When you talk about the people who you employ in your practice, what’s the word you use to describe them?

Do you talk about my staff or do you use more inclusive language like our team?

The language you use is far more important than you might think.

Back in the early days, I used to think that my staff were the cause of a lot of the problems in the practice. I’d blame my poor sales results on them for not working hard enough, or not being motivated enough. I used to think they didn’t care enough to be working in this practice, that they should really be more grateful to me for giving them a job, and I found that I really resented them.

The Fish Stinks From The Head Down

I was very fortunate that Greg Gunther, my long-time mentor and fellow founder at The Hive, pulled me up about my attitude. He helped me understand that as the leader of the practice, the team’s behaviour was really a reflection of how I was treating them.

The only way that anyone working at my practice was going to respect me, was for me to give them some respect first.

Respecting Your Podiatry Staff – Becoming A TEAM

Greg used to always say to me that…

“It’s much easier to lead with a carrot than a stick.”

…and I’m glad that even though it took a long time, the message eventually sank in for me.

To build a great team, you need to develop trust amongst your team members.

The first step for me was to start changing my language. “I” and “my” became “us,” and “our” and “I” flipped my attitude around 180 degrees when I realised that I was actually privileged to be a leader of a talented group of people who actually wanted to be part of our podiatry practice team.

How do you talk and think about your team?