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HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE

TO INSTILL A CULTURE OF ACCOUNTABILITY, CONSIDER TAKING THE LEAD

GARY GERBER, O.D.

WE JUST discussed this at our office meeting! That isn’t the right way to ____.” (Fill in your staff frustration point — for example, answer the phone, clean the phoropter, discuss AR lenses — this list may be miles long.)

The quote, “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it,” is attributed to Dwight Eisenhower. If he’s right, then if your staff wants to do something, it should get done. This aspect of leadership often leads to a discussion of accountability. In school, you attempted to turn in your optics lab correctly and on time because you wanted to pass and you were accountable for turning it in. If you didn’t turn it in, you knew your grade would suffer. If your grades suffered enough, you wouldn’t be reading this article because you wouldn’t be an O.D.

INSTILL ACCOUNTABILITY

Fear of failure with the associated consequences is certainly one motivator. But, deeper inside that is the sense of accountability and being part of something bigger. Being a “team player” is a cliché — but it’s important. The inherent driver of making someone a team player is instilling a sense of accountability.

So, how is your staff held accountable for not answering the phones correctly? My guess is they’re not. If appointments aren’t booked the way you discussed at your meeting, is there a method of accountability in place that is obvious and front and center to your staff? Probably not.

TAKE THE LEAD

As it is with many initiatives, one way to instill a culture of accountability is to lead by example.

During the same office meeting above, your staff says a large percentage of patients are complaining that they wait too long. Check-in runs on time, pre-test happens like clockwork, but once a patient is seated in an exam room and told, “The doctor will be right in,” the patient waits, and waits, and waits.

Alerted to this and acknowledging that it’s a problem worth fixing, you think about how you can lead by example and show accountability and ownership. To do that, tell your staff, “You’re right. It’s a problem, and the cause is that I often get carried away in non-clinical chatter with patients. I know that’s causing a log jam. I’ll start to do better with the first patient after this meeting.”

Exhibit accountability by adding, “I will track the actual time I’m with patients and see how often I go beyond the allotted time. At the end of each day, I’ll print a report and review each of those visits where I went over, even if it was just by one minute. That way, while the day’s appointments are still fresh in my mind, I can see how I can do better. By our next monthly meeting, I want to commit to a goal of staying on time for 80% of appointments, and by the month after, 90%. I’ll share the reports at the next meeting.”

THE PAYOFF

Through the next two months, your staff will see you holding yourself accountable (leading by example) and trying to fix a problem. That way, when you ask them to do the same thing, they should be more likely to want to do so and, thereby, amp up your ability to lead your team. OM

DR. GERBER is the president of the Power Practice, a company specializing in making optometrists more profitable. Learn more at www.powerpractice.com, or call Dr. Gerber at (888) 356-4447.