Is one more important than the other? Can you have both?
Welcome back my Brothers and Sisters,
This week we must thank Dr. Clay Gasparovich and Dr. Travis Mohr for sharing their time and expertise with me. These two guys may be the most successful chiropractors from my graduating class (if not, let me know so we can chat ;-)). Dr. Clay practices in South Carolina and Dr. Travis hails from Tampa, Florida. Both operate large clinics with several specialty practitioners seeing multiple hundreds of visits per week. They embody the phrase, “Go Big or Go Home!”
The next several podcasts will highlight some gems we covered in our 2 hour mega meeting. So much fun. And, again, thanks to these guys for sharing some knowledge.
This weeks episode will cover something Dr. Travis mentioned when discussing chiropractors in general, but more specifically newer doctors. It’s probably more important to have chiropractic charisma than clinically competent when you first start practicing. That doesn’t mean you throw out the clinical aspect, but we must consider what the patient cares about… “Do I like this doctor?”
If young doctors start by being likeable and generating a contagious atmosphere around their practice they will succeed at a quick rate. Their clinical competence doesn’t need to be that good because, “people don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Caring buys visits and commitment. Simple as that. (Podcast – Are You Connecting With Your Patients?)
But that doesn’t mean we focus solely on charisma. Not at all. People aren’t dumb. They will eventually see through smoke and mirrors and you will be exposed if you lack clinical competence. So, it’s critical to have both (Jim Collins – “Good to Great”).
Collins discusses the “power of and” in his book, clearly showing that companies that embrace the “power of and” succeed and those that don’t fail in comparison. Our profession is divided right now between charisma and clinical competence; vitalism and evidence-based. But if we can combine them and have equal distribution, our profession will grow exponentially.
Action Step
Do a practice and self audit. Where do you sit on the chiropractic charisma – clinical competence spectrum?
- Identify the location
- Identify the gaps in your practice
- Fill the gaps
- Watch your practice adapt, grow, and solidify
- Watch the perception of the profession improve
- Make smores and drink scotch… with Ron Burgundy
Good luck and #keepmoving
Dr.J