In this guest blog, Lucie Simic urges practice leaders to be more forthcoming.
I came across a quote by Vex King recently that has stayed with me ever since.
“Think the waiter was friendly? Tell them. Your friend looked great today? Tell them. Someone’s work inspired you? Tell them. The world is loud with criticism and quiet with appreciation. Be the exception.”
It made me stop and think about the practices I visit every week. One of the things I love most about working with Practice Plan clients is that they genuinely care. They care about their patients, their teams, their communities and creating practices that people enjoy being part of. Yet despite that, I often notice the same thing. People are thinking kind things about each other every day, but those thoughts rarely make it out loud.
A practice owner notices their receptionist expertly calm an anxious new patient. A nurse quietly stays behind to help a colleague after a busy clinic. A practice manager handles a difficult situation with professionalism and empathy. Everyone notices these moments, but they’re often left unspoken. And I can’t help wondering how different our cultures would feel if we simply got better at telling people.
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of visiting hundreds of dental practices. Each one is different, but the happiest, highest-performing teams have one thing in common, they talk to each other.
They celebrate successes, ask questions, give feedback and they don’t leave people guessing where they stand because communication isn’t something they save for appraisals or team meetings. It’s woven into everyday practice life.
The practices with the strongest cultures aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or the newest equipment, they’re the ones where people feel seen, heard and valued.
Recognition is one of the simplest leadership tools we have, yet it’s often the one we use the least. A quick “thanks” is always appreciated, but imagine the difference between hearing, “Thank you,” and “I noticed how patiently you handled that nervous patient this morning. You made them feel completely at ease.”
One is polite, the other tells someone that their effort mattered. As leaders, our words carry weight. We often underestimate just how much confidence we can build simply by noticing the things our teams do well and saying them out loud.
Of course, the “Tell Them”, theory isn’t just about praise, it’s also about having the conversations that many of us avoid. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard, “I didn’t want to upset them,” or “I thought they’d work it out themselves.” The reality is that silence rarely solves anything.
When standards slip, when communication breaks down or when behaviours don’t reflect the culture we’re trying to build, saying nothing isn’t being kind. It’s allowing uncertainty to grow.
The most successful leaders I meet aren’t those who avoid difficult conversations. They’re the ones who have them early, respectfully and with genuine care for the person on the receiving end. Psychological safety has become a phrase we hear more and more, but I think it’s sometimes misunderstood. It doesn’t mean creating a workplace where nobody ever feels uncomfortable or challenged. Quite the opposite.
Psychological safety means creating an environment where people know they can speak honestly, ask questions, admit mistakes and receive feedback without fear of embarrassment or blame. It means people trust that difficult conversations are happening because everyone wants the same thing: a better team, a better patient experience and a better practice.
When people feel psychologically safe, they don’t hide mistakes, they learn from them.
Imagine if everyone in your practice knew three things:
- If they’d done something brilliant, someone would tell them
- If something needed to improve, someone would tell them
- If they had an idea to make the practice better, someone would listen.
How much gossip would disappear? How many frustrations would be resolved before they had chance to grow? That’s what healthy culture looks like, not the absence of difficult conversations, but the presence of honest ones.
So, here’s my challenge for every Practice Plan practice this week:
- Tell a colleague exactly what they’ve done well
- Tell a patient how much you appreciate their loyalty
- Tell someone the conversation you’ve been putting off, with kindness, honesty and respect.
Because culture isn’t built through mission statements, values on the wall or once-a-year away days. It’s built in the conversations we choose to have every single day. Let’s make our practices louder with appreciation, honesty and trust.
If you’re thinking it… ‘Tell them!’.
