It's The Who, Not The Do - 6/4/2008
Twenty-seven years and over 25,000 Chiropractic offices later, no matter where I go, the number one question I hear everyday, is, “Larry, what can I do to build a bigger, better and more successful practice?” And, believe it or not, it is a question that comes from the mouths of not only new or struggling practitioners, but surprisingly enough, from those who have solid medium-level practices and even from those who run superstar practices.
“Tell me what to DO” has become the mantra of an entire profession. Tell me what to DO to get more new patients! Tell me what to DO to get patients to comply and stay longer? Tell me what to DO to stop my staff from turning over so fast…and on and on it goes – DO, DO, DO.
What it really comes down to is that all Chiropractors, as individual entrepreneurs, really want to grow more fulfilling and outstandingly successful practices, but either the way they are currently “doing it” isn’t working, or according to them, they have been there and done that and “nothing” seems to be working. Believe me I know the feeling.
I Failed Big Time, Before I Learned How To Succeed
When I first started to practice way back when, I failed miserably for the first seven years, and it didn’t matter that I was raised as a Chiropractic patient and that I loved this profession with all my heart. It didn’t even matter that I thought myself to be clinically competent, having graduated at the top of my class. Heck, it didn’t even matter that B.J. Palmer himself was one of my teachers.
What did count was that no matter how hard I tried and regardless of all the things that others told me to DO…success in any form was an elusive commodity. In my case, things started to change radically when I started to change me as a person and that, of course, changed me as a Chiropractor. Then, and only then, did all the DO’s start to be effective.
I Actually Decided To Change Who I Was
Yes, although very painful, once I discovered that I was responsible for my own success or failure and that it wasn’t the school I graduated from, or my community, or the insurance companies or the competition, etc., I actually made a decision to diligently work on me – on who I was inside. Believe me, it wasn’t easy to accept that me, myself and I, was causing my failure and not necessarily what I was DOING.
It was my concepts and visions, my beliefs, my securities and insecurities, my lack of confidence, my fear of rejection, my inability to confront, the words I selected, my methods of expression, the limited thinking of the people I hung around with and all the other intangible personality traits that actually caused the lack of results I was experiencing with the actions steps that I was taking.
Consider This Analogy
Three different Chiropractors are invited to DO a Spinal Screening at the same Health Fair, on the same day, under the same weather conditions and at booths with similar great locations just feet away from each other. The booths are mirror images of one another and so are the doctors in that they were all asked to wear blue blazers with tan pants and white shirts.
Each DC had a similar goal -- to attract as many people as possible to their booth, screen them, explain the amazing health benefits achieved under Chiropractic care and get them to make an appointment to go to their offices for a complete and thorough examination.
One Chiropractor signed up 25 potential new patients, but only 10 showed up and 6 started care. Another signed up only 12 new potential patients, however 10 came in for examinations and 6 started care (same number as the doctor who signed up 25). Doctor number three, only made appointments for 7 potential new patients, but everyone of them showed up, started care and became great enthusiasts of the Chiropractic principle and natural health care.
So, what was the difference between them? Why do different doctors DOING the same thing get different results? For the same reason that if we start 10 new members at the same time -- all graduates from the same college, all 32 years old (tall, thin and extremely handsome like me), all practicing within a one mile radius of one another, all using the same techniques and all using the same strategies and action steps to succeed -- that one year later they get 10 different success results.
How could that be? They sit in the same class, listen to the same lectures, read our text, listen to the same tapes and do the same affirmations, etc. It is because of “who they are” inside-the-skin, on the BE level, just as is the case with doctor number three in the Spinal Screening analogy above.
Identity-Based Vs. Strategy-Based
You see it is “Who You Are”, not only what you DO that determines your success in practice and in life. It can be stated like this; “Who you are determines how well what you do works.” It is a persons’ “Identity” that determines how effective the action steps taken will turn out.
It is a combination of a person’s purpose, their energy and enthusiasm, their belief in what they do, their desire to make a difference in a patient’s health and how they communicate the Chiropractic message that makes all the difference in the world. Remember, people won’t ever ”buy” the message, without first “buying” the messenger – their concept of who they are and what they stand for.
Success is, in fact, very personal. It is about your clarity, your congruency, your determination, your guts and audacity to be different and to stand for a principle like the one which fuels Chiropractic.
And clearly, I am not saying that you shouldn’t know what to DO! You must indeed become expert in all the strategies, office procedures and action steps that build and operate a Chiropractic practice. We spend countless hours at our seminars teaching state-of-the-art procedures and modern methods of attracting, educating and retaining patients until they reach Wellness Care. But when push comes to shove, It’s The Who, Not The Do!
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