Dr. Martin Mendelson is the Founder of Metamorphosis Coaching, a leadership and team development company that helps dental professionals improve communication, emotional intelligence, and workplace culture. With a background in dentistry and corporate leadership, he has held executive roles at major dental organizations such as Spear Education. Dr. Mendelson is certified in executive coaching, team facilitation, and emotional intelligence, and he co-leads an in-person mental wellness course for dentists.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [02:18] How Dr. Martin Mendelson transitioned from dentistry to leadership coaching
• [06:02] What the TEAM framework is and how it improves leadership and team dynamics
• [09:24] The power of mindset in leadership and emotional intelligence
• [12:50] Why dentists face high stress, burnout, and mental health challenges
• [18:05] The key to delegation and avoiding micromanagement

In this episode…

Many dentists struggle with managing teams and balancing patient care while maintaining their own well-being. What if the key to transforming your practice lies in understanding how your mindset and emotional intelligence shape your leadership?

According to Dr. Martin Mendelson, a leadership coach and expert in emotional intelligence, the biggest roadblock to success is often the leaders themselves. He highlights that thoughts and emotions directly influence actions, which ultimately determine outcomes. By using his TEAM (Thoughts, Emotions, Actions, Manifestations) framework, dental professionals can reshape how they approach challenges and lead their teams more effectively. He also emphasizes the importance of mental wellness in dentistry, noting that dentists face high rates of stress, anxiety, and burnout.

In this episode of The Marketing 32 Show, host Brett Allen sits down with Dr. Martin Mendelson, Founder of Metamorphosis Coaching, to discuss how dentists can strengthen leadership skills and improve team dynamics. They explore the TEAM framework, strategies for reducing stress in high-pressure environments, and why emotional intelligence is key to practice success. Dr. Mendelson also shares insights on delegation, communication, and navigating the mental health challenges unique to dentistry.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Brett Allen on LinkedIn
• Marketing 32
• Dr. Martin Mendelson on LinkedIn
• Metamorphosis Coaching
• VITA North America
• Spear Education
• Jenn Barley on LinkedIn
• Karen Sullivan on LinkedIn
• Dr. Kyle Stanley on LinkedIn
• Glidewell
• Jim Glidewell on LinkedIn
• Stephenie Goddard on LinkedIn

Quotable Moments

• “The biggest roadblock that gets in your way is you.”
• “Everything that happens in life is neutral; it’s the thought we put to it that drives emotion.”
• “Between stimulus and response, there’s a space. In that space lies our freedom to choose our response.”
• “How true is that? It’s a transformative question.”
• “When you feel an emotion, notice what you’re doing, pause, and commit to a different result.”

Action Steps

1. Practice self-reflection with the question “how true is that?”: Regularly asking yourself “how true is that?” helps challenge assumptions and biases, reducing misinterpretations that can lead to unnecessary stress.
2. Implement the TEAM framework in your practice: The TEAM (Thoughts, Emotions, Actions, Manifestations) framework encourages self-awareness and accountability among team members, leading to a cohesive and supportive work environment.
3. Utilize the NBCA technique for mindful decision-making: The Notice, Breathe, Commit, Act (NBCA) technique helps individuals pause and make more thoughtful decisions, reducing reactive behavior in high-pressure situations.
4. Engage in emotional intelligence development: Developing emotional intelligence through assessments and coaching can enhance stress tolerance, decision-making, and interpersonal skills.
5. Create a team alliance document: Establishing a team alliance document, which includes agreed-upon values and safe words like “pineapple” for conflict resolution, builds a foundation of trust and accountability.

Sponsor for this episode…

This episode is brought to you by Marketing 32, the only dental marketing agency with the Practice Impact Formula™ for predictable growth without financial risk.

With a focus on new patient generation, addressing missed opportunities, and expert scheduling, Marketing 32 has helped over 170 practices in the US, Canada, and Australia. Grow in 30 days, or you don’t pay — it’s that simple.

To learn more, visit marketing32.com and schedule a 15-minute discovery call. If you’re a visionary practice ready for impact, Marketing 32 is ready to help you grow!

Episode Transcript:

Intro 00:13

You are listening to The Marketing 32 Show with your host Brett Allen.

Brett Allen 00:18

Welcome to The Marketing 32 Show. This is Brett Allen. I’m your host, where I connect with leading dentists, dental influencers, and industry experts to uncover the latest strategies, insights, and innovations that help dental practices grow and thrive. This episode today is brought to you by our team here at marketing 32. We’re the only dental marketing agency that I know of that has a performance guarantee and is fully invested in your growth with our Practice Impact formula. So you grow or you don’t pay. We focus on internal and external marketing strategies to find missed opportunities and generate growth for your practice. Today I’m super excited to introduce you to our guest, Dr. Martin Mendelson. He is the brains behind Metamorphosis Coaching, where he turns chaos into cohesion with his powerhouse team. Team approach. We’re going to go into that today. With nearly 20 years of coaching and a knack for making leadership fun. He’s here to help you lead smarter and not harder in your dental practice. So, Martin, thank you for coming on the show today. Excited to have you.

Dr. Martin Mendelson 01:26

Absolutely. Thanks for having me. It’s always, always fun to talk about this stuff.

Brett Allen 01:30

Yeah, yeah. And today’s a big day for you, right. We’re celebrating some big news for you. A new book potentially. Yeah.

Dr. Martin Mendelson 01:38

I’m super excited. I can’t believe this is the first time these words are coming out of my mouth on a recording, but I’m. I’m going to be published by Morgan James, which is a pretty big publishing house out of New York. It should be out within about 6 to 8 months of the recording. So mid to mid like late Q3, early Q4 of 2025.

Brett Allen 01:56

That’s exciting. Super exciting. Congratulations on that. I guess we’ll probably cover some things that are in that book today, hopefully. But I guess before we get into the team and how you got into leadership training, let’s go deeper on your story a little bit. You were in dentistry and now you’re in leadership training. Walk us through your journey.

Dr. Martin Mendelson 02:18

Yeah. There was, you know, just a couple decades between the two. But I actually started 16 years of age in a dental practice, you know, and they actually made me wear white pants even after Labor Day. But that’s another topic. And so I went to dental school. Never imagined anything different because I was that weird kid in high school like Hermie from Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer. I want to be a dentist. And off I went. But about eight and a half, ten years in, I started having problems with my hand and — without going through the details, within about 6 to 8 months of that initial symptom, I was out.

I was out of the practice of dentistry for good. I was actually misdiagnosed. That’s another story. But I had carpal tunnel and cubital tunnel surgery. My hand and elbow and just. It didn’t work because that wasn’t the cause. And I was out. And so I sat at home for 17 months, actually, maybe a little longer. And so this was 2003 before there was Google. So go try to find a job when you’re in your late 30s where you’re too young for some, too old for others too, and experience for some, it was a nightmare. It was trauma and defined trauma that I learned later from therapy. And I got lucky. I ended up through a connection, getting a job at a dental lab. So I was the liaison between the dental and the dentist and the laboratory for several years. Facilitated the conversation of you ready? 16,000? Yes, I counted outbound cases about questions. They had questions we had. Then certain things happened. And believe it or not, I lost my job because of a lab acquisition. I wasn’t the only one. And then I worked for VITA in North America. You know, the shade guide people. And I ran a key opinion leader and education all across North America. And that’s where I really started to hone my business acumen, because I was responsible for, at one point, a team of over 20 people, budgets of tens of millions of dollars. And I had to learn real quick. Fast forward about five years in a wonderful experience. I got an opportunity to join Spear Education in its early days as an executive vice president and resident faculty, and I helped grow the study club organization to what it is today. The Faculty Club was the host of the summit for over a decade.

Brett Allen 04:35

Wow.

Dr. Martin Mendelson 04:36

And during that tenure, and what I needed to do in helping to begin what ended up being called Customer Success. I felt like I needed to be better, so I started going down a road of executive coaching, team coaching, team facilitation, certifications, emotional intelligence, and happiness Studies, which was a year long course that today is actually an accredited masters, not just a certification. Oh, wow. And so I’ve taken all of this together to help serve dentists, their teams and leaders in other areas because I’m not solely focused in dentistry, although majoritively to help people understand that the biggest roadblock that gets in their way is them.

Brett Allen 05:23

Yeah. Which kind of leads us into our team framework. So yeah, I find that constantly I am the biggest bottleneck of the business. I get a lot or slow things down. So if I can remove myself and properly assign things out to people, it gets done way better and faster than I ever could. Yeah. Well, let’s talk about that. So for practice owners, business owners, you know these two mindsets of clinician entrepreneur and managing teams. What is. What is the acronym TEAM? What is TEAM? What is this about?

Dr. Martin Mendelson 06:02

It really goes to the heart of who we are as human beings. Because at the end of the day, everybody in a dental practice is a human being. And we come to the table with different backgrounds, educational levels of senses of values, senses of purpose. And so TEAM stands for thoughts that drive action. Excuse me. The thoughts that drive. Emotions that drive. Actions that manifest your results. It’s a takeoff on cognitive behavioral therapy. It’s a takeoff on a framework of my mentors, Jenn Barley and Karen Sullivan. It’s an alteration of that. And it also its basis very much lies in the work of Dr. Victor Frankl. Now, I just learned less than a week ago that a quote that I always share that’s been attributed to Frankl actually isn’t Frankl. Oh, it’s a Stephen Covey quote that encapsulates Viktor Frankl’s work that the Viktor Frankl Foundation does. Shall we say bless. And so here’s the Covey quote that says the basis of my work, which is between stimulus and response. There’s a space. In this space lies our freedom to choose our response. And in our response lies our growth and our freedom. So Viktor Frankl was a Holocaust survivor, a neurologist, and a psychiatrist. And so I come at life, having gone through some pretty dark days myself, understanding that everything that happens in life is neutral. Everything that happens to us is actually a simple fact. It’s the thought that we put to the occurrence that drives an emotion, that creates an action that ultimately manifests the results of your life. And so that’s where this team framework comes from. And when I work with individuals and or teams, that’s where we start, because we got to understand, or at least acknowledge, that our interpretations of events in our lives may not actually be wholly accurate, and person A is going to look at it differently than person B. So when I work with a team, one of the hallmark things that I’ve created that I create rather with the team, which again thanks to Jen and Karen, is an alliance where we sit down and we talk about what kind of practice do we want to show up to every day? How are we going to show up when there are challenges, and how are we going to keep each other accountable? It’s a literal document that’s created that gets plastered on the wall. We land on a safe word. Most of the time it’s pineapple. Don’t ask me why. And when something happens, we all, despite background, education, etc., have a cornerstone to go from because we have an agreement that if we feel that these hallmarks are being violated. We have permission to put up our hand and go, hey, I’m not feeling great about it. Let’s talk about it. And it can change the face of any practice or business, any team, really.

Brett Allen 09:07

That’s so powerful. Just breaking that down, that there’s a space in the moment from stimulus to response. Yes. And you know, oh man, there’s so much you could go deeper on that. I feel like with self-development and 100%.

Dr. Martin Mendelson 09:24

Yeah, 100%. The other thing I want to say about TEAM is how do you deploy that. Right. So TEAM is a concept. So I view in my mind’s eye team almost as a globe kind of orbiting and moving around and pulsating. And in the center of it is another concept that is being debuted in my book. And it’s another acronym. I think you can tell I like acronyms. It’s NBCA so when you have a thought, when you feel an emotion, when you’re doing an action that somehow you’re doing without even thinking about it. You need to notice what you’re doing. You need to pause to honor Viktor Frankl and breathe. That’s the B you need to commit between your ears to a different result or manifestation. And then you need to act. That’s why it’s NBCA because just because you commit to something between your ears doesn’t mean it actually happens with your lips, your fingers, or your toes. So NBCA is the tool at the core of TEAM to help us navigate through our world a little differently.

Brett Allen 10:30

That’s so powerful. That’s so good. I remember the first time I heard that our industry, the dental industry, is one of the top dealing with mental health. Yeah. And suicide. And these things. I was shocked to hear that. And I’ve since, you know, this was years ago when I found that out. But since we’ve lost, you know, some key people in our industry, some really great people. A lot of them, yes. You know, and so this is an important topic. It’s an important topic about with, you know, when we’re at work and we’re in the chair and we’re dealing with the stresses of team and patience and the drama that patients bring in. And then compound that with inflation and what’s happening with overhead and expenses going up. And team, you know, wanting to be paid more and insurance that’s, you know, choking the industry from a revenue standpoint. It’s like we dentists are dealing with a lot. And absolutely, I think at least the resources from what I’m hearing that you provide and the training and the coaching and this, you know, the frameworks that are great. They’re great. Yeah.

Dr. Martin Mendelson 11:41

Well, just just to put some additional data to what you just said. I mean, dentists are 17 times more likely to commit suicide than the general populace. I learned from my dear friend and business partner, Dr. Kyle Stanley, that, you know, according to Ada data, were two and a half times more likely, or we have two and a half times the incidence than the general populace of depression, anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. And so Kyle and I have actually joined forces, and we also conduct what I believe is the only in-person mental wellness course for dentists on the planet. And we’re hosted by one of the biggest dental labs on the planet, which is Glidewell. They’ve opened up their hearts and minds and facilities to us. And so they hosted us last November. We’re going back to be with them in May. And I really want to give them a shout out for supporting this. And they’re doing it out of the goodness of their heart. And I, I want to you know, thank Jim Glidewell and and also Stephanie the CEO. Stephnie Goddard the CEO of Glidewell for opening their doors and hearts to us.

Brett Allen 12:50

That’s phenomenal. That’s great. The work you’re doing. That’s great. Okay. So let’s transition this a little bit. So team you’ve got a wealth of knowledge of working with teams and individuals and coaching. Let’s talk about leadership training and what it is that you help leaders do, especially — even in the practice. Right. Yeah. Talk to us about that.

Dr. Martin Mendelson 13:16

Yeah. So you know it’s interesting because team is at the core of everything I do. And one of the things I say as an observation, not a judgment or a criticism, is that we need to understand something, you know, the doctors, office managers, hygienists to some degree from an experiential, educational and financial resource perspective, can be in a very different life space than the team, and that there alone breeds differences in interpretation of neutral fact. And so I love diving into the areas of emotional intelligence with my leaders, as well as conducting a 360 emotional intelligence debrief. In other words, conducting the scientific assessment about how the doctor looks at him or herself, how the team looks at the doctor and their peers. So if it’s a general dentist, it would be their specialist. If it’s a specialist, it would be the opposite — the restorative dentist. And we get a window into the emotional intelligence of that leader. Now, emotional intelligence is not some woo woo mushy gushy topic. We’re talking about things such as stress tolerance, decision making, expression, self-regard and how those interplay. It’s almost like a balance, like a scale where if we are over fit as we like to describe it in one area, that can affect another. So how can we leverage these levers of, You know, stress tolerance, decision making, self-regard, self-expression, empathy to our benefit to to help navigate, to be a better leader so that you’re not running into the situation where you’re sitting there frustrated, where you feel like your team doesn’t have that level of ownership over given tasks. And my first question would be, okay, well, how have we communicated this? How have we set this as a standard? How have we established ownership of the patient experience as a cornerstone of our culture? So my coaching and my leadership guidance is really, truly between the ears. I’m not going to sit there, although I can talk to you about how to drive, you know, production and efficiency and how to answer the phone because those are all similar verbal skills to interacting because it’s human, human conversation. What I focus on is the stuff that not a lot of people do, which is how we’re processing and then therefore communicating our thoughts to make sure everybody’s rowing in the same direction. So that’s where I really — that’s where I believe I shine and that’s where I believe I’m the most effective.

Brett Allen 16:14

Interesting. Yeah. There’s a lot of consultants out there who have the process things, the tangible. Here’s your checklist. Here’s your metrics to focus on. Here’s how you do assignments and here’s how you hire. But I think you’re hitting on something that’s profound. And that’s like the “why” behind everything. Like what’s the what’s like if I’m feeling this stress at work or if I’m feeling this stress with my team. Yeah. What meaning am I attaching to that? And how is that driving my decisions and actions?

Dr. Martin Mendelson 16:47

Absolutely.

Brett Allen 16:48

Relative to all the operational stuff that’s out there, right?

Dr. Martin Mendelson 16:52

Yeah. And to this end, let’s talk about delegation for just a quick second, because that’s actually one of the lessons in my online course. And it’s there for a very specific reason, because we as dentists and leaders, I think leaders, many leaders rather don’t delegate very effectively. And so I have an entire framework that starts with a conversation that would go something like this. So, Brett, you know, I’d love for you to take over this task because I really think you can do a really, really good job. And the truth of the matter is, you know, you’re being successful at this task is as much about you understanding and doing as it is me explaining what needs to be done. So I just want you to know and let’s talk about the idea that as I’m explaining, I’m going to ask you to kind of check in and let me know what you’re feeling and what you understand. And by the way, as we go through in a week, a month, a year, I’m going to be checking in and asking you. And I want you to understand this is not micromanaging. This is as much about making sure I’m doing for you what I need to do as it is you doing what you need to do for our practice or business. How do you feel about that? It sets up a completely different conversation.

Brett Allen 18:05

You know, versus a, you know, here’s your job. Do the thing. Yeah yeah.

Dr. Martin Mendelson 18:11

Yeah. And, you know, it’s and it’s okay to compliment and be effusive when you’re starting. Because why did you pick that person to do that task to begin with? I’m going to assume you think they can do it, so why not compliment them? You’re sitting there for a reason, so talk about that reason.

Brett Allen 18:31

Yeah.

Dr. Martin Mendelson 18:31

Yeah. That’s powerful. So I imagine there’s this, along with a lot of other golden nuggets inside your online training that you’re talking about. Leadership mastery is the name of the online course. And you should go check it out. Dr. Mendelson, thank you for coming on today. Before. Before we part ways, I always ask everybody, what’s one big golden nugget like? One. If you could help a doctor understand this one domino that if they could just push that domino over, it knocks all the other dominoes down, what would be that one thing that, from your perspective, is transformational in that way?

Dr. Martin Mendelson 19:12

It’s a golden nugget question that you can ask yourself. And it’s real simple. And the question is this how true is that? And so you have a team member that comes in late. They’re taking advantage of me. How true is that? It may be, but it may be that their parent is ill and you didn’t even know. You know that patient isn’t a Bleep. How true is that? Maybe they’re just so afraid they can’t see straight. You know you’re driving to the office and someone cuts you off that jerk. How true is that? Maybe they just didn’t see you. It’s a transformative question.

Brett Allen 19:52

Yeah, I like that. How true is that? I’m definitely going to use that. Well, thank you so much, everybody. You got to go check out. If you haven’t heard of Dr. Mendelson already. His reputation precedes himself. He’s phenomenal, as you can tell. Go to his website. I’m going to put it in the show notes. We’ve got a link for you that will not only give you to his website, but also his courses and contact information, all of that. So check out the show notes for that. It’s linktr.ee/metamorphosiscoaching. But again, thank you, Dr. Mendelson for coming on today. Thank you for the valuable conversation and insights and all the good you’re doing, all the work you’re doing. Thank you, thank you.

Outro 20:25

All right everybody. Until next time, take care and we’ll see you next time on The Marketing 32 Show.