November 2002

Charting a Course to Success
Why Strong Leadership and Empathy Are Key
By Ivan Delman, DC

Never underestimate the importance of being a strong practice leader – you could be making a grave mistake. Yes, it takes time and effort away from your chiropractic duties to properly steer the direction of your practice; however, the alternative is either a failed practice or having it go in an unwanted direction.

Allowing your practice to steer its own course without your strong leadership makes as much sense as selling your car for gas money. Starting with your first day in practice, you must grab the leadership reins of your chiropractic wagon and take off at a gallop.

You might ask: “Why should I worry about being a great leader when my goal is to be a great chiropractor?” If you don’t, someone else will control your practice and take it where they, not you, want it to go. Even if you have a two-person office, your receptionist will end up running the office. This lack of leadership should be unacceptable.

As the doctor and manager of your practice, your staff and patients look to you for guidance and leadership. As the person who wrote the mission statement for your practice, who better knows the direction you want it to go?

Be the John Wayne or Margaret Thatcher of your practice to make it successful. (Woody Allen-type managers will have a much harder time developing their leadership skills.)

Leadership Skills
Being intelligent does not always mean one will make an effective manager. In fact, research recently completed at the Case Western School of Management and University of Pennsylvania’s School of Education revealed that being a brilliant scholar does not necessarily mean that you’ll be able to manage yourself and interact with others.

Each year there are companies who punch holes in the bottom of their company boats by appointing their most brilliant person into a management role. That person then proceeds to mess up the company because of poor leadership skills. The better-run companies know that the best technicians don’t always make the best managers, and the best scholars don’t always make the best leaders.

When I was racing cars, I discovered that the most successful crew chiefs were not always the best drivers. Joe Gibbs never made the newspapers as an exceptional athlete; however, the world knows him well as a successful football coach and winning race team owner.

One of the many things I learned from Coach Gibbs is his belief that people, not equipment, bring success to an endeavor. Or as my dad was fond of saying, “It’s the people, not the presses, that print the best work!”

Psychologist Daniel Goleman, co-author of “Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence” states in his book, “What sets the beloved leader apart from the bosses we hate is excellence at things like handling upsets, listening, and empathy.”

“Handling upsets, listening, and empathy” are the most important personal attributes needed for a powerful leader. If that’s the case, heck, most of us already have those qualities. Sometimes they might have to be better developed, but they are present in all of us. We know how to listen; we care about others; and we’ve learned how to handle upset people. Isn’t that part of what we do as chiropractors?

A great leadership example is the former New York City mayor, Rudy Guiliani. Regardless of what you think of him as a political figure, when disaster struck his city, he instinctively knew what had to be done and he set about doing it. He reached down into his emotional reserves and demonstrated to the world that he is capable of great leadership.

Of course, you have to be intelligent enough to understand a situation and know the route to correction. However, you need the other three skills - handling upsets, listening, and empathy - to place that knowledge into action.

A Good Talker, a Better Listener
When I first started in practice, I gave a terrific report of findings. I carefully explained to my new patients (in brilliant, cohesive and erudite $35 words, of course) everything they ever would want to know about their condition, diagnosis, prognosis, the state of the chiropractic world, plus my recommended treatment programs.

It wasn’t until one of my patients fell off his chair - snoring all the way down to a crash landing on the floor – that I realized my report of findings was even more effective than a triple dose of Valium.

Where was I missing the boat? I wasn’t listening to my patients. I was so busy pontificating and trying to impress them with my expertise that I neglected to stop and hear what they wanted to tell me.

Today, when I talk to people, I watch for little things like eyes rolling back into their head or frantic glances to see if they can find an escape route. Sometimes, a big clue that you’re drowning them in excessive verbiage is when they ask you a question that has no relationship to what you’re saying.

The best way to interface with another human being is when you adhere to the ear/mouth ratio of listening twice as much as you talk. I’m sure you can recall being trapped in a corner at a social event while a non-stop talker drones on and on about some horrendously dull subject.

You wait for the person to take a breath, but they never seem to inhale. Since you are a polite and gentle person, you either listened or pretended to listen while you plotted your eventual escape.

Now, here’s the topper! If you happen to run into that person again, they’ll recall that wonderful conversation you both had. That’s the positive effect of good listening.

Now, that you know you have the ability to listen, you can empathize with your patients and gently handle their problems. You should be happy and confident that you have all the tools that will allow you to be a better, stronger, and more successful leader.

Laughter Is the Best Medicine
When you deal with people, it’s much easier to lead them if they are in a positive mood. There’s an abundance of research that indicates the majority of successful business leaders are those who can make their listeners laugh more than their less humorous management counterparts.

Although we often have to deal with traumatic events in our offices, try to keep the handling of those events as light as possible. A great example is Patch Adams. He’s the medical doctor (portrayed in a popular movie by the same name) who realized that even the most seriously ill patient could benefit and receive a measure of comfort from humor.

There are studies that indicate laughter also has a curative quality; however, in the context of being a leader, it makes that tough job much easier. By the way, did you hear the one about… ? Well, maybe later.

Dr. Delman is the author of “The Business of Chiropractic: How to Prosper AFTER Startup,” Second Edition. He has both business and chiropractic degrees. His experience includes 20 years in business management and then 20 years as a chiropractor before retiring to write and travel. Dr. Delman can be reached at ivan@businessofchiropractic.com or www.businessofchiropractic.com