I want you to think about the last time you gave a clear, direct instruction to your team.
Maybe it was during the morning huddle. Maybe it was a one-on-one with your office manager. You looked them in the eye. They looked you in the eye. They nodded and said, “Got it, Doc.”
You walked away feeling good. You thought, “Finally, we are on the same page.”
And then, three days later, you realized that absolutely nothing happened. Or worse, the exact opposite of what you asked for happened.
It makes you want to pull your hair out. It makes you feel like you are babysitting adults instead of leading professionals. And the question that keeps you up at night is: Why won’t they just listen?
Do they not respect me? Are they lazy? Do I need to fire everyone and start over?
The answer is likely not what you think. The problem isn’t their hearing, and it isn’t even their work ethic. The problem is that you have unknowingly trained your team to filter you out. You have created an environment where listening to you is actually dangerous to their workflow.
Today, we are going to fix that by changing three specific mechanisms in how you lead.
Flavor of the Week
As dentists, we are entrepreneurs and visionaries. We are constantly trying to improve. You go to a CE course or listen to a podcast, get fired up, and walk into the office on Monday morning with ten new ideas.
“Guys, everything changes today! We are changing the perio protocol. And getting a CBCT. And changing the uniforms. And doing sleep apnea screenings!”
Your team smiles and nods. But internally? They are rolling their eyes.
They know something you don’t: Your pattern. They know that by Wednesday, you will get busy with a difficult molar endo and forget about eight of those ideas. They know if they just wait 48 hours, the storm will pass.
You have taught them that your words have a short shelf life. Their survival mechanism is to tune you out until they see if you are actually serious.
The Solution: The Implementation Buffer You have to stop being the “Idea Factory” and start being the “Execution Machine.” You need a system that forces you to prioritize one initiative at a time.
But how do you choose which idea to focus on? How do you stop guessing?
This is exactly why I created the 90-Day Dental Practice Growth Plan (Download Here).
Most dentists fail not because they lack ideas, but because they lack a sequence. This free roadmap solves the “Flavor of the Week” problem by breaking your practice growth down into five specific stages:
- Attracting Patients
- Scheduling
- Diagnosis
- Case Acceptance
- Completion
Instead of overwhelming your team with 50 random thoughts, you look at the plan. It tells you: “For Weeks 1 and 2, we are ONLY focusing on Attracting New Patients.”
When you give your team one, clear, strategic focus from a proven roadmap, they stop filtering you. They realize, “Oh, Doc is serious. This is on the plan. I need to pay attention.”
The Silent Agreement (The Nod)
This is the most common mechanical failure in dental communication. You explain a complex concept, and your team member nods.
You interpret that nod as: “I understand, I agree, and I commit to executing this.” In reality, that nod usually means: “I hear your voice making sound. I am nodding so you will stop talking and let me get back to the three phone lines that are ringing.”
The nod is a social defense mechanism. It is polite compliance, not comprehension.
The Solution: The Playback Method Stop accepting the nod. When you give an instruction, never just walk away. Stop, pause, and say:
“Just so I know I didn’t miss anything, can you walk me through how you’re going to handle that next time?”
Notice the phrasing. Do not say, “Repeat what I said,” which sounds condescending. Ask them to “walk you through” their plan. If they can’t explain it in their own words, they didn’t hear you. This 10-second habit exposes the gap between what you said and what they heard before it becomes a failure.
Boring Them with Tasks
Finally, the deepest reason teams don’t listen is that we are boring them to death. We delegate Tasks instead of Outcomes.
- Task: “Call Mrs. Jones.” (Chore. Robot mode. Low status.)
- Outcome: “Mrs. Jones has untreated decay on your tooth. I’m worried it will turn into a root canal. We need to save that tooth. Can you take ownership of getting her on the schedule?” (Mission. Partner mode. High status.)
When you assign an outcome, the team member has to engage their intelligence. They stop being a task-rabbit and start being a partner in the practice.
Where to Find the Right Outcomes You can’t just make these missions up on the fly. This brings me back to the 90-Day Growth Plan.
The reason I use this tool in my own practices is that it gives you the specific Outcomes to assign for every role.
- Weeks 7-8 (Case Acceptance): Instead of saying “sell more crowns,” the plan prompts you to assign the outcome of tracking refusal reasons (money, fear, time).
- Weeks 11-12 (Audit): The plan prompts you to assign the outcome of identifying the weakest link in the funnel.
When you use a structured roadmap like this, you aren’t nagging. You are leading a campaign.
Your Next Step
If you are ready to stop the chaos and start leading with a clear roadmap, click here to download the 90-Day Growth Plan for free.
It is the exact playbook I use to keep my teams focused. Stop being the broken record. Stop trusting the nod. Get the plan, follow the sequence, and watch your team start listening again.
