Difficult Demands on Leadership

Copyright 1998 Journal of the California Dental Association.

We commented recently, with some alarm, that fewer individuals were in the volunteer pool for consideration for leadership positions than might be hoped for, or expected, given an organization the size of California Dental Association. A recent event motivates us to explore the matter of leadership further this month.

The overall demands placed on the dental volunteer leader of today may to some degree explain the reluctance of some individuals to serve, above and beyond the actual demands of the time commitment. As was suggested in this space in June, we receive correspondence from time to time from members who are very straightforward in stating the opinion that they will not serve because they view volunteer service as part of a traditional network that they criticize for not effectively resolving the problems they see facing the dental practitioner of today. The implication is that their time is more profitably spent taking care of the needs of their own business. We will not argue with their priority -- one's business is the top priority.

However, the need to maintain a vital network to cope with the needs of the profession also requires a high level of concern and support if we are to have any hope of retaining a profession that is positioned to provide the standard of dental care that we continue to hear most dentists say they stand for and want to provide to the public. As we see it, the dental profession has entered a very complex era, one in which the many constituencies within the profession which organized dentistry must try to represent, are asking leadership for representation on a wide ranging variety of issues that are not embraced uniformly throughout the profession. It appears that it is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve consensus on issues or agree on desired services because of the increasing influence of divergent values of constituencies within the profession. Age, ethnicity, and sex are just a few of the demographic factors that make it much more difficult for well-meaning volunteers to take positions on issues or make decisions that will receive universal acceptance or approval by those whom they represent.

The debate over the value or importance of the proposed ADA public awareness campaign provides an excellent example of the dilemma we feel that dentistry has been facing for a few years now. It is a dilemma whose most pronounced effect is on the officers, delegates, or committee members serving in local, state, or national positions of responsibility. For some time now, dentistry has attempted various forms of marketing, or Ainstitutional advertising" at the state or national level on behalf of the membership. It was very clear to the 1996 and 1997 ADA Houses of Delegates, that many members of organized dentistry wanted the American Dental Association to place a priority on this activity as a membership service. It also was clear that this activity is most strongly supported by younger members. Older members with successful practices are not personally interested in the benefits that might be achieved with a successful program, and they do not tend to express strong support for such a program being a major objective for organized dentistry. Further complicating this picture is the reality that many of the younger members who are most supportive of such a program have yet to reach a financial level in practice that makes them totally comfortable with absorbing the significant increase in dues necessary to mount such a campaign.

The dilemma for concerned leaders is that if they support a program they believe is desired by a significant segment of the profession, they also know that they could be forcing an unwanted program or undesirable decision on another major constituency within the profession. Not only is it increasingly difficult to satisfy everyone, the very nature of some of the issues can very easily alienate everyone, as is potentially the case in this current example. Without questions, there have always been divergent positions and opinions in dentistry's political arena. The difference between the past and the present seems to be the differences in the perceived values of membership of the various constituencies within the membership today. These differences make it difficult for leadership to make decisions that will address the values of a majority without disenfranchising what might be another group of significant size that could even leave membership if their values are not satisfactorily addressed.

Getting back to the central point, it seems that given the demands of their own business, most professionals would prefer to avoid expending their effort on issues in which there may be no win-win position. Nationally recognized lecturer Mark Levin told a large audience of CDA component society and state leaders at a recent CDA Leadership Conference that the primary purpose of an association Ais to try to change the environment" on behalf of the membership. That is the primary objective of a volunteer association. Levin told the leaders that AIf you can't do that ... do everything you can to help your members succeed in the Environment that Exists!" That is an extremely difficult task for a volunteer association today.

We return to our hypothesis that some potential leaders may be rejecting this challenge because of the dilemma that has been described. In a fast-paced world, where time is our most valuable commodity, a growing percentage of members would prefer to avoid the aggravation of spending significant time with difficult issues. Unfortunately, such a defeatist attitude must be put aside if dentistry is to survive the challenges that will continue to arise. More dentists must adopt the attitude that the business of their volunteer associations makes up an important part of their personal business. Dentistry as we know it today cannot survive without the organized efforts of our associations.

A large group of dedicated volunteers at the CDA Leadership Conference demonstrated through their participation that they were willing to take up the challenge to improve their responsiveness to the needs and values of the members they represent at the state and local component levels of their profession. It is important that the membership supports leadership efforts and consider increasing those ranks if dentistry is to remain a unified and effective force in determining its own destiny.