“I love our staff, and yes, they are on average very young. I view this training as a gift to them—an opportunity to learn what I wish I had learned at a much younger age. Now let’s hope they soak it up and choose to use it!” ~Dr. M. Meiser
Last week, my post-three-hour “Personal Accountability & the QBQ!” workshop chat with one of the owners of a pediatric dental group here in the Twin Cities gave me insight into her—and her partners’—mindset. These highly ambitious, successful, energetic women could have easily fallen into the trap of complaining about their staff:
“Why don’t they embrace this material?”
“When will this generation learn how to work hard?”
“Why can’t they appreciate all that we offer them?”
“Who will get these young people to take it to the next level?”
“Why do I have to invest so much in training and development?”
But that’s not the vibe I got last Wednesday. Nope—each and every owner of the practice humbly shared personal reflections and examples during the session of how she needs to grow and change—using the QBQ! Each one modeled self-awareness and committed to growth in front of their team.
One of the owners spoke up and said, “I need to stop asking ‘Who dunnit?’ questions!” Since everyone in the room laughed, it must be true. She said, “We were chatting here at my table and agreed there needs to be some kind of ‘penalty flag’ for people to throw when I start to blame again.”
I love that team mindset when a group is committed to implementing QBQ. While I like to say, “personal accountability is just that—personal,” there’s no reason a team can’t agree to help each other along that journey. Yellow flags, red flags, gentle, humble reminders to use the QBQ—whatever works to help us, young or old, on the journey toward greater Personal Accountability.
Is your team—and each member of it—practicing Personal Accountability?