Dr Michael Sernik, Dr Phillip Palmer, January 2004 - If you wanted to measure your chances of building a successful practice, what would you need to measure? Most of us would say things like, a high level of dexterity, a gentle touch, a high IQ, a sharp mind. Up till 1990, that would have been the accepted consensus. CEO’s of companies were hired on the basis of their academic record and technical knowledge. Well, the consensus has changed. (As a dentist you’ll be excused if you don’t keep up-to-date with all the latest business psychology journals).

Today, Emotional Intelligence, (EQ) is the accepted metric to predict business success. In fact EQ is well proven to be a more significant predictor for success than IQ. Success is defined as having less stress, higher job/life satisfaction and more financial assets. (Feeling happier and having good reasons!)

Since the concept was first defined in 1990, it has been the subject of hundreds of books and thousands of papers. Many times dentists with incredible IQ’s, who are technically excellent, can end up with never ending problems with respect to staff, personal relationships and finances.

I recently spoke to the dean of a major business school in the U.S. who told me that it is rare for the MBA students who were at the top of their class academically to become the most successful players in the business world. Typically those students who were in the middle of their class but who had a wider range of interests and were emotionally intelligent were more predictably going to the top.

Exactly the same situation exists with respect to dentists.

Do you know any dentists who are stressed by staff issues, stressed by difficult patients, stressed by financial pressures?

It is common for these dentists to embark on an endless journey to increase their technical know-how, thinking that somehow more technical skills will unlock the door to happiness and fulfillment.

Let me stop here and say that all dentists should always be up-to-date technically and academically, and have appropriate equipment. That is a given. Nevertheless, why is it that some dentists seem to sail through life effortlessly, with prosperous practices, good staff, good case acceptance, and easy rapport with everybody around them?

They seem to have that indefinable ‘extra’ thing. The past 13 years of research. has shown that the indefinable ‘extra’ is actually definable and measurable.

Emotional intelligence has been defined as “our capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, for managing emotions well in ourselves and our relationships”

Being a good dental practice builder requires a range of ‘soft’ skills such as leadership, management and rapport building-all skills that require emotional intelligence. Some dentists are just naturals at it. Many aren’t. Even those that are naturals, almost invariably are missing some of the skill-sets necessary to continue to thrive through all situations.

Luckily, it has been found that unlike IQ which is relatively fixed, EQ-emotional quotient-can be improved upon and lifted through coaching and training.

Paradoxically, you may observe that those dentists who would appear to have a high EQ will likely be quicker to recognize that this is an area worth improving. So how can we as dentists benefit from this knowledge?

First: accept the fact that your greatest measure of success will come from improving the soft skills of your entire team.

Second: accept that these skills can be improved with training and time.

Third: research the market and find a company best suited to your needs to provide the training. (Suggestion: always get many testimonials, particularly from practices similar to your own).

[Published in Australasian Dental Practice, January/ February 2004]