Most people, particularly dentists and doctors, need way too much information and are paralyzed by and can’t move forward because of the misconception that they must wait until the time is perfect to move. If you have 80% of the information you need to make a decision, you probably have enough and you should pull the trigger. The key characteristic or defining hallmark of my decision making skill and the ability to navigate and move my company forward has been that I haven’t waited until the time seemed perfect, but instead I’ve waited until the time seems right and I…
Posts Categorized:Leadership
When the big stack of mail gets plopped on my desk each day, I won’t lie, there are many letters I’d prefer not to open. When I see a return address from an attorney or the IRS, I react with as much gleeful anticipation as a toddler sitting in front of a very large bowl of steamed broccoli. It’s on these days that a hand-written thank you card from a Burleson Seminars member shines through like a ray of sunshine. I receive a lot of these cards, which I attribute to the caliber of our member doctors and not the…
Ideas come and go. Every day, I write down a handful of new ideas in my planner. I’ve done this for years. I try to write down at least ten, not because any of my ideas are all that great, but because it gets me in the habit of seeing ideas come and go. Also, it doesn’t hurt to capture what’s in my head. Occasionally I will stumble across something really interesting and my only hope of remembering it is to write it down. I’ve read the biographies of too many great thinkers, writers and comedians who keep journals or…
Marcus Aurelius said, “Our actions may be impeded… but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” This simple but profound maxim became Ryan Holiday’s impetus for writing The Obstacle is the Way, a brilliant book I highly recommend you read at least once per year. Today, if you’re honest with yourself, there are at least a few big, hairy obstacles that delay and impede your…
The Smithsonian magazine reported recently that archaeologists uncovered an ancient Roman bathroom, decorated with suggestive mosaics, meaning dirty jokes were built right into the walls. Just like bathroom humor has been around since the dawn of time, there are many things that never change, even in today’s fast-paced, always-on, hyper-connected society. For example, your patients will always want to know certain things from you before they buy, before they refer, before they pay in full, etc. Each year, Jeff Bezos and Amazon ask, “What do we know about the consumer that never changes?” This is an extremely telling secret hidden in…
Most small business owners are used to giving answers, not asking questions. If you followed around some of the world’s top CEOs and leaders, you would find the exact opposite is true. The best leaders are great at asking questions, so that the best ideas win and the best answers quickly become evident, even if they arise from the least-expected team members. Management expert Peter Drucker was well-known for asking smart questions like, “What changes have recently happened that don’t fit what everyone knows?” Read that question again and let it sink in for a minute. Most leaders start their meetings with assumptions,…
Five years ago, Nir Eyal wrote a book called Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, which helped startup tech firms understand user psychology. He discussed the research on slot machines, which use variable rewards and pleasures that come at unpredictable intervals. If you haven’t read, Addiction by Design, it is both amazing and alarming. In response to pressure from psychologists and child development specialists, tech industry insiders have blown the whistle at Google, Facebook and WhatsApp, becoming critics of the very tools and addictive apps they spent years developing. In his latest book, Eyal admits that there will be a movement to be…
In coaching, consulting and reviewing the reports from our on-site trainers, human capital challenges are at the top of the list of items we’re hired to fix. As I’ve done with most systems, challenges and opportunities in business, I help my clients and trainers develop and deploy “litmus tests,” or quick “yes/no” tools to help guide next steps. Here’s one you might put to good use when your next employee challenge or frustration arrives. Ask if this is an issue of character or circumstance. Our data indicate: underperforming employees are rarely an issue of character. These situations are almost always…
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