Crown Council Mentor of the Month | Helping Dental Teams Build a Culture of Success

Tips from Crown Council Young Dentists of the Year Remember what it was like starting out in practice right after dental school?  Some get off to a better start than others.   In this unique Crown Council Mentor of the Month Program, we have compiled the ideas and advice of our six Young Dentist of the Year nominees from 2012 and five of our previous Young Dentist of the Year Award Winners.  They share the critical things that have made the biggest difference for them in every area of practice:  Clinical Management Marketing Professional and Personal  Listen as their thoughts will remind you of things that you know are important as well as introduce you to some things you may never have considered.  It is a perspective from which any dentist can benefit.

Laura Heck is a licensed marriage and family therapist with a private practice in Salt Lake City. She received her M.A. in Clinical Psychology and is a Certified Gottman Therapist (one of less than 300 in the world). Her work includes couples therapy, online counseling, workshops, speaking engagements, teaching for The Gottman Institute and co-founder of forBetter. Laura’s passion to teach has lead her to co-found forBetter, an instruction based web platform allowing couples to access powerful research based tips and tools for creating intimate relationships that are forBetter. Laura served in a leadership role at The Gottman Institute (TGI) as the Director of Professional Development until 2015 when she relocated to Salt Lake City. Together with Gottman Institute Clinical Director, Dr. David Penner, Laura co-developed The Gottman Seven Principles Program and is also the author of the Seven Principles Companion Workbook, a tool for couples to use in conjunction with The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work book by Dr. John Gottman. She continues as Master Trainer for the program which has trained thousands of people to offer the Seven Principles Program in their communities, across six continents. Laura is a charismatic and energetic speaker who’s love of life shines through her quirky and quick-witted presentations. Her transparency and authenticity is evident through her use of storytelling and examples of her own struggles in relationship with others. Laura is able to connect with audiences large and small, speaking to intimate groups and up to audiences of over 900. Laura has been with her beloved and patient husband for nearly ten years and they have a two year old son together.  

Karen's story of working at UltraDent: When I started in dentistry as a dental assistant many years ago, I was actually quite shy and had been that way my whole life—through childhood and as a young adult. Quite shy! In a crowded room, I was always the wall flower, but I loved dental assisting. Then, when the opportunity to work for Ultradent came around, I started coming out of my shell as I had to go in to dental offices as a sales rep. Later, as a regional manager, again, I blossomed a little bit more. After a few years in that position, I became a product trainer and remember distinctly a few occasions where I would talk to my mother on the phone and say, “Oh, I have a class of 30 people to train today,” or “I’m going to speak at our National Sales Meeting and I have 100 people to present to.” One day she stopped me and said, “Oh my gosh, Karen, how do you do that? You’re SO shy!” It stopped me in my tracks and it was an “Aha!” moment for me. That moment was a real marker for me in my career because I had almost forgotten that I used to be shy and to look back and go, “How did I get here?!” was amazing.I realized, and told my mom, that when you love what you do, and you’re passionate about it, you gain confidence. I mean, I went from being incredibly timid to public speaking and presenting for a living! I believe this all happened because Ultradent recognizes passion in people and fosters growth in those areas. That’s what I love the most about Ultradent. The only reason I’m in the position I am today as the director of U.S. sales is because Ultradent identified and recognized the passion I had for our products at the beginning, and helped me cultivate it and build on it by making me a trainer, which helped develop my skills further to help me become what I am today. I thank God for that and that I’m part of a company that does that for and with their people.

LEADERSHIP REDEFINED The 12 X's of Success for Today's Leader with Dave WeberWhile the traditional view of leadership revolves around authority, responsibility, or title, author Dave Weber, shatters these notions with groundbreaking insights that reflect a new reality. A leader is anyone who has influence. Take a look at any group of kindergartners on the playground. Not one of those little stinkers has a title, but there is definitely someone in charge, influencing what’s going on. While most people traditionally look to the top of an organization or department for leadership (in theory, that is!), the highest performing groups in companies, schools, clubs, or sports teams have members who demonstrate leadership at every level. These “leaders without the title” have latched on to the profound reality that because they have influence, THEY LEAD.Discover Weber’s 12 X’s for today’s leader and learn simple strategies that can make a positive difference in every area of your life.

As owner of myDentalCMO, Kristie Nation’s mission is to lead dental practitioners and their teams into the modern age of marketing, bringing an end to unnecessary, wasteful ad-spend and teaching effective strategies that bring on and offline techniques together as complementary halves of a whole. Kristie has a strong background in education as a former college mathematics instructor, and puts her passion for teaching and her head for numbers to good use showing dentists how to effectively track their marketing campaigns and measure return on investment. “Each practice is unique,” she says, adding that there’s no room in dental marketing for a “cookie cutter approach.” Kristie has successfully coached clients in both start-up and established practices nationwide, from small private clinics in rural towns to large team practices with multiple doctors and locations across metro areas. Kristie also is in high demand as a lecturer; she travels the country speaking on intermediate and advanced marketing topics including data driven campaign planning, effective on and offline word-of-mouth strategies, and the importance of the web environment to today’s health provider market. Originally from Northern California, Kristie lives in Columbus ,Ohio with her husband, Jim. When she isn’t coaching or lecturing, Kristie can be found cycling to support CAF, or baking up a storm in her “test kitchen” at home.

"Why Dentists Are Wimps" For years, we've talked about the dental epidemic we call "Approval Addiction" and its negative impact on the practice, patients and team members.  With refreshing insight, Dr. Robert Glover provides background, causes and solutions to anyone who is determined to be a better leader at home and or at the office and improve his or her relationships in every area of life. Dr. Robert Glover, author of No More Mr. Nice Guy: A Proven Plan For Getting What You Want in Love, Sex and Life (Running Press, 2003)Dr. Glover is an internationally recognized authority on the Nice Guy Syndrome. He is a frequent guest on radio talk shows and has been featured in numerous local and national publications.Through his book, online classes, workshops, podcasts, blogs, consultation, and therapy groups, Dr. Glover has helped change the lives of countless men and women around the world.As a result of his work, Dr. Glover has helped thousands of Nice Guys transform from being passive, resentful victims to empowered, integrated males. Along with these personal changes have come similar transformations in these men's professional careers and intimate relationships.Dr. Glover is the creator of Dating Essentials for Men and the director of TPI University.

Hal Elrod is on a mission to elevate the consciousness of humanity, one morning at a time. As one of the highest rated keynote speakers in the world, creator of one of the fastest growing and most engaged online communities in existence and author of one of the bestselling books on Amazon, The Miracle Morning—which has been translated into 27 languages, has over 2,000 five-star Amazon reviews and is practiced daily by over 500,000 people in 70+ countries—he is doing exactly that. Hal actually died at age 20. Hit head-on by a drunk driver at 70 miles per hour, his heart stopped for 6 minutes, he broke 11 bones and was told by doctors that he would never walk again. Not only did Hal walk, he went on to run a 52-mile ultramarathon. Then, in November of 2016, Hal nearly died again—his kidneys, lungs, and heart of the verge of failing, which led to his being diagnosed with a very rare, very aggressive form of leukemia. After enduring the most difficult year of his life, Hal is now cancer-free and furthering his mission as the Executive Producer of The Miracle Morning MOVIE—a documentary featuring Lewis Howes, Brendon Burchard, Mel Robbins, Robin Sharma, Robert Kiyosaki, Vishen Lakhiani, Laila Ali, James Altucher, Pat Flynn, John Lee Dumas, Marci Schimoff, Dr. John Gray, Joe Polish, and more. Hal is also host of the highly acclaimed Achieve Your Goals podcast, creator of the Best Year Ever Blueprint [Live Experience] and bestselling author of ten [10] books in The Miracle Morning book series. And as one of the most inspiring, highly entertaining (we’re talking stand-up comedian level humor), and one of the most in-demand keynote speakers in the world, whether you are an individual or an organization, Hal will give you the tools to Wake Up to Your Full Potential.

"Back surgery is your only option…’ This statement inspired Dr. Eric Goodman to overcome a seriously bad back. Severe, years long debilitating lower back pain had been hanging over Dr. Goodman’s upcoming Chiropractic career. A year before graduation his pain hit and held its climax for several months. This was a maddening experience. After dedicating years of his life and all of his money to learn how the body worked, he was well-educated, yet stuck in daily pain with a diagnosis of severe Degenerative Joint Disease at the spine. Sympathetic doctors told him the only way to possibly relieve his pain was to undergo a painful back surgery: legitimate fusion of his lowest spine. But Dr. Goodman said NO to surgery – one of the best decisions he had ever made. Foundation Training’s birth was due to his belief that corrective movement could be the answer to his pain and give him back his mobility, health, and life. It’s been over a decade since that decision and in that time, tens of thousands of people have found similar pain relief and healing through Foundation Training. Dr. Goodman and the Foundation Training team stand confidently behind this work as our best available answer to our pain and yours.

Kindra Hall is one of the most sought after motivational speakers trusted by global brands to design and deliver business amplifying, revealing, interactive keynotes that inspire teams to better communicate the value of their company, their products and their individuality to accelerate personal and professional growth. What began as a chance encounter at age 13 with a storytelling cassette tape grew into a complete understanding of the craft, methods and science of storytelling, in its most pure form…free of promotion or agenda. She has been a National Champion storyteller (yeah, they have those), member of the Board of Directors of the National Storytelling Network and has her master’s degree in communications where she conducted original research in the role that storytelling plays in defining and revealing culture. Today, Kindra’s work can be seen in a weekly column at Inc.com, and featured in SUCCESS Magazine, Entrepreneur.com and behind the scenes in New York Times best selling books. Kindra is a former Director of Marketing and VP of Sales. She is a published author, an award-winning columnist and guest faculty at Harvard Medical School. Kindra frequently works with innovative brands like ConAgra, Stryker, Target and Hilton Hotels to use the irresistible power of storytelling to capture attention and connect in a distracted marketplace. Kindra has become a conference favorite for her clients who invite her back for consecutive annual events. Her presentations include revealing research, eye-opening case studies and, of course, stories attendees will remember and retell long after the event ends. Audiences leave inspired and motivated to apply Kindra’s actionable content. Kindra lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband, young son and daughter. When she is not traveling around the world speaking, Kindra can usually be found at spin class or at home with the family. And while she’ll never win a bake sale—she’s a welcomed guest-reader in her kids’ kindergarten and preschool classes.

MENTOR #41: Dental Innovations (Michael Boerner)  Introducing VideoText Our StoryDental Innovation was founded on providing next-generation video text technology to bridge the treatment recommendation knowledge gap between dentists and their patients. This technology was initially developed and implemented in Fortune 100 companies and our desire is to leverage it for smaller, niche markets – dental being the first. Our ApproachAlong with the technology, we brought together practicing dentists to choose initial platform content as well as providing editorial feedback on all originally produced content video. Our ProductionFrom idea to execution to delivery, our team spent months ensuring the videos we created would be helpful to dentists and impactful for their patients. Here are some behind the scenes photos of the process. http://dentalinnovationsinc.com

In 1972, at the Munich Germany Olympic Games, Lanny Bassham failed in his attempt to win the Gold Medal in International Rifle Shooting. He had a mental failure resulting in his taking the Silver instead. Frustrated, Lanny wanted to take a course in controlling the mind under pressure. After looking for such a seminar and not finding satisfaction, Bassham began to interview Olympic Gold Medalists to discover what they were doing differently to win. What he discovered was truly remarkable. Bassham created a system of mental control he called Mental Management®. Within the next 6 years, Lanny Bassham dominated his sport, winning 22 world individual and team titles, setting 4 world records and winning the coveted Olympic Gold Medal in Montreal in 1976.For the past 34 years, Lanny has been teaching Mental Management® to Olympians, business owners, Fortune 500 Corporations and the elite of sport and business community. His clients include the PGA and PGA tour players, Miss America finalists, Miss USA winners, World and Olympic champions, Fortune 500 companies, The United States Secret Service, The US Navy SEALS, The United States Army Marksmanship Unit, The US Marine Corps Marksmanship Unit and Olympic teams of USA, Canada, India, Japan, Republic of China, Korea and Australia.

Jack Fairchild, C.C.N., F.A.C.A.C.N. Jack Fairchild has been involved in Functional Medicine and Complementary Healthcare for the past 24 years. His understanding of the body and metabolism are based upon his on-going rigorous scientific study and ability to see through common signs and symptoms to identify the underlying root cause of dis-ease.  Jack owns Metabolic & Nutritional Assessments, a national, nutritional consulting company. His work is focused on balancing of body chemistry to help people regain and maintain good health. Jack utilizes a variety of functional medicine tests and alternative procedures to glean valuable information on the biochemical functioning of each individual. This information enables him to identify multifactorial patterns of dysfunction within an individual’s chemistry. Through understanding of this biochemical uniqueness he is able to design a specific Health & Wellness plan for each person targeting the root cause(s) of their health concerns. This customized program provides the necessary nutrients, diet, and lifestyle recommendations necessary to support and empower an individual on their quest for optimal health. Jack holds a Fellowship in Applied Clinical Nutrition from the American Council of Applied Clinical Nutrition. He is Board Certified in Clinical Nutrition by the International and American Association of Clinical Nutritionists; and licensed as a Dietitian-Nutritionist by the State of New York. He is certified in Complementary Medical Nutrition, as well as Intravenous / Intramuscular (IV/IM) Nutrition Order Writing and Administration. He presently works in conjunction with the Complementary Medicine Center of Conroe, Texas in the areas of Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy and nutritional programming. He continues his study in clinical nutrition and Functional Medicine in order to stay abreast of the latest scientific knowledge, skills, and procedures in the clinical nutrition profession. In addition to clinical nutrition, he has also taken course work in other modalities such as herbology, homeopathy, and kinesiology. He does not prescribe, treat, or diagnose in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas and the guidelines of the I.A.A.C.N. It is Jacks belief that disease prevention is the medicine of the future in the field of healthcare. He feels this can be accomplished through customized, drug-free, nutritional programs while taking into account the concept of biochemical individuality.

Bryant Truitt is the CEO of Brytan & Associates.  He and his team have taught and worked with thousands of dental practices over 20+ years and can protect your reputation, effciency and profits through tactful fraud examinations.   Truitt provides litigatio support and advice to provider and lawyers.  His special expertise includes: Asset Recovery, Fraud & Embezzlement Prevention, Detection, Private Pay, Medicaid and Medicare Compliance Reviews.   Bryant and his team are valued Crown Council Resource Partners and have been for many years.  You can contact him or his team:  www.brytanassociates.com  bryant@brytanassociates.com  210-241-6329

Getting your CPA, financial planner and other professionals all on the same team…your team! For the last 16 years, Charles Loretto has been an Investment Advisor Representative with Cain Watters and Associates. Each week, he presents to dental schools, residency programs, study clubs, dental symposiums and state and national dental meetings. He works daily with dentists and other healthcare providers to carefully choose the financial team that will guide their practices and manage their personal finances. He is also the founder of National Dental Placements, a CWA affiliate company that assists doctors in buying, transitioning and valuation of a practice. To help us assemble the criteria for organizing your total financial team, we welcome Charles Loretto as our Crown Council Mentor of the Month.

The biggest mistakes dentist don’t even know they are making as an employer…until it’s too late." Barbara Freet, PHR, Founder and President/CEO, specializes in consulting, product development, sales and training. She is sought out by professional groups and private employers as a guest speaker on a variety of employment-related topics. She founded the company in 1991.