This article was originally published in the Winter 2024 edition of ICON/REFINED Magazine. Get your copy here.

Written by Rhonda Bowen-Cassidy

IG: @drbowencassidy

Back when I was receiving my formal training in dentistry, I don’t think the importance of leadership was especially prominent in my mind. Certainly my dental school didn’t emphasize it; topics like dental anatomy and periodontics were the focus, not what it means to be a good leader. In fact, even after I started my own practice and began hiring and managing staff and other dental care professionals, the importance of my own role as their “leader” was not obvious to me, at least not at first. Over the years, however—I’ve worked in dental care for more than three decades now—I’ve naturally developed a number of techniques designed to motivate and inspire my employees and colleagues, techniques which I now view as the very elements of effective leadership. In no particular order, I set them out below.

Lead by example

I’ve learned that the best way to motivate your employees is to provide the model yourself. Want your workers to show up on time every day? Then arrive a half-hour early yourself. Want the workers in your office to be enthusiastic about the day’s work? Then show them your own energy and zeal. Anyone can bark an order—and people may or may not listen. But if you provide a shining example instead, people will follow. 

Choose team members carefully

Of course, not everyone is suited to your vision. Not everyone will follow your lead. That is why choosing the right people to work with from the outset is so important. Wisdom in hiring, in assembling your team, is paramount in the exercise of good leadership. Choose people who can see your vision (and adjust your interviewing techniques accordingly!).

Encourage development

In the abstract, to lead people means to guide them to a goal. But the goal shouldn’t just be for the benefit of the leader; the goal should benefit the entire team as well. Make it clear to your employees or team members that, by pursuing the goals you set for them, they are also developing themselves: They are acquiring new skills, getting experience, broadening their horizons. Make it so they understand that everything they do for you, they are also doing for themselves. Let them know that, in the workplace, anything done well is a form of personal and career advancement. Indeed, I have found that investing in my employees’ continuing education has brought back remarkable returns to my practice. Remember: A true group effort should benefit everyone in the group.

Praise publicly

When someone on your team accomplishes an objective particularly well, be sure to praise them—and be sure to praise them so other members of the team are aware of it. Nothing encourages people to excel more than the desire for kudos; show them that honors await them when they do well.

Correct in private

The other side of the coin of the preceding technique: Embarrassment is a poor motivator. Every leader must criticize a team member from time to time. Do it privately, where no one else can see or hear it. In my experience, such private conversations, if carried out with grace and sympathy, can even help foster new bonds between the team member and the leader, and produce even greater results than praise or a reward would have done.

Set achievable goals

Nothing promotes positivity in a team better than the feeling of accomplishment; accordingly, a good work day is one with several short, achievable goals clearly laid out, and with recognition awarded each time one of the goals is met. Remember: Positivity begets positivity. Every day should boast of many small victories.

Bigger goals, too

Naturally every enterprise has long-term goals which cannot be achieved in a day. When those larger goals are met, be sure to recognize it with a proportionate degree of enthusiasm. Celebrate those milestones; let your team bask in their achievement.

Listen

A good leader has to be receptive to criticisms and concerns from team members, and must be able to hear them with grace and understanding. A former employee of mine once described our workplace as a “unicorn office,” a “dream office,” in part because she knew that no matter what her concerns were, she could always come to me with them and would never be “made to feel stupid or shut down.” I took this as a great compliment. Any good enterprise needs smooth communication: Make sure your team knows they can always talk to you, even if the subject is a touchy one.

Each of these techniques that I practice in my work life has the same general objective: To gain the trust of my team. This is the very hallmark of an effective leader. If I myself have been a good leader, it is because I am trusted by those who would accompany me in my endeavors. Strive to win the trust of your people—your employees, your colleagues, your team—and they’ll be sure to follow your lead.