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Follow 3 Principles to Build a Strong Dental Practice Culture: The Power of Mission, Values, and Norms 

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You have the power to create a world-class dental practice or dental organization. In this post I’m going to delve into three foundational principles that will allow you to build and run a premier dental organization. Our current economic environment is one filled with incredible opportunities for growth; as well as challenges in keeping talented, committed and passionate staff. To meet that challenge, we must also be mindful as business owners to provide the right conditions for our employees to stick around. Both aspects of running a successful dental practice are a lot to think about, balance and juggle.  

The 3 Drivers of Successful Dental Practice Culture 

So, how do you strike that balance between attacking opportunity and nurturing a thriving organizational culture? It starts with the basics: your mission, your values and your norms. These three foundational elements are the backbone of your decisions, your priority-setting and your business cadence. Without them, your organization runs the risk of being a rudderless ship foundering in the shallows. So, let’s look at each of these principles one by one, starting with your mission statement.  

Your Mission Statement Defines Culture in Your Dental Practice 

Your mission statement serves as the north star for your dental practice. It defines the purpose and direction of your business. This may seem a bit arbitrary for a dental practice, after all the mission is sort of built into your business structure: take care of people’s teeth. But a mission statement encompasses not just what you do but how your company approaches its work, the purpose of your practice’s existence and its overall objectives.  

When writing your mission statement, make it clear, simple and inspirational. Your statement should align your purpose and goal with your values. It should also be imbued with a sense of passion that inspires your team and rallies them around your goal and vision. A mission statement isn’t just for your patients to understand you, it’s for your teams to align themselves with what you want to accomplish.  

Values Set the Tone for Team Culture in your Dental Practice 

Values are the principles by which your actions are guided every day, and they are a reflection of your life and what you hold dear. Your company’s core values are the guiding principles that dictate how your employees and your organization operate. They are the moral compass of your business. One big advantage in defining your values and setting guiding principles is that it gives your employees an understanding of what you expect from them and what they can and should expect from you.  

Defining your company’s core values might be daunting if you don’t have a clear understanding of your own personal values. Harvard Business Review has a step-by-step guide to help you assess your personal values.  

Here are some elements to consider when defining your dental practice’s values:  

  • Identify the values that are most important to your organization (yourself). They could be honesty, innovation, customer-centricity, or any other principles you hold dear. 
  • Integrate your company values into your daily operations. This means that every decision, from hiring to product development, should align with these values. 
  • Communicate your values effectively to your team. Encourage them to embody these values in their work. Spend some time examining where, in your practice, you and your team can incorporate your practice values and make them known to your patients and prospects.  
  • Define your core values to give your teams the knowledge and confidence in knowing how you want business conducted on your behalf. This will instill your teams with confidence and allows your teams the freedom to act according to the roadmap you have given them.

Norms: The Everyday Behaviors That Build Trust, Communication and Cadence in your Dental Practice  

Norms are the behaviors that govern how your teams interact and work within your dental practice. Norms help set the tone for your practice culture. To establish effective norms: 

  • Create norms that promote inclusivity, respect, and collaboration. Encourage open communication and diversity of ideas. This norm allows your team to feel fully engaged and, well, included in the day-to-day execution of your mission.  
  • No sacred cows: Allows anyone on the team to call out behavior, patterns or ideas that aren’t working anymore and bring something new to the table. Practicing allowing everyone on your team to have a voice might take a minute to establish as a norm, but it allows for greater efficiency, communication and creativity.  
  • Consistency is key to all functions of running a smooth dental practice. So, making consistency a practice norm is key to team behavior and practice management.  
  • Adaptability is another norm that encourages creativity, problem-solving, open communication and efficiency. Be open to ideas to reevaluate and adapt systems, operations and functions as your practice grows and evolves. 

Gallup has a wonderful assessment to help you determine and define what norms are currently working in your practice’s team culture and what are not. Having a starting position of current norms allows you to keep what’s working, while building on that foundation to include what might be missing.  

The Synergy of Mission, Values, and Norms for Your Dental Practice Operations

When you combine a clear mission, well-defined values, and strong norms, you create a synergy that transforms your dental practice culture. Aligning your mission, values, and norms fosters a shared sense of purpose and passion among your team. Engagement stays high when employees understand and believe in what your practice stands for and what they’re working toward. This alignment fuels higher productivity, satisfaction, and a culture where everyone is motivated to contribute their best.

A strong, values-driven culture not only attracts and retains top talent, it also enhances your reputation in the community. Over time, this foundation makes your practice more resilient and adaptable, even when circumstances change.

Culture truly is your practice’s identity. It sets the tone for how you do business, how you care for your team, and how you serve your patients. Mission, values, and norms are the building blocks that shape a practice people want to work for and patients want to visit. Invest in nurturing these elements, and you’ll see your practice flourish.

If you’re ready to clarify your practice’s vision, values, and mission and chart a path to your “point B” we invite you to download our free Extraction GPS worksheet.

This step-by-step tool is designed to help dental entrepreneurs like you get clear on what matters most, set a bold vision for your future, and define the concrete goals that will get you there. Use it to bring your leadership team together, make confident decisions, and guide your practice toward long-term success.

Ready to set your destination and accelerate your journey?
Download our Extraction GPS worksheet today and take the first step toward building the dental practice and legacy you truly envision.

Download Our Extraction GPS Worksheet

A Place for Finding Extraordinary Meaning in Your Dental Practice: 4 Areas to Ponder

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Do you ponder the true meaning of what you do as a dental practice owner? I am always pursuing new approaches to leadership and discovering new ideas on that theme. I take leadership in business seriously because I have seen the effects of both positive and negative leadership styles on teams, service and business performance. There is no denying that positive, healthy, inclusive and supportive leadership styles lead to greater cohesion, productivity, loyalty and longevity within companies. So, I am always on the lookout for new ideas and explorations on the theme of servant leadership.  

That search has brought me here to tell you about this wonderful little book, The Paradox of Personal Meaning by Dr. Kent M. Keith. Dr. Keith is considered an expert on servant leadership and its role and application in business and entrepreneurialism. He’s written several books on the topic of servant-leadership and edited a new release of The Servant as Leader known as The Contemporary Servant as Leader by Robert K. Greenleaf, the essential essay for anyone interested in servant-leadership.  

Dr. Keith’s book is a thought-provoking exploration of the human quest for personal meaning in an increasingly complex world. The book challenges conventional wisdom and offers fresh perspectives on this timeless and existential topic. Dr. Keith wrote the Paradox of Personal Meaning in 1968 and its idea, lessons and examples have endured for more than 50 years. Dr. Keith asks the reader to examine what she or he truly values and to weigh that against the ephemeral promises of the superficial trademarks of success: fame, money and power. What do you truly value? Is it important enough to keep doing it in the face of adversity anyway?  

Finding meaning in your dental practice

The Search for Personal Meaning: Can You Apply This in Your Dental Practice?  

Dr. Keith begins by examining the age-old question of whether life has inherent meaning or if it’s our responsibility to create it. He explores various philosophical and psychological theories on the subject and takes readers on an intellectual journey through several perspectives on the concept of meaning. The book dives into the works of renowned thinkers such as Viktor Frankl, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus, who have all grappled with the question of whether life has intrinsic meaning or if it’s a blank canvas awaiting our strokes of purpose. 

 One compelling argument the author presents is that personal meaning is a dynamic and evolving construct. It suggests that the search for meaning isn’t a one-time revelation but an ongoing process that adapts to the changing circumstances and stages of our lives. This viewpoint challenges the notion of a fixed, predetermined purpose and encourages readers to engage actively in crafting their own meaning. I love this idea so much. I’m not the same person I was when I bought my first dental practice and my worldview has changed immensely over time, so why wouldn’t my sense of meaning and what brings me fulfillment also change?  

The Role of Suffering and Adversity as a Dental Practice Entrepreneur 

A significant part of the book delves into the idea that personal meaning often emerges from suffering and adversity. The author argues that our most profound growth can occur during life’s most challenging moments. 

There is a seemingly paradoxical relationship between suffering and personal meaning. The author argues that, counterintuitively, some of our most profound moments of personal growth and self-discovery often arise from the crucible of suffering and adversity. It’s a hard thing to admit, isn’t it? Some of our most valuable life moments come from our deepest wounds. And it is these wounds that, many times, give people their greatest purpose in life.  

The book highlights how confronting life’s hardships can lead to a deeper understanding of oneself and a heightened sense of purpose. Dr. Keith suggests that it is precisely in these moments of struggle that individuals have the opportunity to tap into reservoirs of inner strength and resilience.  

One of my most grim experiences was during the first 3 months of opening my very first practice. My office manager decided my leadership style and the team I was building had no place for her and she walked out. I was left with an insurance billing system I had no clue how to operate or even figure out.

After six months of nights and weekends poring over the books and figuring out how the system worked, I went to my cousin who helped me build the software I needed to systematize and digitize our billing system. I also made the decision to never hire another person who didn’t share my values. I was building a practice and a team based on the values I hold dear to this day: communication, transparency, dedication, teamwork, trust, etc. I needed to surround myself with colleagues who shared my vision and values.  

That was an expensive, heartbreaking and adverse experience that has never been repeated in my life. I took that lesson and made it a cornerstone of my learning and my life and that is reflected today in my partner, my team and the people we work with at Optimize Practice Services. I’m forever grateful for that adversity early on.  

Connection and Relationships at the Office 

The book emphasizes the importance of meaningful connections with others as a source of personal meaning. It discusses how our relationships and interactions contribute to our sense of purpose and underscores the significance of meaningful connections with others in the quest for personal meaning. It delves into the idea that our relationships and interactions with family, friends, and society at large play a pivotal role in shaping our sense of purpose. 

The exchange of ideas, emotions, and shared experiences contribute greatly to a richer and more meaningful life. It invites readers to reflect on the impact of their relationships and how they can nurture and foster connections that align with their values and aspirations.  

And this isn’t limited to homelife. We can and must do this in our work and our entrepreneurial endeavors. Afterall, many times, especially when we are building our practices, we are spending more time at work with colleagues and patients than we do at home with family and friends. Having strong social ties (even at work) has been shown to increase health and longevity. So, why not utilize that valuable time to enhance your ability to live a longer, healthier life?  

Authenticity and Self-Discovery as a Dental Practice Entrepreneur  

Throughout the book, the concept of authenticity is central. It encourages readers to engage in self-reflection and self-discovery to uncover their true passions and values and, ultimately, their personal meaning. 

The author provides practical exercises and prompts to assist readers in this journey of self-discovery. These exercises encourage individuals to explore their core beliefs, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and envision a life that aligns with their authentic selves.  

Believe it or not, I encourage my teams to pursue these lines of self-discovery as well. We use tools like Gallup’s CliftonStrengths and others to discover how best to work in teams and enhance each other’s strengths. These kinds of pursuits are personally enlightening but they also create greater team cohesion, unity and trust. I urge you to take some time to discover your full potential with these types of tools and enhancements even within your own dental practice and amongst your teams.  

I’ve created some of my own because I have found these commandments to be a sense of inspiration, passion and creativity for me. Here are a few I’ve created:

  • If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
  • If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
  • The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
  • The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
  • People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

Finding Extraordinary Meaning in Your Dental Practice

The search for meaning is deeply personal. No framework, book, or philosophy can define it for you. Tools and perspectives can illuminate the path, but ultimately, meaning is shaped by how you interpret your experiences and the intention you bring to them.

That pursuit has been a lifelong journey for me. Through every success and every perceived failure, I’ve chosen to reflect deeply, asking not just what happened, but what it meant and where it was leading me. That reflection has shaped my leadership, my work, and the life I continue to build.

If you’re feeling called to clarify what your work means, to you, your team, and the legacy you want to leave, having structure can help turn reflection into direction.

That’s why we created the Extraction GPS. This tool helps dental entrepreneurs clarify their values, define their current reality, and articulate a clear vision for the future, so purpose isn’t just something you feel, but something you actively build toward.

A meaningful practice doesn’t happen by accident. It’s designed with intention.

Ready to clarify what truly matters and chart a purposeful path forward?
Download the Extraction GPS and begin shaping a dental practice, and a life, aligned with meaning, intention, and long-term fulfillment.

Download Your Extraction GPS

Use These 6 Principles in your Dental Practice to Unleash Exponential Growth

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As a former dental practice owner who successfully scaled and exited my dental business, I wrote my book Extraction: The Surprising New Formula to Systemize, Scale and Sell Your Business specifically with the dental practice entrepreneur in mind. Why?  

I am a hard worker. I worked diligently for decades to build and scale my dental practice organization. But I am also an observer of the human condition, and I observed again and again how difficult it was for me to duplicate my success. With every new patient, every new team member, every new system or piece of technology we integrated we were faced with as many complications.  

Those complications wore out my teams, inundated our processes and overwhelmed each practice. And all these complications ended up stagnating our growth until we could dig ourselves out only to be met with another new patient and another several complications to our systems.  

That redundancy became a frustrating and predictable aspect of our growth. So, I set about working on a process to eliminate that stagnation from our business model lifecycle. As you can see in the chart below, a typical business lifecycle, pictured on the left, starts out with a vision and then moves into growth.

Once in growth, entrepreneurs and teams focus on the growth aspect of the business until everyone basically runs out of steam and the business starts to stagnate. Once a business has been in a state of stagnation for a while, there is a decline. That decline may lead to a complete burnout of the business or, if the entrepreneur is able to pivot and has a lot of resources, the business can recover from that decline.   

Lifecycle of your Dental Practice

Stagnation in Your Dental Practice Growth is Real – You Are Not Alone 

The question I wanted to answer was, is it possible to avoid or lessen that stagnation phase in order to avoid decline altogether? And after a lot of research, study and feedback from my teams, I can confidently say, that, yes, it is possible for a business to avoid falling into the deep crevasse of stagnation. There is a way to continue duplicating your success through scaling without experiencing crushing complications every time you add a new patient, team member or system to your scaling efforts. Ok, how?  

The Practice Optimization Process for Your Dental Practice 

I grew my organization from 1 dental practice to 8 in a very short time. At first, I enjoyed the process. It was a very exciting time, and I was learning so much. But as we kept growing things became more and more complex, stressful and overwhelming. I was spending less time in the dentist chair and more time putting out fires and managing chaos. Eventually, I burned out and I started to watch my efforts stagnate and my organization fall into some decline.  

All through this hectic time, I still tried to learn and understand and grow. I observed the process, took notes and tried to figure out a duplicate-able system for scaling that did not involve chaos management and getting stuck in stagnation.  

It took several more years of hindsight and reflection, but I was finally able to put my lessons into a sequence that I call the Practice Optimization Process. The Practice Optimization Process is a formula for staying out of stagnation while learning to pivot quickly as a leader to continue to grow and scale your business. There are 6 steps in this sequence:  

Define Point A

This step in the sequence allows you to assess where your practice or organization is right now and what mindset you have as a leader and dental practice entrepreneur. After all, if you or your practice is not ready or willing to scale or grow you need to be aware of that and understand why and what might be holding you back.  

Face Your Fears and Challenges 

You’ve assessed your Point A and more likely than not, have come away with an understanding that you’ve got some roadblocks and obstacles on the way to growth. Time to face those obstacles and understand them so you can remove them from the path. Many times, this means delving within your own mindset, beliefs and myths that you hold as a leader and an entrepreneur.

After all, our business often reflects our own limiting beliefs. But how do you remove those limiting beliefs? Well, along with reading my book, I’ve created a companion workbook that allows you to use the information in the book and the exercises in the workbook to uncover and Extract those limiting beliefs and old mindsets that are keeping you from growing your dental practice organization.   

Define Point B 

You’ve defined where you and your practice are; you’ve uncovered and extracted the obstacles to growth within yourself and your business. Now it’s time to create a vision for your new future. Through the work you’ve just done on your mindset you’ve literally changed the trajectory of your future. Now you must define it!  

Build Your Teams 

In defining your point B you created your Vivid Vision™ which aligns your practice around what you’ve defined as your vision, your point B. One of the first steps in alignment is building or rebuilding your team. You cannot grow and scale your dental practice all by yourself. You need a team that is going to own that vision as much as you do.

My book teaches you how to choose the right people for your organization. It also helps you decide whether people already within your organization are in the right positions or if they would be better suited to a different position. As Jim Collins likes to say, you gotta get the right people on the bus and the right butts in the right seats before you can drive anywhere.  

Create Your Strategic Plan 

You’ve defined your vision and you’ve gotten your dream team assembled. Now it’s time to define your strategic plan. Your strategic plan is your blueprint of execution. This is where you drill down and start to define real-world goals for your teams to execute. These are the goals that will actually move the needle of success in your dental practice.  

Moving from the Dentist’s Chair to the Investor Seat 

This last step in the sequence is solely focused on you, the business leader and investor in your organization. To lead your teams through your goals and strategic plan as well as the accompanying obstacles you will inevitably face, you need to have a growth mindset. And that starts with seeing yourself not only as a dentist, but as an investor in your practice. This step is where you learn to wear different hats as a leader.

Yes, you are a dentist first, but you also need to be nimble enough to know when to stop thinking like a dentist and start thinking like an investor and leader of an organization. There is a lot you don’t learn in dental school and this formula is where you’ll learn exactly what you need to know to grow, scale and even sell your business eventually.  

The Support You Need for Your Dental Practice

As you can see, this formula is a sequence. You need to take the steps in the correct order to receive the full benefit of this formula and ready your business and your mindset for growth. So, now it’s time for you to do some thinking. Are you ready for transformation? Are you ready for growth? Are you ready to liberate yourself from the limiting beliefs that have been stagnating your growth?  

Our experienced consultants are here to help. One of the most effective ways to quickly transform your business as well as your mindset is to schedule a complimentary consulting call with one of our Expert Advisor Consultants. In just 30 minutes, you will gain immediate clarity of your desired point B and begin developing your path to get there.

Click the button to secure your 30-minute consulting call!

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The Power of Authentic Partnership for Your Dental Practice, Part 3: Building Your Culture 

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In your dental practice, culture is king. When I first met Jack Bayramyan, I was skeptical. A dental practice owner, I could tell right away that he was a nice person, but I had no idea what he valued, what his priorities were or the vision he wanted to achieve. However, all that changed during the course of a day.  

What started out as an intro meeting with Jack and bankers about money and investment, eventually turned into a meandering discussion between Jack and I about culture. In the video below, you’ll see, at one point during that pivotal day, Jack asked me aside for a private conversation. I assumed he just wanted to get to know me, so I obliged because I was interested in the same thing.  

Sitting in a room full of bankers or investors, the discussions tend to focus on one thing: money. But Jack was savvy enough to look beyond those discussions and I was curious as well. During that private conversation, I really got to know Jack, the human being. And maybe even more importantly, I got to know how he worked as an entrepreneur.  

In Your Dental Practice Culture Begins with You 

I’m a talker. I love to talk, but I think that is a by-product of my real passion, which is teaching. Teaching requires two fundamental components: talking and listening. So, in my initial private conversation with Jack, I went first. I opened up and spoke from the heart about the things that mattered most to me in my organization, what did I have to lose?  

I spoke about my values, my goals, and most importantly to me, the culture of my company and how it was created. And I’m glad I had the courage to open up and speak on that level to someone I had just met. Turns out, he shared my opinions on those topics and was inspired to speak from the heart as well. We found we had three primary areas of focus when it came to building an organization: 

  • Culture is foundational to a company, no matter how successful or not 
  • Culture is built by the people and teams that use it 
  • Culture is transformed over time by these relationships 

Any organization, whether it is successful or not, is built on the foundation of the culture of the people that work in that organization. You can have a counterproductive culture built on the naked ambition of the people working within that culture. But you can also build an organization on a culture of compassion, open-mindedness and balance. Many times, it is the values of the leader that begin and build that culture. But if you have an absent CEO, or a leader whose values are based in, say, greed, selfishness and a “my way or the highway” attitude, that will be the driving foundation of the culture that is built.  

So, as a dental entrepreneur, if you want a culture that reflects your values, you need to show up and pay attention to your leadership style, your willingness to change and your focus on a growth mindset. If you’re not paying attention to these things, your dental practice’s culture will be formed by the dominant personalities within your organization. That may or may not be a good thing, but it won’t be intentional.  

Who is Going to Drive Your Vision in Your Dental Practice?  

The second area of focus as a leader is learning to pay attention. You may be intentional in the values and tone you set to build that culture, but it will ultimately be your teams living and working within the framework of that culture that will build and expand upon it.  

So, it’s your job to continually observe, listen and speak from an intentional position. You can’t just build the foundation of something and walk away expecting people to just pick it up and run toward the finish line. As a leader in your dental practice, you must pay attention to the tone you set and the tone your teams keep: are they in alignment? And if not, it’s your job to get your teams refocused on the tone and values you’ve set. For us, at OPS this comes in the form of weekly check-ins and a weekly company huddle as well as quarterly meetings keeping us focused on our vision and culture.  

You may have a very clear vision of where you want to take your organization, but if you don’t have buy-in from your team, you won’t get there. And buy-in comes from team members who want to see you, their organization and themselves succeed. If they don’t have hope that they will succeed, if they feel your eye is not on the ball or if they feel they ‘re just clocking into a job with no future for them, they won’t have the cohesion to rise to the level you need to reach your goals. It starts with you.  

Finally, the third focus is learning to stay aware of how culture transforms over time. It is the relationships within your organization that will dictate how this culture changes and adapts as your dental practice grows and expands. How your culture changes and adapts is dependent on the top team members and how they translate your values and vision company wide. 

If you’re not checking in with your leadership teams regularly and mentoring their leadership styles and directives, the culture you meticulously built in the beginning will erode over time and collapse even as your organization expands and grows. That’s where a lot of scaling organizations run off the tracks, because they can’t contain the fallout that permeates the culture through its growth.  

It Always Starts at the Top in Your Dental Practice 

So, whether you’re building the culture, choosing the people who will live in that culture or caring for it over time, it is your attention and focus on the culture staying healthy, nimble and cohesive that will steer the ship toward your vision.  

And this is what I found out during my conversation that day with Jack. He shared that same level of attention to culture that I have. He knows that to reach his vision he needed a healthy, strong cohesive team and he knew that team had to last the distance to eventually reach his vision. By the time we met, he had reached his vision, so he had a roadmap of leadership style. It wasn’t just about our shared values; it was about having the mindset of attention to culture where we found common ground.  

Your Vision for Your Dental Practice 

Authentic partnerships only work when leaders are clear on their own vision. As Jack and I have both experienced, finding your voice as a leader, and having the confidence to stand behind it, is pivotal to scaling successfully and choosing the right partners along the way.

At Optimize Practice Alliance, part of our role is helping dental entrepreneurs clarify that vision and lead from it with intention. Growth mindset, leadership style, and strategic direction all intersect here. Without clarity, even well-intentioned partnerships can drift. With clarity, alignment becomes possible.

That’s why we created the Extraction GPS. This tool helps dental practice owners define what truly matters to them, assess where their practice is today, and map a clear path forward, so every major decision, including partnership, supports the future they want to build.

Your vision should lead the way.

Ready to clarify your vision and guide your practice forward with confidence?
Download the Extraction GPS and start building a roadmap that supports intentional leadership, aligned partnerships, and sustainable growth.

Download Your Extraction GPS

Using Tactical Negotiations in Your Dental Practice: The 3 Most Powerful Steps I’ve Learned 

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Do you negotiate in your dental practice? Of course, you do. You negotiate with vendors over prices and cost; you negotiate with team members over hours and productivity; you negotiate with partners over the direction of your practice, etc. Then you come home from work and negotiate with your wife, your kids and even the dog. Every is always negotiating all the time over everything. Now, here’s my next question: are you a successful negotiator?  

Well, what does it mean to be a successful negotiator? Does it mean always winning the negotiation? If you were that ‘successful’ everyone would hate you and no one would want to work, live, play or get walked by you. So, that’s not really success, is it? 

Now, I consider myself a lucky and successful person. And I’m actually a good negotiator. After all, I scaled and sold and very successful dental practice organization and now I’m building another one. In my business, as in my life, I negotiate all the time. Recently, I’ve learned some powerful strategies for negotiating from none other than Chris Voss and I would like to share those strategies with you.  

Principles for Successful Negotiating in Your Dental Practice 

So, who’s Chris Voss? For many years, Chris was the lead kidnapping negotiator for the FBI as well as the FBI’s hostage negotiation representative for the National Security Council’s Hostage Working Group. Prior to that, he spent 14 years as a member of the New York City Joint Terrorist Task Force and was the lead case agent on several high-profile terrorist cases. He has spoken and taught at some of the world’s most important schools, programs and forums, including Harvard, USC, the G8, and many others. And he is the founder and CEO of The Black Swan Group.  

One of the most important principles I learned from Chris is that to have truly powerful negotiations, you want to make sure everyone wins. I love this principle because it means that you recognize that negotiations are really about relationships. The people you negotiate with are not people you will walk away from and never see again, typically. The people that you and I negotiate with are typically people we live with and work with daily, weekly, monthly, etc. So, you don’t want to be burning bridges just to get the best of someone in a negotiation. In fact, a good negotiation should lead to the next negotiation if you’re building a lasting relationship.  

You may be interested in this video:  

3 Tactical Negotiation Strategies for you, the Dental Entrepreneur 

  • 1. Tactical Empathy:

The first strategy discussed by Chris Voss is Tactical Empathy. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the other party’s perspective and emotions during a negotiation. By actively listening and acknowledging the emotions and concerns of the other person, negotiators can build rapport and establish a foundation for constructive dialogue. Tactical empathy enables negotiators to gain valuable insights into the motivations and desires of the opposite party, ultimately leading to more successful outcomes. 

For instance, the next time you’re in discussions with your dental assistant because he is asking for more time off, try actively listening to why he needs or wants that time off. And then acknowledge that his reasoning is valid. If he wants more than you can afford right now, you can say something like, “I understand that you need more time off for rest and having more balance and fun in your life. I get that. I want that for you. Right now, the numbers don’t add up for all that you’re asking but why don’t we start with half the time you’re asking and then revisit this in six months. How does that sound?”  

  • 2. Mirroring:

The second technique highlighted in the webinar is Mirroring. Mirroring involves subtly imitating the body language, tone of voice, and certain key phrases used by the other person. This technique creates a sense of familiarity and trust, making the other party more comfortable and receptive to the negotiation process. By mirroring, negotiators can establish a connection that facilitates smoother communication, trust between parties and helps to build a positive relationship. 

This one is tricky because you don’t want to feel like you’re manipulating the other person just to get what you want. However, if you’re in a negotiation with a vendor and maybe she’s a tough negotiator, you want to walk away just as happy as she does, right? Learn to match her tone of voice. You can also repeat a key phrase you notice that she uses. Again, this strategy provides smoother communication with someone who is actively looking for the best deal for them.  

  • 3. Labeling:

The third strategy presented by Chris Voss is Labeling. Labeling involves verbally acknowledging the emotions or concerns of the other party. By giving voice to the feelings that the other person may be experiencing, negotiators can demonstrate empathy and validate the emotions. This technique not only diffuses tense situations but also allows negotiators to gain greater control over the negotiation process. 

Say, you’ve got a patient who needs extensive work but is balking at that prospect. Wonderful! Take a moment to discover why they are hesitant. Is it money? “We can work out terms that work for you.” Or “I can speak with your insurance to let them know this is necessary.”  

Maybe their issue is fear around the procedures, the pain involved, the recovery time, how much time off work, etc. This is the opportunity for you to lay their fears to rest by explaining everything involved and putting them at ease.  

Be A Better Negotiator, Leader and Entrepreneur for Your Dental Practice

You may already be using some of these negotiation strategies instinctively. By making them intentional habits, you dramatically increase their effectiveness. Whether you’re negotiating with team members, partners, vendors, or even patients, these approaches help you build rapport, trust, and mutual understanding, without escalating tension or compromising your values.

What I’ve found over time is this: these strategies don’t just make you a better negotiator. They make you a better leader. A better entrepreneur. A better teammate. When you learn to see the situation from the other side of the table, acknowledging concerns, motivations, and constraints, conversations shift from adversarial to productive.

That’s exactly why we created the DESC Coaching Template. This tool gives dental practice owners a simple, repeatable framework to navigate difficult conversations with clarity and confidence. It helps you describe behaviors objectively, express impact, specify expectations, and communicate outcomes, so negotiations lead to alignment, not resentment.

These skills become especially critical when you’re scaling your dental practice, negotiating partnerships, or managing growth-related change. Clear communication is what allows you to walk away with outcomes that serve both the business and the people involved.

Ready to strengthen your negotiation and leadership conversations?
Download the DESC Coaching Template and start leading discussions that create trust, accountability, and win-win outcomes.

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The Power of Authentic Partnership for Your Dental Practice, Part 2: Are Shared Values Enough?

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Do you own a dental practice? Are you looking for a partner? Keep reading… I knew that Jack Bayramyan’s organization was a cut above. I would be lucky to partner with him. His organization had the chops: standardization, the organization, teamwork, team culture and optimized systems. No other company we looked at was even near the level of optimization and expertise that Kids Dental Place was providing to its patients.  

What I didn’t know about Jack was his level of commitment to that optimization, service and culture. I didn’t know until I got into a room with him and sat down and spoke with him. From his telling all I wanted to talk about was his team culture, how he built it, the values he used to guide his team building efforts, etc. And that tracks. As the CEO of several healthcare companies, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about these very subjects for myself and my teams. It’s a very important piece of leadership for me. But it isn’t for everyone.  

Many leaders, CEOs and executives don’t give a hoot about those questions or intricacies of an organization when they start talking about partnership to outside investors. And that’s fine. But a word of warning, don’t go into partnership with one of them if they don’t match your values, interests or commitment.  

When looking for a partner for your dental practice, look for someone who shares your values, your leadership style and your interest in team building as a priority and a commitment. So, how do you do that and is that enough?  

Are Shared Values Enough for a Dental Practice Partnership?   

But are shared values and an interest in team culture enough for a partnership? As you heard in the video, they are most definitely not. I went in, excited to meet Jack and find out more about his company. Then almost like a first date, we just started talking and couldn’t stop. I could tell we shared a lot of the same passions around cohesive team structure, service excellence, leadership style. But during the interview I found out he wasn’t expecting to stick around. That came as a shock to me, and I needed to dig in and find out more.  

So, we sat in that room, and I got to the bottom of what Jack’s plans, goals and ultimate vision for his life and organization actually were before taking the next steps. And that’s my advice to you. Don’t stop talking to prospective partners. Find people that match your interests, goals and passions. Discuss all those fun topics, but don’t stop there. Dig into the hard conversations. It’s important to ask hard questions to gauge and know where they’re at and what they want and be honest with where you’re at and what you want. Here are some great examples of hard questions to ask your prospective partners:  

Questions to Ask As a Dental Entrepreneur:

  • What are your 3-5 year goals for your company?  
  • What are your 3-5 year goals for yourself, personally?  
  • Are you interested in scaling your business?  
  • What does your personal and executive calendars look like?  
  • How many hours a week do you work?  
  • How many hours a week do you want to work in the future?  
  • What are your professional values for your company?  
  • What personal values overlap with your company values?  
  • What is your leadership style?  
  • Who are your business heroes?  
  • Who are your personal heroes?  

Some of these questions will come up naturally during the course of your conversations and some of them will need to be prompted and pointedly asked. But that’s ok. It’s kind of like going on a date and gauging whether this will be a person you will spend the rest of your life with. Will you have kids with this person? Do they want kids? What values will you instill in them? Etc.  

If you’re looking for a partner whose only value is the money they can put on the table, then honestly, that’s not a terribly hard search. They may or may not accept an offer from you but finding those kinds of partners is not difficult. What’s difficult is meeting and connecting with someone who shares your vision, values and commitment to building something that becomes a legacy, not just a cash cow.  

When Is it Not Enough for Your Dental Practice?  

Shared values matter, but values alone aren’t enough. Authentic partnership requires alignment around vision, direction, and where you’re ultimately trying to take the organization. You have to know your own Point B before you can evaluate whether someone else belongs on the journey with you.

That clarity didn’t fully emerge for Jack until he stepped back and asked the harder questions—not just about potential partners, but about himself. What did he really want his role to be? What future excited him? What was no longer acceptable? Once those answers became clear, partnership stopped feeling like a compromise and started feeling like an opportunity.

That’s why we created the Extraction GPS. This tool helps dental entrepreneurs clarify their values, define their current reality, and articulate a clear vision for where they’re going, so partnership decisions are made intentionally, not emotionally or reactively. When your Point B is clear, it becomes much easier to recognize whether someone else is truly aligned with that future.

Authentic partnerships aren’t rushed. They’re chosen.

Considering a partner for your dental practice or organization?
Download the Extraction GPS to get clear on what you want, what you don’t, and what a true partnership should support before you move forward.

At Optimize Practice Alliance, we believe the future of dentistry belongs with dentists and that future is best built through clarity, alignment, and shared vision.

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