“Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” — John C. Maxwell
THE PROFESSION OF optometry is rapidly evolving, technology is reshaping patient expectations, and business models are constantly shifting. However, one quality remains timeless and indispensable: influence.
For optometrists, developing and exercising influence is not a matter of preference or prerogative — it is an imperative. Influence transforms eye doctors into leaders, enhances patient care, deepens community impact, and drives the profession forward.
If you are struggling with high staff turnover and stagnant patient engagement, the problem is a lack of leadership and influence. In his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership, John C. Maxwell calls this “The Law of the Lid.” Leadership ability determines effectiveness.
For your practice to change, you must change. Here are some examples of things you can do to improve your influence and your effectiveness as a leader:
- Model the behavior you want to see. Staff reflect the tone set by the leader. Positivity, punctuality, congeniality and professionalism are contagious. If your staff sees that you are committed to them, they will be committed to you. That’s how you reduce staff turnover.
- Communicate your mission and vision often. Print it and post it throughout your office. When your team understands why they do what they do, they are more inspired to give their best. They see how they are a part of something more than just a job. Coach, don’t just correct. Feedback should empower and elevate, not just inform.
- Become a trusted advocate in your community. You have a unique advantage — people trust their doctor. When that trust is carried beyond the office and into the community, it becomes a force multiplier. Your local elementary and middle schools all have nurses who need support, education and resources. If you step up and provide it, you have influence through offering leadership. Offer high school and league sports teams support through education about injuries to the eye and how to protect athletes’ vision. You will have an influence on the lives of these students and by extension their parents. There are many ODs who have become engaged with their local school districts by offering continuing education for school nurses.
Offer to write columns, speak at local events, or provide short health talks. People need your expertise.
Leadership within the profession is perhaps the most leveraged form of influence. It is important for you to regularly attend your local society meetings, join your state association and attend regional and national meetings. The real value of these organizations and meetings is not the continuing education but building relationships with others. These relationships form the heart of the profession and create opportunities to leverage your influence along with the influence of others.
The scope of care today’s ODs enjoy exists because, over the past 30 to 40 years, individual private practice doctors built influence by organizing together. It is both an opportunity and a responsibility to continue that legacy.
Influence is not a title, nor is it a destination — it is a daily decision to lead with integrity, vision, and courage. For an optometrist, the scope of influence is vast. In your practice, you shape the lives of your team and patients. In your community, you become a beacon of care and credibility. And in your profession, you become part of a legacy that defines the next generation. Be a provider of vision — in every sense of the word.
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