A) Why Are You Applying for This Position?

a) Why are you applying for this position?

It has been said if you want an assessment of your life imagine your funeral and what will be said at your memorial service. I like to think that my personal life would be described with words such as loving husband, caring father and a kind thoughtful person. I was less certain about my professional career.

It was 2004, my first son was born, I had been in practice for 14 years by then. The cliché that your life will never be the same again after you have children is so true. In addition to the normal changes that accompany that joyous time such as no sleep and the purchase of a minivan, I began to contemplate my professional life as well. While I looked into my son’s face I wondered about his future, would he be a dentist, would he inherit my practice? What would my legacy be in terms of his view of my career?

He should be impressed that his father was a very good clinician, his patients loved him and his practice was run at a very high level. While this was true I had allowed myself to fall into a rut and I was no longer in search of excellence. My potential would not be realized on my current path. I had a responsibility beyond my family, my practice and my patients. I set out to correct my course.

After attending numerous seminars, study clubs and meetings, in the AACD I found the principles and ethics I was looking for. I soon discovered Accreditation and once the journey began there was no looking back. I knew my life was changed.

Accredited members often share their “journey story” and each is personal and compelling. A binding theme is how the accreditation process leads to increased confidence and in turn improved patient care with a greater passion for dentistry. A recipe for success and happiness.

My experiences in the AACD have led me to my second journey that of service to the academy I have come to love. My attention has now turned from my own betterment to the next generation of dentists who should reap the advantages afforded me through membership and accreditation. What can I do to ensure that future dentists would have the privileges given to me by the leaders of the past and today?

A strong AACD is important for dentistry. The educational opportunities, the comradery and the credential we provide for our members and the profession are essential. I would like to contribute even more than I already have to ensure our academy maintains its prestigious status and continues to improve the lives of colleagues and patients alike. I am applying for this leadership role after careful consideration. Leadership plays a vital role in our direction and the success we strive for. I strongly believe I possess the qualities needed to help guide the AACD in the coming years.

b) Have you served on boards in the past? If so, what have you learned from this experience?

I have had the privilege and honor to serve on the American Board of Cosmetic Dentistry (ABCD). I began my term full of ideas and was excited about making changes that I felt the academy needed. I soon realized that some of my ideas were driven from my own perspective and I was not considering the varied experiences, expectations and desires of our broad membership. As a leader you must be true to the vision and mission of the organization but understand that you have been entrusted to represent the entire membership and consider the good of the academy above all.

c) We are interested in learning about your leadership skills and organizational style. Tell us what we could expect and how you work with others. Be specific as possible

When you think of leadership; names, moments in time, and emotions come to mind. Why? Because leadership is more than a person telling you what to do or how to do it. It begins with ideas which are the basis for all human endeavors. When an idea is communicated to others it transforms a thought to the potential for creativity, change and construct. Leadership is the tipping point for potential becoming action.

I have had opportunities in my twenty five year career to learn, develop and put to test leadership skills in various ways. As the owner of three practices, one being a multi-specialty practice with five associates and over twenty team members and the others are smaller cosmetic focused practices, I understand that each has its specific needs, but ultimately successful leadership qualities are universal.

Leadership starts and ends with communication, I have strong visions, but depend on a team approach to help clarify and accomplish them. I put trust in people and recognize their value. My style is inclusive. When I work with people who have abilities, my goal is help them develop those abilities, build their confidence and allow them to reach their potential. This leads to trust and trust leads to successful relationships.

I took my knowledge and experience with me into the ABCD and this year as chair contributed toward improving communication and organization. My first goal was to make sure the responsibilities of the board were delegated to members in a way that best suited their abilities. This lead to more enthusiastic contributions and better project outcomes. Leaders need to identify ways to motivate and get the most from their team to be effective.

As ABCD chair I had the privilege of being part of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors meetings, where I increased my knowledge of the workings of our academy while working with leaders to navigate the AACD in this ever-changing dental landscape. In any organization you have to balance the successes of the past while embracing the changes needed to ensure a prosperous future. This requires leaders with a strong vision but maintain an open-minded approach.

d) Serving the AACD requires people to take on projects and see them to completion, often working with others to accomplish specific goals. Tell us about your accomplishments and approach to fulfilling obligations.

Prior to my volunteer service in the AACD, I was asked to create a course for a college that was starting a dental hygiene program. My task was to develop a syllabus, organize the didactic and clinical components, meet all state requirements and become accredited by CODA that same year.

Being that I was new to institutional education, I sought help from others with experience and put together a team of quality people. Once I outlined the requirements of the course and communicated my vision for the program, each team member was given specific facets to develop. Entrusting others with goals and responsibilities allows them to feel empowered and take pride in the process, leading toward higher level outcomes. Ultimately my course and the school received accreditation. Not only was I satisfied by the challenge and the outcome but the others involved shared in this accomplishment and this lead to great working relations.

Most recently while on the ABCD, I worked on the Team Certificate Pilot program (to be launched in Chicago 2018. There was some resistance and division on if and how this would be developed. Often the biggest obstacle in completing a project is getting it started. My first task was bringing the two sides together. Then, by making sure both sides were able to express their concerns and give their input, an agreement was made and I was proud to have had a role in that. Once approved, I organized the clinical component of the program using ideas our board devised and presented them to the Team Certificate Sub Committee. The full program came together soon afterwards and the early word is there has been excellent interest from registrants.

The key is working with others. I have strong opinions and while it may be easier and more efficient to forge ahead with what I think needs to be done, there is much more value in tackling projects with a team approach; the end product will be better and an invested team will work harder to make it successful.

e) The AACD offers our members a superb opportunity to form friendships which could be brought into conflict when policy decisions or approaches must be addressed. Tell us about how you might balance those friendships when policy or ethical issues create such a conflict.

The bonds of friendship are based on respect, trust, integrity, and shared moral and ethical principles. Friendships are often challenged when conflicts arise, but if intentions are honest and good, strong friendships can find acceptable solutions.

People who know me well enough to be considered friends are aware that I have clear ethical boundaries. My commitment to the AACD and the principles it stands for are paramount. Any personal issue I may have with a member, be it friend or not, needs to be secondary to what is best for our academy. Relationships are important, but not at the risk of violating my responsibility to always act in the best interest of the academy and its members. Conflicts of this type usually can be solved with good communication skills amongst true friends.

f) What do you bring to this position that is unique or distinctive? How will you make a difference?

As the owner of dental practices each built from scratch and twenty-five years of business management experience, I have enjoyed the challenge of hiring and employing quite a number of staff members. What I preach to my office managers regarding evaluating potential new staff, is to hire based on personality above all. Experience and skills are important but those qualities can be taught, but traits such as enthusiasm, integrity and compassion can’t, and these are the people that I prefer to build teams with.

The uniqueness of my practice experience lends to me bringing a diverse perspective to this position. Each practice has distinct qualities that allow me to understand different member needs. One practice is a large multi-specialty group practice, while the other two are smaller cosmetically driven practices. The two smaller practices have differing demographics, one being rural and the other more urban. This gives me a breadth in practice experience unlike most. I can identify with a wide range of practice types and the challenges each face. An important factor to consider as the AACD positions itself amongst the new paradigms in dental care delivery.

To be an effective leader you need a strong belief in the core values you are charged with overseeing, and I do. As I have continued to give more of my time to the AACD over the years, people have asked me “what do you get out of this?” I can honestly say I just want to be part of the process and not for any self-serving reasons other than giving back to an academy that I believe so strongly in.

I will make a difference because I have creative fresh ideas and I am not afraid to think “outside the box”. The AACD has always been an industry leader, and while continuing on with what has and still works, we have to be able to adapt and innovate quickly. Over my career I have seen significant changes to our profession from the technological to the philosophical, and pride myself on having always been on the forefront. My practice was one of the first paperless offices on Long Island, I was an early Invisalign provider and I placed and restored All on Four fixed implant prostheses long before they became so well known. Being an early adopter carries some risks of course, but the courage to follow your vision is necessary to impart change and promote progress.

Thirty-three years ago, a small group of men, who anticipated the future and weren’t afraid to step out from the crowd, founded our academy. This type of bold thinking is still needed to continue the legacy of our founder’s vision and maintain the status the AACD has achieved.

g. Please give us an idea of where you see your interests and expertise supporting the advancement of the AACD Strategic plan and reflecting an alignment with the Academy’s core purpose.

What initially attracted me to this organization were the educational opportunities and the accreditation credential. How I eventually came to embrace the AACD as strongly as I have, had more to do with the shared principles and values I found with other members.

Promoting education is at the heart of our academy’s purpose and tends to attract most of our new members. Once new members are exposed to the high level of our educational offerings and begin to experience the culture and excellence we aspire to, our responsibility as an organization takes on a grander purpose. For me, what began as an educational journey morphed into a life changing experience through membership and the pursuit of accreditation.

My primary interest as a leader is exposing all the AACD has to offer to potential new members while ensuring the academy continues to fulfill its obligation to our current members. Our current members are the life blood of our academy and in our quest for new members we must not forget their academic and professional needs. It is no different from our dental practices where we often focus on new patient acquisition and overlook current patient retention. It costs a lot less in money and energy to retain one member then it does to recruit one new member.

As an educator and lifelong student, I value education above all. However, the continuing education market has become more competitive each year and alternative forms of delivery are proliferating. We must offer more than the for profit educational groups because they are delivering education on a high level with resources difficult for us to match. The differentiator for the AACD is our community and the credential we champion. The unique components of the AACD must be strengthened and promoted as we strive to invigorate our brand.

I have built three practices from scratch and I have become adept at marketing, but most importantly I understand who I serve. What attracts members to and keeps them engaged in our academy is why we exist. Our core purpose of advancing cosmetic dentistry through education, accreditation, and supporting our profession is predicated on membership. The AACD has changed the lives of many and that achievement is too significant not to ensure it continuance.

h. Ultimately, the purpose of serving the AACD is to support our membership. Tell us how you see yourself relating to the membership and forming a bridge between the Board and our members.

While I have twenty-five years of experience as a practicing dentist, I have only been a member for ten years and an active volunteer in the Academy for the past five. This “sweet spot” enables me to lend a fresh approach to leadership as well as identify with current and prospective members. I can easily recall my pre AACD years and the profound changes that occurred after membership and accreditation.

In my family and culture, if you find a good restaurant or service it is your obligation to tell your friends and family. Why - because we value those discoveries and we want our loved ones to enjoy what we found (not too mention my grandma would love to brag “if it wasn’t for me, that place would be out of business!). Most importantly we want that company or service to prosper and be rewarded for being great.

After attending my first AACD annual session I soon became an advocate for new membership. Not as part of a committee or any organizational duty but as an individual who “discovered” something great and wanted to spread the word. I then felt a stronger obligation to become more then just a messenger and serve our Academy. I always felt I could relate to varied groups based on my practice background.

Well before I became a board member, the times I enjoy most at our annual sessions were spent talking with members. I am very interested in learning what is happening in our profession at the ground level. In a world of growing DSOs, expanding continuing education providers, and corporate dental mergers, it is still the dentist that drives our profession and the dental industry. While each individual voice may be slight, as a group we are loud. As a leader in the academy I am now able to use this communication to bring the voice of the membership into the board room. The AACD and its leaders serve their membership. If not, we risk losing our value and our relevance.

i. Please list any leadership courses or webinars taken. Leadership training is highly recommended.

Over the past 20 years I have accumulated over 2,000 hours of dental continuing education as well as numerous non-dental hours. Like many of us in the academy who are “CE Junkies” I love to learn from a diverse group of people from varying backgrounds.

I like a good balance of clinical and practice management/leadership education because I enjoy both aspects of my career equally. As a board member I also have had the opportunity to learn leadership skills as they relate to association policy and procedures. Here are some of courses/programs I have taken over the years that I found most valuable for acquiring leadership skills.