Labor Day letter from Michael Errin Rios, Founder of Aptus Exchange and Interim CEO of Webster Dental Care.
WEBSTER DENTAL CARE Attn: Steven P. Rempas, Founder & President
Subj: Labor Day Reflection to Executive Team, Dentists, Dental Specialists, & Practice Managers – 2020
Dear Webster Dental Care Executive Team, Dentists, Dental Specialists, & Practice Managers:
It is a privilege, honor, and a challenge to lead Webster Dental Care during these uncertain times. I am confident, with your help, that we will preserve the strong foundation built by Dr. Steven P. Rempas while we amplify the success of Webster Dental Care. I have met most of you through my service to this organization either from a management consulting or a business brokerage perspective. For those whom I have not met, I think that you will find that I am professional, articulate, confident, personable, and a highly motivated individual.
During my initial week I have made key personnel changes that I am certain will lead to greater good for many years to come. As I continue my assessment of the executive and practice level teams, I may make more changes. Be assured that changes are made with the goal of delivering the highest level of dental care to our communities along with a return on investment to the organization and its team members.
I want to introduce a key member of my executive team, Peter Norvid, M.D. Dr. Norvid serves as Chief Medical Officer and trusted advisor at Aptus and I have asked Peter to help lead Webster Dental Care. Peter has already contacted some of you or your office managers to schedule a lunch or dinner so that we come to know each other and to learn how we can make your time at Webster Dental Care effective and enjoyable. I would like to introduce also Ms. Rachel Spears who will lead Webster Dental Care as its first Human Resources Officer. Both Dr. Norvid’s and Ms. Spears’ biographies are attached to this letter.
As we reflect on Labor Day and on the world around us, let us not focus on the negative, that is, on the impurity and corruption of current politics. Instead, let us focus on hope and the direction that we want to bring to our families, our professional organizations, and to our communities. Today people world-over are facing the COVID-19 pandemic that has inundated our communities and its leaders. What the world needs now more than ever is for us ordinary men and women to embrace our calling to live coherent lives of truth and goodness both professionally and personally.
It is crucial for us to lead by example during these challenging times. We must validate our teams when they are successful with implementing the Webster Dental Care vision. Concurrently we need to use questions to mentor or correct team members when we see where our processes and patient interactions can be improved.
I count on you to understand and to embrace your roles to lead Webster Dental Care as a top workplace in your communities with consistent messages of unity, charity, and hope.
Very truly yours,
Michael Errin Rios, CEO
WEBSTER DENTAL CARE Attn: Steven P. Rempas, Founder & President
Subj: Labor Day Reflection to Practice Level Teams – 2020
Dear Webster Dental Care Family,
As your Interim Chief Executive Officer, I want to reach out to you at this important moment. Our work and our lives have intersected. Labor Day gives us an opportunity to consider what this means and how we can gain greater fulfillment from our talents thoughtfully invested in a productive professional setting.
According to Wikipedia: “Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States.”
Human work is not merely an activity or a commodity, but an essential aspect of human nature from the moment we were created. Work is not a punishment. Instead, work is given as a gift to us. Work is sharing in the life and activity with one another.
Sometimes work feels like toil. While the gift of work is part of our human nature, the feeling of toil often arises from a sense of burden or empty effort. Even so, we can find fulfillment and inspiration in our work if we understand that work is part of what it means for us to be human. If we do not work, or if we do not put our talents to work, we risk damaging ourselves. We are in danger of being less than we are created to be.
Even the toil of work can be uplifting and life-enhancing when we toil in union with our team members and our leaders to deliver the absolute best standards of care to our patients.
For most of us, confronting why we work or toil can be one of the most difficult journeys in our lives. Yet, the new journey ahead of us is one of hope and direction. We all have one thing in common: our life at Webster Dental Care. This place can change our lives. It gives us hope for a new today and tomorrow.
We all found our way here for different reasons, but we all share the same purpose: to connect to the person across from us to deliver the best patient and team care we can possibly deliver. And in most cases, all it takes is a smile to brighten up the person across from us.
Webster Dental Care changed my life. I have had setbacks in my career. But failures, if understood constructively, point the way to success. How can we know joy if we have never known sorrow? Perhaps we have all failed at one point in our life, but we can all be successful now. Why? Because we will be consistent in our daily effort to unite. Daily? Yes, daily, because success comes one day at a time and one connection at a time.
It is my purpose to unite each team member to one another so we can better connect to our patients. This purpose will be the catalyst that we need in order to live our lives by a set of principles:
1.Tell the truth always.
2.Forgive.
3.Know your weaknesses and admit all of them.
4.Find something to be grateful for each day and remember it.
5.Never stop learning, in every moment, from every person, in ALL things.
6.Give up your false expectations.
7.Have a dream for a better life, be accountable to that dream, and commit to it.
(For example, principle six leads us to focus on the gifts and benefits we receive as a result of our inspired work. Avoid focusing on what we think we do not have or must have to be happy and fulfilled.)
We are wise to consider what we are doing and why. When we are gone, how will others evaluate our life’s work? Do we have talents that the world desperately needs right now? I believe that we do. I challenge myself and I challenge you to multiply and distribute our unique talents for our own fulfillment and for the benefit of the world. Our time will end. An account will be made. Reflect. Act.
Very truly yours,
Michael Errin Rios, CEO
