November 2002

It’s the ‘Who’ – Not the ‘Do’
By Larry Markson, DC

Tell me what to do,” has become a popular mantra in the chiropractic profession. Tell me what to do to get more new patients; tell me what to do to get patients to comply and stay longer; tell me what to do to stop my staff from turning over so fast. The list goes on and on – do, do, do.

What it really comes down to is that all chiropractors, as individual entrepreneurs, really want to grow more fulfilling and successful practices, but either the way they are currently “doing it” isn’t working, or they believe they have “been there done that” and “nothing” seems to be working.

You see, all of the “do’s” often are not effective until you take a look at the “who” – who you are as a person and as a doctor. Your successes and failures are more closely tied to whom you are than to the school you graduated from, the community you belong to, the insurance companies you work with, or whom your competition is.

As difficult as it might be, if you want the action steps you are taking to start working, you first have to take a hard look at your concepts and visions, your beliefs, your securities and insecurities, your confidence level, the words and expression you use, the people with whom you spend time, and all the other intangible personality traits that can affect your success.

Identity-Based vs. Strategy-Based
A simple way to encapsulate the do vs. who concept is: “Who you are determines how well what you do works." It is a person’s “identity” that determines how effective the action steps taken will turn out. It is a combination of a doctor’s purpose, energy and enthusiasm, belief in what they do, their desire to make a difference in a patient’s health, and how they communicate the chiropractic message that make all the difference in the world. Remember, people won’t ever “buy” the message, without first buying the messenger - their concept of whom they are and what they stand for.

Success is, in fact, very personal. It is about your clarity, your congruency, your determination, your guts and audacity to be different and to stand for a principle like the one that fuels chiropractic. As you focus on the “who,” you of course still need to know what to do. You must indeed become expert in all the strategies, office procedures, and action steps important in building and maintaining a successful chiropractic practice. However, you can spend countless hours learning state-of-the-art procedures and modern methods of attracting, educating, and retaining patients; but when push comes to shove, “It’s the who - not the do,” that will set you apart from the competition.

You Are an Eagle
This is the story of a child who once stole the egg of an eagle, and brought it back to his parents’ farm, where it was placed underneath a chicken. The eagle hatched with the eggs of the chicken, and it was brought up in the barnyard just as if it were a chicken. Yet, there was something within the breast of that great bird that knew there was more to life than the barnyard. So as the eagle grew and developed, its discontent became more and more evident.

One day when the eagle was scratching in the barnyard with all the other chickens, a big storm came upon the farm. While all the animals began to tremble and look for cover, the eagle felt a stirring that it had never known. Its powerful wings spread and lifted the eagle easily up to the top of the barn. A feeling of confidence and power came over the young eagle, and it knew instantly that it was not meant to just survive like all the other animals.

It was destined to fly and soar above the storms and seek its own world, where most others feared to go. As the eagle rose above the barnyard and circled the farm for the last time, there was no sadness in its goodbye. There was only joy and anticipation in the knowledge that from now on there would be no limitations.

You are that eagle! You were raised in an environment that taught you limitations, which accentuated your errors and made fun of you when you stumbled. Yet, always within your heart, there has been something telling you that you were meant to be more. You were destined to fly and soar and succeed and overcome all the storms in your life.

Dr. Markson is co-founder of The Masters Circle, a personal and professional development company dedicated to helping chiropractors find success through practice mastery and personal growth. The Masters Circle provides seminars, coaching, teleclasses, and audiovisual support materials. Dr. Markson can be reached at 800-451-4514; or sign on to www.themasterscircle.com