Have you seen the movie Inception?
Great film. Christopher Nolan directed, DiCaprio’s is the lead, Tom Hardy supports. (That should be enough for you to watch it regardless in my humble-but-accurate opinion)
It’s about a team of thieves that travels into people’s dreams to steal their secrets (or in the case of “Inception” – to actually implant a new thought).
Now, going into people’s dreams can be a little tricky. And as they discuss in the movie, one of the big concerns is losing touch with reality.
Am I in the real world? Am I in a dream? Can’t remember…
Yeah, that could be a problem
So they have what they call Totems. These are little trinkets they can use to ‘test’ if they are actually in reality.
For example, DiCaprio’s character carries a toy top as his totem. If he spins the top and it topples over, he’s in reality. If he spins it and it doesn’t stop spinning, he’s in a dream.
Dream-invasion is not part of my consultancy’s offerings. I’m guessing you don’t do much of it yourself.
BUT the idea of a “Totem” came to mind as I was going through my Nashville Notes.
Because another big takeaway from last week’s Nashville mastermind meetup was the idea of staying grounded and tuned to your clients/patients.
Think about this:
There’s something that drew you to medicine, right? Something you just loved about it.
I’ve heard the “how I got started” stories from many of my clients, and they’re usually somewhat dramatic:
Having the opportunity to serve patients on a mission trip…
Studying under an incredible surgeon who made a huge impact on patients…
Having a life-changing procedure yourself, and realizing you wanted to help others achieve those same amazing outcomes…
Whether you’re the practice owner, an associate, or a team member…
You have an origin story that brought you to start what you’re doing now.
Then over time, the practice grows (great!).
People are hired (great!).
The org chart gets more levels (which it should).
…and you aren’t doing as many of those initial activities you loved doing, the things that got you going in the first place.
In a lot of ways, that’s good – you don’t want to be doing every little thing in your practice. That’s not how you grow and lead.
But at the same time – if you got joy and energy from activities you are no longer doing… you start to lose touch with the reality of why you started this whole thing in the first place.
This is where the Totem concept comes in.
Take a refractive surgery example:
A surgeon opens a practice, and she’s the only doc in the whole place. Which means she meets with every single patient who comes in for a consultation.
Then her practice grows, and she hires ODs. The amazing ODs do the consultations, and the surgeon does the surgery. So now she’s meeting with fewer patients.
Practice grows a little more, and they hire more MDs. These awesome new MDs start doing more of the surgeries so the founder can focus on business growth of the practice
All of these are good, healthy progressions. And they’re parallel to someone on the phone team taking every call… moving up to manager… and then sales team director.
In these situations, you have someone who went from engaging every patient every day and being on the front lines…
To seeing virtually zero patients and focusing only on the business.
Do you need to be focused on the business side of your practice? Duh, of course you do.
But you also need to stay tuned into your WHY. Don’t be so far removed from the action that you miss the real-world impact your team is making.
Because when you’re removed, it’s easy for patients – actual humans – to be redefined and reduced to “surgery eyes” or “units of BOTOX” or “active orthodontic cases.”
The lady who had surgery this morning is not a “premium cataract upgrade.” She’s Sharon Jenkins, grandmother of 7 beautiful children, active golfer and volunteer poll worker.
This is vital to remember.
So how do you balance “staying in the mix” with the demands of growing your practice?
You need a simple Totem Activity.
In the movie, it only took Leo 10 seconds to spin his top. But that one small activity was vital to reminding him of where he was (and by extension, what he was supposed to be doing).
Pick 1-2 short tasks that remind you of the reason you dedicated your life to this in the first place. Incorporate those tasks into your daily rhythm.
A few possible Totem Activities for physician CEOs, admins and those in managerial positions:
1. Reply to your Google reviews. This only takes a few minutes, and it lets you see first-hand how your team has changed peoples’ lives. Even if you don’t reply to them, at least read them. (I read my clients’ reviews, as one of my Totem Activities to remind me why I do what I do. In a small way, I get to help patients by extension through the practices I serve.)
2. See a handful of patients a week. If you aren’t seeing patients as often anymore, make it a point to do so. Doesn’t mean you have to do a whole consult, but even stopping by and saying hello is a nice gesture.
3. Pop in on patients during their post-ops. Again, doesn’t have to be anything formal. Poke your head in, ask what they’re looking forward to doing now they they’ve had treatment, tell them you appreciate putting trust in you and your practice. Like when the manager or chef pops by your table at a nice restaurant to check on you.
4. Send a thank-you note to a patient for a referral. Takes 60 seconds, and it’s a great exercise of gratitude and reminder of the humanity of your patients.
“Troy, I’m busy and this stuff isn’t realistic.” Maybe it’s not. But figure out what is, and do that.
We can’t get so caught up working toward the dream of building a massive practice…
That we forget the reality of why we started doing what we do in the first place.
Figure out your Totem Activity today.
– Totem T-Cole