Leading Beyond the Chair: 4 Key Pillars for Dental Team Success

People don’t leave jobs—they leave bosses, so in order to be someone that people want to follow, you must work to become a great leader. In fact, as the leader you have a responsibility to your team, because without your leadership, they will flounder and get off track. It’s like Kirk says: “As goes the leader, so goes the team.” Part of being a great leader is your decision-making ability, which is directly impacted by your emotional intelligence; after all, emotions drive our actions and help form our relationships. 

Emotional Intelligence tells the story of how well you manage your own emotions, as well as the impact you have on others. The best leaders have a strong level of emotional intelligence. It’s valuable to understand your emotional intelligence personally, but its true impact is when working in a collaborative environment. Getting a handle on your emotional intelligence comes down to mastering these four domains:

1. Self-Awareness

Self-awareness refers to your ability to acknowledge and understand your moods and emotions, and it’s something you will grow as you undergo more and more experiences—both good and bad. Improving your self-awareness is a matter of paying attention to your inner dialogue, feelings, and reactions, so use these questions: 

• What am I experiencing right now?
• Why am I experiencing this?
• How is it impacting me and my ability to perform?

2. Self-Regulation

This is your ability to control your impulses and moods, which allows you to take a moment and think before you act. You can’t move on to this domain without self-awareness. Developing self-regulation also improves your ability to take accountability for your actions and feelings, which is invaluable to effective teamwork. Accountable leaders are respected leaders. To improve your ability to self-regulate, ask yourself these questions:

• What can I do to change my mood?
• How might I go from sad to happy, or from frustrated to peaceful?
• How can I appropriately express what I’m experiencing?

3. Social Awareness

Social awareness enables you to understand others’ emotional states; in essence, your ability to read the room. Social awareness comes naturally for some, but not for all. If you feel you struggle to gauge the temperature of the room or identify how others are feeling, there is hope! You are able to learn and develop in all domains of emotional intelligence. Social Awareness is truly invaluable in collaborative work environments, and to improve your awareness, use the following:

• Treat each connection you have with others as an opportunity to truly listen and learn..
• What expressions, body language, tone, pace, or actions help you to understand better what emotional state others are in?
• How might their emotional state be affecting their performance or actions?

4. Relationship Management

This last domain refers to your ability to help others understand and manage their emotional states, which is crucial to great leadership. This is a high-level skill that will enable you to impact the mood of a group, so take these questions to heart in order to master it:

• If I were leading a tense team meeting, how would I know tensions were high?
• What behaviors would be exhibited by others in a negative situation?
• What actions could I take, or words could I use, to help diffuse the energy?
• How can I positively influence this situation?
• Who is contributing the most energy to the room?

The beauty of emotional intelligence is that if it’s not where you want it to be, you can change it! If your emotional temperature is too high, then go for a walk, take deep breaths, or listen to calming music until it goes back down! Think about all the different questions for each domain, and understand that they will empower you to become a better leader. 

Working on yourself is a difficult process, but remember, you’re not alone. Contact Gina to learn more about ACT or to schedule a meeting and see how we can help you take this journey together! As an extra-special option, come see us in person at our To The Top Study Club meeting on July 12, 2024, where you’ll learn how to be a healthier leader with a happier team!

Tune in next time and learn how to maximize the efficiency in your hygiene department!

Miranda Beeson is a Lead Practice Coach at ACT Dental