by Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, Publisher, Dentaltown Magazine
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The documentary “20 Feet from Stardom” was absolutely the best movie I’ve seen in a long time. It features some music I love and the film relates extraordinarily well to business and creativity. More on that later. For now, a summary: 20 Feet From Stardom is the true story of back-up singers who worked with famous groups.
There’s a lot we can learn from one particular singer from the film, Lisa Fischer, who has a gospel background and a huge voice. Think of the Rolling Stones song “Gimme Shelter.” You hear two singers: Mick Jagger, and a woman. Who’s the woman? That’s Lisa Fischer, and without her voice on the track it’s a totally different song, and not nearly as powerful or dynamic. In the refrain to “Gimme Shelter” you don’t even think about Mick Jagger—Fischer steals the whole song and what she does is amazing. What’s also amazing is that Jagger lets her steal the song. He gives up control, but not every star would do that.
The backup singers interviewed tell us that insecure stars micromanage backup singers and make them follow every detail of sheet music. When backup singers start veering off, insecure artists tell them, “Ya know, you’re kind of loud, and you’re not singing the words exactly as they’re on your sheet, and if you could just tone it down a little bit …”
However, the more secure, confident performers, such as Mick Jagger, let these singers follow their instincts and do what they were born to do. The combination is crazy good; it’s a completely new level. Sometimes Mick Jagger and other stars (David Bowie, for instance) see these girls are on a roll and they actually back away from the microphone; they just let them rip. They unleash them from the sheet music and say “Let it out.”
Real stars aren’t afraid of being upstaged, and as a business person and a leader, you shouldn’t be afraid of being upstaged either.
Business is about managing three things: people, time and money. Those three factors aren’t equally important though; about 80 percent of it is people. If you get the right people everything falls in place.
For instance, if I have the right people in place and I tell them that, for example, we’re going from Phoenix to Los Angeles, I just tell them the vision from 30,000 feet. I don’t care if we’re going to drive, rent a bus or fly. I’m not worried if we rent cars and one of them breaks down; my team will change a tire, and if they don’t have a tire, they’ll figure something out, because they’re smart and determined. There are a thousand dental examples of how talented team members are even better when they’re not micromanaged. When you have stars on your team your practice runs smoothly and is a fun place to be. It’s all about finding the right people and then giving them the freedom to do the jobs you hired them to do. It’s not just about the leader—it’s about the people the leader hires.
Think of Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart. He’s six feet under and yet the company opens dozens of new stores a month. Sam Walton put the right people in charge of his business. The successful businessperson delegates. Granted, it’s not always easy. The reptilian cortex is always trying to turn us into the 400-pound gorilla trying to control everybody. That controlling mentality makes your assistant have a horrible job of just suctioning spit when there’s so much more he or she could be doing. At my practice the assistants are very involved in every CEREC case from start to finish. My assistants love their jobs because they’re doing so much more than the basics. They’re not just singing sheet music.
I have three hygienists and I don’t involve myself in what products they’re going to use. When they’re cleaning teeth eight hours a day, sitting there grumbling and thinking, “I wish I had this certain product, but dumb Howard makes me use this cheap stuff,” what good does that do for anyone? I don’t want them frustrated and mad at me all day. I let them order their own hygiene supplies and now they’re empowered and they’re on Dentaltown.com looking at the Townie Choice Awards and making their own product decisions. They’re happier, and when they’re happier, I’m happier, and patients probably end up more satisfied too from being around all these happy people.
Here’s an example of giving up control—let’s say a dentist buys a CAD/CAM machine but the dentist can’t delegate so he does the whole CAD/CAM process himself. Essentially he’s paid $150,000 to get a job as a lab tech who makes $50,000 a year. So you just paid $150,000 to have your income demoted. When I got my CEREC I told my assistants, “I’m not going to learn how to use this thing.” Dentists ask me questions all the time about how my CEREC machine works and I say, “Ask Jan.” Jan’s been working with me for 27 years. Many of my employees have been with me long term, and one of the reasons they love their jobs is because I let them abandon their sheet music. I don’t tell them how to sing the script, and if they just want to start screaming “Gimme Shelter,” I say go for it.
Dentists ask me, “How do you do it? You have a dental office, you have four kids, you have magazines and websites. Seriously, how do you do it?” I do it because I don’t do all of it. I have 50 backup singers who can sing what they want to sing and how they want to sing it, as long as they get the job done right and are being nice people. Dental friends, back away from the mic and see what your team can do. – See more at: http://www.dentaltown.com/Dentaltown/Article.aspx?i=385&aid=5246#sthash.BvUQNkgE.dpuf
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