[MASTERY] Does Your Vision Tell a Story

DOES YOUR VISION TELL A STORY?

We are delivering a brand new program entitled, 'Above the Clouds.' It is designed for dentist entrepreneurs that either have, or are in the midst of creating full-blown business expressions to deliver dental care to a large number of patients. Some are orthodontists with multiple offices. Some are pedodontists with multiple offices. Some are combined ortho-pedo. Some are GPs with multi- provider entities. Some of the veteran practices do as much as $10M a year. The younger individuals are growing rapidly and generating $2.5M to $4M, constantly pushing to increase revenues and new patients, and moving out into more sites. Interestingly, each one has held his or her own and most have grown during the last two years.

Our work with these dentist-entrepreneurs is to educate, develop and train them as a CEO/Chairman of the Board to generate a powerful and effective corporate culture with corporate structures. Given my background in corporate consulting (Intel, Boeing, GE Capital, hospitals and hospital systems, NASA/Ames Business Incubator), coupled with my peer and client relations in corporate America, I believe the Mastery Company is uniquely qualified to serve this segment of the dental industry.

So, what do these highly successful individuals have that the majority of dentists don't have? It isn't that they are smarter. It isn't that they are whizzes with money. What they have is a compelling vision and that is not easy to do. It's tiring. It's frustrating. It's an ongoing process.

These dental entrepreneurs, however, refuse to give up. They are tenacious. They get emotional when they articulate their vision and you get a real sense they are unconditionally committed to their vision. When I hear them speak their vision with this much heart, I know they are on the right track.

Even though they sometimes are frustrated, and go through a number of cycles, some up, some down, they know they are on the right track. They are willing to stick with it no matter what. Their vision becomes paramount to them. They hold the stand that their vision is why they are in business. It's not to make money, fund their retirement, or become the most capable clinician on the planet. Their professional lives are totally committed to the fulfillment of their organizational vision.

When I work with these individuals, I hear something quite unique. I don't hear a vision statement, I hear a 'vision story.' And it's the story that is powerful. It's the story that's extraordinary, that empowers and mesmerizes.

Most dentists spend a few hours (at best) coming up with a vision statement. They articulate a few brief sentences to capture the essence of a future they want for their practice, a future that is possible for their practice to achieve. And initially there is strong enthusiasm, great emotion, lots of possibility and a sense of team. And very soon the 'vision' statement is forgotten and it's back to business as usual.

But when I work with these dentist-entrepreneurs, I hear a vision story. A story that is constantly being written and rewritten. A story that is constantly being told and retold. These vision stories have heroes, villains, plots and subplots, good circumstances, bad circumstances, victories and defeats.

These individuals continue to tell their story to staff and investors. They author a manuscript that is in many ways autobiographical, but it's also about the creation of something that is extra-ordinary in its own right.

What I find is the most salient characteristic of each of these unique individuals is they are willing to hang in there. No matter what! That is where they differ from other dentists. They have a vision story that is continuously unfolding and they are unconditionally committed to that story coming true.

Dr. Marc B. Cooper
The Mastery Company
MasteryCompany.com

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Dr. Marc B. Cooper
President and CEO
The Mastery Company