562: The Missing Ingredient to Team Trust - Adriana Booth

The Missing Ingredient to Team Trust

Episode #562 with Adriana Booth

Episode Resources:

• Adriana’s email: adriana@actdental.com 
• Adriana’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adriana.booth
• Adriana’s social media: @adrimarieb
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Links Mentioned in This Episode:

Traction by Gino Wickman: https://benbellabooks.com/shop/traction

Main Takeaways:

Connection, conversation, communication, and core values lead to trust.

Your core values are the foundation to develop your team’s trust.

Have regular, scheduled check-ins with your team. 

Live your core values.

Quotes:

“At the root of it, we love people, and we love to help people. And I think that's most of us, especially in the dental field. We are there to help. We are there to serve. And when we think about that connection, when you truly get to know people and you're empathetic, sympathetic — to a point — and you know who they truly are and how they work, obviously, you are like the little birds of a feather. You kind of start to attract like-minded people. And all of a sudden, you'll end up with a team who have all these similarities and respect for one another. They have a connection. And what happens next is pretty easy. It’s that trust. We don't have to fight for trust, at that point.” (5:04—5:52) -Adriana

“I can't work for you as a dental assistant — and I'd be a terrible dental assistant — and I can't lean on the core values if I don't know the core values. And so, I think one of the things that you have to do in order to build something that's trustworthy, long term, very healthy, it’s got to be built on the right values. And you know this, your favorite people care about the same things that you care about. So, my question to you is, what do you care about as a dentist? And once you figure that out and put those out there, it’s your favorite thing, ever.” (6:35—7:04) -Kirk

“I worked recently with another one of our awesome coaches, Heather, and been putting together a lot of things with our core values. And just like we tell our clients, we have to keep it in front of you. That's why we put it on shirts. We put it on our water bottles. We have it on stickers. At any given time, when I walk into a practice that I'm coaching and if I ask the team, ‘Hey, tell me what your core values are again,’ and they don't know them, it’s a little bit of a heartbreak for me because I know, at that time, the doctor can't be that committed to their core values if his or her team doesn't know them by heart. And that's a big one.” (7:26—8:03) -Adriana

“I have a couple teams, I know their core values because I've been in enough meetings and enough conversations that they talk about them so much, I can even rattle off their core values. So, that's when I know that are living their core values. And they hire, fire, have conversations around them, tough conversations, fun conversations, they have projects, they do their social media around it because they truly are living it.” (8:06—8:33) -Adriana

“I'll give you the secret today of how to find the right people. It’s super simple. And I didn't come up with this. It’s actually from Gino Wickman, if you read the book, Traction. Finding the right people in your practice, they have two things — not 90. Two. They share your core values, and they get results. Period. When you create a team of people that, number one, share your core values, they're all-in on your values and they get results, you're killing it. And you don't even know why. If you're missing one of those two, you're miserable, and your brain is headed in that direction.” (8:39—9:15) -Kirk

“I'm not talking about the hallway drive-by conversations, the lunch time chats. It’s truly what we call here at ACT a check-in. We have a form. It is very structured. That's a thing that I always explain to my teams is, at ACT, yes, we might be a little off-the-cuff sometimes, and we like to customize everything for our clients. But at the same time, as much as we like fun and off-the-cuff, we really love structure because we want repeatable processes. So, we want to give each of your team members the same opportunity to check in with the doctor, owner, manager, their team lead, however we want to structure that, to have time, one-on-one, have goals, so we have a little bit of fun or fluff in there, so a little bit of personal connection, and we leave with priorities in what's next steps so that we have a follow-up. And we always leave with a next appointment scheduled, just like our patients.” (9:30—10:33) -Adriana

“Here’s my question to you, as a dentist. Do you love your team? And everyone goes, ‘Yes, I do.’ Well, what's the system, or what do you do that supports what you just said? And having a regular check-in — again, we didn't come up with this. We had a coach that made us do regular check-ins. And I thought they were kind of hokey at first. And now, I'm like, ‘This is the most important thing you could ever do.’” (10:50—11:10) -Kirk

“[At check-ins], we’re going to also mix [personal high, personal low, professional high, professional low, core values, and priorities] in with how can leadership help the team member. Because there might be something that me, as a team member, thinks of, and this just, I covet my time with Christina, who I do my check-ins with, and Kirk, because that is my time to say, ‘Hey, how could I improve? What do you see from the outside that I can do a little bit better? And I would like to work on X, Y, Z. Do you have any ideas for me? Do you have any resources?’ And that's exactly what your team members will do. So, it becomes this two-way conversation that is directed by the team member. A key ingredient is having it on the schedule, having a time block, making sure you're sticking to that time block, 15 minutes is pretty good, pretty common. Some will do 30, if they want to maybe grab a bite to eat in that time. And they’ll say, ‘Hey, how could I help you? How are you helping yourself?’ so that it’s not just you, as a team member, relying on your manager or your owner to do it for you. It’s a little bit more self-guided. You want to have that sheet printed. They fill it out and turn it in at least a day prior so you, as the manager or owner can review it, make your own notes, because you want to show that team member it’s valuable to you as well.” (11:36—13:04) -Adriana

“You don't have to have team members share all these intimate details. What you're giving is you're giving space to it . . . Team members can tell you whatever they want. But just by the fact that you've carved out 30 minutes, or 15 minutes to say, ‘This is our time together.’” (13:41—14:03) -Kirk

“You're changing the whole annual review conversation. Now, having a regular check-in, and you're talking about results and priorities, it makes it so easy for both of you, the employer and the employee, to talk about a raise, if that's on the board. Because somebody that's bringing big results, and we’ve talked about you're coaching them on a regular basis, and it’s a regular system, and they run the meeting, it’s powerful because now, it becomes a hugely healthy opportunity.” (14:08—14:40) -Kirk

“In a world where we hear dentists all the time say, ‘I can't find great people out there. Our practice is growing,’ and in the same breath, the dentist talks about the dentistry, and the patients, and how big it is, and a second location, and they can't even remember team members’ names. And I'm like, ‘Oh, you're forgetting the single-most important ingredient to how all this work, which is team members that trust you.’” (14:44—15:08) -Kirk

“I've just walked through this with a client who, she’s a great leader. She’s really team oriented. The beauty in [check-ins] was she said, ‘My team member came to me. And she had copies of the last year of her check-ins.’ And they only do check-ins about every other month. And she said, ‘Hey, I want to show you my timeline. These are the things you told me to work on. And, look. I've done all of these things.’ And she said, ‘Now, where do I go from here?’ She was sitting there ready for the, ‘I want more money,’ conversation. But it was the opposite. The team member is now so invested in that relationship, in the business, like, ‘How else can I help?’ And that's the key. Once we get on the same page with core values, we’re connected, they are bought in, they care about your business as much as you do, at this point, and then that ball will keep rolling.” (15:22—16:19) -Adriana

“If I'm a team member working for you, and you're the dentist, and you're sitting down with me and we’re talking about core values and results, you can see how this relationship changes. You change from the boss to someone’s coach. And you're all dreaming of that. We don't know how to do it until we have a system. So, we’re giving you the system today.” (16:21—16:41) -Kirk

“The missing ingredient to team trust is you've got to have core values, and you've got to have a system like a check-in. And look at your practice as a garden. It’s a beautiful garden. And the garden needs care. Weeds will come into the garden. If you don't weed the garden, the weeds take the garden. The garden also needs fertilizer. It needs water. It needs some good sunshine. So, it requires proactive care. And so, what we’re suggesting here is use the good care, which is all these things that we’ve mentioned, so that your team continues to grow, because it’s only going to get a little bit weirder for a while in the employment market.” (17:09—17:44) -Kirk

“Once you get good people, good people attract more good people. That's the key. And when your valued at your place of employment, it doesn't become a job. You want to be there. And you want good people to be there with you. You get really picky. You get really picky about who you work with, how they show up, how they behave, and you become invested in, now, as the owner, weight is off of your shoulders a little bit because your team is doing a lot of the, ‘We don't act like that her. Oh, no. No, no. We don't do that. This is how we behave. This is what we believe. Come on. Fall in line, or you're going to have to get off the bus.’” (17:56—18:38) -Adriana

“It gets picky on both sides of things. You get picky because you're attracting a higher quality team member. The team members also get picky about who comes into the fold too. They’ll chew up and spit somebody out who’s not playing along with the core values.” (18:42—18:55) -Kirk

“Core values are not feelings. They're not aspirational words like excellence and awesomeness. They're behaviors at the workplace that you've completely enforced that are true behaviors that you like to see, like all-in attitude, like we before me. And when you do that, you can see everybody starts to buy in to the behaviors and it becomes something super special.” (18:59—19:24) -Kirk

“I absolutely love [core values]. This is my favorite thing of all time because if I would've known about this in my 20s, that would've saved me a lot of stomach lining. And people often dismiss core values as, ‘Oh, that was way back in the ‘70s and the ‘80s.’ No. Look at any big brand today. No matter who it is, if they're strong and they have an incredible following and support structure and trust with team members, you're going to see it’s bound by core values.” (19:26—19:51) -Kirk

“Once you start seeing core values in your own practice, you'll go to the smallest store and you're waiting to cash out – usually, if there's even a human there, because we talked about AI is taking over, your self-checkout, you've got your virtual card, your Apple Pay – and you see their core values posted. And you're like, ‘What? They even have core values here? That's awesome!’” (19:57—20:21) -Adriana

“Human beings don't even absorb anything — they have to hear it seven times, seven different ways for them to even initially adopt it. And core values are like the bound structure — think about at home. Do you mention it one time to your kids? No! You become the CRO, chief repeating officer. There are things I've said in my house so many times that the walls could repeat it. But they're value-based things. Same thing applies in a great practice. Any great leader repeats the same things over and over. But they're the things that matter, not, ‘Did you do this? Did you do that?’ I'm not talking about micromanaging. I'm talking about, ‘We do this because. We behave this way. We are this kind of people. We believe this.’ And so, you can't do it once. And then, you've got to find different ways to make them come alive, whether they be medals, whether they be stories, whether they be Instagram posts. That's a game that we’re always trying to figure out, how do we do this? How do we bring it alive?” (20:45—21:44) -Kirk

“We’re huge proponents of two hours, weekly meetings. And that's a piece of that meeting rhythm that is very structured. We talk about the core values every single meeting. We rate them. How often are they showing up? How do they show up? How do they show up in our team and out to our community? And if we aren't doing that every single week on some level, I promise you, you're not living your core values, and they're not that important to you.” (21:47—22:16) -Adriana

“The more you lean into what we’ve talked about today, which is the secret ingredient — which is core values — the more you lean into it, I promise you, the less crazy stuff you deal with.” (22:20—22:29) -Kirk

“A few last ingredients that I would say is that connection. Connection is the key to long-lasting relationships, in general, but especially with your team members. Get connected. Do your check-ins. Build that value for the relationship and lean hard on your core values. It will totally change your practice and change your life.” (22:52—23:13) -Adriana

Snippets:

0:00 Introduction.

2:08 Adriana’s background.

2:57 Why this is an important topic for dentistry.

5:55 The missing ingredient to trust.

7:05 Live your core values.

8:35 Have regular check-ins.

10:34 The structure and logistics of check-ins.

14:40 Check-ins help your team be invested.

16:19 Attract great team members from core values.

18:55 Core values are everywhere.

20:21 You can't just tell team members once.

22:17 Last thoughts. 

Adriana Booth, BS, RDH Bio:

Adriana Booth is a Lead Practice Coach who partners with dentists and their teams to cultivate leadership skills, build practice growth, and streamline business practices. After spending over two decades in the dental industry working with top-notch dental teams, Adriana came to ACT to share her passion for professional growth, high-level training, and systems creation with our clients. As a dental hygienist with a love for connection, communication, and personal growth, helping a practice become successful is at the heart of her passion for dentistry.

Adriana has a B.S. in Dental Hygiene from West Liberty University/O’Hehir University. By being a member of Dental Entrepreneur Woman, the Academy of Dental Management Consultants, AADOM, and local dental study clubs, Adriana maintains strong relationships within the dental community. She enjoys fitness and outdoor activities, relaxing by the water with a good book, and at the top of her list, her Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Beau Duke.