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5 Tips to Deal with "Energy Suckers" on Your Team
Kirk Behrendt
ACT Speaker & Coach
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Finding a great team in today's employment market can sometimes be a challenge. Dr. Frank Spear said during his Practice of Excellence course last fall said that there are two kinds of employees in a dental practice: “There are energy takers and there are energy givers.” I’ll go as far as replacing the words “energy takers” with “energy suckers” for a more visual sense of the concept.
"Energy Suckers" take the joy out of going to work. By employing them, you make concessions to your vision. Keep them around long enough, and it will begin to drain your confidence. This month we look at reversing this trend with 5 ways to mitigate your practice from "energy sucking."
“Suckers” and “Givers” on Your Team
Energy Suckers: They are often referred to as “energy vampires.” These are employees that have a negative attitude or limited potential for your style of practice. They often complain and clearly blame others for things that happen to them. Suckers aren’t just negative employees. The can also be people who are very nice but don’t have the skill set and drive for your style of practice. They steal energy from what you trying to do with your patients. They take energy from you doing the things you love. That makes them “energy suckers.”
It is very important to understand that there is a greater danger that just the employee when you choose to employ an “energy sucker.” Spear explains that it exposes you to what he calls the “lowest common denominator” factor. Your practice is only as strong as its weakest link. He goes on to explain that when you have one “energy sucker” you actually have two, because “energy suckers” need someone to plug into. So they will seek out another employee in the practice to commiserate with.
Energy Givers: These are people that bring life to your practice. They have a “can do” attitude. They can believe in your vision more often than you do. They like goals. They “GET IT.” They accept the responsibility for what happens in their personal lives. They just make you feel good when you see their face every morning. They lift you up and pull you towards your vision and beyond. They push you to do the things you love to do in dentistry. They scare you at times by working ahead of you. Most importantly, they sell “YOU.” All of this makes them “energy givers.”
I heard Jack Canfield say, “The power of teamwork is greatly misunderstood by even the best minds in business. 1+1=2 when you have an employee who can do average tasks, but when you have a team member with talent and a positive attitude the makes the equation 1+1 = 11.”
His point was that one really talented and willing team member can do things that two or three average employees couldn’t do collectively.
He is right.
When you have the right people on the bus, it goes places you have never been before, and besides, the ride is so much smoother. An important key to enjoying your career in dentistry is to surround yourself with the right people. Having the wrong people around you for too long can actually start to affect your attitude about dentistry. It can affect how you feel about yourself. And you’re crazy if you don’t think that doesn’t translate messages to your patients.
“Suckers” and “Givers” in Your Personal Life
The same principle applies in your personal life too. You learn this a little bit as you mature as an adult, but you learn it more profoundly when you start a family.
There are people that “suck” energy and there are people who “give” energy in your personal life.
Think about that for a second.
“Suckers” pull you off track for your vision for your family. My wife and I have friends that we have to limit our time with, simply because we don’t share the same values. Its does not mean that they are bad people, or that we are better than them. It just means that we don’t want to expose our valuable time and the impressionable minds of our children to their negative attitudes, values or beliefs.
Life is fluid. You are never coasting. You are either moving towards your vision for you life or away from it. Rest assured that “energy suckers”, no matter how slight, are pulling you off course.
All of this could be said for some patients too. Be sure to spend most your time with patients that are mostly “energy givers.” Then start to limit your schedule time with those patients who “suck energy” from you and your team. You’ll be happy you did.
Here are 5 Steps to Deal with “Energy Suckers”
- Make sure that you are not the problem first. If you have a negative attitude about things, chances are you attracting a lot of people who share the same beliefs (consciously or unconsciously). Read the definition of a “sucker” or a “giver” above. Which category do you fall into as a dentist? Start there before reading on.
- Work on making your practice an attractive place to work. As one of my mentors, Jim Rohn used to say, “To attract attractive people, you must first become attractive.” Talented dental auxiliaries are always doing more homework on the dentist than the dentist is doing on them during the interview process. Don’t forget that. By nature, people want to attach themselves to a train that is going places. They don’t want to hook up to a train that is lost and hasn’t gone anywhere exciting in the last few years. Which train are you? If you become the train is going places, it is no accident, but you will find that "energy givers" will be seeking you out.
- Train your team! I have 3 words for you: train, train, train. I hear dentists ask all the time, “What if I train my team and they leave?” Well, I have a better question for you. What if you DON’T…and THEY STAY! Which puts you in a worse situation? Only you can answer that question. Pay for it in training now or pay for it later in more unpleasant ways, either way you are going to pay for it. You choose. As you train, you will be less tolerant for the way things used to be, which will ultimately will force you to start seeking (and begin attracting) the right kind of employees.
- Address the “energy sucking” right away if you suspect it. Experienced dentists will tell you the profoundness of this lesson. Every month you wait to address the “energy sucking” it pushes back your vision and increases your stress. Sit down with this team member and clearly outline the behaviors you expect for the position they hold. This is very important. Don’t criticize the person. Instead, explain your needs and attributes of the position. Make it clear. Tell them that you will review their performance again in 30 days. Set a date. Keep the date and follow through. If there is no progress, then make a decision to part ways. I think you will be startled with the results of this management method. We have seen some great turnarounds when a dentist gets clear about expectations. It is also important to realize that some leopards can’t change their spots. Most team members have skills that can be greatly improved through training, but their attitudes and work ethic very rarely ever experience a dramatic transformation.
- Design your DREAM TEAM on paper. Make sure you can see each person clearly; their personalities, talents, attributes and responsibilities. Once you have a visual picture of what you want, make every effort for the rest of your career to NOT compromise what you see on this paper. CLICK HERE TO SEE AN EXAMPLE.
There is nothing more powerful in the practice of dentistry than having the right people around you…all who “give you energy.” Dentistry really becomes its most fun when you sit in your morning huddle with a fresh cup of coffee and look at the smiling faces around you and you think to yourself, “Here is my dream team!”
Jim Collins, who wrote the book, Good to Great said that for the longest time we have been led to believe that “People were our greatest asset. This is not true. Only the RIGHT people are our greatest asset.”
Life is short; make your journey fun with “energy givers.”
Kirk Behrendt
Speaker & Coach
ACT Dental Practice Coaching
800.851.8186
"stop TRYING...and start TRAINING!"
Kirk Behrendt is the Director of ACT Dental Practice Coaching. He has lectured all over the United States to major meetings and study clubs. He has extensive experience on practice profitability, team building, leadership and dental practice marketing/branding, Kirk and his team are primarily focused to positively impact the future of dentistry one practice at a time.. You can reach him at 800-851-8186 or email him at kirk@actdental.com.
We welcome your questions and feedback!
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