{ membership matters } by Paul Roberts

Connection Successful

B

efore I give a glowing report on MDA’s first ever Connect4Suc- cess (C4S) Leadership Academy and New Dentist Conference held

at the Lake of the Ozarks in June, I want to stimulate your thinking about how you perceive your professional association and organized dentistry. In fact, this was the first exercise the conference attendees encoun- tered under the tutelage of Dr. Michael Gal- lery, president of OPIS Consulting Firm.

Dr. Gallery is not only helping the MDA with governance and strategic planning, but also has just been recently selected to assist the ADA with their strategic plan. He under- stands our profession and how associations work. He was our instructor for the initial morning session on leadership.

Dr. Gallery suggested that great organiza- tions are strategy driven rather than activity driven. Don’t just stay busy—know why you are saying yes to one opportunity and no to the next three. Great organizations focus on the mission, stay humble and serve their members. These are high aspirations for sure, but worthy to pursue. How do you think your current leadership and staff are doing? Your evaluation might hinge on how you perceive the MDA and organized dentistry.

What comes to mind when you think of your professional membership? Do you think of a local component meeting? Continuing education? Insurance benefits? Do you see a hierarchy? Are you proud of the support and services provided? As Director of Outreach, I wonder about this a lot. The more I learn about the job, the more I see how multifacet- ed the MDA is. I begin to think of it as a bowl

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of chili. There are many different ingredients at various amounts (a pound of this, a pinch of that) but they all are necessary if we want an award winning recipe. Plus you have to both stir often and let simmer.

Put together these last three paragraphs and you’ll see why I was so excited for C4S. We did it not so we could have one more pro- gram to tout. We did it because it’s strategic. If your association is to be great, it must constantly attract, welcome and engage new, young members from all backgrounds and geographies. We had to bring a variety of in- gredients together in one place and stir them together and then let them simmer. We did this for 28 hours at the Lake, and the early results indicate blue ribbon success. Allow me to summarize C4S in 3 words: Intimate, Focused and Visionary.

Intimate // We knew a first-time event would be small, and we played to that strength. We were thrilled to recruit 30 New Dentists from across the state. Some were old friends, but many had never connected before. The setting and schedule fostered personal and professional networking. Add to this a healthy mix of MDA and MDIS Board members and MDA and component staff, and you had sprinklings of the diverse ingredients that have to work together if our association is to be great. Kudos to all for going beyond comfort zones and striking up new relationships. I was thrilled to see all the mingling at the breaks, over lunch and at the rooftop lakeside rum extravaganza reception (well … duh)!

Focused // This is where the New Den- tist Committee really took ownership in

identifying CE content that rang true to young professionals at the start of their career. The mix of practical, clinical content with good money-management principles was spot on. Also, we stayed focused and intimate by having just two sponsors, which allowed for more personable service. Thanks to MDIS and Edmonds Dental Prosthetics for their generous support of C4S and con- tinued support of many MDA efforts.

Visionary // Vision is a preferred picture of the future. My hope was that through the interactions and leadership content offered at C4S, our young dentists see a place to lead and to have influence and success in the profession they love. New ideas were seeded as they thought about how to involve others or apply what they learned back home. Hope for a future similar event was tangible. The energy and momentum were just what any great organization hopes to capture.

Is your thinking stimulated yet or are you just hungry for a bowl of chili? My encour- agement to you is to see your professional association as more than a dues statement or a series of activities. It’s a diverse and dynamic organization seeking to be strategy driven and healthy for years to come. That requires participation and engagement from all. Jump in wherever you are. Find that one ingredient that you can contribute to the bigger picture. Drop me a line and I’ll be glad to help you connect for success. f

CONTACT PAUL by email at paul@modental.org.