Phil Cole 0:05
Hello, and welcome to KLAS Solutions dental education Podcast, the podcast series where we share knowledge and experience to provide value to you and to your practice. I'm your host, Phil Cole. And in today's episode, we're going to be talking about personality profiles, and how important they are for your team and leadership, for hiring, and and much more. So I'm joined today by Ryan Hill of KLAS Solutions. He's a certified leadership coach for us at KLAS Solutions. And he's going to be sharing his thoughts and his experience with that. So Ryan, Hello, and welcome to the podcast.
Ryan Hill 0:43
Hey Phil, happy to be here. Thanks for having me on the podcast.
Phil Cole 0:48
Well, I'm glad. And I'm glad that we're discussing this topic, because I will say that, I would say after COVID Probably team and leadership is one of those things that is talked about the most. I know, there's been several surveys out there in not just the dental but healthcare, in general, that are stating that their number one or top three concerns is one communication. And two, leadership. And so with those being said, with that being said, you know, it's it's definitely something that has changed. Because before COVID, I think there was more or less everything flowed. And with that big hiccup with people not coming back to work with people changing and moving to different positions and stuff like that, because of what COVID presented to us, it's now become more of a reality, I think, to to a lot of the owners in the business.
Ryan Hill 1:54
I think if there's one thing that COVID showed us, it was the need the great need for good leadership in our organizations without a doubt.
Phil Cole 2:04
Yeah, absolutely. So I guess then to get started, then. I mean, we kind of just touched on a little bit, but for your purposes, or from your purposes, what is the value of a personality profile for a doctor for his team? And how he would use it, you know, as that business owner?
Ryan Hill 2:24
Yeah, You know, it's a personality profile has many advantages. For any leader, especially a doctor with a with a team, but really, there's three that we could point out. The, the first one is so important, so important for leaders to understand themselves, to be self aware to understand your tendencies, and your personality profiles. In in, and with that, it's important also, that you understand what drives you, which is critically important, you know, what are the things that that that move you forward and, and the way you're motivated, but maybe even more important than that is what drives other people, and how we can support them to become the best version of themselves, as well. And then finally, you know, if we're going to be effective leaders, we cannot do that, we cannot do that, well, unless we're effective communicators first. So when we think about the good reasons to do this, you know, understanding yourself understanding what drives you and, and others, and then being able to effectively communicate with the people that are on our team, to build those strong working relationships with with folks that are around us, and it really, you know, honestly, Phil, it can go beyond just our work lives as well. You know, being being more effective in all of our relationships really boils down to those three things as well. And especially that third one, being able to effectively communicate, and build and develop our communication skills is critical in every area of our lives.
Phil Cole 4:12
Yeah, I think that, like I said, the communication thing we already talked about a little bit, but with those surveys that were out, you know, or have been out now, since, you know, 2021 and 2022 had it again, you know, top five reasons, the top five things that disappoint or, you know, aggravate you and your, you know, for your owner and stuff like that. I mean, everybody, you know, it's there's so many times that people were like, well, it's just all about the pay and pay was like in like fifth on that list. Everything else was leadership and communication and attaboys. Right, you know, so it's just like, we don't know, we don't know what he or she wants from us.
Ryan Hill 4:48
Yeah, I heard that. I heard a leader tell me once that it's, you know, it's our job to make a $25 an hour job. Feel like a $30 an hour job. up, because we're creating a culture and we have good communication, and we're developing the people around us people stay for, for culture. And when we think about these personality assessments that fits right in line with building that great culture and the great teamwork, that that people so desperately are looking for, in, in the, in the marketplace,
Phil Cole 5:22
ya know, without a doubt. So, you know, with personality profiles, there's a ton of them out there. And I know that we use, we use desk, as one of them. There's other ones out there that are a little bit more specific for certain needs, I think as well. So that's but you know, you have your color one, you have your, you know, I forget with the rainbow one and all these other things, there's a ton, there's a ton of them. So everybody's trying to but they all basically point back to the same, you know, thought process, or the same analogy or an analysis, I should say of it. So I guess my my question is, just so that people can understand with working with KLAS Solutions, why do we use desk?
Ryan Hill 6:14
Yeah a couple of reasons. In, you know, these just a couple that, that, you know, are coming to me now, but it's, it's backed by a bunch of research, you know, almost 100 years, 1920s was the first time people started working with a disk concepts. And so if you think about that, there's a lot of reliability there. The assessment has been around for a long, long time, it's been refined over the years, and, and research continues to be done. But when you have that many years of research behind it, we know that the the assessment is reliable, it's it's stood the test of time, but probably more important than that, is that it, it's, it's easy to understand, and it's easy to train, right. You know, it gives us tangible results, it gives us the opportunity to you know, kind of see on a map, where where people are. And then we can show them on a map how you know, those relationships on that disc map. But it can be it can be used for hiring new employees and training, current employees especially. So if you think about hiring a new employee, if if you're administering an assessment, and you can get those results back, and you already have the results from your team, you can see where and how that individual is going to fit in with your current team that you have, which is valuable, super valuable information for somebody before they even get started. It wouldn't necessarily be appropriate to use that for yes or no, to bring somebody on your team. But it is valuable to see how they are going to fit in with the personalities that are already existing on your team. You know, and then in addition to that, you know, the training that can take place with your current team, just an understanding how to deepen their communication skills and be more engaged with each other in the teamwork that's necessary to be a commodity office.
Phil Cole 8:14
Yeah, I think that there's two things I think of when I think of when you actually are looking at disk, there's, unfortunately, a lot of people out there that use disk as a just a very broad, you know, the 30,000 foot view. I think that a lot of people get that, as when they when you hear people say I've done this before I've done the test. And that's it, you know, they did the test, and they got their score. And then they were explained what a D and I SOC is. But I think there's a big difference compared to what you're doing when you're putting in when you're applying that to so many other factors. And taking a much. I mean, disc is a very complicated, I didn't say, Well, maybe complicated, but very in depth program, once once you're trained in it, and you actually are certified in it versus you know, you take the tests, and you get a paragraph that says that you're a D and it says that you're aggressive, right? Yeah. And you're like, Oh, I already knew that, you know. So I think that's one thing, but I think the other thing too, that's really important when it comes to the disc is, you know, when you're going like you said when you're going to hire someone, you know, and you're looking for that front desk person, that is gotta be let's taking the just the reception calls, I should say, yeah, and you're putting someone or somebody that's going to do the insurance verification for you or talk to the patient about insurance. And they're part they're in the disc category of not afraid to ask for money afraid to but so that instantly tells you that that person's not, it wouldn't you wouldn't be putting that person in the room. seat, you know, for that position, and I don't think that that's the problem or tell me that, I guess that's where I think that that's where it gets missed. And that's where it's not being utilized properly. Yeah.
Ryan Hill 10:11
And I would add to that by saying, you know, every every single personality profile in the disc, no one is better than another. But understanding what the challenges are, and what the stretches are, inside of each one of those personality profiles is critically important, not just for the leader of the organization, but also for the individual that's required to accomplish those tasks. So, you know, for example, if I have a C personality, and my one of the requirements of my job is to be bubbly and outgoing, that doesn't mean I can't do it, it just means that I'm going to have to stretch inside of that, inside of that person, my own personality, to be calm, and practice the skills of of communicating maybe outside of what my priorities are, what my preferences are, when it comes to my my own personality. So yeah, I mean, there's that that's where the growth can come in. Right? We're, we're, we understand who we are. So again, understanding who we are, what motivates us, but then also using that to learn how to communicate better inside responsibilities that we have in our jobs. So yeah, for sure.
Phil Cole 11:30
So I mean, desk, of course, the four personalities. I mean, like you said, this has been going on for 100 years. Yeah, a ton of a ton of research on this, you can read till you're blue in the face. But for someone that has never done a disc test. And it's amazing how many people out there that I still run across that have not ever had a personality profile period. But those who haven't done a disc test, there's the D, there's an eye, there's an S and A C. And those are the four personality traits, I guess, if you want to call it that, or I like to say that, but what are each one of those stands for? What are they?
Ryan Hill 12:10
yeah, so the the D style, the D stands for dominant. And again, these are just the priorities that I'm going to share with you. And they're very high level, but the D style, or the dominant personality, their priorities are getting immediate results, they love to take action. And they're not afraid to challenge both themselves, and the people around them. Right. So that the there, they tend to be your hard drivers. And the folks that that like to get everything done yesterday, that's the that's the dominant or the D style. So AI style is the AI stands for influence. In these folks, you'll see a lot of enthusiasm, again, like to take action. But it's it's in more of a an encouraging and collaborative nature than in the hard driving as as a D wood. So they're they're very people oriented. And love, love the collaboration and the teamwork aspect. Of of working on a team, the s style, S stands for steady. So these tend to be folks that are very supportive, love, harmony, love to maintain the stability. And they also are on the people side of things. And so they really enjoy the collaboration and the working together. Especially when it has when it takes on the form of you know, close, harmonious teamwork. And then finally, the s or excuse me, the C style, which is C stands for conscientious. These folks are really focused on accuracy, love, again, the stability, they're questioning, since I tend to be a little bit more skeptical, and can be on the challenging side, as well. But they're more reserved than then what like a D style would be or an S style. Even though they share some of those tendencies, they tend to be the ones that are okay with just kind of the reserved side of life.
Phil Cole 14:18
So, in dealing with that, it having your when you take a test just so as as someone who is aware, when you take a test, you're not going to be labeled one. One, only one I should say, Yeah, I mean, it's not one or the other. It is there can be a mix. Why? So explain that a little bit. There's always like a dominant and a secondary.
Ryan Hill 14:45
Yeah that's a great, first of all, all of us are a mixture of all of the styles. That's really critical to understand. We all have a little bit of all of them in us. But each one of us has things that we have What we call priorities or tendencies toward a particular style, that is our preference, right? And so when when you take the assessment, what the assessment will do is ask questions and lead you to answer those questions or, or the line of questioning will will draw you toward the answers that are within your preference, right? Often people are, are either one or two particular styles, and they could have parts of even three different styles. So, for example, I'm a, have a C personality. So really focused on things like accuracy and maintaining stability. However, I also have tendencies within the D style, because I am okay with being challenging. But I also have tendencies and that s style because I really enjoy harmony on teams. And so I've got that strong mixture of all of those three, however, it if it comes right down to what my priorities are and what my preferences are, it's going to be to focus on stability, and especially accuracy is important to me. But But yeah, all of us are a mixture of all of those. And again, we're not trying to pigeonhole people. It's not a system to pigeonhole. It's, it's a, it's a, it's an assessment, to put us on a map to understand who are we? What are our preferences? What are our priorities? And then in how do we what's what's the lens through which we see life? But then how do we, how do we then communicate? And this is, the more important piece is to know who's around me? And, and what, how can I develop my my own personality, my own skills, to be able to communicate effectively with the folks so that my interactions can be as positive as possible?and as you know, me very well. So I'm a I'm heavy D. And so when I first started, though, in the dental career and stuff like that, that would be what I would say is was my downfall, I would talk one way, I would cut people off while they're talking because it was just like, No, you're not getting what I'm saying, I'm gonna let you know when? And let me say louder like that. And, yeah, and I still do know. But I think the thing is, though, is is what desk taking it several times, and knowing that it changes to throughout your career, and in your life, at least it has for me. It's definitely one of those things where I would say something before, and and think nothing of it, and then react or then think about it after the conversation was over and probably sit there and go. And I would say something like, it probably was a little harsh on that. Or, oh, man, I wasn't expecting to make him cry type thing, a bad example. But I think that the importance of that for for anybody that's a main office manager for somebody that's the team leader in the hygiene department or the doctor themselves, is that, you know, for me, it was told by told by someone, you need to when you're ready to talk to that person, you need to take five seconds, and think who you're talking to. Yeah. And it does, I forget sometimes, but it does make a big difference. Because it's like, you know, what, if I was to talk to you, versus talk to my brother, or my sister or my wife, I'm going to if I talk the same way, every time I'm gonna get, I'm gonna get a different result from every single person, because they're going to they're going to look at it, or they're going to take me in a whole different light. You know, but yet, I'm saying the same thing. But I'm saying it the same way every time. Yeah, instead of thinking about it. So.
So yeah, I mean, that's, that's it right there. It's the it's thinking about who am I talking to? What? How can I adapt my communication in order to be more effective in this conversation? And let's face it, if we want to be leaders, and we want to be more effective leaders, it's up to us to understand the adaptations necessary in those conversations. That's, that's just part of the burden of being a leader. And if we want to be more effective, those are the areas where we can really grow and learn how to understand people better and how to and in that understanding, being able to communicate better with them for sure...
Phil Cole 19:37
yeah, yeah. And I remember one of my mentors, sticks to me all the time is he always told me that, hey, listen, it's it's your job to understand how to explain it to them. It's not their job to try to understand what you were saying or thinking. And I think that's unfortunately, a lot of times with dentists busy during the Day, whatever someone comes to a woman that, like I said, they don't take that deep breath, to realize who they're talking to. And so now someone just walked out of the office go, and he didn't listen to me, he didn't even hear me, you know, or whatever, whatever scenario it is, but something very similar to that because that communication was not, you know, what I didn't understand how to communicate with that person. I think the other thing is to that's important as is when it comes to the patient, too. Because when we're trying to sell dentistry, and so if you're trying to sell a to two implants to a patient, I think it's important for you and I always tell doctors, you know, write down what you think their personality is. So that when it's in your practice management's on your screen, in your, in your operatory. If so, if I wanted, if I needed to get two implants, the way a doctor would explain the implants to me versus you, since you said you're a C, versus me being a D, are two totally different things. Because if I, if I am going to state this correctly, a C, you are going to want to know a lot of information, and you are going to want to know timelines, details, stuff like that.
Ryan Hill 20:20
And then I'm gonna clarify. Yeah. That's right. Whereas you probably would be like, You got time you got time now? I'm ready to go. Let's go. Let's get it done. Yep. And so yeah, definitely understanding the difference in the communication necessary, again, to be effective in that interaction. 100%.
Phil Cole 21:38
So for the dentists out there that are listening, let me give you an let me give you an example. This is from this is I hear this quote from many dentists in my career. I will always hear dentists sit there and say, I don't need to worry about any of that crap. I've been doing this for 30 years, my patients, they trust me. And yet, when you see the numbers of case presented versus case, acceptance, it's sometimes some of the usually the guys that say that it's miles apart, you know, which then tells me guess what, you might think they trust you. But the numbers say, no, they don't. Or you're not talking to them properly, because they're asking, some of these people are asking for maybe more information, or in my situation, you rambled on for an hour, and you bored me so much that I just, I'll talk, I'll think about it. And I'm out of here right now, because you're now taking up too much of my time. So I think that's, that's huge when it comes to the patient side of things as well.
Ryan Hill 22:43
Yep. I, you mentioned something, just a word earlier. And that is trust. And I would not discount the say that, that maybe your patients don't trust you. But trust is not something to be taken lightly. And trust can also continually be strengthened. And in the way, one of the ways that we strengthen trust is we meet people where they're at, right, and we communicate with them and adapt our communication to to, you know, their style or their language of understanding. So yeah, that may be true that that your your patients do trust you. But like you said, in order to maybe close that gap in between, you know, what we present and what's accepted, maybe there's little tweaks that we can make in our communication style, that that would allow us to, to be able to serve those patients even better than we already are.
Phil Cole 23:37
Yeah, and then I guess maybe, they do trust you, but doesn't mean that they also are moving forward, though. Yeah, and a big case, you know, how many 1000 or $10,000 case or something like that either. So big difference...
Ryan Hill 23:51
And keep in mind, what hangs in the balance, right, their health, what hangs in the balance is their health and so any, any way that we can continue to develop ourselves so that we can be better at taking care of our people and taking care of our patients? Why wouldn't we do that? Why wouldn't why wouldn't we want to, you know, stretch ourselves to be able to do that even more? For sure.
Phil Cole 24:11
Yeah, I agree. 100%? So, I guess then, I mean, how can if, if I'm a doctor right now listening, you know, how do I how do I use desk as a leader for my like, what would I do? What do I need to do to start getting this concept implemented into my practice and making it just a way of life per se, in the practice?
Ryan Hill 24:42
Yeah. So you know, in the, in the trainings that we do in, you know, in and around the topic of disc, these these are the big questions, right, how do we, how does the rubber meet the road here? What do we do, and how do we make it actually work for us? Well, we spent lots of time talking about you know, priorities and preferences and underlying assumptions. And, you know, again, understanding ourselves and understanding the people around us is, is critically important. And then, you know, once we, once we understand those things, then we start to use that understanding in communicating, you know, more effectively with people, understanding what motivates people, what understand understanding what empowers people, understanding how people want to grow, you know, all of those things are going to create them, you know, more engagement from our team, they're there, they're gonna feel more embedded into that team, because of because of, you know, the way we're, we're stretching ourselves to meet them where they are. But yeah, I mean, it's all all of this is part of, you know, developing as a better manager of the people that are around us. Because it all boils down to being as effective as we possibly can be with our, with our people, and adapting our style and understanding that our adaptations in our style are going to be critical to the growth of not only ourselves, but everybody else that's, that's around us. So if we, you know, if we, if we are choosing to refuse to recognize that there are differences in our personalities, and we're just going to make everybody except our communication and our own personality, our leadership will have limitations, the minute and the day that we start to, you know, embrace the fact that, you know, I can, I can become more effective in my communication, that's when our teams are, will start to turn the corner and start to get stronger, and stronger cultures are built out of that, and better teamwork is always the result. And then going back to that trust piece, right? That's, that's when trust gets elevated on teams. And when when trust is high on teams, there's an awful lot that we can accomplish. More than then then if it's not there at all, or we have limited trust.
Phil Cole 27:06
And when we when we do our assessments for these practices and stuff, those who have a strong team, and are typically the ones that are the ones that have the healthiest practices, right. Yeah, I mean, that's just it, there's, there's no, there. And I bet you, if we talked to any other consulting or coaching company out there, they would say the same thing, strong team, strong teams, always are going to be the ones that are out producing anybody. Yet, we run across so many times that the doctors, you know, I have a great practice, blah, blah, blah. And then when we do our assessment, and we hand out those surveys to all the people, you know, I don't know how many times what, what you think, and what we actually get in results from the team is different, you know, so I would say that. I guess one of the other things I would say is, it's funny that the officers that we have that we've coached throughout the years, the ones that really, really strive to be better and better are already the ones that believe in this that are all in in it's now just you know what, we need a refresher course. Or we need a refresher on this that net, or you know, what, take us to the next level. Because we're all in Right?....
Ryan Hill 28:34
yeah. Yeah. And nobody is waking up in the morning, you know, no leader, no, no teammate is waking up in the morning saying, How can I be ineffective? today? Our journey is about helping people understand to wake up every morning and saying, How can I intentionally be more effective today? In you know, in disc, and understanding personality profiles, is just one piece of, of, you know, the leadership that it takes to wake up and say, How can I be more effective today? How can I serve and, and, and engage my team? In better ways today than I did yesterday?
Phil Cole 29:17
Just the tool. And like, I think for the audience, or for those who are listening, I think it's important to to understand like, this is just one tool that you have in your quiver, right. I mean, you also are with five behaviors, and the ability to do that. So I mean, I don't want people that are listening to sit there and think that it's like, this is the only thing there is to do about leadership there. This is just one arrow out of the quiver, right.
Ryan Hill 29:45
Yeah, but think about this. If you understand how to communicate effectively, think about all the other things that that are tied to that right? The the culture that you're trying to build a vision that you have for your practice. and sharing with, you know, the different personalities on your team, how they specifically fit into that vision, you know, in, you know, your short term, your long term goals, you know, all of those things, being able to that your communication really revolves around all of that stuff. And so being fourth effective in, in, in, in that way strengthened so many other areas of your practice as well.
Phil Cole 30:26
Well, I think it's huge even because I'll speak on my own behalf on this one from with you being come into KLAS, when, you know, it used to be the vision, mission goals, tendency that I had. And I know you asked, when you came on board, you know, what is, you know, what is it? And then you asked me, What are my core values? And I basically developed what, and then you explained it and everything. And I think when it comes to just like you said the communication, the hiring of somebody, and bringing them on board, and it has made a world of difference, since you've taught me that. And bringing someone on board having immediately, are they fitting the core values of what I believe what I want, what my company's believes in stuff, instead of me kind of going, Man, I think they're gonna be good, you know, and they're, you know, they're, the disc is okay, but you know that, like you said, it's just one piece of it, and then bringing in all those other things is just, there's a lot, I think there is an unbelievable amount of leadership tools out there, and I don't think you could ever master it. You know, constant journey and growth. Yeah, and I don't think that I think that's one of those things. For me. I've always, I've always attempted and tried to grow in that. But that was to me, maybe personally, and for my business was kind of doing what I think a lot of doctors tend to do. And that's flatline. And when you came on board and open that Core Values section to me, and really got me to understand that it you know, once again, the learning curve, you know, I guess you can say went up, but also brought me back to really making sure that you're just not listening. You know, I think what I was doing was falling into the problem of reading books, but not really listening to the book, right? You read it and it's like, okay, got another one done, you know,
Ryan Hill 32:35
but picking something out and applying it and saying we're gonna we're gonna work on this skill for Yeah.
Phil Cole 32:41
And when you implemented that, that that made me realize and that, like I said, that got me off that plateau. So I think those who are listening, you know, once again, if you haven't done desk, there's a chance to get off that plateau. Right. But if you've already done desk and you you have it down, then there's five behaviors that you do when there's other there's other workshops that you do. There's, there's a whole slew of things to take you and your team to another level.
Ryan Hill 33:08
For sure. Yep. Without a doubt there's and within desk, there's so much that that we can do with that in there. And like you said, it leads into other trainings that we have as well that can really take take your team from from, you know, maybe being good to great or even from great to being excellent. So yeah, lots of opportunity.
Phil Cole 33:32
Well thank you very much, Ryan, for. Thanks for having me. Yeah, absolutely. So if you enjoy our show, please rate review us on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Phil Cole, your host and once again, thank you, Ryan for talking to us about personality profiling. Thanks, everyone for listening and have a great day.
