You just spent an hour washing and waxing your car. It’s gleaming in the driveway, and you’re admiring your work when a seagull swoops down out of nowhere and leaves a fresh white mess right on your hood. You’re left standing there wondering what just happened, holding a dirty rag and dealing with the chaos.
Now picture your Monday morning team huddle. You burst through the door, fired up about a new patient experience idea you heard at a conference. You spend five minutes explaining your vision, tell everyone “we’re starting this next week,” then rush off to your first appointment.
Sound familiar? Congratulations—you’re a seagull.
You swoop in with big ideas, drop them on your team without context, and leave them to figure out the mess. Zero follow-up. No plan. No consideration for how this affects their day. You may think you’re being decisive, but your team thinks you’ve lost your mind.
It’s swoop and poop leadership.
Here’s the problem: Your team didn’t attend that conference. They don’t have access to the ideas in your head. When you dump a brilliant idea on them without that foundation, it just feels like more work.
Great leaders don’t poop and swoop—they land and stay. They show up with ideas and a plan. They provide context and follow-up. They’re accountable.
Before you unleash your next big idea, test it before you launch it. Give yourself time to flesh out the details and consider how it affects each team member’s workflow.
Start being the leader who lands, listens, and actually helps clean up.
Kirk Behrendt is a renowned consultant and speaker in the dental industry, known for his expertise in helping dentists create better practices and better lives. With over 30 years of experience in the field, Kirk has dedicated his professional life to optimizing the best systems and practices in dentistry. Kirk has been a featured speaker at every major dental meeting in the United States. His company, ACT Dental, has consistently been ranked as one of the top dental consultants in Dentistry Today's annual rankings for the past 10 years. In addition, ACT Dental was named one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States by Inc Magazine, appearing on their Inc 5000 list. Kirk's motivational skills are widely recognized in the dental industry. Dr. Peter Dawson of The Dawson Academy has referred to Kirk as "THE best motivator I have ever heard." Kirk has also assembled a trusted team of advisor experts who work with dentists to customize individual solutions that meet their unique needs. When he's not motivating dentists and their teams, Kirk enjoys coaching his children's sports teams and spending time with his amazing wife, Sarah, and their four children, Kinzie, Lily, Zoe, and Bo.
