Grow by letting Go: Why Becoming the "Chief Everything Officer" Will kill your practice’s value
The journey of a dental practice owner often starts with a rush of excitement and ambition. You are the visionary, the big idea, the clinician, the culture driver—the Chief Everything Officer (CEO). But that initial high quickly turns into chronic exhaustion.
IF every decision, every obstacle, and every critical process runs through you, you are not scaling your practice; you are simply capping your teams capacity, and your business. You quickly become the BOTTLENECK. This owner-dependence doesn't just increase your stress and drive burnout; it creates a practice that is unscalable, brittle, and chaotic!
You've done the "easy" work of staying involved in everything, which, ironically, makes the practice's future immeasurably Hard.
The New Reality: Why Culture, Structure and Systems are a Non-Negotiable
The dental landscape continues to evolve. Private equity (PE) is actively reshaping the industry, consolidating, merging, and scaling rapidly. They are targeting stable, cash-flow industries—and dentistry continues to be at the top of the list.
Historically PE would not shy away from purchasing less than par dental practices. That is now changing, and they are specifically seeking practices with strong leadership and culture, systemized operations, and a foundation for growth.
Now more than ever, the market is demanding that practices transition into a "well-oiled machine”. High-value practices showcase uniqueness in the market, flawlessly execute their vision, implement strong operating systems, cultivate a winning culture, and deliver consistent year-over-year growth.
The good news? You have an inherent advantage. While DSOs rely on scale, they cannot buy the genuine connection—they cannot buy authenticity. The successful independent practice is one that merges this authentic trust and culture focus with a modern, Dental Operating Foundation that is built for growth.
The Path to Freedom: The "Hard, Easy" Principle
If you want to achieve year-over-year growth and escape the "CEO" trap, you must embrace the "Hard, Easy" principle.
You can choose to do the Hard work now—the essential work on the business—to make leading and growing your practice Easy in the long run.
This is the foundational work I helped lead at organizations, and what I now coach others to do through Chairside Collaborative. It's about letting go of the execution and putting these seven pillars in place:
Vision: Defining where you're going & create clarity for your team.
Standards: Define what "excellent" looks like, from standard of care to protocols and patient experience.
Culture: Engineering a culture by building a committed environment that fosters personal growth and high engagement.
Organizational Structure: Creating clear roles, responsibilities, and true accountability.
Systems & Processes: Developing the operating cadence that allows the business to run consistently and efficiently without constant owner input.
Priorities & Accountability: Instituting data-driven reviews (KPIs) and a meeting cadence that empower leaders to own their role and department.
When you put this systemized foundation in place, you achieve ALIGNMENT—the key to reducing the stress, complexity, and turnover that stunts growth.
The Result: Empowered Team, Exponential Growth
By doing the hard work of building structure, your vision is cascaded down to the entire team, empowering leaders and team members alike to truly own their roles.
You are freed from the day-to-day chaos, gaining the capacity to work on strategy. Your team grows in their professional development, and your practice becomes more valuable, stable, and resilient.
Private practice is evolving, and it's time for you to implement a Dental Operating Foundation.
The stronger your foundation is today, the more options and freedom you will have tomorrow.
Ready to stop being the Chief Everything Officer and start leading a truly scalable business?
Let's discuss how Chairside Collaborative can help you GROW by Letting Go.