Armed with all this preparation (Jameson, 2002), Dr. Lee scheduled a lunch meeting (purposefully planned over a meal in a public setting) and confronted his partner. The end result was they broke a 10 year pattern of relating to each other in persecutor-victim-rescuer mode. They reached an equitable solution that permits them to continue their partnership but with new methods for communicating with each other and less emotional ways to solve problems. Dr. Lee kept stating “This stuff really works!”  He felt so empowered by our thorough preparation for his confrontation that he requested individual, monthly executive coaching sessions in addition to the on-going practice management consulting. Dr. Ted was so impressed with his brother’s more effective approach to problem solving rather than the usual verbal bludgeoning done in the past that he requested individual coaching also. To keep boundaries clear, I referred him and he has regular monthly one-on-one sessions with his own executive coach.

Modified 360 Performance Feedback

You might think 360 performance feedback systems won’t work with the CEO’s of small businesses like dental and veterinary practices. With some slight modifications, 360’s can provide powerful feedback these business owners might never receive. Most companies this size do not have Boards of Directors to whom they are accountable so those types of questions need to be culled. They do have a customer base with whom they have close personal relationships.  Patient or client surveys are often conducted in the dental and veterinary worlds, so it would not be too much of a stretch to engage the customers in this feedback process.  Employees of dentists and veterinarians are eager to provide pooled feedback that may positively impact their working environments.