Anne: Hello everyone and welcome to Dental Entrepreneur, the Future of Dentistry's podcast. It's Anne Duffy and I'm so happy to have you here today with us and my special guest, a very good friend. We sat next to each other at a meeting a couple years ago and uh, we've been good friends ever since. And I follow his weekly newsletter.
He's. So good, so wise, and let me tell you a little bit about him before we get him in the podcast. Dr. Rob McGuire is a speaker, coach, and consultant. He's a graduate of Georgetown University School of Dentistry and has a master's degree in Strategic Communications and leadership from Seton Hall University.
He practiced dentistry for 34 years, 28 of those years in a solo fee for service private practice, which he sold in 2018. When people ask him, what do you do? He says, I help dentists clean up their chaos and the confusion in their dental practices. For him, being a dentist is all about relationships, clinical excellence, and clear communication.
Please help me welcome my guest, Dr. Rob McGuire. Hi Rob.
Rob: Thank you for having me.
Anne: O M G, I love your bio. So I didn't know, honestly, Rob, that you had a master's degree in strategic communication and leadership. No wonder you are so wise and it's not just that what you've learned in life lessons, but you've actually studied it at a lovely university and have a degree, a master's degree in it.
So we are here today to listen to your wise Sage advice.
Rob: Wow. Thank you.
Gray hair, and a bald head goes a long way. Ann.
Anne: I hear ya. And you know what I've always say, Rob, is that, dues don't retire and neither do dudes. Those are men that support women in dentistry and those are awesome men in dentistry. We, you know, really, I don't know if we'll ever retire from, Helping our profession and, we'll be in nursing home someday, and somebody's gonna have a little toothache or they're gonna have a problem and we're gonna be right there to, give them the answers that we have and learned over our years.
Right.
Rob: one of my mentors was Peter Dawson. I'm sure you know Peter Dawson, and what I loved about him was when he would give his presentations, he would show his successes, but they would also share with you the things that didn't go so well. But what he said to me was, and is my goal in life on the second half, if you will, is to help. Other dentists make fewer mistakes than I did along the journey. Are there things that I can share with them to help make their journeys easier? And so that's my passion and that's where I'm at right now. I'm having so much fun host clinical practice years. it's great. So thanks for having me today.
Anne: Well, You're welcome. And that's what I love about the Fulfillment Coach, because you have a servant's heart, And then just the fact that you wanna give back like that it's a very humbling, servant leadership as well. I think a really strong leader has to be humble enough to admit that they've made mistakes.
To share them for the greater good. And that's what you're doing. And that's obviously what Pete Dawson did. And that's why he's, held up in such esteem, with all of us in dentistry, throughout the ages and, a loss for our community. But we carry the torch. You carry the torch.
Rob: It goes back years ago. I grew up in a family of modest means, and I had an older couple adopt when I was in dental school. They would invite me over for dinner. They would say, Rob, would you like to come over for dinner? I'm like yes, A female, you bet I'll be there. And they would come pick me up 'cause I didn't have a car.
The point of the story is I said to them, and I affectionately called them Mr. And Mrs. H. and they were in their sixties at the time, so I'm just a young whipper snapper in my twenties. And I said to them, And Mrs. H, I don't know how I'm ever gonna be able to repay you. And they said to me, you don't need to, just when you're able go out and help somebody else. Those were powerful words. And Those words I took into my heart, and that's my whole passion for today, is to just help other people have more joy, more fulfillment, and greater financial success in their practices.
'cause Ann, when you're happy, when you're content and when you are driven by helping other people succeed, your team members and your patients, Guess what? It's fulfillment, but it also trickles all the way down to your bank account. But that's not what drives you. That's just the byproduct of giving of yourself to others, and you can't give away what you don't own. So one of my goals that I always tell is, How do you find that sparkle in your life? I heard this expression the other day, Ann. someone said, look for the glimmers. Wow. That could be the sun coming up in the morning. That could be the little drip of dew on a beautiful flower that you see in the morning.
what are the glimmers that you can see today? Because as dentist, right? Sometimes we're just looking for decay and we're looking for, problems. Sometimes that can, slant our focus and that we have to consciously look for the good.
Anne: Yeah, that's a positive way to look at life and the best way to serve not only your patients, but your. Self, right? Because that's, almost like having a grateful heart, along the way. And you know, it, I think as a dentist, the perfectionism that, you need to have to get outta dental school and do the boards, and then every case you have, you strive for that.
But you can be so hard on yourself that you forget the little things. You forget that it's okay to Not necessarily get a perfect result every time, but you, do your best and you have your eye on the, right values that you've created and the culture that you've created in your practice, which you can do because it is your practice.
This is like, I really love the way that you speak to, the younger dentist going ahead and actually getting into. the lane of buying their own practice, sooner than later before they feel like they're ready, because most humans never really feel like they're ready for something that big, that scary.
And I think the commitment that they make, I. We'll actually provide the courageous action they need to build the capabilities and then that obviously equals confidence for them to continue forward. And I think sometimes we hold ourselves back because we don't believe we can do it.
yet everybody has that opportunity to do that.
Rob: Yeah, and it's fear that keeps us sometimes for going forward. Think about your first date. I remember asking that first girl out for a date and how scary that was. What. Unless you took that risk, unless you had the courage to muster it, it could have been a lost relationship, a lost opportunity.
And so with buying a dental practice, you're not gonna know all the answers, but you're gonna know enough to step. Into it and then let the process work itself out.
and I share that from my own experience. I was in the Navy for three years, and then I was an associate for another three years with the hope that associateship was going to turn into partial ownership. It never did, and I stayed way too long. Why did I stay way too long? Because I didn't have the confidence to go out and buy my own practice. Well, then I did, and the rest was history. It was 28 years in a solo private practice. But again, I worked as an associate, so I learned the business side from that individual.
I learned a little bit about the communication side. This dentist I work with and we're still friends today and he's 90 and still going strong. But his patients loved him. He cared about them, and his work was. Excellent. So if I could give young dentists a pearl of wisdom is that, be good at what you do, be good at the clinical dentistry, and then all the other aspects of private practice can learn, but don't think you have to know it all right out of the shoot. Ask others for help. I had mentors, Anne, and of course I couldn't afford a, an expensive consultant right out of the ch but I had lots of colleagues, particularly specialists. I sought them out. The ones who were successful, the ones who were friendly and human and authentic, they taught me, come on in. You wanna observe me for the day?
Come on in. I saw a dentist at Yankee. His name was Tom McDougall and he practiced in Richardson, Texas, which is outside of Dallas. And I'm a young dentist, and I went up to him and I said, Dr. McDougall, I love your whole philosophy and I love what you're doing. Could my wife and I come out and shadow you for a day or two?
He said, come on West, come on to Texas. He took, he took us out to dinner. We spent two and a half days watching him. Now he was probably 20 years older than me at the time, but he had the experience. I learned so much in those two and a half days, so I was in the back, in the clinical area just watching him and my wife was up front with the administrative team. All I had to do was ask, he knew me from nothing. This was, as I said at Yankee, and I just went up to him. I think I was probably maybe 35. And so he was say 55, and I just went up and asked him and he said, come on over.
Anne: Yeah. that takes a little bit of courage to begin with, but also if you're listening to this, the success that comes from making that commitment. taking that step to ask. I love what you said, it's so logical. If they don't seem that interested in their little prickly or whatever, well then you move on to somebody else because there's a lot of great dentists that could be helpful to you and you're not gonna be taking any time away from you.
You're not really asking them for much acceptance to shadow and how lovely that man is. Obviously he had the philosophy of Dr. Pankey in the fact that he would Pay it forward, if you will, and it's such a good experience and a good example of what's out there. Don't be afraid to ask. I think ask for what you want and be gracious and respectful and see where it goes and that trajectory changed your career.
Rob: It did. And here's another thing, Anne, as young dentists, the mindset often is, I have to know it all today. Well, I news for you. You don't know it all today and the day you die, you're not gonna know it all either. But we're all a work in progress, and so knowing that there are things that you don't know, but there are other people who can help you just reach out and it doesn't make you any less of a dentist.
Here's another thing. You start off as a young dentist and you think you gotta be able to do it all. I gotta do endo, I gotta do ortho, I gotta do full mile, crown, a bridge, and I gotta do it. Well, right out of the chute. Well, Guess what? You're not gonna do it well right out of the chute until you get some years under your belt and have failed a few times.
Ooh, there's that word. But that's when we learn the most, and in my lecture, The economics of great communication. I talk about excellence versus perfection
Anne: Oh, I like that.
Rob: because perfection, I call it the perfection pit because none of us are perfect, but all of us can strive to give it our best every day. Knowing that some days are gonna be better than others. Some days they'll be, oh, I've got hands from God.
Anne: Yeah.
Rob: And then the other days are like, man, I feel like I'm wearing a couple of mittens. What's going on here? but that's life remember you were at SS C N, you heard me talk about what I called after action reviews.
it's when you evaluate what happened, what was supposed to happen, what was the reason it happened, and what will I do differently next time to get a better result. there's plenty of examples that you can use from clinical dentistry or in life when you have a relationship.
you might say something to a team member and they. Walk off in a huff. Instead of saying what's the matter to them? You might wanna look back and say, could I have phrased that a little better? I wonder what role I played in relationship snafu. But it's just understanding our humanity and do it the best you can every day, always.
Strive for excellence. Let that be your bar. Not only excellence with your dentistry, but how you talk with people, not to them. one of my favorite quotes, and I'm sure you know it, by Maya Angelou, right? People don't care what you said. People don't care what you did, but people are gonna remember how you made them feel and that's all part of the fulfillment piece.
How do you feel about yourself? ' cause you gotta feel good about yourself if you're gonna help your team members feel good about. Themselves and their jobs cause. They wanna succeed just as much as you do. And then that goes on to your patients as well.
Anne: I what you said in article. You care for your patients and you care for your team. the caring doesn't stop just at the patient, just at the bottom line. You wanna build something lifelong. And I think that is ringing true to so many dentists out there now where they're, losing their team members.
like to figure out how to keep them. And I think a big part of how to do that is with communication and showing them. That you care about them there used to be consultings going around like, oh no, don't, don't give them any personal, help or, treat 'em like a family member because then it's really hard to end the relationship.
No. If you're a good leader, you care about everybody in a very special way because they're helping you. And I, I love that. That is, the full circle of. Fulfillment. Fulfillment. You have a successful life. Your team has a successful life, and your patients have a successful outcome. mean, It doesn't get much better than that.
And as the leader, it's really your responsibility to set that bar.
Rob: And it all starts the leader. and I think where dentists can get lost is focusing too much on the dollar. Focusing on the business aspect of the practice, I have a hands, head and heart philosophy. The hands are your clinical dentistry. Not only is it the clinical dentistry, but it's the helping hands to help your teammates to help your patients.
It's the hands the head has to do with. The systems, the policies, the management aspects of running a practice, the schedule, the collections, all of that stuff. But the heart is where the action is. ' cause that's where you connect with people and dentistry It's a people business.
Yeah. It's about fixing teeth and bites and making people look beautiful. But it's about people and connecting with them, they are your best resource. so how do I know all this wisdom? And in my early days, I obsessed over numbers. I was.
Awful. Not only did I make myself miserable, but I made everybody around me miserable. finally I woke up to saying, that's a quick way to burn out. once I started focusing on the geese that lay the golden eggs, the golden eggs came.
I didn't have to chase them, they chased me
Anne: You were going backwards, right?
Rob: I was going backwards. But you take care of your patients. They're your best referral source. So for a young dentist who's buying a practice, Work with what's working right now. Yes. You might not like the system or didn't like the. You might wanna change that. Great, that's all fine and dandy, but remember that the people they've come to the practice for years.
Whether the carpet's faded or maybe the walls need some painting, but they're coming for the people. even though the dentist may be transitioning, oftentimes the team is still there.
So work with what you've got and then gradually introduce your changes. Don't try to reinvent the wheel it's like somebody say, buying a restaurant that's been successful for 20 years.
Don't go in and change the menu day one. Work with what's working and then gradually introduce your ideas and perhaps you could tap into your team members and ask 'em their thoughts. 'cause chances are they're probably thinking the same way you are in terms of, oh, that would be nice if we had this new piece of equipment.
Or that would be nice if we had new chairs in the reception room. You do it together, If I could give one word of advice, it's do it gradually. It's like the old expression about a frog. You put a frog in boiling water and he is going to, jump out. But if you gradually raise the temperature, they don't know what hit 'em.
So when you're making changes, if you're buying a practice, Do it gradually, but bring your team along with you because they are your greatest resource right out of the shoot. Two greatest resources, your team and your skills, your hand skills, and your mouth skills. So don't go in with an ego with both guns,
Anne: be humble about it. I think that's the most successful thing you can do. And then, if you're listening again, as you're thinking about buying a practice, you don't have to do it all at once. you make the commitment and then you build your courage and then the skills come, and then you have all the confidence in the world to continue to build it and gradually bring the team along because that shows respect for them.
They've worked there for a long time. Not only did the doctor build this. Practice, but the team was a big part of it. So if you come in and say, everything that they did was wrong, they're not gonna be your friend, they're gonna leave in droves. And and then the patients are gonna be like where did the team member go?
And what's happening here? It's again, Rob, it's so logical and sound, I think it gives you a little bit of a break on not having to. Do everything the first year you're in your own practice. it's such a blessing to be in your own practice. I love that you loved owning your practice.
Tell me what held you back? was it a contract thing that you didn't have with your first dentist? I mean, Obviously you really respected him. It just was you were afraid to go out or what was it? I'm just curious
Rob: Honestly, and it was a multitude of things. I went back and practiced in my hometown in Nashua, New Hampshire, so not only would I be leaving this practice, but I would be leaving my hometown because of. Restrictive covenants, which every dentist who has an associate, you absolutely need a restrictive covenant.
I'm just gonna throw that in there. But it was having the confidence to know that I could do this. I had the skills in my hands. I was in the Navy for three years. I was stationed at Paris Island. It was 50 dentists. We went through all the specialties and dental school training was, I'm gonna toot the horns for Georgetown, but it was, a very good program.
So it was just having the confidence thinking that I had to know it all before I did it. You don't, and here's the other thing, Anne, that I want to, tell our audience members is that one of the assumptions that I had made was that, oh, I couldn't afford that. Well, I'm telling you right now, you can.
Afford that if the deal is structured with a win-win approach, in other words, that the seller is getting the maximum for his or her practice, but the cash flow is favorable for the younger dentists coming in, and let's say the earnings rate is 47%. So that means of the gross income, you're gonna get 47% of that.
If you're working as an associate and you're getting paid 35%, there you go. You can do it. And banks are still. Loaning money for the enchilada. And when I'm talking an earnings rate of that, that's after debt service. so you're doing okay. And I know that the dental school debt today is much higher than what it was back when I graduated in 1984.
But I was gasping it. How am I gonna pay this $10,000 a year tuition. at Georgetown, so it ended up being 20,000 a year by the time you added your lab expenses and living expenses and things like that.
Anne: That's nothing compared to now, but you know, everything's relative.
Rob: It's, but to understand that you can,
Anne: Yes.
Rob: unless you try, just do it. go on to different websites and look for practices that are for sale, and don't buy into the mindset that I can't afford it or I can't do it. Yes, you can. And the freedom to know that you can take your creative juices and mold what you've got.
Into what you want and understand that where you're at right now is not gonna where you end up, but at least you've got something to start with. and it's yours. That's right.
Anne: I just love that because, I think that is the dream when you, go into dental school for most majority of men and women that go into dental school, they want something that's is their own. It is possible, and the takeaways are, get help. I.
Find someone to mentor you, not only from communication, but you mentioned in your article, transactions, transitions, all of this. There's experts out there in the dental field that are trying to help you. They're good people. They want dentistry to succeed, and they want you to succeed. And that's the thing about the banks too.
They are counting on you. They believe in you and they will help you, and there's help to be had. So again, ask for help. Do your best and never give up.
Rob: That's it. really search your heart and say, What is it that I really want? If I had a magic wand, how would I want to practice? But that practice that you do purchase, if that's the way you go, it's not gonna be the way you want it to be, but it's starting point.
You've got the freedom now to then mold it into
Anne: what's on your heart what you've dreamt about all through dental school. You just, one day I'm gonna do that then there'll be just like, you have a great career. That's your job. Rob is to help young dentists and even dentists, not just young, dentists in their forties, fifties, and sixties and up.
With a career that they can look back on and be proud of. And I really applaud you in your efforts for that. How do people find you, Rob, because you are the fulfillment coach. I know you've got a newsletter that comes out once a week, which is fabulous. How do they get that and how do they find you?
Rob: So they can find me my website. Is the fulfillment coach, and they can go to my website and they can click on. The link for the newsletter, and I would, get them on the email list right away.
they can go to my services information page and learn about my philosophy The other way they can do is is that I'm on LinkedIn, so if you search my name Robert Maguire, m a g u i r e d d s. I've got lots of articles that you can tap through again, when you're looking for help, it's not only people help, but it's listening to podcasts like this and reading.
And I gotta tell you, I am a reader, a voracious reader. My kids always say to me, dad, do you ever read a book without a highlighter? don't. I'm a geek. What can I Because we can always learn something but don't keep the blinders on and just take clinical courses.
Please expand your mind to. Areas of communication. 'cause dental school really doesn't teach us a whole lot about that, but that's where it's at. Connecting with people will allow you to do the dentistry that you have been so well-trained to do. So the fulfillment.coach.
Anne: I love it and I loved having you today, and if you're listening and you're, and you've got a meeting coming up, you also won the big prize at S C N Speakers Consulting Network, and I've seen you speak, you're absolutely delightful, energetic, and I can't stop smiling thinking of, your talk that you gave when we were in Nashville.
So Rob wishing you all the best. Love that you're fulfilled and I, and wishing you, a great road ahead to help others become the best they can be and feel good about themselves. Rob, thank you so much and all of you out there that are listening, thanks for joining us today on Dental Entrepreneurs, the Future of Dentistry, and most importantly, everyone keep doing you.
Thanks everyone. Thank you, Rob.
