Help Wanted: Podiatry Practice Seeks True Leader

Help Wanted: Seeking leader/employer who can effectively manage staff, run an office smoothly and guide a practice to provide modern podiatric medical services in a warm and caring environment. This job requires substantial people skills including active listening, excellent communication and a positive disposition. Must also be trustworthy, honest and fair, and serve as the leading example. Other essential qualifications include problem-solving abilities, team building, conflict mediation, delegation and organization skills. Applications should be mailed to P.O. Box RUthe1, Anytown, USA.

That would be an interesting ad to see. Wouldn’t you agree? We typically see help wanted ads aimed at seeking staff, not the other way around. But what if it was reversed?

I suppose if we needed to run an ad for an employer position, it would look similar to the one posted above. Ideally, we would want applicants to have a suitable level of training and experience as a manager and leader. Like it or not, many new doctors only take the title of “boss” the minute they hire their first employee, even though many have little to no prior experience or training in this capacity. While employers or bosses admit to having high expectations of newly hired employees, why don’t they hold themselves to the same standard and try to live up to that legendary level of a boss everyone wants to work for?

Being a staff person as well as a manager for a large portion of my career and more recently a practice management consultant has allowed me a diverse perspective of the workings that make up a successful practice. I can confidently say that having top-notch, dedicated staff in every functioning role of the office is a direct indication of a healthy employer–employee relationship. The result of these good management skills encourages productivity, efficiency and harmony.

So, what defines a good manager? Someone who, while maintaining the title of “boss,” acts more like a leader. What are the qualifications of leaders? They follow their vision, set the pace, coach employees, are compassionate and generate enthusiasm, focus more on the “we” and not the “I,” give credit, and help develop people. They ask as opposed to command, pull instead of push employees, demonstrate how, explain why, welcome new ideas, inspire, collaborate, are honest and respectful of others. and help to solve problems. Daily.

Who gets the “bad” manager reputation? The micromanager who delegates duties but cannot let go of the control. The employer who chooses to alienate employees by ignoring issues and shutting out communication, who believes that productivity only happens through bully tactics. Or the one who creates an “office manager” position by appointing an unqualified spouse or staff member —neither of whom have proper training — to solve problems when, in fact, their limitations are often the cause of problems.

If you have made it this far and are still reading, you might be wondering,“Why are you beating us up, Lynn? All we really ever wanted to do was treat feet! None of us ever claimed to be ‘Manager of the Year.’”

Believe me, I get it. Unfortunately, while it is natural to want to place more emphasis on the clinical side of your practice, ignoring the staff management side never ends well. I have literally been in so many offices that are good but could be so much better if they placed more importance on properly managing employees.

Survey after survey confirms that people do not leave positions because of the work or workload. They leave because of their managers/employers. I have personally witnessed many valuable staff leave their practices because of management shortcomings. With each departure, the practice faces patient flow disruption, a hole in practice efficiency and a tiresome, cost prohibitive replacement search. If the revolving door of exiting staff continues, patients start to wonder about the common denominator for these departures. Could it be you?

It is not my intent to beat anyone up. My goal is to help folks replace management practices that have damaging effects with more promising, restorative approaches. Think of these suggestions as my valuable Secrets of Success.

Hypothetically though, since we started down this road, if you were to answer the above ad for the perfect employer/manager, would you be able to meet the requirements posted for the job? Better yet, could you?