Looking at whatever current or past jobs you’ve had, what do you remember about your favorite boss? What do you remember about your least favorite boss? The things that you hated about one boss or loved about another likely had to do with their leadership skills, or lack thereof. Leadership comes in many forms. So what kind of leader do you want to be in dealing with your patients?
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Most of us have had that boss: the boss that changes your work hours without consulting you, or tells you to do something and just expects it to get done without an explanation. Then there’s the boss that is absent when you need them to work out scheduling conflicts, or other problems among the staff members and office in general. All of these things lead to stressful and sometimes hostile working environments.
Leadership styles vary greatly and the results range from great to terrible — but there are only a handful of leaders that are truly great. If you have someone like this in your office, consider yourself lucky and do what you can to learn from them. The people that inspire us are the ones we should model our daily patient care practices after. If you tell your patient to floss without explaining why, how well do you think that will work? Now, what if you tell your patient to floss, but also take the extra two minutes to explain gum disease and their future risks if they don’t start using floss? Which do you suppose would have a stronger compliance rate?
Your goal should be to become an authentic, transformational leader. Leaders who are authentic are transparent. They tell you what they want to see from you, and what they will give you in return. For example, if you were to discuss the decline in your patient’s periodontal health, you would also want to discuss ways in which to help maintain their current level, and what your expected outcomes are. This is being an authentic leader. You are transparent in what you expect to see and what their prognosis is. Patients respect honesty and a dental hygienist who takes the time to explain the facts. It’s important to remember that our patients are not experts on oral hygiene, but we are.
According to researcher Bernard M. Bass, transformational leadership involves four parts: intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation, and idealized influence.
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You already have idealized influence from most of your patients. It is why they keep returning to you. They trust you as the expert, and value and respect your opinions. Inspirational motivation is gained from your patients when they see how important their good oral hygiene is to you. As dental hygienists, we tend to care about our patients and we want to see them succeed. This enthusiasm has a tendency to rub off and motivate those around us to achieve the goals we set for them. Intellectual stimulation involves allowing the patient to come to some of the conclusions themselves. If you see some more inflammation this time around, ask the patients why they think that might be. They might give you the answer before you even have to say the words “I can tell you’re not flossing.” We want to give our patients the opportunity to grow and learn from the interactions they get from their biannual appointments. This is often done by coaxing them to do some of their own research as well. Finally, we have individualized consideration. This is a key part in our profession. We must understand that not all patients are the same. Motivating a patient to floss can happen by many different means. We must understand that not all of our patients will respond to the same motivating factors.
Now that you know this, what type of leader are you? Do you take the extra time to explain to your patient’s what gum disease is, how it can be prevented, and what could happen if the proper steps are not taken? Do you show your patients how to floss or brush in their mouth, not just on a model? Do you give them time to ask questions? Are you enthusiastic about getting your patients’ mouths healthy, or is it just a job? Are you consistently finding new ways to help motivate your patients?
If you answered yes to all of the above questions, congratulations! You are showing signs of an authentic, transformational leader. Transformational leadership is about bringing out the best in others. So when you’re sitting with your patients, ask yourself if you are giving them all the tools and knowledge they need to be the best they can be. The rest is up to them, but taking the time to show that you care is sometimes a more powerful motivator than showing them the plaque in their mouths.
