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October 1, 2015

Sarcasm! What’s the purpose?

Filed under: Accountability,Affirmations,Appreciation,Attitude,Behavior,cohesivness,collaboration,Communication,Conduct,Conflict Resolution,Customer Service,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Eggshells,Elephants,Energy,Fear,Focus,Goals,Gossip,Habit,Inspiration,Leadership,Leadership Matters,Meetings,Mindful Talk,Mindset,Motivation,Orange Energy,Patient Experience,Patient Focused Practice,Performance,Positive Thought,Practice Time,Relationships,sarcasm,Strategy,Stress,Stress Monsters,Success,Sustainability,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Uncategorized,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, Dental Coaching, dental management, dental office, Dental Practice, dental Practice Management, Dental Team Performance, Dentistry, drama, experience, focus, Habits, Judy Kay, Judy Kay Mausolf, leadership, Manager, Patient experience, performance, Philosophy, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, service, show your shine, success, sustain, team, team building, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 8:00 am

October 2015

This month is dedicated to understanding the negative power of sarcasm and how it can make even the best of teams lose trust and respect!

I coach dental teams nationwide and often see sarcasm as a normal form of their communication! It seems so innocent when we refer to it as “just teasing”! Yet it is one of the quickest ways to lose trust and respect amongst the entire team. I often receive calls from dentists concerned that they have lost the trust and respect of their team. I have found the biggest culprit most often responsible is the sarcastic banter between them and their team.

When asked about sarcasm I often hear, “It’s just how we communicate! We tease each other in fun!” The problem is it’s not really fun…it’s negative. Often times a team member doesn’t realize when they have crossed the line. After all they are just teasing…it’s all in fun right??? The truth is sarcasm shuts down positive and effective communication!

I would like you to think about this for a moment. How do you feel when someone says something sarcastic to you and ends it by saying just teasing! Does it ever plant just a tiny seed of doubt? Do you ever think…hmmm…I wonder if they really feel this way? I wonder if they really meant it. The moment we have this thought we start to doubt and immediately start to lose trust and respect. We say sarcasm is in fun! But really who is having fun? Usually only the teaser not the teas-ee!

I try to look for reasons why someone may feel insecure when they speak to me in a sarcastic tone. Some people use sarcasm as a way of avoiding confrontation because they are afraid of asking for what they want. Sarcasm can also be passive aggressive or a way to dominate someone. Others use sarcasm as a disguised barb when they are angry or upset because the are fearful of what might happen if they communicate openly and honestly. When people are not good at reading those around them, or uncomfortable carrying on a conversation they will often use sarcasm hoping it sounds playful and witty. Unfortunately it often has the opposite affect.

The dictionary defines sarcasm as the use of irony to mock, insult, ridicule or convey contempt! How is this in any way a positive form of communication! How does sarcasm in any way help build happy, healthy and high performing team relationships? So why do we support it as an appropriate form of communication? Many dental practices do! Does yours?

Sarcasm is not only hurtful, it is also the least genuine mode of communication. The bottom line is sarcasm is a very negative and destructive way to communicate. It sabotages and undermines trust and respect and the chance to build a happy, healthy and high performing culture.

My challenge to you and your team is to stop the sarcastic remarks and start communicating openly, honestly and respectfully!

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August 1, 2015

How You Make Them Feel!

Filed under: Accountability,Affirmations,Appreciation,Attitude,Behavior,cohesivness,collaboration,Communication,Conduct,Conflict Resolution,Customer Service,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Eggshells,Elephants,Energy,Fear,Focus,Goals,Gossip,Habit,Inspiration,Leadership,Leadership Matters,Meetings,Mindful Talk,Mindset,Motivation,Orange Energy,Patient Experience,Patient Focused Practice,Performance,Positive Thought,Practice Time,R.I.S.E. Philosophy,Relationships,Strategy,Stress,Stress Monsters,Success,Sustainability,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Uncategorized,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, Dental Coaching, dental management, dental office, Dental Practice, dental Practice Management, Dental Team Performance, Dentistry, drama, energy, experience, focus, gossip, Habits, Judy Kay, Judy Kay Mausolf, leadership, Manager, o.r.a.n.g.e, Patient experience, Philosophy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, service, show your shine, success, sustain, team, team building, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 8:00 am

August 2015

How You Make Them Feel!

Many of us believe it is our level of skill and knowledge that determines our success! When the truth is that there are many highly skilled and knowledgeable people that struggle to succeed. There is an abundance of skill and knowledge available in our society today. In fact we may often feel inundated with too much information! How many product, service or training emails did receive just today and deleted without even opening? Yet most of us will open an email from someone that we like and trust regardless of the topic.

Many of us continue to be customers of certain establishments because we value the relationships we have developed even when other establishments might be better or less expensive. We continue to do business with them because of how they make us feel (trusted, respected, and cared for). Same goes for our patients. They will decide whether they will continue to do business with us based on how we make them feel! This message is dedicated to learning how to reach greater success by focusing on improving how you make others feel.

I recently presented a course titled, Delivering W.O.W. Service: People Will Forget Everything Except How You Make Them Feel, at the PNDC (Pacific Northwest Dental Conference) in Bellevue, Washington. Scott, the camera man who was taking photos of the event happened to be a patient of one of the dentists attending my session. Because my course was about service, brand and loyalty I teasingly asked Scott how he felt about his dentist. Scott’s response was, “He’s awesome!” He shared the following reasons when I asked him why he felt his dentist was awesome.

My dentist takes time with me
He asks me questions about me and my family
He listens to me
Everyone on his team is really nice
I think he is a good dentist

Notice it wasn’t until the 5th reason that anything pertaining to skill or knowledge was mentioned. The prior four were all about the relationship he had with his dentist and how it made him feel.

Zig Ziglar was spot on when he said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care!”

We focus too much of our time, energy and resources on defining who we are and what we can do…instead of focusing on what’s important to our patients and how we make them feel! For example, we create an impressive treatment presentation for our patient. First of all why is it a presentation and not a conversation? Why not a two way conversation where we can make a human connection and find out about what matters to them versus giving them a clinical presentation. It really doesn’t matter how good we are and how awesome we can make their teeth look and function if they don’t trust us and value our treatment suggestions.

Our level of success is a result of the relationships we have built with others whether it be with an employee, co-worker, patient, neighbor, friend or family! How we make them feel determines the strength of that relationship. Here are a couple of my personal examples of how a strong relationship can trump everything else when it comes to building customer loyalty.

I have had been with the same cell phone company since I purchased my first cell phone in 1992. Yes that was back in the days when the phones were hardwired into the car and were the size of a shoebox. The company has changed names several times and is now T-Mobile. I stay with them because of how their people treat me as a longtime customer.

I have also continued to do business with Tricia Fairchild, my accountant and Mike McHugh my State Farm insurance agent since the early 90s. Why…because I value the relationships we have developed for the same reasons Scott the camera man shared. They take time with me, they ask me questions about me and my family, they listen to me, everyone on their team is nice and I think they are good at what they do. My long term loyalty has nothing to do with them being the absolute best, smartest or cheapest and everything to do with the relationship we have developed over the years. I feel like they know me and care about me as a person as well as my success.

I ask you to take a moment and think about who you have done business with for a period of time? How do they make you feel? Why do you choose to stay loyal to them? Anytime you interact with others, if focus on how you make them feel you will build a much quicker and stronger relationship. Our success in life is truly dependent on the relationships we build by how we make others feel when they are around us!

Choose to impact everyone you meet in a positive manner regardless of their behavior or situation. Choose to Smile & Shine and focus on how you make them feel AND you will live a happier and more successful life!

Smile & Shine bands are available on my website at https://www.practicesolutionsinc.net/products.html.

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July 1, 2015

Don’t Kick the Dog!

Filed under: Accountability,Affirmations,Appreciation,Attitude,Behavior,cohesivness,collaboration,Communication,Conduct,Conflict Resolution,Customer Service,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Eggshells,Elephants,Energy,Fear,Focus,Goals,Gossip,Habit,Inspiration,Leadership,Leadership Matters,Meetings,Mindful Talk,Mindset,Motivation,Orange Energy,Patient Experience,Patient Focused Practice,Performance,Positive Thought,Practice Time,Relationships,Strategy,Stress,Success,Sustainability,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Uncategorized,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, Dental Coaching, dental management, dental office, Dental Practice, dental Practice Management, Dental Team Performance, Dentistry, drama, energy, experience, focus, gossip, Habits, Judy Kay Mausolf, leadership, Manager, Patient experience, performance, Philosophy, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, show your shine, success, sustain, team, team building, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 7:00 am

July 1, 2015

Don’t Kick the Dog!

I thought the Dog Days of summer would be the perfect time for my topic this month, Don’t Kick the Dog! Both are oppressive. The Dog Days of summer are usually oppressive heat days. Kicking the dog refers to oppressive often displaced behavior towards others. The dog is an analogy for the people who are loyal to us such as a co-workers, friends and family.

This message is dedicated to learning how to stop kicking the dog and instead start loving the dog to build happier, healthier and higher performing relationships! This is a preview to a larger discussion in August in The Progressive Dentist Magazine, http://theprodentist.com

Some of us are in the habit of kicking the dog whenever we get frustrated because something didn’t meet our expectations! Don’t Kick the Dog! It is important to remember that the dog is a loyal co-worker, friend or family member. They are the ones who can and will help us most! You may have heard, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Which is actually saying, that when you’re trying to accomplish something, you’ll have more success by using ‘sweeter’ (i.e. politer, nicer) methods than by being angry, frustrated, rude, or cruel. Think about it for a second. Why would anyone go out of their way to help you achieve your goals if your behavior is oppressive towards them?

Here are a few common scenarios that illustrate kicking the dog.

The schedule falls apart and the doctor takes their frustration out by blaming the team so the team takes their frustration out by blaming each other. The reality is neither the doctor nor the team was responsible for the schedule falling apart. It was the patients who either didn’t show or canceled last minute.

We are running behind because a patient came late or the treatment was more involved. We take our frustrations out on our co-workers by blaming them for not helping us enough. They did not make us run behind or make the treatment more difficult.

We get home from a long and tiring day at work and take our frustrations out on our family. They had absolutely nothing to do with what happened during our day AND they are the people we love the most!

In each of these scenarios the person being kicked had nothing to do with the cause for frustration. They just happened to be unlucky enough to be work with us or live with us or just be in the vicinity. The next time you feel like kicking the dog stop yourself immediately and remember that the dog is loyal to you. Instead start showing them the love they deserve by taking the following steps:

Breathe deep for a minimum of 30 seconds to surpass the fight or flight stage and get back into the cognitive thinking stage. Take 10 very deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth!
Shift your energy from frustration and blame to a caring and solution focused energy by being mindful that they did not cause the problem. They can help you.
Don’t assume anything instead ask questions until you clearly understand what happened.
Slow down and take the time to ask for help instead of running crazy trying to put out all the fires yourself. How can you be angry at others if you didn’t ask for their help?
Let go of the blame game of who did or didn’t do what and instead focus on what steps can help you move forward to achieve your goals.
Brainstorm and work together to strategize a plan to change future results.
Clearly define the implementation strategy by defining the what, who does it and who for, when, where, why and how.
Schedule check-ins to create accountability.
Address whenever something isn’t happening the same day if possible with a kind and supportive reminder. Remember we said we were going to…This will help the other person get back on track and avoid frustrations from building. Accountability does not mean you ask for something once. Accountability means we follow though until the task has been completed.
Show appreciation by thanking everyone who came to your assistance and helped you to resolve the frustration.

We can build happier, healthier and higher performing relationships and get the results we desire when we stop kicking and start loving the dog! It’s a win for everyone including the dog!

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June 1, 2015

Clear, Effective Communication!

Filed under: Accountability,Affirmations,Appreciation,Attitude,Behavior,cohesivness,collaboration,Communication,Conduct,Conflict Resolution,Customer Service,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Eggshells,Elephants,Energy,Fear,Focus,Goals,Gossip,Habit,Inspiration,Leadership,Leadership Matters,Meetings,Mindful Talk,Mindset,Motivation,Patient Experience,Patient Focused Practice,Performance,Positive Thought,Practice Time,Relationships,Strategy,Stress,Success,Sustainability,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Uncategorized,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, Dental Coaching, dental management, Dental Practice, dental Practice Management, Dental Team Performance, Dentistry, drama, energy, experience, focus, Habits, Judy Kay, Judy Kay Mausolf, Manager, Patient experience, performance, Philosophy, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, service, show your shine, Subject Matter Expert, success, sustain, team, team building, Thoughts, value — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 9:00 am

June 2015

Clear, Effective Communication!

Regardless of whether you’re talking about business, politics, sports or healthcare, the most successful people are first-rate communicators. Clear, effective communication is key to their success. To grow as a leader, manager or team member, it is necessary to learn how to master the art of clear, effective communication.

This month is dedicated to learning how to communicate more clearly and effectively to raise your level of success!

Here are 5 tips to help you communicate more clearly and effectively to raise your level of success in life!

Be Transparent

Choose to be transparent in all communications. We want others to trust not only what we say, but what we mean. There are no hidden agendas, gray areas or reading between the lines. Transparency sheds light on our intentions and builds trust. People work hard for and follow the people they trust!

Avoid Rambling

We often ramble on, particularly when we are nervous. Try to keep your phrasing succinct and focused and don’t go off on tangents. Data dumping too much information at one time is confusing to the listener. State your point briefly and clearly – then be quiet. Silence gives the listener a chance to consider what you’ve said, and respond.

Avoid Using Demeaning Words

Remove the hedging phrases like “I just,” “I only,”…” from your vocabulary. Sometimes you may need to soften the impact of what you’re saying when you’re in a touchy situation. Choose language that softens the impact without demeaning what you’re saying.

A lot of us never ask for what we need or want. We hold it inside and then get resentful when we don’t get it. Be clear with yourself first about what you want, and then ask for it. People can’t read our mind…well at least most people can’t! One of my favorite new phrases is “I prefer…” which is a kinder, gentler version of “I need” or “I want,” but it clearly states your preferences and it works. I have adopted a new motto in my life. I ask myself, “what have I got to lose”? If it’s not a life and death situation I ask for what I want. It’s amazing how many things have manifested in my life simply because I asked!

Control Your Emotions

Show passion and positive Emotions. It shows you are human, you care and are excited about life. However, control negative emotions such as anger, frustration, outbursts and dramatic displays. If something takes you by surprise, and you feel yourself getting emotional, tell them you need to think about it and will get back to them by a certain time. This will allow you time to regroup and respond clearly and logically instead of emotionally.

Utilizing these 5 communication tips will help you to communicate more clearly and effectively and raise your level of success in life!

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May 1, 2015

The F.I.X. Conversation!

Filed under: Accountability,Affirmations,Appreciation,Attitude,Behavior,cohesivness,collaboration,Communication,Conduct,Conflict Resolution,Customer Service,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Eggshells,Elephants,Energy,Fear,Focus,Goals,Gossip,Habit,Inspiration,Leadership,Leadership Matters,Meetings,Mindful Talk,Mindset,Motivation,Orange Energy,Patient Experience,Performance,Positive Thought,Practice Time,Relationships,Strategy,Stress,Success,Sustainability,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Uncategorized,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental management, dental office, Dental Practice, dental Practice Management, Dental Team Performance, Dentistry, drama, energy, experience, focus, gossip, Habits, Judy Kay, Judy Kay Mausolf, leadership, Manager, o.r.a.n.g.e, Patient experience, performance, Philosophy, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, service, show your shine, success, sustain, team, team building, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 9:00 am

May 2015

The F.I.X. Conversation!

I often hear the following sentiments when I am coaching teams to help them work together better. “The office would be great if it weren’t for them! The “them” they are referring to are the people that annoy them!

The reality is we can’t fix other people’s behavior we can only fix our own. If we want to make our relationship better the only way we are going to have a chance is by focusing where the control is…our self. Our power in getting others to change starts with our own willingness to change ourselves. This month is dedicated to learning how to communicate more effectively to resolve problems in our relationships.

We only move forward once we realize someone else can’t fix our relationships problems for us…only those of us involved in the relationship can fix the problems. The boss, manager or HR can’t fix relationships. Even a relationship expert like myself can’t fix other people’s relationships. I coach and help facilitate a more positive conversation with less emotional energy. However, The F.I.X. is dependent on the people involved in the conflict.

Conflicts are really just a conversation with emotional energy resulting from a false assumption, difference of opinion or a different x-pectation. SO to F.I.X our relationships we must first F.I.X. our conversations. The F.I.X. Conversation starts by:

Everyone involved in the relationship wanting to actually make things better
Realizing that what is currently being done isn’t working

The relationship will fail if there is not consensus on these two things.

The F.I.X. Conversation is a three step process that empowers individuals to fix their problems in the relationship! F.I.X. is an acronym for Focus, Identify and X-pectation!

F – Focus first on the positives in the relationship. What is currently working in the relationship? We can get so wrapped up in what’s not working we fail to see all the wonderful things that are working. Share with the other person what you appreciate about them. Highlight the positives.

I – Identify the key issues or obstacles that need to be addressed. Examine current behaviors happening in the relationship. Communicating about the obstacles often uncovers the false assumptions that created them in the first place. Make sure the main issues and obstacles are listed or they won’t be resolved. What needs to be changed or improved to make the relationship better? What does better mean? Be specific; have a better attitude is too general. Instead, clarify what a better attitude means to you. Base it on actions to start doing versus actions to stop doing. For example:

Greet each other warmly in the morning
Smile at each other throughout the day
Happily help and support each other

X – X-pectations for behaviors moving forward. What does each person need from the other to make the relationship succeed? Together come up with a plan of specific actions to make the relationship better. It is important that the plan always support the practice standards and is in the best interests of the patients and the practice. What will each person agree to do differently regardless of circumstances or outside influences (other people)? Agree to no longer blame anyone or anything for their actions. They are the sole owner of their actions! Commit to a plan of action that is a win for everyone involved. Start implementing the plan immediately. The more precise and consistent the new behavior becomes the sooner it will become a habit and a sustainable fix!

Stop focusing on the problems and start communicating about what can F.I.X. the relationship and you will build sincere, strong and sustainable relationships!

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April 1, 2015

Behavior versus Personality Trait

Filed under: Accountability,Affirmations,Appreciation,Attitude,Behavior,cohesivness,collaboration,Communication,Conduct,Conflict Resolution,Customer Service,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Eggshells,Elephants,Energy,Fear,Focus,Goals,Gossip,Habit,Inspiration,Leadership,Leadership Matters,Meetings,Mindful Talk,Mindset,Motivation,Orange Energy,Patient Experience,Patient Focused Practice,Performance,Positive Thought,Practice Time,R.I.S.E. Philosophy,Relationships,Strategy,Stress,Stress Monsters,Success,Sustainability,Team Building,Team Meetings,Team Relationships,thought leader,Uncategorized,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, Decision making, dental, Dental Coaching, dental management, Dental Practice, dental Practice Management, Dental Team Performance, Dentistry, drama, energy, experience, focus, Habits, Judy Kay, Judy Kay Mausolf, Manager, o.r.a.n.g.e, Patient experience, performance, Philosophy, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, service, show your shine, success, sustain, team, team building, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 8:00 am

April 2015

Behavior versus Personality Trait!

I have the privilege of helping dental teams nationwide communicate and work together better, become better leaders and deliver service with more passion and fun! A big part of the process is to shed light on the obstacles that get in their way. One of the biggest obstacles people struggle with is the belief that their behavior is their personality…AND they can’t change their personality…it is just who they are! Therefore, they cannot change!

The dictionary defines personality as the sum total of the physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristics of an individual. Whereas behavior is defined as the aggregate of responses to internal and external stimuli.

Our personality is who we are but does not have to determine our behavior. Our behavior is a response to what is happening and we can always choose our response. Once we understand this we are no longer limited by our personality traits.

I was working with a scheduling coordinator, I will refer to as Fran (her name has been changed) who did not exude warm fuzzys to the patients. The doctor and manager wanted a warm and welcoming scheduling coordinator. My first step was to confirm with Fran whether she wanted to be a friendly scheduling coordinator. She said “I do…but how I greet people and answer the phone is just who I am. I can’t be fake!” I reassured her that I did not want her to be fake but instead come from a place of genuine care and warmth. I asked her to think about something or someone she loved. She took a moment and said, “oooohhhh I love my dog!” As she said it her eyes sparkled and she smiled wide. In that moment she was actually beaming warm fuzzys! I said, “That’s it! That’s the energy and emotion that we are looking for!” Fran said, “But I don’t feel that way about the patients. Most of the patients aren’t very friendly to me! I only feel this way about my dog! My dog loves me! AND even if I wanted to I still can’t change my personality! I am not going to be all miss sunshine, rainbows and kittens! It’s just not me!” I told her I didn’t expect her to change her personality to be sunshine, rainbows and kittens. I was just asking her to change her behavior in how she treated the patients. The awesome thing was it was not even a new behavior she had to learn. She had already displayed it talking about her dog. All she had to do was replicate those same behaviors with the patients.

We taped a little picture of her dog where she could quickly glance at it to help her genuinely smile before answering the phone or greeting a patient. Fran was able to make the change once she understood smiling and greeting patients warmly was a learnable behavior not a set personality trait. Funny thing is that when I checked in with her to see how she was doing…she shared that the patients seemed to be a whole lot friendlier to her lately! Hmmm might have something to do with the energy she now radiates! Just saying…it’s the Law of Attraction in action!

Often times we get so wrapped up defending who we are we don’t realize it is our behavior that is in question and not our personality. The next time you are asked to make a change instead of going into defense mode and responding, “I can’t change this is just who I am,” ask yourself the following questions:

Where have I demonstrated the desired behavior?
How can I replicate this behavior in this situation?

Once we understand that our behavior is just a response which we can choose to change at any time AND not our personality…We are open to create limitless success!

Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn how she can help you build a cohesive team that support each other and the practice, become better leaders, and deliver service with more passion and fun!

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November 1, 2014

Fear of the Unknown!

Filed under: Accountability,Affirmations,Appreciation,Attitude,Behavior,Communication,Conduct,Conflict Resolution,Customer Service,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Eggshells,Elephants,Energy,Focus,Goals,Habit,Inspiration,Leadership,Mindful Talk,Mindset,Motivation,Orange Energy,Patient Experience,Patient Focused Practice,Performance,Philosophy,Positive Thought,R.I.S.E. Philosophy,Relationships,Strategy,Success,Sustainability,Team Building,Team Relationships,Uncategorized,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, Dental Coaching, dental management, dental office, Dental Practice, dental Practice Management, Dental Team Performance, Dentistry, drama, energy, experience, Fear, focus, Judy Kay, Judy Kay Mausolf, leadership, Manager, o.r.a.n.g.e, Patient experience, performance, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, R.I.S.E., show your shine, success, sustain, team, team building, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 9:00 am

Fear of the Unknown!

Fear often paralyzes and sometimes even stops us from living a happier life. Yet fear is really only a negative prediction of the future and not reality. The fear I am going to address today is the fear of the unknown. Many of us choose to stay right where we are at because we feel safer when we know what to expect. Even if it is a negative, toxic or even a dangerous relationship or environment! For example, staying in a work environment that you dread going to everyday or choosing to keep a negative or toxic employee. Or worst case scenario staying in an abusive or dangerous relationship. I have found more often than not that the times where life my life seemed difficult or scary were actually just what I needed to push me to live a happier and juicier life!

This month is dedicated to overcoming the fear of the unknown!

http://youtu.be/-aDc7wCh-yY

My Orange Fish Fable!

Every spring my awesome hubby Steve meticulously sets up our pond in our back yard with a fountain! We call it our fountain pond! It takes two full days to complete but it is well worth it. LOL, that is easy for me to say as I am not the one doing the work. The second day includes a trip to Terra Garden Shop to purchase water Lilly’s and other aquatic plants…followed by a visit to the local Pet Smart Store to purchase 25 to 30 assorted colors of goldfish! Of course the majority are bright orange!!! I think they really should be called orange fish as they are not gold they are really orange and orange is a much happier color! So being as it is my article I will refer to them as orange fish!

They live a happy life all summer long swimming, eating and growing in their fountain pond! They have even found the perfect places to hide when they feel threatened by raccoons, birds and the occasional otter! Their pond is a sanctuary of underwater crevices between the rocks! I can imagine them paddling around thinking life is good!

Ahhh…but here comes the unknown! Time to cue the scary music….

We live in MN where any ponds that aren’t very deep freeze solid during the winter. Every fall we need to either rescue the orange fish from freezing or it will mean imminent death. We take them to the lake across the street that doesn’t freeze so they can live and flourish! Of course they don’t know this! This is their unknown! All they see is a woman (me) with a big net chasing them around in their pond! LOL, I have one responsibility when it come to our fountain pond…catch the fish in the fall! I am the net lady! These poor little orange fish fear for their lives because they don’t understand that I am really trying to save them and give them a better and longer life. So out of fear of the unknown they hide in their safe sanctuary! What they don’t realize is that what they believe is their salvation will actually lead to their demise!

I thought this was a great analogy for human life! We can’t see what’s over the hill or around the bend or in our future so we are afraid to step forward! We would rather stay where we believe we are safe because we fear the unknown. Yet the fear we feel is only a negative prediction of the future…it’s not reality. Whereas the situation we are currently living in is reality and in some cases a very dangerous reality. But we stay right where we are at and pretend, avoid and hide from things with excuses (excuses are human crevices) to feel safe!

Action Steps:

Come from a mindset of positive expectation instead of fear.
When things seem difficult see it as an opportunity to learn and grow.
Let it go! Seriously, let it go!
Decide on your next step.
Listen to your gut instead of other people.
If feels scary but exciting go for it…if it feels heavy walk away.
Take the next step no matter how scary…you will be happy you did!

There really is a bigger pond waiting for all of us! We in essence all live in our own little pond where we feel comfortable and safe because we think we know what we can expect in life…or so we think…that is until the net lady comes our way! The universe is our net lady trying to provide us with ample opportunities to live a happier, healthier and higher performing life! Don’t let the fear of the unknown stop you from swimming in a bigger pond!!!

Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn more about how she can help your team WORK together to build a happy healthy and high performing culture!

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October 1, 2014

Assumptions!

Filed under: Accountability,Affirmations,Appreciation,Attitude,Behavior,Communication,Conduct,Conflict Resolution,Customer Service,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Eggshells,Elephants,Energy,Fear,Focus,Goals,Gossip,Habit,Inspiration,Leadership,Mindful Talk,Mindset,Motivation,Orange Energy,Patient Focused Practice,Performance,Positive Thought,Relationships,Strategy,Sustainability,Team Building,Team Relationships,Uncategorized — Tags: appreciation, Assumptions, attitude, change, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, Dental Coaching, dental management, dental office, Dental Practice, dental Practice Management, Dental Team Performance, Dentistry, drama, energy, experience, focus, gossip, Habits, Judy Kay, Judy Kay Mausolf, leadership, Manager, Patient experience, performance, Philosophy, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, service, show your shine, success, sustain, team, team building, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 8:00 am

ASSUMPTIONS!

HOW CAN WE STOP MAKING ASSUMPTIONS?

WE MAKE ASSUMPTIONS EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY.

SOMETHING HAPPENS AND WE INSTANTLY ASSIGN MEANING TO IT.

THAT IS AN ASSUMPTION.

We start imagining what other people are doing, what they’re thinking, what they’re saying about us. We invent an entire story based on assumptions and we believe it. One assumption leads to another assumption; we jump to conclusions and we take it personally. Then we point the finger and blame other people. We usually start gossiping to try to justify our assumptions. Almost all conflicts are based on false assumptions. Assumptions are nothing more than false stories that we are telling ourselves. This creates a big drama for nothing because we don’t know if it is really true.

For example, when we haven’t heard from a close friend in a while we start to wonder if anything is wrong. The more we worry about it the more reasons we find to support our belief that something is wrong. And instead of picking up the phone and calling to ask if everything is okay we justify why we shouldn’t and put the blame on them. We continue to build our story and stress. Then our friend finally calls and we find out they have just been swamped in the busyness of life! All that negative energy and drama for a story we made up from assumptions.

It may be correct or it may be incorrect. We won’t know unless we take the next step. That step is a simple three letter word. ASK! Sounds easy but it’s not. We often fear that if we ask, we may open ourselves up to an emotional reaction. I call that emotional reaction an eggshell. Eggshells spawn many of the assumptions in our lives and in our dental practices today. It’s the fear of these potential eggshells that stop us from asking and allow us to start assuming.

Some of the eggshells I am referring to are:

Anger
Judgment/Criticism
Retaliation
Hurt feelings

We can’t let fear stop us from asking if we want to avoid assumptions. We don’t know what someone meant by their actions or words or the way they said something. Sometimes even what they say or the words they use can mean something different than what we believe them to mean. And just because someone felt a certain way in the past doesn’t mean they still feel the same. Stop making assumptions and start asking questions regardless of potential eggshells.

When you get that twinge in your gut and you think “Hmmm – I wonder what they meant by that, or I wonder why they haven’t…?” Or you find yourself saying “I think they meant this” – you don’t know! Stop yourself immediately from wondering and speculating and ASK! You will be surprised how many of your initial assumptions are incorrect once you hear their intent.

Ask with care, concern and respect. Some simple questions to ask are:

I am not quite sure what you meant, please tell me more?
I am not quite sure what happened. Can we talk about it?
Is everything okay?
Are you okay?

Continue to respectfully ask questions until you understand the other person’s true intent. If you are still thinking “I think they meant…” you are assuming. It is important to continue to ask more questions to achieve a deeper understanding!

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September 1, 2014

Engaging Success! Part III

Filed under: Accountability,Affirmations,Appreciation,Attitude,Behavior,Communication,Conduct,Conflict Resolution,Customer Service,Decision Making,Dental Practice Management,Eggshells,Elephants,Energy,Fear,Focus,Goals,Gossip,Habit,Inspiration,Leadership,Mindful Talk,Mindset,Motivation,Orange Energy,Patient Experience,Patient Focused Practice,Performance,Positive Thought,R.I.S.E. Philosophy,Relationships,Strategy,Success,Sustainability,Team Building,Team Relationships,Uncategorized,WOW Philosophy — Tags: appreciation, attitude, Coaching, communication, conflict resolution, cusotmer service, Decision making, dental, dental management, dental office, Dental Practice, dental Practice Management, Dental Team Performance, Dentistry, drama, energy, engaged, engaging, experience, focus, gossip, Habits, Judy Kay, Judy Kay Mausolf, leadership, Manager, o.r.a.n.g.e, Patient experience, performance, Philosophy, positive energy, practice management, Practice Solutions Inc, purpose, R.I.S.E., service, show your shine, success, sustain, team, team building, Thoughts, value, weeds, wow — Judy Kay Mausolf @ 9:00 am

September 2014

Engaging Success Part III!

This month we will cover the final three strategies to help you get your team engaged and bridge the gap between potential and performance! Just in case you missed the last two newsletters… here are the statistics to support why getting your team engaged is not fluff stuff! It’s how I help teams nationwide create a happy, healthy and high performing culture!

2013 Gallup Polls show 70% of Americans are not engaged at work! Which equals about 2/3rds of the team in an average dental practice. The downfall of not engaging your team:

22% Loss of Profitability
21% Loss of Productivity
45% More Turnover
48% More Team Safety Incidents
37% More Absenteeism
41% More Patient Safety Incidents
41% Less Quality of Care

Open to Opinions

We encourage open communication to allow everyone to voice their opinions pertaining to the patients and the practice. Doctors, managers and team members are often surprised when a co-worker who never participates starts speaking up at our workshop. I have often found that when a team member doesn’t speak up it’s because they feel they have been shot down in the past. They believe their opinion didn’t count so they stopped sharing. When team members feel their opinion is welcomed and valuable they become more engaged.

Everyone on the team has the right to express their opinion and be heard without being criticized or made to feel stupid. Instead share constructive feedback with the team member why you feel it may or may not work. Being open to opinions means we at least consider the idea. Considering a team member’s input can often lead to better decision-making. This is because the team members are often the ones directly doing the task, process or service and understand the limitations as well as the possibilities. When team members feel they are involved in decisions, they take greater ownership for the outcomes. Ownership is a sign they are engaged!

Constructive Feedback

We actually schedule feedback time with team members. If we don’t schedule the time chances are it won’t happen. Many offices schedule annual employee performance reviews. Meeting and discussing progress, achievements and goals on an annual basis is not enough to get engagement. How engaged or involved would you be in a relationship where you only had a deeper conversation once a year?

What works well is a quick (5 to 10 minute) monthly or quarterly Checkup with the manager or doctor touching base on their progress, achievements and goals. Questions to ask are:

What where your goals for this period?
What accomplishments would you like to celebrate?
What are your goals or projects for the next period?
How can I best support you?

We also establish an open door meeting policy where team members can request to schedule time as needed. Scheduling time helps avoid constant interruptions and creates a more focused agenda. Giving timely constructive feedback will help keep your team engaged.

http://youtu.be/GvoLvQtF0c8

Opportunity for Personal and Professional Growth

We create opportunities for every team member to continue to challenge themselves to learn and grow both in their personal and professional life. We ask them to create a list of topics they would like to learn more about in the next year at their annual review. The doctor/manager also add topics to the list based on what they feel will benefit the team member most. Together the team member and doctor/manager prioritize the list and agree on completion dates. The progress is reviewed at their monthly or quarterly Checkup meeting.

We also start a monthly book club in the practice focused on personal growth. Everyone on the team is asked to participate in suggesting books. Great books for team meeting discussions are the Simple Truths books at www.simpletruths.com. Or my book Rise & Shine and soon my next book Ta-Dah, www.practicesolutionsinc.net/book.html! The book is discussed at the team meeting. Lengthier books can be discussed in chapters. There is open dialogue on the benefits and how it can be applied in the practice as well as their personal life. Creating the opportunity to learn and grow will help to keep your team excited and engaged.

Engage your team by being open to opinions, giving timely constructive feedback and creating an opportunity to learn and grow!

Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn more about how she can help you get your team ENGAGED and WORKING together to build a happy healthy and high performing culture!

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April 1, 2014

Drama, Drama, Drama!

Drama has become a just a normal part of the day for many dental teams. The dictionary defines drama as a situation or sequence of events that is highly emotional, tragic, or turbulent. Drama starts to unfold when there is a difference of expectations or opinion on who, what, when, where, how or why something should be done. It escalates when there are no clear standards in the practice on how to address these differences.

This month’s newsletter is dedicated to setting Communication Standards to derail the drama in your practice.

I often ask my audiences for a show of hands if they have established standards for communication for their practice. A total of two people was the most I have ever had raise their hand. We set ourselves up for communication failure when we don’t establish standards. Here is why. We all come from such different backgrounds with unique and individual experiences. Therefore, are expectations on what is appropriate and what is not is skewed by our personal experiences. Our personal experience create our personal truths. How we view and judge the world on what is right or wrong.

We expect each other to think, act and respond the same. These false expectations get us into trouble when we think; others must behave in the same manner as we do or their behavior is wrong or another person’s behavior must mean the same as if we did that same behavior…and haven’t we all had an encounter with a brother, sister, parent, child, or spouse where there was disagreement because of a difference of opinion. These are all examples of expectations based on our personal truths. Personal truths are why communication fails and drama starts to unfold. We can derail the drama by establishing clear communication standards. Communication Standards will eliminate the drama of who is right or wrong and clarify the standards for the practice. Everyone on the team will have the same expectations.

It is important to create Communication Standards that are specific to your team. I would suggest to start by having a team meeting and ask for participation from the entire team. How do they want to communicate in their work environment? What do they feel they need from their co-workers to feel safe and comfortable communicating? The following video is an interview with Kevin Henry in 2011 talking about my session on Drama at the AADOM Conference in Nashville.

Here are some examples of Communications Standards!

• Listen

• No Judgment of Criticism

• Have a Thicker Skin – Be Approachable

• Believe in Positive Intent – Give Benefit of a Doubt

• Avoid Sarcasm

• Be Respectful

• Support a No Gossip Culture

• Positive Tone & Body Language

• Be Open Minded

• No Buts

• Be Understanding

• Time & Space Appropriate – Avoid Fly Bys

• Ask Don’t Assume

• Address Issues Concerning Patients & Practice Not Personal

It is important to go deep enough to clarify what each standard means in words and actions.

For example, Have a Thicker Skin – Be Approachable; could mean:

• We are open to listen to what others have to say.

• We are willing to talk about even difficult issues as long as it pertains to the patients and the practice.

• We don’t act hurt or say that hurt my feelings to stop the conversation from happening.

Establishing Communication Standards with your team will help you derail the drama and create a happy, healthy and high performing office culture!

Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn more about how she can help you derail the drama and raise the level of communication in your practice!

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