Welcome to your Free Training Session on Transforming the Sting of Bad Reviews into Leadership Excellence. This session pulls back the curtain on my podcast episode live on 04/29/2024 where Im talking about the issue of negative online reviews and their impact on mental toughness. Honestly, I am so sick of the bad reviews I see. I find myself reading them thinking "these people must be miserable". I know you have seen it too. I mean are we really using these reviews to make a decision on if we do business with someone or buy something? I have to say I think its just for personal enjoyment. So, how do you handle this? How do we handle approaching reviews and building our own mental strength when we see them? How do we make ourselves more understanding to reviews we see and choosing businesses despite what one person may have said? How do we defend as leaders other businesses and stand for building others up rather than allowing them to be brought down through one bad experience from someone one who seemingly wanted a soap box to stand on?
Well, first I am encouraging you to look at these top thoughts:
Reframing the Narrative: Negative Reviews as Catalysts for Growth
As leaders and business owners, we live in an era where our actions and services are under the constant gaze of digital scrutiny. Each review is a public testimonial of a customer's experience, be it good, bad, or ugly. The knee-jerk reaction to a bad review is often defensiveness or disappointment. However, what if we shifted our perspective to view these reviews not as attacks, but as opportunities to excel? What if we were the people who could stand up for small businesses who struggle with one persons bad day and soap box and stood to make a difference in how we look at reviews and even respond to them?
First, I want to encourage you to integrate every negative review into your team meetings.The customer doesn't always have to be right, but we should always consider them as opportunities for case studies - depersonalized, analytical tools to dissect and understand where something went wrong. This shift in approach transforms a potential morale crusher into a catalyst for collective improvement.
The journey to mental toughness in the face of criticism is paved with the stones of a growth mindset. And sometimes yes, I even cringe when someone uses the over used words "growth mindset". When you and your team adopt the belief that skills and intelligence can be honed with effort and persistence, every piece of feedback becomes a stepping stone to greater achievements. This is where you are turning those reviews into opportunities for growth. Yes, I am going to expand on a few things here with this, stick with me.
Now that you are using the reviews for growth opportunities and case studies, let us all start to embrace gratitude for each piece of feedback. Negative reviews often shed light on areas that might have remained in the shadows, allowing you to address them proactively. Some of your team or even you (dare I say it) might be on the defense, but you do not have to be. Just because someone doesn't like your business doesn't mean you need to be mad about it. You are not going to make everyone happy. Do you think your favorite online shopping store shmamazon is making everyone happy? No, they aren't. Please do not put that much pressure on yourself or your team.
Now for the part you may not want to do... learn that acceptance is key. Understand that not every customer interaction will be perfect, and that's okay. You're human. The true measure is how you harness these experiences for learning and growth. Get your communication with your team in check to acknowledge that excellence is the aim, but perfection is not the expectation. Assign roles for addressing and learning from feedback, turning it into a constructive part of your business process. Build resilience by focusing on what you can control: your response. When you decide as a leader to improve based on feedback, you reduce the emotional toll of negative reviews and reinforce your role as a beacon of guidance for your team.
Cultivating Community: The Power of Positive Reviews
Now that we have talked about key things you can do to improve yourself, your role and your team. I am challenging you to go one step further... Actively engage in leaving positive reviews for peers. Encourage your team to do the same. This not only supports others but also fosters a positive feedback loop within your industry. It’s a chance to demonstrate leadership by being generous with encouragement and recognition of good work. I will shout this from the roof tops forever... the money will always come back. So please do not feel like you cannot support others in your industry because they will get more of the pie than you. That is never going to happen. Please start focusing on being part of and for your community. Do this by starting to be positive every single chance you can and fight to support more small businesses being successful.
Building Bridges: A Network of Support
Create a network with fellow business owners and leaders, one where everyone commits to bolstering each other not only with positive reviews but also with shared insights on navigating criticism. This changes the game for reviews. We are all in this together and can truly help each other become better, grow more, live a happier life in business. This is my challenge to you. A strong community culture buffers the blow of negative feedback. It reminds us that while our businesses may occasionally falter, our collective strength remains unshaken. This network becomes a wellspring of perspective, encouragement, and constructive advice. Choosing to engage in positive actions consistently is something that will give you more joy, more contentment, more encouragement than money can buy. This practice instills a mindset of abundance and communal support, contrasting sharply with the competitive and often scarcity-driven business world.
Encouragement for the Journey Ahead
Remember, leaders, building mental toughness isn’t a race with a finish line but a marathon that continues to unfold. By viewing negative reviews as opportunities, establishing clear boundaries, and nurturing a community of support, you lay down the roots for a resilient business culture. Leadership is an art, the essence of which lies in setting a stellar example. By greeting feedback with an open heart and gratitude, you light the way for your team and peers, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and mutual support within your community.
Now, let's put our newly sharpened tools to work. Imagine receiving a particularly harsh review. Instead of wincing, you smile, already envisioning the team meeting where this review will transform from a mere comment into a valuable lesson. You thank the customer for their feedback, internally if not directly, because this is the raw material from which your team’s excellence will be forged. You assign the review to a team member, who will lead the charge in turning this challenge into a chance to shine brighter. And finally, you reach out within your network, sharing this experience, drawing strength from the collective wisdom, and perhaps offering a nugget of insight yourself.
This is leadership in the digital age—adaptive, resilient, and ever-supportive. It’s about seeing the silver lining in every cloud and crafting an environment where feedback fuels progress and camaraderie trumps competition. As a seasoned leader in the dental community and beyond, I encourage you to embrace this mindset and watch as it revolutionizes not just how you handle reviews, but how you lead every aspect of your business.
Thank you for joining me, Sarah Beth, in this Free Training Session. Carry forward these insights, and watch as they transform not only your approach to feedback but also the very culture of your business. You can catch the full episode and even more stories and tips for you and your leadership on episode 14 of Dentistry Support®: The Podcast available wherever you get your podcasts.
Disclaimer:
To learn more about Sarah Beth Herman, the author of all free training content you can read her bio here. These materials are intended to provide helpful information to dentists and dental team members. They are in no way a substitute for actual professional advice based on your unique facts and circumstances. This content is not intended or offered, nor should it be taken, as legal or other professional advice. You should always consult with your own professional advisors (e.g. attorney, accountant, or insurance carrier). To the extent, Dentistry Support ®has included links to any third-party website (s), Dentistry Support ® intends no endorsement of their content and implies no affiliation with the organizations that provide their content. Further, Dentistry Support ® makes no representations or warranties about the information provided on those sites. You can view our privacy policy and terms and conditions by clicking those pages in the footer of our website.