Do You Have One of These?

In my last post, I discussed some strategies to help dentists overcome stress and burnout. One of my suggestions was to find a mentor, and I would like to expand on that idea.

My younger son Andrew worked for a number of years in marketing and advertising for a large publicly traded pharmaceutical company before eventually starting his own business. He was fortunate early on in his career to find someone  three or four rungs up the corporate ladder who took a liking to him. This guy  was senior enough to him not to feel at all threatened – and was very helpful in steering my son in the right direction by providing invaluable political and strategic advice. Andrew thus avoided a lot of the pitfalls that can circumvent or derail a career and instead,  he advanced quite nicely. This senior person was around for three years before he was promoted to a major management position in Europe. Shortly thereafter my son left this company, realizing at that point how important an advantage it had been and how fortunate he had been to have had a mentor.

Corporate America of course is very different from a dental practice. But there are some parallels in this story that can apply to your situation.

1. Find a mentor who practices in your overall geographic area, but certainly not in the next block. This person shouldn’t think of you as the competition because he/she would then be unlikely to share the important and relevant information you are seeking.
2. Choose a mentor who might be 10-15 years older. Those years of practical experience are invaluable. And it is easy and natural to be deferential and respectful of a more senior person. Again – there must be no feeling of competition.
3. Keep in mind that mentoring a younger colleague can be a bit of an ego trip – so the relationship is usually fun and satisfying for the mentor.

My good friend Dr. Peter St Clair has a very successful general practice in Rowley, Massachusetts, and writes a weekly column on dental topics for his local newspaper. He shared his thoughts with me about mentoring. “A mentor is someone with whom you have a connection – someone to share and discuss standards and life goals. A mentor is someone who works with you to lead a more balanced and happy life – someone you look up to – someone to inspire and guide you. But most of all, a mentor will hold you accountable for implementation.”

The information you will receive from a mentor is going to be truthful. There is no reason for exaggeration or hyperbole. Compare this with the experience we have all had at one time or another. You go to a district dental society meeting and are chatting with a bunch of your peers – and hearing fish stories about how they are hitting it out of the park and getting 75 new non- insurance patients every month!

So gather your courage and identify some potential candidates for mentors – and then approach them. Do your research – know where they went to school – what continuing education courses they took – what professional accolades they might have received.  Even if they don’t know you very well or at all , more than likely they will be flattered to be approached. I’ll bet that the rest will be easy.