Courage and Joy at Work

September is going to be a busy one, and I’m excited to be stepping onto two very different stages for two conversations I care deeply about.

From the future of communication and AI to the leadership issues affecting associate retention in dentistry, these are conversations that matter right now.

I’d love to see you at one of these events!

Archy Future Proof
September 11-13, 2026
Las Vegas, NV
Did AI Write This? Communicating in the Age of AI”

Register here:
https://www.archy.com/futureproof?utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_MrL_4aMno2cKN8dDwfZ2aUD7ylguU8QPasxGRkYS6SRCT0mc9zYFN_3VRwQCNGdCkFzY9toXasZbG0qr8RbrDGIRC0Hm1BKeF1V24t-7Ungx9FBY&_hsmi=427174659&utm_content=427174659&utm_source=hs_email

HR For Health Dental Leadership Summit
September 16-18, 2026
Austin, TX
The Associate Gap: Why Your Retention Problem Is Actually a Leadership Problem

Register here:
https://dentalleadershipsummit.com/register?utm_content=379459696&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&hss_channel=lcp-68581738

Your name might not be next to the finance column on the org chart.

That does not mean you get to stop understanding the numbers.

I see this happen with women in dental ownership all the time. A partner handles finance. A CFO owns the reporting. Someone else runs the meetings, so slowly, the owner steps back.

She stops asking questions, stops looking at the numbers.
She starts thinking, that's their area.

Until a major decision lands on the table and she realizes she doesn't have enough information to make the decision with confidence.

That can happen quietly.

And by the time you notice it, you're already playing catch-up in your own business.

You don't have to become the CFO. You don't have to own every financial decision or know every line of the P&L by heart.

You do need to understand how the money moves, what the numbers are telling you, and what questions to ask when something doesn't make sense.

Your accountability chart tells you who owns the work.

It doesn't give you permission to check out of the conversation.

If you're ready to get more clarity around your role as a leader and owner, comment CLARITY. I'd love to chat.

What if the employee handbook you think is protecting your practice is actually outdated?

This is one of those things that most practice owners don’t think about until they absolutely have to.

In Episode 59 of The Real Talk of Dental, Ray Brunner and I get into what HR actually looks like inside a dental practice and why things like employee handbooks, SOPs, payroll, timekeeping, and employment law are not interchangeable.

We also talk about why asking Google, ChatGPT, Facebook groups, or your dental colleagues a sensitive HR question may not be the best move when the stakes are high.

And because this is The Real Talk of Dental, we also go way back. Ray shares stories from his 1-800-DENTIST days, his experience helping build a healthcare dot-com in the early days of the internet, and what it looked like to reinvent his career later in life.

There’s a lot packed into this one.

Tune in on Friday!

Imagine walking into your practice and seeing your team smile because they're happy you're there.

That's the kind of leadership Brandi Carter talks about in this episode, and it's something our industry needs more of.

People remember how leaders make them feel long after they forget what was said in a meeting. When your team knows you care about them as people first, the conversations about accountability become easier because trust is already there.

If you enjoy honest conversations about leadership, culture, and dentistry, join the TRT Insider email list and never miss an episode.

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Imagine building a culture so strong that people move across the country just to keep working with you.

That's exactly what we get into with Brandi Carter on this week's episode of The Real Talk of Dental.

The dental industry spends a lot of time talking about production, KPIs, growth, and profitability, but we don't spend nearly enough time talking about the people behind those numbers. Brandi has spent years building teams that don't stay because they're forced to. They stay because they feel cared for, challenged, and supported.

We also talked about why leaders need their own support systems, why servant leadership isn't soft leadership, and why DSO executives need to spend more time inside their practices instead of making decisions from conference rooms. The businesses that thrive over the long term almost always have one thing in common: they never lose sight of their people.

Tune in on Friday!

Someone steps into a leadership role and spends the first few months convinced they're failing.

Not because they are.

Because they're measuring themselves against someone who's been doing the job for five or ten years.

I've coached new office managers who compare themselves to directors of operations.

New CEOs comparing themselves to founders.

New leaders comparing themselves to the person who built the systems they're now trying to learn.

Of course it feels impossible.

You're comparing your beginning to someone else's experience.

Every leader you admire had a first day.

They forgot things. They asked questions. They made decisions they would handle differently today.

The difference isn't talent.

It's time.

Leadership isn't something you master in a weekend, a conference, or a certification. It's built conversation by conversation, mistake by mistake, and decision by decision.

Give yourself permission to be new.

Stay curious. Keep learning. Ask for feedback. Celebrate the progress nobody else can see yet.

Six months from now, you'll look back and realize you knew more than you gave yourself credit for, and you'll also see how much you've grown.

That's how leadership works.

If you've been putting impossible pressure on yourself lately, comment ELE. I'd love to chat.

Get comfortable telling people why they matter.

Think about that. Not assuming they know but actually telling them.

Leadership isn't only about accountability.
It's also about helping people see the value they bring.

If you're looking for more conversations like this, join the TRT Insider Email List for weekly leadership insights and podcast updates.

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