Do you dream of running a successful practice? Then core values aren't optional! In this episode, Kirk Behrendt brings back Heather Crockett, one of ACT’s amazing coaches, to share why core values are critical and how to do them the right way. Don't just paste your values on the walls! To learn how to keep them alive in your halls, listen to Episode 987 of The Best Practices Show!
Learn More About Heather:
Learn More About ACT Dental:
More Helpful Links for a Better Practice & a Better Life:
Episode Resources:
Main Takeaways:
Quotes:
“It's really hard sometimes to focus on things outside of clinical dentistry. But that's exactly why core values are so important — because running your practice is so hard. It's extremely tiring every single day. Sometimes, you have fire, and fire, and fire coming at you that you have to put out, especially with team behavior. Core values can help you to get back on track and to eliminate those fires — some of them, not all of them — and the chaos that your team brings to you or exhibits. It is basically like a shared compass. It helps to guide how your team acts, how you act, and how everyone communicates and makes decisions so that your days get easier and eliminates many of those fires, not making your days harder.” (1:31—2:19) -Heather
“From a leadership standpoint, you want to eliminate the crazy. You talk often, Kirk, about common sense is not all that common. We want to think the best intentions of others, but we have to make it so clear. It has to be dummy-proof what these [core values] mean, because then it will help to eliminate the crazy. Then, as a leader too, we make so many decisions every single day as humans. As a leader, it's compounded. It becomes more complex. You're now responsible for other humans that are under your charge. We have to ensure that we are super clear with what those behaviors look like, then hold everybody accountable to those behaviors. Making those decisions with those behaviors becomes much easier when our core values are in place. If you don't have those core values to make those decisions, then it's going to be extremely difficult, and you'll have a lot of sleepless nights.” (3:47—4:42) -Heather
“Core values really help you to define the culture and those observable behaviors that you're looking for, those things that you want in your practice. We often talk about core values being the opposite of your anti-values. So, the things that brush up against you and like, ‘Augh, something doesn't feel right. It feels icky right now,’ whatever behavior is taking place is brushing up against that core value. So, when you're able to give words to that and then share those words with your team, it adds that layer of clarity to those expectations. And we've talked about this before, Kirk. Nobody is a mind reader. You might think that the expectations are clear. But they're not clear until you share them with the team.” (5:08—5:50) -Heather
“It's okay to feel how you feel. It's okay to share how you feel, or your opinions. I think that should always be welcome. But when it comes to how we behave in this house or how we behave at work, you do have to draw very clear lines of what behavior looks like. And that is held by the team at the top. You can do that in a business and it's very important. You don't have to be super silly about it or very dogmatic. You just have to identify the things that matter to you.” (7:16—7:49) -Kirk
“There were years where I didn't really do the core values thing. I thought it was a nice idea. I believed in it, but I didn't know how to do it. So, I'd spend all of my time outside of work managing really bad behavior: texts going back and forth, phone calls, team members having side conversations, negative stuff happening. I'm like, ‘Why is this happening?’ At one point, I thought, ‘I don't even know if I want to do this anymore. This is so hard, managing people.’ Had I known just leaning into core values — it's amazing because people self-govern. They evaluate their own behavior. They hold other people accountable.” (8:36—9:15) -Kirk
“Core values give great clarity to expectations. Think about that. If your team members are behaving badly, that's not their fault — that's your fault. If [my] kids behave badly . . . it's not their fault. That's my fault. I'm not the greatest dad, and I'm not saying my kids are perfect. But if they behave in a way that I'm like, ‘That's not what I want,’ that's on me. It's about setting expectations for how we behave. That's really simple. So, you’ve got to give your team members the opportunity to succeed. That's what core values do when you can clearly help people understand what those mean.” (11:24—12:05) -Kirk
“I know what you're thinking if you're a dentist listening to the podcast. You listen to all these podcasts with all these dental experts and they talk about, ‘Oh, I have the perfect team. I have the greatest team.’ I'm just telling you this — and you know this. When you get the right person and you put them in the right seat, your practice has changed. You get a second person and put them in the right seat, now your practice is two times what it was. Eventually, it has this multiplying effect. You get to a place where one plus one equals 11. It doesn't equal two anymore. Like, weird things are happening. Now, you don't have a perfect team. There's always somebody that you're coaching up or coaching on. So, it's important that you recognize this is what makes a team better.” (16:29—17:12) -Kirk
“Jenni, on our team, says all the time that clear is kind. So, when you're like, ‘Oh, but I want to be nice to my team. I like them. I want them to like me,’ they will like you and they will respect you even more when you are super clear when it comes to your core values.” (23:19—23:32) -Heather
“[Core values] is the single most important thing you will ever do in a business. It's your single greatest asset because it will help you find, keep, grow, develop, and nurture the right people in the right seats.” (25:11—25:25) -Kirk
Snippets:
0:00 Introduction.
1:22 Why this is an important topic.
3:40 What this means from a leadership standpoint.
4:53 Core values give clarity to expectations.
6:30 All feelings are welcome, but all behaviors are not.
12:05 Core values guide team feedback and development.
17:12 Core values can resolve real practice challenges.
22:21 Final thoughts.
24:04 ACT’s BPA and resources.
Heather Crockett Bio:
Heather Crockett is a Lead Practice Coach who finds joy in not only improving practices but improving the lives of those she coaches as well. With over 20 years of combined experience in assisting, office management, and clinical dental hygiene, her awareness supports many aspects of the practice setting.
Heather received her dental hygiene degree from the Utah College of Dental Hygiene in 2008. Networking in the dental community comes easy to her, and she loves to connect with like-minded colleagues on social media. Heather enjoys both attending and presenting continuing education to expand her knowledge and learn from her friends and colleagues.
She enjoys hanging out with her husband, three sons, and their dog, Moki, scrolling through social media, watching football, and traveling.