hello everybody. It's Anne Duffy and welcome to the just do it podcast. I am so happy that you're here with me today and I have a wonderful special guest for you today, but let me tell you a little bit about her before we get started. Dr. Heather-Dawn Lawson-Myers is a transformation, Formational speaker coach and John C.
Anne: Maxwell leadership team member with 36 years of experience. She understands dental teams, multi faceted challenges, her online training program, dynamic presentations, and transformative retreats, spark motivation, inspire leadership, and elevate the acronym smiles. dental teams to unparalleled success. She is unbelievable, fantastic.
And please help me welcome Dr. Heather Lawson Myers. Hello HD. How are you?
Heather-Dawn: I don't know what you're talking about.
That's you, my friend, that is you. Tell me. How did you get into this business of transformative benefits and integrating emotional intelligence and all of those things that you do as a coach? What sparked it? let me just share this with you, as you know, and many of your viewers know that when we leave dental school, we are highly skilled clinical professionals, but we don't know anything about entrepreneurship.
We don't know anything about leadership. We don't know anything about systems. And so I was very fortunate. When I graduated from dental school to be immersed in a dental office that hired a practice management company to sort us out.
I am a lifelong learner. And so the process of gleaning and sharing comes.
very naturally. And so I decided to make it formal a few years ago, but it's always been who I've been.
Anne: Wow, that's so cool. Heather, because, the thing about that is I never got any of that when I was in a dental office. I didn't even know it existed until I was in my 40s and I joined a company that was very involved in leadership and actually John Maxwell spoke to us one time and it was just the positive nature and how we can transform our thoughts.
You know, Most people don't, even understand how that works or don't even hear about it their entire lifetime. So lucky for you. Who was the coach? Do you remember the coach that came in to talk to your, practice?
Heather-Dawn: I want to say Cindy of Paragon. That was a year ago. Paragon.
Anne: Yeah.
Well, I think they do still exist, but I think that's really cool that you soaked it in. Your eyes must have been wide open and you're like, give me more, give me more, right?
Heather-Dawn: Well, They did give me a base, I connected with Kathy Jamieson of Jamieson management, and she introduced me to this wonderful world of personality types, it was like a light bulb going off in my head because systems are great, but if you don't understand the people that you have.
You may just randomly give people things to do, not realizing that, okay, this personality would be better suited doing inventory than working your front desk. And this front desk person really doesn't belong there based on the personality type. They might be better taking the inventory. So, Figuring it out can really elevate you to the next level because At the base, we're in the people business, whether it's caring for patients or managing teams.
Anne: I think that since COVID and the pandemic, the soft skills of understanding people, understanding your team, all of those things have really come to light as very important. It used to be that you, manage your team, but you didn't really invest in your team, right?
And understand your team. They showed up for work and they left and they didn't have any ownership, of the practice within their own department. let me ask you this. When you are hiring, do you give a test before you hire the person, some kind of a personality assessment just to see where they might fit in into your team that you already have in place?
Heather-Dawn: So that's an excellent question, but I'm going to step back a little. Okay. Because most of us learn outwardly. We don't learn much about ourselves. And before you go to determine who the personality types are that you want for the various positions, what's your personality type? Everybody's a leader.
You can lead from in front, behind, It's neither good nor bad, but understanding the type of leader that you are is going to inform you. As to who you need to fill those gaps, get a personality that's going to widen gaps or shorten your gaps, right? to go to your question now, once I've shortlisted and I have my two or three people, then we're going to do a personality test.
A personality test has on many occasions saved me from the lion's den, it's not the be all and end all, but it's a very useful tool that many people, if they had just invested a little, it would see the significant return on that investment.
Anne: How wonderful though, like if you have three candidates that made it to the finals. That you would actually give that assessment to them, obviously, and then they actually learn something about themselves. Whether they get the job or they don't, they're going to be better for having interviewed with you and actually talked about what are you good at what seat should you be sitting in.
And you save yourself. So much angst sooner than later. I mean, I think that's probably opened their eyes to that baby step, if you will, into transformative experiences and leadership.
Heather-Dawn: Exactly. So here's the win-win. Even if you're not a good personality fit for me, you now have a tool that you can use as your radar as you move forward to look for another position.
the Do community was steeped in strengths. So one of the assessments that I take, and we've talked about this as strength fighters, is the one that is so near and dear to my heart that changed my perspective, not only of myself, but of my family.
Anne: I didn't know anything about it. I took the test with the family and man, I started to understand them for who they were born to be and not try to change them because innately, you cannot really change your personality. You can change how you, show up and you can improve and things like that.
But the innate God given talents that you have that's what they are. They're innate. And, I love what you just said about everyone's a leader. Because people don't feel like they're a leader if they're not out front like you and I are I mean we walk into a room and you know you can tell is theway we stand or maybe it's the confidence we have over the years of experience, but to believe that everyone is a leader.
There is a leader in every person that walks in your door. That's a beautiful gift to give. And I have honestly not heard it. Spoken like that, just off the cuff. So thank you for sharing that. It's really something for me to, noodle on.
Heather-Dawn: No, I'm thanking you, my favorite woo woo. So here's how life is.
For years, Kathy Jameson had poured in the personality types and I drilled down and really tried to use it as much as possible, not just for my team, but also when we're assessing patients and how to approach them, who wants you to rub a shoulder and talk about the basketball game that their son did last week, or who just wants the facts, keep it simple.
It elevated my team because it gave them the freedom to not be. afraid, not be defensive, but to be able to say, Oh, that's what that is. Okay. I understand it. But then came my favorite woo from D E W introduced me. to Strength Finders. And in a few weeks, I'm going to be certified as a coach, because here's the thing.
Understanding personalities is one thing, but understanding what people innately do well. Oh my gosh, that's on another level. Cause most times we don't even know our strengths because, Oh, it's come so easy to us. We don't even think about it. As a strength, but OMG, when you can sit down in a room with a team, this is your strength, it empowers everybody in that room.
Anne: So woo woo, keep wooing. I was thinking about this the other day, my grandmother used to say that, Oh gosh, Does she have to smile so big? That's my positivity.
And then do she have to talk so much? And yes, that's my woo. And so. Okay. Cool. It does make you appreciate even when people have said, you're talking too much or you're smiling too big. Hey, I'm sorry, forgive me, but that's my God given talent. think it does help you understand yourself.
And as I said to you in our very first call was ithelps you fall in love with yourself. Who have we been made to be? So I love it. Do you remember, I'm sure you do. What are your top five?
Heather-Dawn: I am one who is a relator. an achiever. I am an activator. Two more, but can I tell you that it speaks to me.
it's like I just met these people and they know more about me than I know about myself. I am an activator. You tell me something and I'm gonna del them. I am an achiever. I wanna see things done. I am a relator. I get to, and I am a communicator. So I found that this thing spoke to me so personally that I had to share it.
So all my team members are getting, tested now so that we can see where we are and how we can show up in the world in a most authentic way.
Anne: Well, I think that's the best thing to do because you can't,really put the square peg in a round hole, they're going to show up the way they are. And then of course, you know, when we're at the do retreat and we do have Gallup coaches coming in. So I can't wait for you to get there next year for the retreat, but there's the balcony, and then there's the basement of all of our strengths. the basement really irritates me because I can see myself in that. it's telling one on myself, but again, the other thing about that HD is that it gives me a little bit of grace and forgiveness for me being me, Because I do speak and I don't know if you get that from other people, but activators, you speak before you think, because we just got the answer right there and it's right in front of our fingertips. And so many do's are activators and achievers. So many dental entrepreneur women are because they find a cause and they see a problem.
And they immediately say, I want to fix this. I want to solve it right instead of sitting back and just like waiting and waiting, If not now when, And so I think that's just genius that you're giving it to your, team members, and they're going to have so much fun calling out each other for being, who they are and accepting them for who they are.
Heather-Dawn: I think that's going to be really fun. I can't wait to hear how that goes. The thing is. The more we understand each other, and the more we understand ourselves, the more permission we give ourselves not to be homogeneous, but to come together in unity Human nature is beautiful. I don't understand why you're not seeing my point because I've said it like five million times. It's obvious to everybody else. Why is it not obvious to you? Or I don't understand why even after we've done that, you still have to go back and do more research again. Now I understand Oh, that's how you're wired. These are the things that you have to do. And guess what? These are the gifts that you bring to us because. Where I'm hovering over, you're looking at details, and it takes the two of us together to be successful. Because hovering over and missing details, that can be a little dicey.
And getting caught in the weeds with doing details specifically all the time. But coming together, that's a win.
Anne: I've been thinking about that because that would mean that you have Activate in your top five, and the other person probably has Deliberative in his or her top five.
And Deliberative is they uncover every scenario. they don't make fast decisions, but when they do make a decision, It's sound and they're not gonna back off of it. you can come together lock horns a little bit. But understanding that about somebody just like you said, I think it helps us to understand our principle.
I think it's number seven. Give people the benefit of the doubt. No judging, can't make somebody, buy into our quick decision making, we have to win them over, I know you have Wu on your top 15. I can, definitely tell you that.
I'm eager to hear your thoughts on the significance of organizational culture and values and Creating a supportive and a highfunctioning team, you're coaching on that. why is that so important and do you coach a team up?
Heather-Dawn: Thank you so much for that question. When I started coaching, my thought process was dental teams. And then I realized there are a lot of young dentists coming out who have the clinical skills. They've been put in a leadership role. Oh gosh, how do I do this?
Anne: Yeah.
Heather-Dawn: And beyond that just kind of stumbled into it where physicians, same position as us have been coming to me for coaching.
You know why? The leader sets the culture. So you can read all the books that you want. If you don't know how to show up, you don't know how to position yourself so for the people that you serve, it doesn't matter how many books you go through, you as the leader are not equipped to understand where you need to be in that space, it's going to be challenging.
And so many people wonder, okay, how am I not making the progress? dotting all the marks. I'm checking all the checks and it's still not happening. Okay, let's pull back. Let's do some coaching and see where you are, what your thoughts are. What is your culture? You ask so many people that and they can't tell you.
I will say something as simple as this. Okay, your culture. Is how your brand looks and feels so in some offices, it may feel, Oh, we're very lighthearted here. You come in. We're dressed down where, making jokes about everything. And these are the things that we do that are fun with our clients and fun with our teams.
And these are the things that we post on social media because that's our culture. You may have other culture that's more reserved. They want everybody dressed a certain way, and while you're friendly, you're not silly. And these are the points that we try to hit every day.
That's culture. Here's the disconnect. If your team doesn't understand what your culture is, whether it's on the sidewalk or on the socials or in the office time or non office time and they're showing contrary to what your culture is creating a problem because you're not just seeing when people come into your office you're seeing when somebody's seeing you on the street with the logo clarity is key, and only the leader can bring clarity to the team.
and a team that is clear as to how they show up and have bought into their mission and vision unstoppable.
Anne: You know, That is so true. Unstoppable. But you made some good points there H. D., because I think you can read all the books you want. you need a coach to help you. And I love this analogy, unpeel the onion, just to give you the courage the confidence that your culture is sound and really aligns with you.
And sometimes you need somebody that's on the outside looking in and kind of mirroring you and pulling that out of you. Because first of all, like you said, dental students graduate, They have never even heard the word culture as far as needing that. And that is the building block.
That's the first building block you need in a thriving dental practice. Cause it has to match the owner leader of the practice because everything trickles down. And being vulnerable and humble enough to realize you need just a little help. you might not need the life coach for the rest of your life, but you certainly need somebody to help you get set on the right path.
Heather-Dawn: for me, the journey has been wonderful because. I failed forward many times,
Anne: but you got up.
Heather-Dawn: So a lot of it is experiential. A lot of it is what you've learned from other coaches. Cause I've been coached all my professional life in one way or another, whether it's people one on one with me or whether it's, being a part of the John C. Maxwell team where they pour into you on a regular basis.
The fact is that with time and experience. Humility has to cover everything because nobody out there has done it right from the jump, no matter what they tell you. failure is extremely important as a learning tool. If you then have ability to, or have somebody close to you who can help you to assess what has happened.
Assess what should have happened, assess what needs to be put in place to correct, and then move forward. So there's no shame. It's just having somebody go along with you, especially when you just come out of dental school. when you are a well established office, you have funding for things that when you're just starting out, you really need, but oh my gosh, you can't afford.
But simply having somebody. who has had the experience, who has had the training to go alongside. You say, okay, yeah, that should be the ideal. But what if this, what if so and so coaching is not telling you what to do? It's playing what is already within you, but giving you a space to think, to process, and to grow.
Anne: You've been so successful in your own practice and in your life. And if you're listening and you not only are just getting out of dental school, but if you've been in 10 years and you're a little burnt out and you're stuck. I can't imagine a better person to coach them, especially if you can get face to face time, in your entire country.
Think about how many people would benefit from someone like you. That's actually.been coached your whole life. I think it's important to have been coached to be a coach to really, believe in coaching, right? And you've upped your game and then just coming from the John Maxwell, the positivity and the abundance that comes from that is really immeasurable,
You've seen it with your own eyes in your own life, but now to give back. And the other thing, HD is that you not only have the gift for this, and I believe you have a gift, but you also have experience. And knowledge that you've poured into it all these years. You are on rocket fuel right now.
And all you want to do is share with the world to make dentistry and actually the world, a better place. this transcends dentistry. And I love that you're getting in the medical too, every leader in every small business that's in the world.
a medical capacity, veterinarian ophthalmologist, chiropractor, dentist, they could use a little bit of HD loss admirers. I am telling you, how do we get in touch with you? We'll have it in the show notes. how would someone get in touch with you if they hear this and they want to be coached by a master like you?
Heather-Dawn: We do have an online platform, train your dental assistant.com and on that platform you can train a dental assistant who's coming in who may be trained on the job, but you wanna make sure that they dot the i's and cross the T's. But on that platform, it's also the ability to get coaching.
And because I live on an island paradise. I do host retreats. People come and bow down for three or four days and we just flesh it out. So you go back ready to start. The only requirement though is that every team member has to come because if you leave somebody behind, they do not have buy in.
Anne: Yes. It's like, her and cats,
Heather-Dawn: creative ways to do that. Like I remember when I was a younger dentist and we wanted to do something Wednesday, whatever we earned on a Wednesday went into that pocket so that when we were ready, that pocket was filled and we didn't have to think about it.
So little things like that can make a big difference. While I'm in Jamaica, most of my coaching that I received did not take place in Jamaica. The good thing about being online is that you can coach people anywhere in the world because no matter where we live, whether we shovel snow or whether we're building sandcastles, we're very similar.
The human race.
Anne: Isn't that the truth? So if you're listening to this and you're a leader and your dental team is kind of like a disarray,how fabulous to take a little bit every week to put in a fund to get the whole team, to Jamaica.
Manal's got this Z on the beach, but it's like learning in a beautiful setting with a beautiful coach. That's got a heart of gold. I mean, you are justall I know about you is that you want to give back do the right thing for people. So enamored by that.
Heather-Dawn: and again, I love, I love zoom.I feel like this has been so easy for us. have we met and hugged each other or are we just zoomthink the last time we connected was last year at daikama.
Anne: Yeah at daikama. I remember that It doesn't matter if we're in the same room we're on the same screen and it makes it very easy for us to connect and conversate
Heather-Dawn: it's a workations because we're going to put some fun in there.
Anne: Yeah. You're going to come back transformed because that's what you stand
Heather-Dawn: for.Before you go, I just had a senior moment and I had to go back and review. My top five. Achiever, learner, activator, connectedness, and relator.
Anne: Those top five say it all. they say it all. You are magnificent. And so what I would say, as I would say to all of our listeners, no matter what out there, ladies and gents. Keep doing you. Thank you so much, Heather Dawn, for being with me today. I can't wait to be on your podcast.
What's the name of your podcast so people can find that too.
Heather-Dawn: ready?
Anne: Yes.
Drum roll,
the irreplaceable dental team,
Anne: the irreplaceable dental team. I'm going to sign up for that as soon as I get off this podcast today. And I'll look forward to being your guest as you have been mine.
So thank you for everything. Shout out to Elijah. You're going to be going on dentistry's got talent. I'll throw a prayer your way that you just knock it out of the park and you have a great time. That's a great way to.get your speaking real and also to get out there for the meeting planners and for all of us.
So good luck and I hope to see you really soon. You take care, Heather. Thanks for being with me. Sure.
