I was asked that question, not too long ago…by a Senior Partner.   It wasn’t a surprise to be asked.   I’ve never seen anything to suggest there’s a great deal of clarity about this, or preparation for it. Take hold of the reigns you’ve been handed, and continue on a similar path is often the case. That really isn’t going to help.   The key to understanding the responsibilities of a Senior Partner is to view the practice as the business. The role of the Senior Partner is the

Neighbourhoods? Funding? Winter pressures? Access? Patient demand? Industrial action? Online appointments?   That’s probably a list that covers the main topics most partners and managers are talking about.   Much of that list you can do little or nothing about, and any action you take is likely to be reactive or a requirement. It doesn’t make sense, and neither is it wise, to spend too much valuable time on them.   This is what you should be talking about.   � Business plan

Every practice has them, I know mine did.   They’re the people, processes and systems that are completely depended on. The single points of failure that when it breaks or is absent, everything stops. The impact can be so severe it destroys the practice.   I’m more aware of then now I’m supporting practices from the outside. I certainly see eliminating them as an essential step in building a resilient practice.   There’s no better or more common example than the Practice Manag

How much time do you spend ’on the business’ as opposed to ’in the business’? Are you clear on the difference? As a practice management and leadership team how much time you spend on each is something you should be aware of. It’s something I was acutely aware of, and the battle was always to spend more time working ON the business. Working IN your business is Operational, the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities of managing staff, responding to patients and putting out fires

I’ve written more than once about dealing with the scarcity of time in general practice. It’s something I felt and still see now working with practices. "We don't have time", is a constant complaint. The thing is, that’s not a complete truth. I honestly believe you can find the time if you need to. Seth Godin's words arrived in my inbox recently and immediately resonated. This is it for general practice. "It’s easy to announce that we don’t have time for a new skill or a g

Is your September pink or blue?   Is it an exciting start of a new year? Have you returned from a summer break with gusto? Or, has a quieter period and less activity left you struggling to get going again?   They might be questions for you, or for your practice.   Whichever of those three resonates you’re either going to want to get struck back into to something exciting, putting that positive energy to good use. Or you might need to find something inspiring to get you switch

There's so much distraction and noise, it makes it difficult to focus on what we need to. Whether that’s keeping your practice working,...

Every practice is probably needing an answer to at least one of these questions. ❓ What can we do to stop the constant firefighting? ❓...

I was reminded of a valuable lesson. KISS   For me that translated into overcomplicated so under prepared.   I delivered something important. It went well enough, but not as well as I knew it could have. Even if others were happy, I knew it could, and should have, been better.   On reflection, the reason was clear: I’d made it too complex. I packed in too much, was too clever with the structure, and didn’t leave the time or space to prepare for a perfect delivery.   It all lo

Its time you did. You won't be disappointed.   Excitement in primary care might not be easy to find. The default position for many is stuck worrying about the here and now, wasting too much time firefighting, and losing time waiting for someone else to tell you what to do. There is nothing exciting to be found in that.   The truth is people and businesses perform better when they have something to be excited about. So get yourself excited, and give your team something to be e

The reasons practices struggle is not always because of the challenging situations they find themselves in. It is often because of the assumptions they make about what is and isn’t possible. Frequently these are based on unhelpful beliefs, and challenging assumptions can provide the solution needed. If I were leading a practice today, these are the assumptions I would be challenging. 1️⃣ We can’t do any better than we are right now. Even if you only improve one thing by 1% th

General Practice is as tough as it’s ever been, and especially challenging for those in leadership and management roles. Despite this, it can still be a great place, and you can still enjoy success.   If I were leading a practice today, these are the five priorities I’d focus on.   1️⃣ Run the Practice Like a Business  Make the key business ingredients solid and it will translate to the priority of delivering sustainable patient care.   2️⃣ Set a 5-year Vision and 1 and 3 yea

If you can’t see anything that helps you, you're either not looking in the right place, or you're not looking correctly. You're also not asking three important questions.  If you want to move forward, if you want to improve, it’s not just what’s happening on the inside that you need to pay attention to. Successful people, practices and organisations know this and they’re constantly looking outward. They network and gather information and insights. They use it to learn and gui

What's the scarcest resource in general practice?   ❓ Money ❓ People ❓ Space ❓ Time   I believe it’s TIME.   More than anything else, it's what stops progress, planning and even thinking. It’s the common complaint of 'we haven’t got time' and it presents the biggest problem. But the uncomfortable truth we all know is that we could use our time better. We could find time if we tried.   I’m a great believer in marginal gains and using technology, and just imagine if we did all

Many managers believe they're leading when they're really exerting their control. It's a terrible trait that doesn’t deliver long term success, and will make staff look for the exit. It can come from being driven by power, but it can also come from fear, insecurity, lack of trust, inexperience, pressure and simply being unaware. It’s not uncommon, and if you want to be a great leader then you need to make sure it's not one of the things you do. 🏴‍☠️ You're more focused on pu