From conferences to Mountains - it's not what you expect
What July Taught Me About Leadership
July took me from a stunning conference venue in the Cotswolds to a boulder field in Norway, and everywhere in between. Different settings, entirely different challenges, yet every single one brought me back to the same conclusion: leadership is the foundation everything else is built on. Here is a round-up of the month, and how it can help you:
The Association of Dental Groups Conference
I spent a few days at the ADG Conference in the Cotswolds this month, surrounded by fantastic talks on the future of dentistry, team culture and collaboration. What struck me most was that every single speaker, regardless of their topic, arrived back at the same point: the success of a business, whether a large group or a single associate operating alone, depends on effective leadership. Not management. Real leadership, and the culture training that sustains it.
If you want to start building your own leadership from the ground up, my book walks you through the framework, including the OPQ assessment, which will show you exactly what kind of optimal performer you already are.
Take the OPQ assessment and explore the book
And if you would rather experience it live, the NAIL-IT Experience is coming to you for the last time this year on the 10th of October, for individuals and teams alike.
Find out more about the NAIL-IT Experience
Five Behaviours of High-Performing Teams (Practice Plan Webinar)
I hosted an exclusive webinar for Practice Plan members this month on the five behaviours of high-performing teams: trust, productive conflict, commitment, accountability and results. We looked closely at the warning signs that a team is drifting from these, and the impact that has on results - not only financial results, but team retention, happiness and collective performance.
How well are you performing against these five behaviours, both individually and as a team? If you are curious, we offer tailored training and assessments that will show you exactly where your practice stands, and precisely which areas to focus on first.
Ask about team training and assessments
Tracking What Matters (Pharmanex Webinar)
I also hosted a webinar with Pharmanex, exploring how preventative advice can now be tailored to patients using data and health tracking. A small, palm-sized scanner takes a 15-second fingerprint scan and measures the level of inflammation in the body, a marker linked to oral disease, poor general health and ageing, before recommending tailored nutritional supplementation.
I have my own family on the supplements now, my children included, and the best part is being able to measure the effect rather than simply hoping it is working. There is even a money-back guarantee if your score does not improve. It has also proven a lovely way to nudge better habits into place at home, from more fruit and vegetables to genuine curiosity about what we are putting into our bodies.
Watch the Pharmanex webinar recording: What's inside Your Body
This Month on the Podcast
Two conversations this month that are well worth your commute.
Ben Atkins joined me for How to Lead Beyond the Label, one of those episodes that quietly challenges how you are living, leading and defining yourself. From building and scaling practices to losing his sense of identity after stepping away, Ben speaks candidly about something most people never say out loud: success without meaning leaves a void. It brings the conversation back to what actually matters - connection, gratitude, growth and fulfilment beyond the title on your door.
Guy Hiscott, Content Director at FMC, joined me for How to Find Purpose, exploring what happens when you stay curious enough to follow unexpected opportunities rather than sticking rigidly to the plan. We talk about perfectionism, imposter syndrome, storytelling and why so many driven professionals become fixated on the destination and forget to enjoy the journey. A generous, reflective conversation for anyone striving to make a difference.
Listen to both episodes on the NAIL-IT Podcast
In Print This Month
My latest piece for Expert Profile Magazine looked at books, and why so many of us take one away for the summer expecting it to change our lives. A book can be transformative, but only when it moves us to actually implement something. Inspiration is not the same as implementation, which is exactly why I built the NAIL-IT framework the way I did.
Read the Expert Profile Magazine article and explore the book
In Private Dentistry, I wrote about boundaries, and why they need not be rigid to be effective. Done well, boundaries are not a wall, but a way of optimising your performance and protecting what matters most. It sits under the Needs pillar of the NAIL-IT framework.
150 Kilometres Through Norway
I am still deciding whether my recent 150km trek through the mountains of Norway was a treat or a form of torture! The terrain was relentlessly rocky, the days brutally long, and as someone who genuinely cannot eat first thing in the morning, finding the sustenance to keep going was its own battle. Watching the rest of the group race ahead while I fell behind brought up every familiar story about not being fast enough or good enough.
What kept me steady was remembering that recovery, not speed, is the true marker of fitness. The people who raced ahead are, by their own admission, still recovering weeks later. I took the time to stop, breathe, take in the view, photograph it, check in with how I was feeling and nourish my body along the way. In many ways, I was doing precisely what I teach: pursuing sustainable, high-level performance without sacrificing health, relationships or joy.
Eleven hours between huts leaves the brain unable to think about much beyond the next footstep, and there is a strange, forced mindfulness in that. I placed a stone at each marker as I walked, a small ritual of gratitude, step by step. Grit, resilience, emotional regulation, intuition, and honest daily feedback to myself about what was working and what needed to change: the entire NAIL-IT framework, lived out on a mountainside. I came home with sore feet and swollen ankles, and photographs of some of the most rugged, beautiful landscape I have ever seen. I would not change a single step. Although if I'm honest - once was enough and repeat performance of this unnecessary!
Top Tip of the Month
Recovery, not speed, is the real marker of high performance. Before you praise yourself, or your team, for pushing through, check how quickly you bounce back afterwards. That is the number that actually matters.
A Thought From Dr Rana
“The people who raced ahead of me are still recovering. I embodied everything I teach about optimal performance: sustainable success, without compromising health, relationships or joy.”
A Question to Reflect On
Where in your work or life are you mistaking speed for success, when recovery would tell a truer story?
Join the NAIL-IT Academy
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Warm wishes,
Dr Rana Al-Falaki
Founder, NAIL-IT Leadership, NAIL-IT In Dentistry
Best-Selling Author | Multi-Award-Winning Coach and Speaker
nailitindentistry.com | The Book | NAIL-IT Experience, 10th October
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