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If you keep losing your assistants, your hygienists, or your front office staff, this episode is for you. And the answer probably isn't what you think.
In this episode, Dr. Kyle Stanley and Dr. Martin Mendelson tackle staff burnout and retention in dental practices head on. Kyle is candid about it: when he was burning out, he blamed his team for everything. Lazy. Ungrateful. Just in it for the money. Then he started looking inward and realized the leader sets the ceiling for everything that happens underneath them.
Martin draws from Shawn Achor's new book, The Power of Beliefs, and a striking LinkedIn case study: a structured appreciation system between team members, just written notes of genuine praise, moved retention from 80% to 94% over six to twelve months. Fourteen percentage points. At LinkedIn. From notes.
The science behind it isn't complicated. Maslow's hierarchy isn't just a poster in a college classroom. When your team feels psychologically safe, appreciated, and like they belong, they perform better, stay longer, and care more. And the data shows that optimistic workplaces don't just have better morale: patient outcomes actually improve too.
Kyle puts it simply: you can only blame your team once you've done everything possible on your end first. Self-awareness is step one. Controlling your emotions is step two. Most dentists are still on step zero.
And the best part? Most of this costs nothing.
Join Carabelli Club here and save $600 on your yearly membership: https://hubs.la/Q03QQGmD0
If you'd like to chat with Martin about disability insurance, you can click here to find a time on his calendar. He's a licensed agent and happy to connect with you.
Get Kyle's founder's discount for Pearl AI by scheduling a demo here: https://discover.hellopearl.com/referral/kyle-stanley/