 |
Fresh out of law school I began my legal career with the Department of Defense. At the time I had thought DoD’s primary job was to ensure the production of tanks, planes, ammunition, and other war fighting paraphernalia. While those items are necessary and certainly a part of DoD’s story, the truth is that it is the people who fly the planes, shoot the guns and protect our nation that make-up DoD’s story.
Surprisingly, this information was not part of my initial orientation. It was not until I actually listened to the stories of the soldiers and civilian workers who had deployed that I realized they were my true employers, not DoD. This realization changed my perspective and gave me purpose.
So How Does this Relate to Your Medical Practice?
When you hire a new receptionist, technician, or office manager what do you include in your orientation? Do you start with all of the legal paperwork or do you start with your story, your purpose?
Who is the true hero in your story? For some practices the hero may be the patient, for some it may be collective heroism, meaning the staff as a whole and for some it may be the physician. Practice managers who develop their practice’s story and then market that story to both internal and external stakeholders will create purpose for their staff members and patients.
To give you a sense of reference, think of your story as collective pool of water. Each patient or staff member who comes into contact with the pool adds a drop of water. This pool of water is dynamic and is constantly adding to the collective vision. And this vision is continuously reflected out to your internal and external communities.
Why Storytelling?
By creating and retelling your story you give a purpose to your call of action. For employees, you inspire them to add to and continue the collective “pool.” For patients, you give them a sense of belonging and ownership in the practice.