472: Daniel Murray - the surprising secret of effective leadership

The Savvy Dentist

As a Dental practice owner, one of your key roles is to be able to build and lead your team. Success in your business requires that you master this skill.

It's not a skill that we're born with. It's not a skill that is taught at dental school. It's a skill that we need to develop after dental school, but it is a skill that can be learned.

Recognising that it is your team that looks after your business, we therefore want YOU to be able to look after your team. Creating an environment for them to thrive and do the best work that they can do.

In this episode of The Savvy Dentist Podcast, Dr. Jesse Green is joined by Daniel Murray from empathic consulting. Daniel and Dr. Jesse discuss how empathy as a leadership tool unlocks discretionary effort, how it unlocks culture. They explain what empathy is … and what it's not. This is really about practical leadership to deliver practical results.

At the heart of our philosophy lies the belief that empathy is the paramount capability for enhancing outcomes across businesses, leadership, and communities.

Despite its frequent oversight or misinterpretation in the corporate world, empathy embodies the profound ability to comprehend both the rational and emotional motivations of others.

By cultivating this vital skill, leaders and businesses can forge deeper connections with their employees, customers, and stakeholders. This empathetic approach enables the development of groundbreaking competitive strategies and the nurturing of dynamic, diverse teams, ultimately driving greater employee engagement and organisational success.

Guiding Principles discuss in this episode include;

• Understanding & Empathy: greater self-awareness of the actions, behaviours and subconscious drivers of tension in teams.
• Better Conflict Management: healthily disagreement & challenge to balance fairness, performance & accountability.
• Effective Feedback: the power of immediate, direct & kind feedback to foster a transparent & constructive environment.
• Empathy and Understanding: a strong call to action for empathic support of team members to truly understand their perspectives & behaviours.
• Personal Accountability and Growth: inspire personal growth & accountability at all levels with leadership becoming the way we behave not a title or position.

• [5:43] - How do we boost productivity? How do we get that discretionary effort?
• [10:33] - Where does empathy and empathic leadership fit within our dental practice?
• [14:09] - Sympathy v. Empathy … what are the differences?
• [21:32] - Why you should seek to understand someone’s perspective first.
• [27:06] - How to create strong, trusted relationships with your team.
• [33:07] - Separate trust, from rapport. You are not there to be a team member's bestie.
• [34:50] - Do not think that conflict is a bad thing that should be avoided. If you're having conflict, this is good because that means people care enough to speak up.
• [40:02] - How do you start the process of becoming a more empathic leader?