The Ugly Stage of Growth: From Dentist to CEO

I recently took a challenge to paint every single day for seventy-five days. If you’ve ever picked up a paint brush, you know how awful and rewarding a challenge like this can be. You have a vision for what you’ll paint but halfway through, the colors look muddy, the composition is off, and you are tempted to just throw the canvas away.

But here’s the secret… all paintings have an ugly stage. “Keep going!” (Austin Kleon).

I see so many practice owners standing in front of their businesses right now feeling like they are in that exact spot. You’ve grown quickly and your revenue is up, but you’re looking at your bank account and wondering if the practice is actually performing.

You’re in the messy middle. This is the stage where you transition from dentist to CEO. This is where you start thinking of yourself as a leader. In my past work, people sometimes had a rough time thinking of themselves that way. Leadership is about creating a vision, stewarding resources, and empowering people.

Where Technical Bottlenecks Meet Financial Blind Spots

The ugly stage in business usually happens when your growth outpaces your visibility. You might be plenty confident in your clinical skills, but if you can’t see the numbers clearly, you’re managing on feel rather than data.

I once had a boss tell me that there were no other Lisas at our company. It happened as I was giving my notice. When I pointed out talented team members who were ready to step up and fill my role, she refused to even tell them about the opening. She didn't want to move them because they were good at their current jobs and moving them would mean more work for her.

She chose her own comfort over the growth of her people.

In a dental practice, this is a massive risk. If every decision depends on you being the only person with the answers, you haven’t built a sustainable business. You’ve built a trap that requires your constant presence to function. Clear documentation and expectations empower people. And from a financial perspective, it also mitigates risk and liability to the practice.

Moving Toward Precision and Vision

Precision comes from data.

This is where I step in as your Advisor. I bring your fragmented data together into a clear, cohesive picture. I translate your bank statements, production reports, and overhead costs into a strategic dashboard. When you have that level of precision, you can make informed decisions for your business. You know where to make changes and where to double-down.

Vision is the ability to see the final painting while you are still in the messy middle. It’s the ability to confidently delegate tasks because the systems are in place to empower your team.

Step into Your Calling

If the CEO title feels uncomfortable, I challenge you to lean in. One of the most important lessons of leadership I’ve learned is to be humble enough to know when I don’t know. When I was in corporate M&A, I wore so many hats. I didn’t have expertise in everything I needed to figure out. But I wasn’t afraid to admit that, ask questions and get my hands dirty. “Everything is figureoutable” (Marie Forleo).

When you have an Advisor to provide the data to back your intuition, you don't have to navigate the messy middle alone. You just have to be willing to ask the first question.