If we come back to the definition of leadership from the last article then the question to ask is…
Are you able to achieve what you want to achieve without motivating, inspiring, and influencing those around you?
In the majority of cases this will not be possible, so you will not be able to achieve what you want to achieve without leadership. That being said there may be the odd situation where you can achieve an objective entirely on your own.
How much more could you achieve if you motivated, inspired, and influenced those around you to achieve the goal you have set out to achieve?
Or even, how much quicker could you achieve the goal you wanted to achieve if you motivated, inspired and influenced those around you to achieve the goal you set out to achieve?
Where there is minimal or no leadership then the following symptoms will be present:
Symptoms of low levels of leadership or no leadership
On the other hand where there is a high level of leadership the following symptoms can be observed:
Symptoms of high levels of leadership
The impact of all these symptoms on the practice is highly significant and directly affects the hard measures of employee engagement, staff turnover and ultimately results.
It’s good to consider leadership in this way
You can spend time individually doing things or you can spend time leading. It comes down to numbers. If you have a team of 20 people and you can do something that will inspire them and motivate them towards the goals of the organisation then this is going to be 20 times more impactful than doing an individual task yourself that has nothing to do with leading your team. This is very relevant when it comes to dentistry and individuals leading within dental practice. There is always the pull of being a clinician and often the argument of not having time to lead. Somehow dentists and individuals who have people under their responsibility must find time to lead, especially those who own individual or multiple practices.
Step back and honestly ask yourself what symptoms do I see?
Can I afford not to lead?
Jamie Morley, Owner & Principal Practitioner of Fitting Leadership
