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Riddle Me This – Then Take a Step Back
You may have seen this riddle running around the internet: It’s 3:00 am. Your doorbell rings. Unexpected visitors! It’s long time friends, and they are hungry for some breakfast. You have strawberry jam, honey, wine, bread and cheese. So what is the first thing you open? Here’s one that’s similar, but is perhaps more appropriate for an audience of health advocates: It’s 3:00 am. Your doorbell rings. It’s your neighbors! One is clutching his chest and screams, I’ve been shot! The second one is holding her thigh and says, I’ve been shot, too! What’s the first thing you do? We’ll score you on a scale from 0 to 4, based on the following (no cheating!): 0 points if you said you would not open it, or would just shut your door. 1 point if you said you’d help the woman who had been shot in the leg. 2 points if you said you’d help the man who was clutching his chest. 3 points if you said you would grab your phone and dial 9-1-1 4 points if you answered, “I would open the door” – and a bonus point if you said: “I would get out of bed to answer the doorbell.” So how did you do? With the exception of the first one (shutting your door) all the answers reflect some degree of being good answers. 90% of you will get 1, 2 or 3 points – because, as advocates, we are used to, and embrace the role of taking care of situations, especially when emergencies pop up. We love rescuing people, especially our clients, to improve whatever problems have befallen them. That’s one reason we have chosen advocacy as a career. But sometimes, our reactions are just that – reactions. They come from habit and training. Unfortunately, REACTING can get in the way of being a successful practice owner. Instead, we need to learn to take a Step Back to be sure we are doing the right thing in order to keep our businesses healthy and to best serve our clients. Our quick advocate reaction to the…