Author’s Note: this is a philosophical perspective, thus it is not based on fact, but rather on a way one sees the world and themselves. Nevertheless, having delivered work based on this philosophy for over 40 years — a body of work that has transformed people, freeing them from their self-imposed limitations and prisons of self-critical and self-defeating interpretations — I can firmly stand on my success with thousands of professionals. You are free to form your own opinions.
I’ve asked the following question to hundreds of dentist-entrepreneurs: Who do you need to be, who you’re not now, to run a multimillion-dollar DSO?
Frequently, the first thing people ask is, “What do you mean by this question?” I let them know that the question is just as it sounds: “Who do you need to be — that you’re not now — to run a multimillion-dollar DSO?”
Now, I didn’t ask you what to do or what you need to know to run a multimillion-dollar DSO. I didn’t ask what information do you need, what systems and structures you need, what are the best KPIs, SOPs, training manuals, and IT do you need to be successful. No, I asked: Who do you need to be, who you are not now, that would allow you to run a multimillion-dollar dental company?
From Dentist to Dentist-Entrepreneur
There is a vast difference between what you need to know and who you need to be. There is the difference between a great recipe and a great chef, or the difference between the detailed instructions on how to build a beautiful cabinet and a master cabinet-maker. Who one is — not what one knows — is, I believe, also essential for success.
The task of uncovering who you are, and then transforming who you are, in order to be the kind of leader and executive able to run a multimillion-dollar DSO is accomplished via existentialism.
Existentialism is a philosophy focused on discovering the self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility. It involves finding out who you are based on choices determined by your experiences, beliefs, and outlook. In existentialism, personal choices are unique without an objective (outside) form of truth.
Existentialism holds that a person should choose for themselves and be responsible without the help of overarching beliefs, rules, or traditions. Existentialism believes that a person can see themselves as the cause of their own existence, and that a person can be accountable for the choices they made to see themselves in that way.
When someone acknowledges that they are responsible for the choices they have made — not their parents, their society, or their culture; when they see themselves as the person who has had their hand on the wheel all along, and that they are the captain who has been directing the boat, they have the capacity to make new choices about who they are.
Existentialism: The Path to Truth
Existentialism takes into consideration the underlying concept that humans have free will, and that human nature is based on life choices. That personal responsibility and discipline are crucial. And that traditional rules are arbitrary.
Existentialism does not support the concept that social values and structures control the individual. Nor does existentialism advocate accepting one’s lot in life, nor does it promote “I want my way, now!” or “It is not my fault!”
Bottom line: Existentialism enables someone to break the chains of their past and free themselves from their imposed identity by recognizing that these things were determined by the choices they made, the way they chose to interpret themselves and situations, which are not the truth, but interpretations. Once they recognize these as choices they have made, they can make new choices about themselves and who they want to be.
I understand that this post about existentialism may be difficult to understand. But to become the kind of leader and executive who can run a multimillion-dollar dental enterprise, for most dentist-entrepreneurs, a transformation is required. And the way I have found to be the most powerful is through existentialism.
— Marc
