The Super Bowl, (aka the biggest day in American sports) is just around the corner!
No matter who you’re rooting for—and whether you plan on losing your voice shouting at the TV, are just in it for the commercials, or couldn’t give two hoots about football—there’s no denying that the Super Bowl is a fascinating event.
It’s a culmination of the best of the best—players and coaches who have poured their heart and soul into what they do, and have earned their place at the top.
As a practice owner, maybe that feeling sounds familiar… putting everything into growing your business in hopes of achieving future success. In actuality, practice ownership is A LOT like playing in the NFL.
So, if you’re wondering what you and the Kansas City Chiefs or the San Francisco 49ers have in common… here are four things a successful practice has in common with a Championship football team:
1. They know how to build a team of “A” Players
Last year, the New England Patriots won their sixth Super Bowl. I admit, I couldn’t name more than five players on their team before the playoffs began (and I consider myself a football fan).
By winning the Super Bowl, it could be argued that New England had the best team, but we all can agree that they’re not even close to having the best talent. Many NFL teams have more athleticism and speed.
A great team—both on the field and in the clinic— doesn’t necessarily require the best, most talented (and expensive) therapists. You don’t necessarily need the biller who has 20 years of experience. It all comes down to the ability of management to identify, attract, and retain “A” Players.
An “A” Player isn’t necessarily someone that is fully trained and can come into your business ready to operate just the way you want them to. What an “A” Player has is the ability to be coached, the ability to understand how to think, they know how to engage with others, and believe in your philosophy. “A” players have these characteristics built-in, they don’t need to be taught.
2. They set clear objectives…and alleviate confusion.
Have you ever seen a quarterback throw a pass to someone who wasn’t paying attention? Or a completely missed tackle because someone thought “the other guy” had it?
This lack of communication can have a detrimental impact in sports… and it’s the same in the business world.
There’s no single more important skill an owner can possess, than being good communicator. In my experience, communication is the #1 reason for staff confusion—and just like they say “confused people don’t produce.”
Employee confusion can easily lead to decreased trust, low morale, increased turnover, and low productivity.
The key to decreasing confusion? Increasing clarity.
When you don’t have that confusion, the barriers are eliminated, and you can focus on productivity and results.
3. They trust others.
The success of any quarterback comes down to one thing: how much they trust their teammates. Every game, they must trust that the receiver will run the right pattern and catch the ball, or that the offensive lineman will give them enough time in the pocket in order to make a play successful.
As a clinic owner, YOU are the star quarterback of your practice! By giving them your trust, they will walk over hot coals to support you.
As practice owners, it can be incredibly hard for us to delegate tasks to our employees (and trust they will do it well)—but this is critical for practice success.
Effective delegation increases your time to focus on other, more important aspects of your practice. Delegation also engages your team, builds trust and empowers them to do a good job. And every time you delegate, you get one step closer to being operationally irrelevant. That means your clinic can run like clockwork, without you having to be there to manage every detail.
It’s okay to start small and build up from there. Check out these 3 simple ways to start delegating.
4. They use a playbook
“Winging it” isn’t a thing in football. Every game has a plan. Every play has a purpose. Nothing is by accident. It takes a team of coaches to analyze, strategize, and teach to make a team successful.
The same holds true for your practice. To be successful, you MUST know where you are going.
A powerful way to keep focused, to create actionable daily steps, and to build momentum for goal accomplishment is to use what I call a 90 Day Sprint.
The 90 Day Sprint is about staying focused, step by step, in a measurable and manageable timeframe. It’s about breaking down the most complicated visions and goals into simple next steps and identifying milestones that we want to achieve as we work toward accomplishing our vision.
Here’s how to build your 90 Day Sprint plan.
Want to steal a page out of my playbook? Join me for the Practice Transformation Spring Workshop in Gaithersburg, MD from March 19 – 20! In this hands-on workshop, I’ll be providing a play-by-play with clear, actionable steps for action-oriented practice owners to achieve financial prosperity and a better quality of life.
I’ll show you how to build your team of A players, how to attract and retain your raving fans (clients!) and how to make more money… all while working less!
Click here to learn more.
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By Jamey Schrier
PT, Founder & CEO, Practice Freedom U
January 29, 2019
4 minute read
