Can you grow your practice?

Of course, there a multitude of factors that affect your ability to grow, but one of them stands out from the others. It’s a super factor, and it’s not intuitively obvious.

That super factor involves a personality trait.

The Personality Test for Growth

Here’s a quick test to see where you stand on this important spectrum.

Ask yourself this question:

• Are you someone who can let go? or
• Are you someone who needs to have your hands on everything? or
• Are you (and this is likely how you’ll answer the question) someone who’s a mix? You’re willing to let go, but you want to keep your eye on things?

Your willingness to delegate and, more importantly, to trust others to do the work is critical to your growth.

The Limits of Control

If you’re going to insist on having your hands in all of the cases, then you’ll struggle to grow your practice. You have to give up some control to build something bigger than you. If you insist on knowing everything that’s going on in your office, then you’re stuck. You can’t scale, and you’ll never exceed the limit of your personal capacity to do the work.

The response I get from many practitioners is some variation on the “I’ll hold weekly case status meetings, and I’ll get updated on each case. That’ll give me a chance to give feedback and make sure things are proceeding smoothly.” That’s a fine response, but recognize that it’s a mixed response. It means you’ll grow some, but the sky is not the limit. You’re expressing your need to hold on. You’re resisting the need to let go.

Of course, you’ll rationalize your need to keep yourself in the mix. You’ll pontificate about the need to maintain quality control, and you’ll explain how you’re protecting your reputation. Those are valid concerns, and you’re correct to worry about these issues. Know, however, that holding on to control will limit your potential to grow.