My wife has to ask my daughter, Emma, to do anything three times. At three, she already knows that the third request is the threshold. The fourth time is the “no-go” zone. Massachusetts State Troopers let you drive 75 MPH in the fourth lane on weekday mornings, before 7 a.m. Not 76. My cruise control is set and I join the unwashed masses streaming to work below the radar.
Our patients and teams know exactly what we’ll tolerate. We communicate these things clearly with our actions – or lack thereof. We are chiropractors; we love connection, transformation and overt affection – not conflict. Everyone around us knows this.
Your patients – and your team – are like teenagers constantly banging against the fence that you’ve set around the perimeter. They will test their boundaries, looking for the path of your least resistance. Just remember that you placed that fence there, with love, for their benefit and that sometimes leadership has as much to do with defining standards as inspiring others to reach them.
“When should I hire a second Front Desk CA?”
Now go and inspire someone back into line,
Stephen Franson