Who's the Captain of Your Ship?

In the Navy as ex-naval officers can tell you the captain is personally responsible for everything that happens on his (or her!) ship.  No matter what the issue, the captain will be held responsible.  So, teaching and leading the crew is a critical matter to a captain who wants to become an admiral and not a petty officer.  When someone has a major screw up a captain can lose his job.

As the Captain of our practices we too are ultimately responsible for everything that happens in the office.  Keeping a "pulse on the practice" so that you know what is happening (not what you assume to be happening), managing and leading your staff takes time and attention.  We have management, leadership, and mentoring tools that you can utilize to help you in these critical areas. 

A member of a Board that I served on was the CEO of a large hospital.  As a retired Marine he understood who the captain of his ship was -- him.  As a result of taking this responsibility seriously he had his business card with both his e-mail address and his cell phone number in each and every patient room.  Patients were invited to contact him personally if they had any issue, good or bad, with his hospital.  I asked him how often he was called or e-mailed.  His answer: "Not often, but that is not the point.  If a patient is not happy with us I need to know so that I can see to it that their issue is resolved." 

Would you be willing to give each patient your business card with your e-mail and cell phone number and ask them to respond to you if they have any issue with your practice? 

Who's the captain of YOUR ship?