For the last two weeks, I’ve been on my honeymoon in the Caribbean. It was magical to have that time with David after the busy time leading up to our wedding a month ago.

But we did have an unexpected surprise on our trip: the resort that we booked was a bit more party-focused than romance-focused at this time of the year, despite the beautiful photos on the website of couples lounging alone on a pristine white sand beach. We made the best of it though. We moved our room away from the pool sound system and, in the end, created our own one-on-one experience that was memorable.

The situation made me realize that in today’s world we see a lot of “Hollywood reality” and hear a lot of stories that tell us what our lives should be like. We are always tempted to compare our daily experience with glossy polished brochure images. In the day-to-day busyness of our family and practice lives, sometimes we can feel very distant from those dreams.

In fact, if we give in to those comparisons, we can end up talking ourselves into an equally deceptive story. If David and I obsessed on what the resort wasn’t, rather than what we could make from it, we would have come home with a different story. But we focused on all the pluses: we were in the Caribbean on a beautiful island, there were so many interesting things to see and do everywhere, and we were with each other. That was more than enough to have a wonderful honeymoon!

The need for leadership perspective

When you look at your practice, it’s tempting to focus on the problem areas. You might have a team gap, marketing gap, financial gap or some other concern. You might feel a lack of excitement or that you are going through the motions without making any progress. The truth is that doctors are, by necessity, problem solvers. You solve problems every day for patients, for referrers, for your team, and for yourself.

But that perspective is not the whole story. Your whole story can only be seen from outside your daily experience, which is a very different perspective and different story: You’re a credentialed accomplished professional with a successful operating practice. You have a team to support your goals, and you have the foundation of all the essential practice systems. Perspective shifts your mindset from seeing liabilities to seeing assets that can be empowered to create even higher success.

Finding your perspective

Getting outside your bubble is a leadership technique for everyone. I found, returning to work this week, that I was more charged up and inspired than ever, and more laser-focused on the assets we have at Endo Mastery to advance our vision for endodontists.

Overall, endodontists are the least likely among dental specialities to give themselves the away time and vision time that they need for perspective. You worry about your referral sources suddenly being seduced over to another endodontist if you’re out of office and not available for emergency care.

I encourage you to think about your leadership perspective and plan to give yourself the benefit of that viewpoint … whether that’s taking a vacation or organized around professional events where you can get inspired by a new vision for your practice assets.

One option that Endo Mastery offers is our 2-day seminar, which is coming up in September in Philadelphia. Many doctors have used this seminar to re-energize and put their practice on a new path to incredible success. You can hear some of their stories here:

SUCCESS STORIES

I promise you; these are not slick marketing videos filled with unrealistic brochure images. It’s real doctors, talking about how they changed their perspective, found their true focus, and transformed their practices and lives.