can. So I'm super efficient so that I can have a ton of time to just do nothing if I want to do nothing. So what happens is here, right, I become Tiffanie that's podcasting.   I become Tiffanie who's showing up as your consultant. I become Tiffanie who's on stage. Just like we all show up a little bit differently in the space of life that we're living in. And it's putting on a show, but not with that negative connotation that that sounds like. Like, no, I'm here because I want to change lives. But when it's just, know, Tiff on the couch, like I am a much calmer, chiller person, not as much energy as being exerted. And it makes me   It makes me think of this because even at the dental practice when I was in office, when I showed up as a check-in, I was the check-in person and I was the first person you saw. I was like, hey, how's it going? Let's chat about your kids. Let's do this. Let's do that. And it invigorated me. It gave me energy in life to be able to do those things because I believed in what we were doing. And the moments that that vision got lost, that we weren't talking about it, or that life got stressful, the practice was stressful, the bills were stressful, the   ⁓ refinancings were they were stressful. Those are the times that I didn't know how to show up like that life was hard. I was getting depressed and I was like, what the heck and it all ties back to that significance piece of having a purpose and when I know the why of the of the person that I'm dedicating my life work to, it gives me a sense of purpose, if that makes sense.   Nikki Mack (22:19) Nope, total sense, because it helps you show up. We talk a lot in dental about being on stage, right? You know, kind of turning that game face on, but it's so true because we are dealing with all kinds of things behind the scenes, right? Like you said, it could be crazy schedules, a clearing house, you know, gets hacked and nobody can get paid for months. And there's always some chaos, but the patients don't know that. And each patient that comes in, this is their first interaction with you.   The Dental A Team (22:25) Yes.   Mm.   Nikki Mack (22:46) And sometimes it can be so hard as a team member to just keep turning it on and showing up at 100. And it sounds crazy. I know someone is listening to this, like, I know she's not about to say what she's about to say, but I am because in those tough moments, knowing why you're doing it, it's like a power reserve. And it's how you're able to kind of like take that deep breath. Okay.   And we turn our game face on and we go back to it, know, my God, Mrs. Smith, we haven't seen you in so long. We're so excited you're here. How was your vacation? It's whatever that looks like as showing up as a team member. That's where that well comes from. That's that reserve. And it sounds crazy, but we've seen it. And successful practices, their doctors are clear about their vision and their team has bought in and they support it. It's their vision too, right?   It means a lot. It's a lot of people overlook it. I do think it's one of those like, I'll get to it. But first I have to get, you know, this implant scheduling down, but it's just as important as those pieces. Cause it's going to help your practice run successfully, even through the rough times, the tougher times. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (23:47) Yeah. Yeah.   I totally agree. I love it. Thank you. So I think this is titled how to communicate your why or your vision to your team. And I think Nikki, the how is one figure out what your vision is, what is what is the reason that you're here, and then just do it and do it frequently. Don't be afraid, especially when you dig into that like more personal emotional why. Even if even if this popped in my head.   I have so many doctors that they're like, well, my why is like to provide generational wealth for my family. Cool. Why? Dig one more past that because the the providing for people who you're not sure can provide for themselves. That is inspiring. Right. So a team might not get on board with like, I want to create a life where my kids never have to work. Like, okay, no, that's weird. But why?   So really attached to that personal. I wanted to say that because I do have a lot of doctors that are like, I'm trying to create generational wealth as you should. I think that's phenomenal. Let's go a little bit deeper and figure out why is that important to you? Maybe you didn't grow up with parents who seem to care. Maybe you had to work really hard and you your team's going to get behind those pieces. So dig one further. Do that five why. What's one deeper and then communicate with your team. It's incredibly vulnerable.   Nikki Mack (25:05) Great.   The Dental A Team (25:24) And it can be very scary, especially when you're like, I wanna create healthy smiles in the neighborhood, in the community. Like going from that to like, I wanna help save people from poverty, drastic, very vulnerable. But Nikki, I think just do it, right? Just Nike, just do it.   Nikki Mack (25:36) Right.   Yeah, just do it.   And honestly, I would challenge doctors and practice owners to find out your team's why. Why are they showing up for you every day, right? It may not be exactly the same as yours, but I guarantee you it aligns, right? And it feeds into it. And that might help even shape your why as well. Like everyone's is gonna contribute to that greater cause basically. Yeah, just do it.   The Dental A Team (25:53) Yeah.   Yeah.   I agree. Simon Sinek   says just do it. Simon Sinek says to ask the ask your best friend or best friends. So like the three people closest to you. Why do they? Why do they have you in their life? And when they say something like, well, I don't know, like, you're fine. Like, no, but like, why me dig deeper? Do that five why thing again? Like, okay, but like, why me? And eventually, it's going to turn from   what you do for them. You always answer the phone when I need you. Like it's gonna turn to you make me feel like I'm important. You make me feel. So it's gonna turn from the things that you do for people, you continue digging, to that friend is gonna say, you know what, I don't know. It's just when I'm around you, I'm really happy and inspired and I want to do more in life. And he says that helps key you in on what you bring to the world.   so that you can see what your purpose is. So I think if you do that similar thing, Nikki, with the team, like why do you choose to work here, right? And get them to dig to that deeper space, it does start to bubble up and you start to see the impact that you're already making on the world and does that align? Does that feel good? Does that feel like inspiring to you? Because that's probably your why and your vision.   Nikki Mack (27:26) Yeah, I love that. That's so great. Even in a personal life, I agree. I'm gonna take that home.   The Dental A Team (27:32) Simon Sinek, I tell you that guy, he's got some good stuff, always. Awesome. Well, Nikki, this was super fun. Thank you so much for being here. First podcast down the hatch, you did it. We're here. Good, good, you did awesome. Thank you. And listeners, you know this is her first, go leave her a five star review.   Nikki Mack (27:35) Always a gem, always a gem. Yeah.   It was so fun. Check. Yeah. Loved it. It was a good time.   The Dental A Team (27:55) But really, let us know what you think. Let us know how this went for you. ⁓ Action items, go dig for your vision, go dig for your why. Ask your team, I love that. Ask your team why they choose to work with you. Ask your friends why they're your friend. And then communicate often. You guys, if you're just communicating this, do it every week for the first quarter and then move on to the next quarter. And if you feel like, gosh, we lost it in between, do it more frequently. This is something that you just need to talk about all the time.   Go do the things. Nikki, thank you so much. ⁓ And podcast listeners, you know, go leave us a five-star review. Let us know how you are going to apply these things to your life. And then reach out to us, [email protected], for any and everything. We're here to help. Thank you, and we'll catch you next time. Bye.