I’m often asked “What would I do differently if I were to start over...”
...and unlike many people, I’ve actually had the opportunity to do so multiple times over the course of my career.
ABOUT DR. GREG GILBAUGH
And I say opportunity like it is a good thing… though when you hear the real story the “opportunities” weren’t as delightful as they sound.
You see, 7 years into my first practice our building was struck by lightning and burned to the ground.
So I restarted by moving into a temporary space while we focused on rebuilding. And that space was then destroyed in a “once in a century” flood.
What are the chances right?
Many people would have given up at this point, but I wasn’t raised to be a quitter, so I used the insurance money to buy a new building and started over… again.
And for years, things went great, I was out of debt, my family grew (I have 9 children), and my staff was happy.
Then a “once in five-century” flood took that practice out, and to make matters worse, my insurance company said they weren’t going to cover any of the damage.
So once AGAIN, I had to start over.
Obviously I had learned a lot through all of these disasters and rebuilding, and I was ready to build something that would become my legacy.
Fortunately, I had a good reputation with my bank and they offered me a 2 million dollar loan to build a new practice with my vision in mind.
I took everything I learned over the years about leadership, business building, and my faith. I took the time to find where the vision of my life and my practice intersected and set out with a new mission.
I wanted to build a practice where my employees were excited to come to work, where my community would MISS us if we closed, and that allowed me to spend time with my children before they were grown and out of the house.
It was at this point that I decided to do things a little differently.
Within 5 years we DOUBLED the number of doctors, the number of employees, and the square footage of our practice.
I accomplished this while only working about 3 and a half days in the clinic, and the rest of the time I focused on leading the practice toward our established mission.
And this was fortunate because it was also around this time that I discovered I was losing feeling in my hands and my fine motor skills were declining. I had developed neurological and musculoskeletal degeneration due to injuries I sustained while playing football in college.
This was the final challenge that forced me to really take a step back from my practice, and you know what I found?
My practice could grow and flourish with me at the helm rather than working chair-side with patients.
Everything comes down to understanding your vision and bringing that into harmony with your practice. And I’ve successfully done this multiple times in my own journey as a dentist, and it’s what I help my clients with as well.
You might say that letting good run wild by helping others create thriving health practices is MY calling. And I’m honored to be doing this work.
If you would like to learn more about working with me to create a healthy, thriving practice with you at the helm—then please click below to learn about my coaching program.