Without personal power, profit and influence in your own life and practice, you are unlikely to learn from the past, deal with the present and plan, as accurately as possible, for the future. But just why are these so important?
One of my fascinations as a consultant comes from dealing with the vast differences in how people view the world, as well as their own professions. Even more fascinating is how they respond to the wide variety of situations we are all presented with every day. Now, this is something I've written on extensively during the last three years and continue to research on almost on a daily basis.
Of course, there are many reasons for these vast differences even amongst similar groups of people like DCs, MDs, DMDs, JDs, etc. No doubt that there are biologic and, likely, even genetic responses. Some are cultural. Some are environmental. And lets not forget education and professional training.
No doubt, the largest factor accounting for all these differences is personal beliefs about the world we live in, and how we should act upon incoming information and react or not to the situations we are faced with on almost a moment-to-moment basis.
Our personal beliefs are what comprise our self-image. Many years ago, Dr. Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon, observed this in his patients, and then went on to write about it extensively in his landmark work, "Psychocybernetics".
Dr. Maltz's observations at the time were, and still are, landmark in dealing with human behavior and achievement. Maltz observed that humans have the unique capacity to set courses like a missile and hit targets with precision. He also astutely observed that these missile courses are never over a straight line and, indeed, the vast majority of travel time is off course.
Q. So what causes a missile, or you or I, to hit our targets?
A. It's really a matter of constant course correction.
Q. And which is the faster course?
A. It's always a straight line.
Q. Which combination of characteristics produces a straighter line in professional practice development?
A. It's Personal Power, Profit and Influence.
Success, happiness and fulfillment in practice and in life are always a combination of accurate assessment and response, over and over again. This is also why the mechanisms we teach to run and grow a professional practice actually work.
As keen as Maltz's observations were, it really wasn't until 1970, when Alvin Toffler wrote "Future Shock," did we come to understand, again, some of the reasons why we have vast differences not only in human behavior, but society as a whole.
Toffler's work also clearly demonstrates how ignorance of these factors can lead entire groups and organizations to become ineffective, powerless and unprofitable. Very much like healthcare practitioners or "providers". Not because they have changed, but rather because the world has changed, seemingly, very quickly.
So how can we prosper and grow as individuals and professionals and have the largest impact on humanity? How can we stand for solid principles and render the excellence in human services we have been trained to do? It will be only through Personal Power, Profit, and Influence.
Personal Power comes from building all aspects of our lives on a firm foundation. Personal Power, in this day and age, comes only with an eye clearly on the future. Ignorance of either the speed of change or the magnitude of change will lead to failure. Without firm foundations, principles and beliefs, we are like trees without roots.
With a firm foundation, however, we can weather hurricanes, tornadoes and tsunamis and profit. You and you alone will determine your financial future. Without profit and savings, a strong financial future is an impossibility. Without a strong financial position as doctors, we actually end up powerless in so many ways.
Finally, let's discuss influence. Many of us ignore the impact of our influence on our patients, our staff and, most especially, our communities. Those doctors who maintain a high degree of influence, not only in their offices but also in their communities, will undoubtedly be those who master personal power and profit.
In "Future Shock or Future Affluence," we will explore the importance that all these have, not only in our personal and professional lives, but the significant role that our collective efforts have in producing meaningful results and a bright future, not only for doctors, but in a distressed healthcare system and, most especially, our patients.
I hope you will join me on the quest to preserve patient choice, the affordable access to private healthcare, and the highest quality of care possible.
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Dr. John Hayes, Jr. is an Evvy Award Nominee and author of
Living and Practicing by Design. Know more about his unique approaches to private practice success, visit
http://perfectpracticeweb.com/ and register for a FREE CD and Info Pack.
