Setting Your Course for Education in 2025

It is a new year and a new opportunity to make BIG plans for education in 2025! In this episode, Dr. Kuba and Bethany discuss the importance of utilizing the energy and enthusiasm of January to propel you into planning some great education opportunities for you and your team. Open your parameters and include non-dental conferences and get a large pool of opportunities. Then, begin to narrow based on location, time of year, and content. Dr. Kuba discusses the risks of traveling as a team but encourages listeners as she shares about her recent registration of her and her team for the 2025 AAPD. Listen in and get pumped up to find some great CE for you and your team! 

Previous Episodes Worth Revisiting:
Taking Control of Your 2024 Schedule
Continuing Education Resources – Some Free and Easy, Some Expensive and More Complex

January Opportunity – 20% off Consulting Crash Course if you register by January 31, 2025! Bethany and Dr. Kuba say “Don’t be a Dummy” and “Don’t Be Laughable” – Sign up for your CONSULTING CRASH COURSE today! This is a course designed ONLY for you and your team. Take your practice to the next level!! Email us at managingdentaldrama@gmail.com today to secure a spot for your team! ⏰

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Transcript

are you looking for a podcast where you can hear from real people regarding their real Dental drama if so then
0:09
you've come to the right place join hosts Bethany Penny and Dr Reena Kuba as
0:15
we dive into the solutions we've created and the mistakes we've made while
0:20
managing Dental drama let's get started hey friend hey
0:25
so I cannot believe it's 2025 that is crazy talk wasn't the heck I know I mean
0:32
how do we get here what happened to 2024 I don't know but it is apparently gone it's gone um but I would like to talk
0:39
about today if you are okay with uh because it's been fresh on my mind and I'll tell you why in a moment but it's
0:45
one of funny enough one of my favorite things to think about um and that's continuing
0:51
education I know a lot of people are like what who likes to think about that
0:56
you weirdo I know nerd um Fair
1:02
accepted uh I'm fine with that but I think why I like continuing education is because I always I don't know I don't
1:09
know if it's fomo honestly just that like what am I missing am I being current right now is there some better
1:14
more efficient way to do this it reminds me of lll's podcast honestly um where lll's like dude you know are we is there
1:21
a better way and I think that mindset really resonated with me when he said that because I think that fuels a lot of
1:26
my thoughts too it's like wait am I from both standpoint is it could it be more
1:31
efficient um have I kept up with technology or materials or instruments or whatever it is and then also um am I
1:40
providing the best for my patients but am I also missing out on something is everybody else in town using blah blah
1:47
blah composite and I'm the only fool still using this so I think to me that's
1:52
one thing I like is just making sure that I'm sharpening myself um and I
1:58
think um you know every year where I get excited and part of me is like oh I want to go to this oh yeah I want to go to
2:04
that oh yeah but then we've got to think about the Practical implications of okay if I'm gone a lot then product
2:11
productivity production wise who's covering all of that um I think for um
2:18
you know for for who and I know I've said this in previous podcasts but one of the things that I think about is um I
2:25
like to take people with me because I don't remember what was said when I get back and so what I'm like oh I was super
2:32
excited they had this composite that well I mean they had this slide yeah I took a picture of it but I got a blurry
2:38
picture and it doesn't make sense in the you know what I mean like so for me I do like it I kind of think of c and team
2:45
building kind of together that way we're all getting the same information and knowledge we can all come back and figure out how to implement it the
2:51
easiest way um but financially how much can we afford to do that I think the
2:57
other consideration is always you know for a lot of us it's still like I still have kind of a revolving door of Staff
3:04
like am I going to invest in them and I think yeah yeah it's worth it so can we
3:10
unpack a lot of that today I think it's timely why I wanted to talk about that now is because 2025 and we need to start
3:16
thinking about our calendars when are we going to be in and out of the office um what opportunities are there are there
3:24
things that I do want to learn about um how do I start looking into that who am I taking with me all of those things and
3:32
I guess it's still fresh on my mind because we just got uh it's been a month now maybe a couple weeks that uh
3:39
aapd has opened their registration for our aapd conference in May so it's been
3:46
fresh on my mind um so are you okay with us talking about all that love it yeah
3:51
and you're right this is perfect timing to be perfectly honest because I would say for listeners that aren't thinking
3:58
about continuing education yet you need to it's it's like if you wait too long
4:04
you might even miss out on some of the deadlines of some upcoming things so don't don't wait until May or June to
4:11
start thinking about it because then at that point you may have missed some good ones that would be a good fit you have
4:17
the most options when you think about it early in the year and can actually plan it so that's options for literally the
4:24
class and content of information the next one is a lot of times you miss the early bird doesn't deadlines exactly and
4:31
so I think there's some February deadline if I could be making that up maybe that was something else but in my mind I'm like o I got to get this done
4:37
in January so that I'm taking advantage of cost savings if I do want to take more people and then this is what we've
4:44
talked alluded to a lot in previous podcasts is if you haven't planned ahead
4:50
then it is more of a burden on your team if you're like okay now we're going to be out on you know June 5th through 10th
4:57
to go attend conference BL blah blah well the schedule's already filling up for that because we started filling
5:04
up June and December for our recare um so to try to move all those patients and that's where I think a lot of us kind of
5:11
get like never mind I'm not going to do this because we didn't prepare in time exactly so now is the timing to do that
5:18
yeah this is the month to do it and again for a we we kind of come into
5:23
January with like a real eagerness and and I think we've got to be in the right mindset to plan continuing education
5:29
because it can be overwhelming or feel overwhelming so not only is it timely for getting it on the calendar in the
5:35
right place but also mentally we're kind of in that mode of excitement about what
5:41
we're going to learn this year so so in the spirit of a reality Arena negative
5:47
Nelly whatever you uh think about me as before we get into like Logistics of it
5:52
can I kind of um get on to some of you guys who I don't think do see e the
5:59
right way so I think at this point you may have stopped listening going okay you nerd like I just hop on to dentl
6:05
town online and I do my classes like what are you talking about I don't need to listen to this podcast um if you are
6:12
still listening I really can't stand that I can't stand yes there are some really good courses available on dentl
6:19
Town and APD and Ada I mean there are a lot of good ones but I think if that is
6:25
all you do is view it as a requirement I just I find that so
6:30
disappointing I find it disappointing like stretch yourself a little bit and
6:36
uh broad yeah broaden your mindset and I know we've all got a lot going on but I
6:41
think if you're literally just thinking it about checking your box of continuing education you're missing the other
6:48
benefits of truly going to continuing education
6:54
or um not just trying to meet requirements yeah yeah remove the cap of
7:01
how many hours does this get me or is this the right makeup of hours like for
7:07
a moment Free Yourself of that to actually think of things that would be beneficial for you as a clinician and
7:14
then as your team as well cuz I think when we are approaching it just as a requirement yes there's certain criteria
7:21
that has to be met but I think that then makes us too close-minded in the options
7:27
that we're considering so I would rather you look at what is my practice need
7:32
what is my team need what do I what am I interested in as a clinician what have I
7:37
not pushed myself in okay let me find a category let me find a conference that might have this category available now
7:44
okay will this also help me achieve my CE requirements okay great then that's the one for me but I think when we
7:51
flip-flop it it's just too too narrow and I think it comes from a different mindset of I think you go into that with
7:58
a different mindset if I'm logging on to watch a video it's just check check check the box if I'm investing in taking
8:05
myself and my team to a conference because I felt like this was what our team needed our practice needed you're
8:10
going to walk into that with a completely different level of sponginess you're your willingness to kind of soak
8:16
up what you're learning in that because it's not just your CE requirement like I'll tell you the other day I got my
8:22
email that said my Hippa is going to expire in January something I'm like and
8:28
did I go through that video very quickly yes I did uh because it was a requirement and I didn't think there was
8:34
anything Earth shattering about it and um yeah so that's if we View continuing
8:41
education with that lens like everything is Hippa I just have to do this I'm going to encourage you to stop thinking
8:47
about it that way 100% agree with you so let's start with when you're thinking I
8:54
know you love this so when you're starting to think about continuing education for the year for yourself for
9:01
your team like what's your starting point how do you even get going on this subject matter so I guess to me I think
9:07
the reason why I like it one is everything I just talked about but two it's almost like planning a party it's like planning an event what can we do
9:15
that's going to get us out of the office um get us revitalized and um you know
9:21
give us that M back in now I know a lot of people are like I am not taking my team to that my team's a pain in the ass
9:27
or last time I did that my team grumbled the whole time or last time I did that so um as we kind of unpack this maybe we
9:35
can touch on some of that but I think for as far as how I get started in my mind some of the the things that I look
9:41
at um easy ones one I go to uh like Texas things and so in Texas we have the
9:48
Southwest Dental conference we have um the TDA conference the Texas Dental Association conference we've got I know
9:54
Ada is going to put on smile con somewhere I'll be honest I've never been to a smile con I've always kind of wanted to I just haven't done it yet but
10:02
I always like to see what where it is um now when we talk about where it is
10:07
there's a lot of people that go because it's a cool location but their plan then is to not go to classes and just explore
10:14
the city and use it as a write off which again I mean I guess you could do that maybe I'm too cheap to do that because
10:19
I'm like well if I'm going to do that I don't want to tie my family vacation in with a dental conference right like I'm
10:24
just going to feel bad doing that I'm going to feel like uh maybe I should go to some classes and so I'm just a nerd
10:32
that way to me I'd rather keep them separate this is my fun this is my work fun I'll go with my work family to this
10:38
but not subject my husband and kids to any of that um so I I look at you know
10:45
some of the the local conferences um for for me I've got ta PD as well so I'll
10:51
look at some of that then I'm looking at aapd I'm looking at um for Sedation adza
10:58
conference I'm looking at Adam which is the office manager um we're members of
11:04
that um American Academy of dental office managers yes so then they have
11:10
stuff uh the laser conference so I think for me where I'm kind of watching for
11:16
those because if you check your email your junk box you get all of these things about these different um
11:21
organizations having something um for pediatric dentists we've got our College
11:27
of diplomats so then they're sending stuff so the I think just paying attention to some of those things or
11:32
hopping online we have our Southwest Society of pediatric dentistry and then um so if you were a general dentist I
11:38
would imagine you've probably got a lot more than just what pediatric dentists have right and it's a lot more um I
11:44
think subject matter- wise too I'm sure implants and glide well offer something
11:50
and Invisalign offer something so just kind of looking at all of that I guess
11:55
that's how I get started going okay where what timing of the year looks good
12:00
I again am a nerd I like to look at content and see what kind of content for sure um and then some of the things
12:07
that'll disway me or sway me whichever way you look at it is is some of that location like there was one coming up
12:14
that's a combo aapd American Academy of Orthodontics aao combo meeting the last
12:20
time I went to that was a couple years ago in Arizona and it was phenomenal um so I'm looking at the one for this year and I was like oo I really want to go to
12:27
that well unfortunately where ever it is it's like in an island off of Florida
12:33
and it just seemed cumbersome to get there and expensive and so I talked myself out of that one yeah
12:40
um but uh I don't know that that's how I kind of get going is going like where are we going to have fun right what is
12:47
reasonably easy to get to cost effective so you look at aapd
12:54
for example that I just saw I hem and haod going honestly is the content blowing my
13:00
mind no yeah um but is there something is there something my team could benefit
13:06
from probably right it's in Denver okay Denver is reasonably affordable I think
13:13
Denver is going to be easy to get to it's going to be easy to find the hotel now but when you think about it like so
13:18
then then I look at and go okay so does it meet those criteria of it's easy enough to get
13:24
to there should be plenty of Airlines so has Reon be cost effective as it could be um and then I look at who am I going
13:32
to take now for us I haven't taken my team somewhere in probably two to three
13:37
years right and so I was like I think it's time now again I'm a feeler so for
13:44
me when I think about why haven't I were there not good classes were we you know not paying our bills like what what was
13:51
the hesitation for me if I think about it honestly because I'm a feeler for the last two years there've been team
13:57
members of mine that I don't really care for and so I'm like I can't I think if that person came along with us the
14:04
dynamic would be different and it wouldn't be fun so again party planner mindset you know you're putting your
14:09
party together and going what guests am I inviting yeah I don't want to invite that family I'm not going to invite that couple because they're going to throw
14:15
off the fun of this group I may invite them next time when I have a different group going right but for this group
14:22
dynamic I can just see how that one or two people those one or two people could like throw off the vibe that I think
14:29
we'll have if these other people are there so again juvenile maybe but that's how kind of but to me in my mind I'm
14:35
like the last two years I don't think I've had a Harmony that I thought would
14:40
be good so we just did the local we still went we went to our local tapd one I took some people there we went to
14:46
South Dental conference as a group but I didn't want to invest in taking everybody somewhere El a trip so to
14:53
speak yes because then you think about like okay people have got to be paired together in
14:58
hotel rooms mhm and if there's these three people that nobody wants to be in a hotel room with that's going to be a real doozy um I think from a um you know
15:10
you're paying for flights you're paying for hotel rooms and people to have to share rooms then you're paying for meals
15:16
or you're paying for whatever else but then the whole other part is we're going to be out of the office for these couple
15:21
of days so then you think about okay production wise altogether what made me
15:27
go yes for aapd this year was everything I've already mentioned I like my team
15:33
this year and I can see them getting along whichever pairings of Roommates we had in each hotel room it's the best
15:39
that I think it could be do I think everybody's going to get along and all this I mean I'm going to hope for that but I think it's the best chance we've
15:45
got of that yeah um and then it's in May and may is slow at a time so production
15:51
was probably going to be garbage anyway so I'm not going to miss as much in production but when I think about what
15:56
all I've had to spend now in airfare Hotel um other things that we'll talk
16:02
about here in a minute and production I'm probably 20 grand out right so it's not cheap no it's an investment but it
16:09
is an investment and so can I go ahead and keep talking about what I think okay so when I think about the investment
16:14
standpoint when I think about the classes we're actually going to be taking they're not useless but are they
16:21
somewhat fluffy yeah but that's okay it's still nice to have somebody from a different perspective cuz they're used
16:27
to hearing from me they're used to hearing from you this is a whole different perspective I think it's nice
16:32
that it's going to be um aapd so it's all pediatric dentists and problems that we have and issues that we have so I
16:39
think that's good for the team to be around some of that um I think with Denver I don't think it's the most
16:44
expensive city in the country so we can find plenty of bars restaurants whatever
16:49
locally to go still have fun um I forgot what else I was going to say
16:56
um but oh from a team building standpoint point I think this is now where it's a group that I think will get
17:02
along going out and having these memories and having this so when I announced it one of the team members
17:08
like it just caught me by surprise was like finally I've been waiting two years to go on a trip oh wow so I hadn't
17:15
realized that they do talk yeah and they're the core ones that have been there longer like oh yeah when we went
17:21
to Greece when we went here when we went to Vegas when we did this and some of the New York people have not had an
17:26
opportunity to go anywhere right and so now they're like okay finally I get to go and I guess I just didn't think it
17:32
would be that important to some people um so it's just kind of neat to see that
17:38
already it's already December and they're already excited about May yeah so um I even the other day uh you know I
17:46
do a contract so we can talk about that in a minute because I know a lot of people have questions on how do you protect yourself from employees taking
17:53
advantage and quitting right after or whatever so we can get into that um but I had them sign the contract in and
18:00
actually funny enough one of them uh I had it you know I was printing it so I'm in my office it prints the printer up at
18:06
the front and uh so I knew they were going to see this coming through and then I you know uh IM IMD one of them
18:12
and I said hey can you go ahead and block off these two days in the schedule and her response back was am I
18:20
reading this correctly you're going to block off the schedule to take all of us to Denver my reply yes ma'am so I can
18:27
only imagine the chatter in the front like it just is this spark of energy and enthusiasm and knowing that they get to
18:35
go yeah that I am investing in them they are being invited to go to this party
18:40
yeah um and so they all signed their contracts at a deadline for that and so now that I've got their contracts now
18:46
I'm like okay let's get us registered let's get the flights let's get the hotel because it's going to be cheap kind of like what we tell our patients
18:51
it's not going to get cheaper later right you know if you wait on the filling the filling is going to turn into a crown this is the cheapest it's
18:58
going to be so registration was going to be cheapest flight maybe hotel rooms I don't want those booked up right so
19:04
let's secure that now once i' had done all of that I did that a couple of days ago and then I sent on our office thread
19:12
hey gu hey to everybody who was invited to join me to this like we're set that
19:17
created a whole another Buzz yeah so um from a team building perspective I think
19:24
it it can go a long way again if you hate your team or you don't like your team or these are not the people you
19:29
want to invest in that's a whole another set of issues that we've got to refer you to different podcasts we've done already or different solutions we've got
19:37
but I think that is the beauty of continuing education just it it fills my
19:43
cup I guess because I know I'm getting smarter I'm going to be doing something more efficient or if nothing else I'm
19:49
going to get the pat on my back going oh we already do all of this right although I would say rarely almost never I can't
19:55
think of a time that I've gone well that was a complete waste you know what I mean there's always something there's always something yes something it is
20:02
it's a multi-layered benefit so even think about here we are in January the events in May you've already gotten two
20:10
little exciting drops of of reminders that drip will continue as you get
20:16
closer and closer and closer to the event and so not only are you getting the benefit now but you'll continue to
20:21
get some excitement out of that over the next few months not to mention like you said the team building plus the
20:28
continuing education even if you only walk away with one or two little things that's okay you got one or two little
20:34
things which I would say like make sure you're not maybe you didn't get one or
20:40
two things of clinical relevance yeah but maybe you saw something on the on
20:45
the exhibit hall floor maybe you talked to somebody that you had never met before and now you're like wait a minute
20:50
you use what software wait you made the switch and why um wait you're open what days like we've never thought about
20:57
doing our scheduled out like you never know so keep your mind open to there are
21:03
other pearls to be gleaned here that's right um even down to the class that I'm making us all take what made me do it
21:09
for aapd was there's a class on um and for those of you who already knew this
21:14
more power to you I felt dumb not knowing this and I was like I got to know more the class that they're having
21:20
on Saturday was about sugar toxicity and when I first read that I was like sugar toxicity okay boring cavities Decay like
21:27
whatever is this going to be another about minimally invasive Dentistry like what is this like topic going to be as I
21:33
kept reading it was uh the synopsis was um fatty liver disease and many more
21:40
kids uh susceptible to fatty liver disease more now than ever before because of all of our high sugar content
21:45
things and the traditional mindset of it being the old drunkard who's having fat
21:51
or liver it's not it's our kids and that just like I had never that had not
21:56
crossed my mind I hadn't read an article about it I am unfamiliar with this topic um so to
22:03
me I'm like the possibilities that opens up about the conversations we can have
22:08
with our families yeah when we can put a different spin on it if we are constantly just going oh you can't drink
22:13
Coke it's not good for you you got to brush your teeth whatever got to limit your sugars like our parents hate those
22:19
conversations right but if we can put in the medical twist yeah to it I think
22:24
that does wonders for Dentistry alog together like tying dentist Street of medical yeah you know that we've not
22:31
historically have not done a good job as dentists and we've made ourselves the shoe man at the End of the Street the cobbler the nail salon right but like
22:38
more and more pushed to say like why is Dentistry not valued the way Med medicine is this will do it for our
22:46
parents if we're like you know what yeah cavities but you know what I can fix cavities what I can't fix is the fatty liver disease you're setting your kid up
22:51
for I want to know more I want to hear this lecture to learn more so that I can
22:56
start quoting these things and having these conversations and I want my team there because a lot of times they're the ones who can have these conversations or
23:02
they can talk to the kid about or the teenager about so one class one class is
23:08
what's getting me there and then all the other like Denver will be fun they'll be you know if the class was in I don't
23:15
know I won't say because I don't want to offend people living in a certain town but there are certain towns none of us
23:20
are excited to go to but everybody's excited to go to Denver yes yes and
23:26
again even just that one class if you're team walks away more confident talking about health rated issues with patients
23:33
or with parents isn't that confidence worth it at that point so and if they
23:39
feel like they're empowered with this knowledge that they didn't have before and that they're going to start doing different things for their own children
23:45
now let's assume it's a dud of a class let's assume we go in there and I'm like oh man I signed up my entire team 20
23:51
Grands worth hinging on this sugar toxicity class and what if it ends up being well yeah you know study show this
23:58
but the results aren't super confirmed but you know all the sugar is not good for teeth and you can get cavities and we're all
24:04
like I was hosed by this so I think that's where I already tell myself going
24:09
that's a possibility the class could be a total dud that's okay CU there's all these
24:15
other benefits there's all these other benefits yeah and I think that's the right mindset this whatever you're
24:20
choosing to invest in yes $20,000 is a massive investment but if we go into it
24:26
with the right mindset that hey if this aspect or this benefit fails we've got
24:32
these four or five other benefits that we're okay with or if these two or three fail at least we walked away with the team building benefit and the excitement
24:39
for these next six months leading up to the actual event so you've got to go in with the right mindset don't don't set
24:46
your expectations so high that you're going to chronically be disappointed and then also don't don't wait to make that
24:52
investment um I know you've alluded to the fact that this last couple years
24:58
you've had to be careful with who you invited to which seminar you were still
25:04
actively doing continuing education you are just picking a couple people here and a couple people there so if you're
25:11
choosing to finally make the jump and take your whole whole
25:16
team just be careful about the expectations that you set it is a huge
25:21
$20,000 investment but at the same time there's multi-layered benefits that
25:27
you're getting out of that so don't minimize those benefits and maximize the cost recognize that you're choosing to
25:35
put your money there in hopes that you might walk away with one or two of those benefits and like you said don't make it
25:42
100% clinical if you walk away with marketing ideas or you met up with a rep
25:50
in the on the floor and you found a new product that you really you didn't even know you were looking for and now you're
25:56
super excited about it because you think you're p vas I love that those are side benefits that you weren't even expecting
26:02
and so go in looking if if the classes are disappointing to you go in looking
26:08
for people that you can meet or talk to even if you don't buy anything out on the floor did you glean something did
26:14
you learn something from that rep because they're an expert in XYZ great
26:20
and it could even be down to the level of like you know what I keep getting ads for you know this software called
26:27
sunshine and I've been wondering if that's really worth me switching from
26:32
and okay good they were there I got to do a demo oh wait a minute that's what I don't like about sunshine you know what
26:39
I mean it could very well be like dude this is exactly what I wanted I didn't even know I wanted this in a software I can't believe this has everything I need
26:45
I could actually get rid of these two companies and do everything through this one or it could affirm that you don't
26:51
need to be doing that either way it's good information to have um if you don't
26:57
do you have anything else to add at this well one thing I would just say is you don't always have to limit it to just
27:03
Dental as well so it's fun I mean there's a gajillion and two options in
27:09
Dental just as it is we've talked about some of the big conferences there's conferences that occur all over the
27:15
nation there's the and I can't even rattle them all off but if you start looking at Dental conferences USA
27:22
there's some all over the place so the sky the limit you don't have to just go regionally you can pick if you like a a
27:29
schedule at one of the other conferences go to that but there's also marketing conferences there's so many social media
27:37
website review type conferences that are not Dental at all so you're like maybe
27:43
hey we're really want to have a huge social presence we're trying to grow that great take your team to that that's
27:49
going to be a whole lot of fun there's HR conferences there's team building conferences there's communication
27:56
conferences so there's Insurance Dental Insurance conferences so if you what I
28:04
would say is build the biggest bucket of options then you can take that bucket of
28:10
options you're go you're like okay great based on what my goals are for this year I've got this marketing conference that
28:16
I'm trying to decide between this uh New York greater Dental society and this
28:23
insurance conference okay now let me look at location let me look at the time of the year that it is let me look at
28:29
flights let me look at hotels okay now I'm going to out of all that research now I'm going to narrow it down to the
28:34
one that I want to go to but start with a big bucket so that you can ultimately land on the one that's right for you so
28:41
that would be my only additional piece of advice so the next part that I kind of want to dive into here that we could
28:47
use your input on is I know at least I know I've thought this many times over
28:52
the years so I would imagine others are too but a lot of people are going you are out of your mind you know like my
28:58
team gets along now what if we go and they room together and they end up hitting each other or my office is
29:06
already clicky is that not going to enhance the clicks or these two got drunk and didn't come to
29:12
class how do you tame those beasts if
29:17
you will so lots of uh little content that we'll throw out here some I will
29:23
say we're going to be we're going to be extra rude here and some of the content is going to actually be in our
29:29
subscription so we're going to talk about a whole travel contract and how to utilize that contract to protect
29:35
yourself from some of these situations so if you want that content go subscribe
29:41
so sorry for you but we will give some content here on um expectations so we
29:47
really do need to set expectations on the fact that they do have to attend
29:52
class uh first and foremost cuz I can't tell you how many times those expectations weren't weren't set ahead
29:58
of time and people just didn't show they went and partied and they didn't show up so before you're even signing them up
30:05
for the courses you're saying by the way I am planning to take us all to aapd in
30:11
Denver this is when it's occurring however these are my expectations and I
30:17
need you guys to think about if you're willing to follow those expectations if not you'll be Uninvited everybody else
30:23
who's willing to follow those expectations so you set that early before you even allow them to be a part part of the trip one thing I would say
30:30
there in my case this hasn't been an issue but I can see how it would be um
30:36
if you as the doctor skip out on Ce and just run back in for the CE code and
30:41
you're out chatting or drinking coffee or doing whatever your team's going to see that yeah so if you now are going
30:48
well if I've got to sit in class I never sit in class I'm not going to take my team I I think you still could but I
30:53
think the spin you have on it is you know I do my own thing but that expectation for you is to sit in class
30:59
I'm paying for you to get this knowledge so I already have the knowledge you need to get the knowledge and I'm going to
31:05
invest in you for that um for me I like to go to the classes with the team um
31:10
and so uh just just that just kind of you know your behavior they're going to they're going to follow your watching so
31:17
if you're sitting at lunch and you order a margarita they're going to see that as a sign that I can order one too that's
31:22
right um so just W you you are setting the expectation there if you are are
31:28
acting a fool at dinner that sets the tone um I think that's another thing too
31:34
like it's a lot of work it is to kind of sit and go okay where are we going to eat lunch where are we going to meet
31:41
here where are so be thinking about that ahead of time um and just be prepared
31:48
for that like you know if if you're not going to pay for lunch just tell them ahead of time and of course like you
31:54
said we have all those details like for a contract I make my team sign a contract um I think the other question I
32:01
was going to have for you is like what if what if uh say you have a team of
32:06
four people and only one wants to go MH totally fun so here is something I would
32:13
hurt my feelings I guess is where I'm going with this well I'm glad you said that
32:19
because there are I I would say half the time you're
32:25
going to be surprised with people that say I can't go I you know I'm a single mom I
32:31
don't have any family that can help me I can't leave my kid or I've never left my
32:37
kid before I can't do that it makes me panicky just thinking about it I've never flown before I can't get on a
32:44
plane like I literally can't do that or I could just find better ways to use my
32:49
time I don't want to go that is another thing you just got to anticipate there
32:54
there I would be surprised if you don't come across that if you travel for the next 2 or 3 years in a row with your
32:59
team for CE you're going to have at least one or two people in that process
33:05
have some reason why they can't go or I've heard before Oh that's close to my
33:11
sister's wedding so I don't want to be gone at all and you're like oh is your sister
33:16
getting married that weekend oh no no it's like 3 weeks later but can't go and you're like that is dumb but it doesn't
33:22
matter it is what it is people don't have to go the last thing you want is to coers people or make them feel like
33:29
you're mad at them for not going I would much rather people self eliminate even
33:34
if that means the whole dang team self- eliminates and you've got one Eager
33:40
Beaver that wants to go with you fantastic take that eager be Beaver with you y'all live it up have a fantastic
33:46
time learn a lot and then get back and live life now if it's coming out of a
33:52
place of disrespect like your team just doesn't respect you at all and they're like screw you and your CE trip like I
34:00
would never go somewhere with you that veers into more of a culture problem
34:05
that that we've like we said we've got a lot of podcasts on that that you can go and listen to but for the most part
34:11
normally there might be one person or t two people that just can't make it work
34:17
logistically and that's okay I would say thinking back um when I was an associate
34:24
and it was I think our local TDA meeting and so local meeting meaning like we're in Dallas it's in San Antonio and my
34:31
boss at the time whoever wanted to go on the trip went and I want to say half the office went and um there were two ladies
34:39
that were kind of in my mind kind of the older mother hands of the practice
34:44
whatever well one of them was the AR person who intimidated the crap out of me like I just you know like I I had
34:52
only been there I don't know less than a year I guess um and I had gotten very
34:57
close with the assistants obviously because they were with me chair side and all of that but everybody else in the
35:02
office I was very you know cautious around um and so anyway we go out to
35:09
we're in San Antonio and one of them was like oh let's go to happy hour here and
35:15
I almost didn't go because I was like uh I don't know these people whatever and I was like no you need to try to
35:21
assimilate and all of that and I tell you it ended up being me and two others again one of them that never would have
35:29
she would have intimidated me through we got to know each other we are very different people very different walks of
35:36
life very different opinions on everything from politics to you name it but we had so much fun wow fast forward
35:45
to when I decided to start my own for whatever reasons I would still and and
35:51
actually even while I was still an associate there the three of us every quarter would would go out to dinner a
35:57
and those two because it was a smaller City in town they're like well you're in Dallas I was like well yeah have youall ever had Indian food have you ever had
36:03
Mediterranean food have you ever had Thai food and they're like we actually haven't they would come down we'd try a
36:08
different Cuisine and all that so then fast forward to when I started my own I would reach out to the AR lady who I
36:15
never would have gotten close to had it not been for thatp C that trip and
36:21
anyway long story short she's my AR person now you know and she's been with me now for eight years but I wouldn't
36:26
have we would we would not be friends if not for like we have nothing in common
36:32
yes um to me think about that one example and you're like oh you you could
36:39
chalk that up and make it real simple like oh wow I developed a good relationship with somebody on the team
36:44
that relationship has benefited you all these years and it started with that c
36:51
trip so it's not just oh I was able to get to know somebody that I didn't know before no that's a beneficial relation
36:57
reltionship that yall have had now ongoing for all this time so that's the impact of a trip together is you you
37:06
just can't even predict things like that that could happen now on the flip side like you said earlier there's there's
37:12
negative things that can happen to there's drama there's fights that can happen there can be this person got too
37:19
drunk and said things that she shouldn't have said absolutely that can happen too
37:24
I think a lot of that can be mitigated with really clear expectations and rules and boundaries so that it's only
37:31
positives that we're gaining out of that but I really think the positive
37:37
opportunities way outweigh the negative potential that's there as well now one
37:43
other thing I'll say because I do want to take a moment here to talk to team members because um I know I work with
37:54
dentist I my dad's a dentist I have I I am a consultant for a reason I love
37:59
dentists and I want to be a support to their practices but I also love team members but one thing that chaps my hide
38:07
is when I know my client is making an investment like you're making $20,000 in
38:13
this trip and those team members don't recognize
38:20
the luxury of that so team members that are listening to this going yeah my
38:27
should do a trip I'll I'll tell you you need to approach these trips with a
38:32
reverence a respect an appreciation they are making in an
38:38
investment in you becoming a better professional a better person they're making an
38:44
investment in you connecting with your team members or connecting with other team members Across the Nation in this
38:51
in this moment or in this opportunity there needs to be a sincere appreciation
38:56
for what your boss has put into this trip the planning the time the money the
39:02
risk involved in that the negative risk is always there that drama's going to
39:08
happen or somebody's going to bail at the last minute and the doctor loses out on all that money that he or she spent
39:16
there's a lot of risk involved so please team members do not be flippant about
39:22
what your boss is doing don't complain that they chose the Houston seminar over
39:29
the Vegas seminar are you out of your mind be thankful for whatever seminar
39:34
they sign you up for be grateful for those opportunities that you have to learn even if your boss is one of those
39:41
that goes real simple with it we're just doing the in town one and you know I'll take you to lunch afterwards that's
39:47
still something that should be appreciated and respected so um I think when we've got team members that are
39:53
approaching it from the right mindset and they're looking at it as not just an opportunity to go party but an
39:59
opportunity to learn and grow as a professional we're going to have practice owners that are a whole lot more willing to make that investment
40:05
well and a lot of times not all a lot of times every time it's whatever happens is the fuel for the next year
40:14
and so if people act a fool at this trip there is no trip next year that was it and probably not ever again yeah and if
40:20
everything went well and everybody was respectful and if drama was there it was kept at a minimum or the doctor didn't
40:26
have to deal with much and there's a spirit of gratitude and a spirit of what
40:31
can we come do to make this better for the office y That's the other thing push yourself too because if we all had a
40:38
great time and the team building was great but my mindset would be okay what did y'all learn what are we doing to
40:43
improve the office and everybody's like and I turn to somebody and I'm like hey yeah you know Sally tell Mom about
40:50
the class the sugar toxicity oh yeah it was sugar was bad okay you're not you're
40:56
not helping me the one of the points of this class was to help us make this
41:01
connection and help our patients and if you slept through class and you're not able to do that you're probably not
41:07
getting invited on a trip again because if all you were doing was going for a party I can take you to a party in town
41:14
so approach it with how am I going to use whatever information I gleaned to
41:19
make my workplace better right right and your boss doesn't owe you this your
41:27
CE is your responsibility I don't care if it's a built-in perk that's written in the
41:34
office policy manual that the doctor helps to pay for your CES or does anybody do that no okay y'all
41:41
collaborate but again I don't even care if it's written into the fabric of the business that practice owner does not
41:48
owe you anything your CE is your responsibility if you're a hygienist an
41:53
RDA a licensed individual you are ultimately L responsible so if your
41:59
practice owner your boss puts together an event where this is taken care of and
42:05
you're not having to think about it for the year that is a huge perk and that is
42:10
a huge benefit and treat that with respect and appreciation well I'll tell you even for aapd I was looking at it
42:18
and there's a different fee if you're bringing in a non-guest or a a non uh C
42:25
taking guest so there's one registration fee for that and there's a whole another one that's like four times the amount
42:31
for somebody who's gonna take CE I was gonna pay that for you know for the two front desk girls that aren't uh involved
42:39
you know they don't have a license they don't have CE requirements I was going to sign them up as guests but the other six that I'm taking five whatever it is
42:46
I was going to pay so that they could get CE um and the only reason I didn't
42:52
do that is was a pain in the ass to register them and I couldn't figure out how to do it easily so I was like never mind
42:57
so I actually need to go back and tell them you're not getting CE credit for this yeah so that's not part of but
43:04
you're still expected to go to class right so anyway all of that it's like just being clear at the Forefront but
43:10
they should still be appreciative that somebody's paying for their flight to Denver yeah even if the doc picks the 6 a.m. flight you know as a business
43:18
that's what I should be doing yeah um yeah be grateful and make sure that if
43:23
you hear grumbling on your team from other team members that you stop that and you remind them to be grateful that
43:30
we have a boss that's willing to invest in us that's willing to to trust us enough with this
43:38
investment so I really want to make sure that team members you're you're treating this the way that you should I think if
43:45
we had more of that we'd have fewer docs that are hesitant are full out resistant
43:52
to take their teams you know on these trips that that cost an investment real
43:58
quick I I I hope we still have time here the two other things that I've heard that that always made me nervous one was
44:04
I remember the when I was an associate that boss going he was sighing about something I'm like what happened and it
44:10
was like he paid for hotel air registration um and and somebody was
44:18
like well but we technically get hours because we were sitting in class and we whatever and I think that really
44:23
frustrated him the employee is not wrong but it just feels like we're getting
44:29
milked for every penny and that's not a good feeling so I think then the next
44:34
year he changed it I I want to say it went two or three years where he's like fine like if I'm making you go to class
44:40
then this is what you're getting paid your hourly but I'm not paying for your this and I'm not paying for your lunch
44:45
and I'm not paying for your that so it actually ends up costing you more you know um so again that's why I do the
44:51
contract that I do um and then the other thing was that people people what else
44:57
happened oh I'd always heard well yeah you take somebody to this trip to Denver and then they quit the next month and so
45:05
now you've invested in all them so I don't know what to tell you if you are planning to quit please don't be the
45:11
who's going on this trip for free like that is just such a wrong thing to do but again how do I protect
45:16
myself from that I got that written into my contract as well y um so um anyway I
45:23
I just think but just being a good person please just be a good person yeah yeah and um yeah yeah I agree and we'll
45:31
do a Shameless plug here if you look at all these conferences and you can't figure out what you want to do and nothing seems to be the right fit
45:38
contact us we've got a great Consulting crash course that you can travel to the DFW metroplex and you can bring your
45:45
team here and we'll have a custom course just for you and your team so if all else fails or maybe start there and then
45:51
you can look at all the other conferences [Music]
45:58
okay Bethany I got to tell you about a conversation I had the other day that I thought was so funny so I'm talking to a
46:05
colleague of mine who I think is super smart and he's having some questions
46:10
about what's his next move in his professional career moves and I said
46:16
something like you know do you have somebody helping you and he knows that I work with you and so he knew I was
46:22
alluding to you and he said uh no and I said well have you ever thought thought about it and he's like you know maybe I
46:28
will and I'll hire somebody and you know once I kind of figure out like all the things that they know and I master that
46:35
then I don't think I would continue with the consultant and I I just thought that was
46:41
so funny and I wanted to know cuz obviously you're said consultant and to me I was like oh yeah Bethany has a
46:47
checklist of like 10 things that she does and once I master that maybe I
46:52
haven't mastered those 10 things because I'm slow and I still need you can you
46:57
comment on any of that so the example I always use the example of professional
47:03
athletes I think of Michael Jordan I think of LeBron James and these are
47:09
people at the top of their career the top of the top and yet they still have
47:14
coaches I'm glad to hear you say that this is where you and I have worked together long enough cuz that's exactly what I said to him and I said oh okay so
47:20
LeBron doesn't have any more coaches right because he's already won so many championships he's already learned all
47:26
the things that all the coaches can help him with he just looked at me but I tell you for such a smart guy this was such a
47:33
dumb comment like it's just laughable and I don't understand why more more dentists don't take advantage of
47:39
coaching and Consulting it's laughable I'm so glad you're here and you do what you do and you are worth every penny and
47:46
please tell me you have face next year for more of your Consulting courses we do we have a couple of spots available
47:54
so should the hashtag be don't be a dummy call us get yourself to that Consulting crash
48:01
course as quickly as possible don't be laughable don't be laughable