Leadership Skills for Dental Professionals

Preface xiv Testimonials xv About the Authors xviii Acknowledgements xx Introduction 1 1 Credibility to Make a Good Start 2 Overview 2 Think 3 1.1 It Is Based on Others’ Perceptions 3 1.2 Our Credibility as Leaders Requires Followers 3 1.3 Credibility Is Better Built by Actions Rather Than Words 3 1.4 First Impressions Count, so Project Well 4 1.5 First Impressions: Tactics 4 1.6 Credibility Is Fragile 5 Do 5 1.7 Assess the Credibility of Your Key Contacts 5 1.8 Conduct a Personal Audit to Ask: What Will Help or Hinder My Personal Credibility as a Future Leader? 6 1.9 Build the Charisma Factor 6 In a Nutshell: Credibility to Make a Good Start 7 2 Managing Difficult People 8 Overview 9 Think 9 2.1 Difficult People We Encounter 9 2.2 Dealing with Underperformers: We Have to Talk 10 2.2.1 Before the Conversation 11 2.2.2 Find a Private Place 11 2.2.3 Steps in the Conversation 11 2.3 Confronting the Difficult: Dos and Don’ts 12 2.3.1 The Dos of Confrontation 12 2.3.2 And the Don’ts of Confrontation 13 2.4 Dealing with Aggressive Encounters 13 2.5 Avoiding Others’ Manipulative Behaviour 14 2.6 Flattery: Nice to Get but Dangerous to Believe 14 2.7 Sarcasm 15 2.7.1 Sarcasm as Bad Behaviour 15 2.7.2 Choose a Strategy to Address the Sarcasm 16 2.8 Arguments to Win and Lose with Difficult People 16 2.8.1 Avoid Arguments You Can’t Win 16 2.8.2 Remember Your Goal 16 2.8.3 Fight Fair 17 2.8.4 Defend a Weak Position 17 2.9 Disagreement Does Not Have to Be Disagreeable 18 2.9.1 Dangers of Complete Agreement 18 2.9.2 Encourage Debate 18 2.9.3 Value Differences 18 2.9.4 Strategies for Disagreeing and Remaining on Good Terms 18 2.10 Conflict Management and Achieving Win–Win 19 2.10.1 Conflict Is Inevitable 19 2.10.2 Face Up to Conflict Sooner Rather Than Later 19 2.10.3 Listen to Be Listened To 20 2.10.4 Avoid Showdowns 20 2.10.5 Know When to Give In Gracefully 20 2.11 Avoiding the Questions You Don’t Want to Answer 20 Do 21 2.12 Difficult People and What They Might Say about You 21 In a Nutshell: Managing Difficult People 21 3 Focus on Your Priorities 22 Overview 22 Think 23 3.1 Five Things to Think about Concerning Strategy, Planning, and Priorities 23 3.1.1 Work Backwards to Avoid Indiana Jones’s Bad Strategic Move 23 3.1.2 First Things First: Create Urgency for Importance 24 3.1.3 The Law of Sunk Costs 25 3.1.4 Avoid the Sweet Spot 26 3.1.5 Manage the Dream and Make the Finish Line Nearer 26 Do 27 3.2 The Future World 27 3.3 The Vision Test 28 3.4 Log Your Time to Check Your Productivity 28 In a Nutshell: Direction to Focus Priorities 29 4 Values for Leadership Practice 31 Overview 31 Think 32 4.1 Words That Indicate There May Be a Problem 32 4.2 Four Simple Tests 33 4.3 A Personal Code of Ethics 33 4.4 Ego: Our Best Friend and Worst Enemy 34 4.5 Avoiding the Stupid Stuff 35 4.6 Preference Isn’t Principle 35 Do 35 4.7 Know Why You Believe What You Do 35 4.8 Key Figures in Your Life 36 4.9 A Principled Practice 36 In a Nutshell: Values for Leadership Practice 36 5 Building and Maintaining Trust 37 Overview 37 Think 38 5.1 Trust Is the Trigger of Leadership Reality 38 5.2 A Lack of Trust Is Costly 39 5.3 The Rules of Trust 39 5.4 Small Decencies Make a Difference 40 5.5 Trust Creates a Culture of Openness and Honesty 40 5.6 Value Differences 41 5.7 But Know Who to Trust and Avoid 41 Do 41 5.8 Me and Trust 41 5.9 Forgive 42 5.10 The Shoes of Your Clients or Colleagues 42 In a Nutshell: Building Trust and Maintaining It 42 6 Raising Energy Levels 43 Overview 43 Think 44 6.1 Managing Our Personal Energy 44 6.2 Surviving or Succeeding: Five Life Outlooks 44 6.3 The Energy Paradox 46 6.4 Our Comfort Zone and Getting Out of It 46 6.5 Keep Something in Reserve 46 6.6 Sell the Steak, Not the Sizzle 47 6.7 Running Out of Juice 47 Do 48 6.8 Do Something You Don’t Want to Do 48 6.9 Change Your Socks 48 In a Nutshell: Raising Your Energy Level 48 7 Feedback to Keep on Track 50 Overview 50 Think 51 7.1 Break the Mirror 51 7.2 Learning from Failure 52 7.3 Giving Feedback That Others Value 52 7.3.1 Ineffective Feedback 53 7.3.2 How Is as Important as What 53 7.4 Praise and Keep Praising 53 7.5 Excessive Praise 53 7.6 Too Much Truth 54 7.7 Two People Who Tell the Truth 54 Do 54 7.8 Set the Egg Timer 54 7.9 Feedforward Rather Than Feedback 55 7.10 Ten Reasons for Failure 55 In a Nutshell: Feedback to Keep on Track 56 8 Courage for When It Gets Tough 57 Overview 57 Think 58 8.1 To Lead Is to Live Dangerously 58 8.2 To LEAD Is to Overcome Adversity 59 8.3 The 50th Law: When Fear Isn’t in the Driving Seat 59 8.4 Managing Minor Adversity Well 60 8.5 The Laws of Confrontation 61 8.5.1 The Dos 61 8.5.2 And the Don’ts 61 Do 62 8.6 Manage a Conflict Situation by Having a Difficult Conversation 62 8.7 Manage Fear 63 8.8 Fear and FASTER 63 In a Nutshell: Courage for When It Gets Tough 64 9 Influence and Persuasion 65 Overview 66 Think 66 9.1 Do You Make Others Feel Special? 66 9.2 Understanding Others: The Realities of Human Nature 66 9.3 Influencing When You’re Not in Authority 67 9.4 Shift Others’ Opinions 68 9.5 The 90–10 Rule of Negotiation 69 9.6 The Science of Influence and the Psychology of Persuasion 69 9.7 Five Reasons to Keep Conversations Simple 70 9.8 The Nine Opening Lines of any Effective Conversation 70 9.9 Questions That Don’t Work 71 9.10 Using Charm Without Overdoing It 72 Do 73 9.11 How ‘Sticky’ Is Your Communication? 73 9.12 Analyse Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech 73 9.13 Influencing Tactics 74 In a Nutshell: Influence and Persuasion 74 10 Working with Teams 75 Overview 75 Think 76 10.1 Teamwork: Why Teams Succeed and Fail 76 10.2 Teamwork: The Rules 77 10.3 Avoiding the Role of Team Problem Solver 77 10.4 The Sum of Its Parts 78 10.5 The Groupthink of Teamwork 78 10.6 Working in Diverse Teams 79 10.7 Managing Team Conflict 80 10.8 Turnaround Strategies 80 10.9 Build an Extended Team 81 Do 82 10.10 Your Team Style 82 10.11 How a Team Develops 82 10.12 Build a Team for Life 83 In a Nutshell: Working with Teams 83 11 Change to Implement Excellence 84 Overview 84 Think 85 11.1 Thinking like Leonardo da Vinci 85 11.2 The Soil of Innovation 85 11.3 Where Change Starts 86 11.4 The Language of Change: 20- 60-20 86 11.5 Begin with the Bright Spots 87 11.6 Speak to the Elephant as Well as the Rider 87 Do 88 11.7 How Good Is Good? 88 11.8 Develop a T- Shaped Mind 88 11.9 From What to What? 89 In a Nutshell: Change to Implement Excellence 89 12 Recognising Personality Types 90 Overview 90 Think 91 12.1 The Realities of Human Nature 91 12.2 Three Levels of Knowing Someone 91 12.3 A Simple Lens of Human Understanding 92 12.4 Reading Personality – One Good Question 93 12.5 Personality and Its Impact on Communication 94 Do 95 12.6 Who I Need to Understand but Don’t 95 12.7 Personality and Team Dynamics 95 In a Nutshell: Recognising Personality Types 96 13 Get Fluent in Body Language 97 Overview 98 Think 98 13.1 Five Myths about Body Language 98 13.1.1 Body Language is 93 Percent of Communication 98 13.1.2 Liars Don’t Make Eye Contact 98 13.1.3 Crossed Arms Mean Resistance 98 13.1.4 Eye Direction Correlates with Lying 99 13.1.5 Using Body Language to Make a Positive Impression is Inauthentic 99 13.2 The Body Language of Trust and Respect 99 13.3 The Body Language of the Alpha Leader 99 13.4 The 15 Most Common Body Language Blunders 100 13.5 How to Smile 101 13.6 Body Language and Cultural Differences 101 13.7 Lying 102 13.8 Context Is Critical 103 Do 103 13.9 How Well Do You Read Other People? 103 13.10 Tactics for More Effective Body Language 104 In a Nutshell: Get Fluent in Body Language 104 14 Be Assertive 105 Overview 106 Think 106 14.1 Is Your Thinking Unassertive? 106 14.2 Overcoming Shyness 107 14.3 Having a Thick or Thin Skin: Dealing with Criticism 108 14.3.1 Most Criticism Indicates Progress 108 14.3.2 Think Like Buddha 109 14.4 Avoiding Embarrassment 109 14.4.1 Get Past the Point of Embarrassment 109 14.4.2 You’re Rarely in the Spotlight 109 14.4.3 Those Who Matter and Those Who Mind 110 14.5 Managing Those Moments of Anxiety 110 14.6 Managing Mistakes as an Indicator of Assertiveness 111 14.6.1 Mistakes Indicate Progress 111 14.6.2 Admit Honest Mistakes 111 14.6.3 Some Mistakes Matter More Than Others 111 14.6.4 Don’t Make the Mistake Worse 112 14.7 Assertiveness as the Art of the Apology 112 14.8 How to Project Well 113 14.8.1 The 4 Ps 113 14.8.2 Voice Tips 113 14.9 Fundamentals of Presentations 113 14.9.1 Avoid Obvious Mistakes 114 14.9.2 Prepare for Presentations 114 14.9.3 Know Your Topic in Detail 114 14.9.4 Speak with Power 114 14.9.5 Simplicity 115 14.9.6 End Well 115 Do 115 14.10 How to Be Assertive 115 In a Nutshell: Be Assertive 116 Index 117