All team members experience some level of stress and fear in the day to day operations of the dental practice. This can lead to a culture of risk-aversion and low trust which has long and short-term consequences for the practice.
Forms of fear to consider in the practice are; fear of failure, embarrassment, under performance, rejection, change and uncertainty, confrontation and isolation.
Leadership practices to help create a culture that support healthy working relations invite more transparency in decision making in which information is shared openly and with accountability. Mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities and risk taking is encouraged and supported.
Exercise #65: Embrace Fear in the Practice.
Pass each team member a piece of paper and a pen. Have each person anonymously write one fear that they have at work. Collect each folded paper and place into a hat. Shuffle and pass out one per person.
Take turns reading the fear aloud. The reader attempting to explain what he or she thinks the person who wrote the fear means. No comments from the listeners. Allow 2 minutes per speaker. After all the comments have been discussed, share openly as a group.
What did you learn? How can you help?