Episode 233 | Lead The Way In Group Practice Innovation as a Visionary

Maureen Werrbach (00:00:01) – If you’re listening to the Group Practice Exchange podcast, where the business development resource for group practice owners, where we talk candidly about business ownership and leadership. I’m your host, Maureen Werrbach. 

This episode is sponsored by Therapy Notes. Therapy notes is my favorite EHR, and it’s one that I’ve been using in my own group practice since 2014. They’ve got everything you need to be successful in your group practice, and they’re constantly making updates and have live support. If you want two free months of therapy notes, go to therapynotes.com/r/thegrouppracticeexchange. 

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Maureen Werrbach (00:01:15) – Hey there folks! I’m excited to talk today about how we can lead the way in group practice, innovation as a visionary. So we’re going to dive into this exciting concept that’s been buzzing around the group practice industry, and that’s the visionary role. 

Now, this isn’t a groundbreaking idea, but it’s definitely making waves, especially as we see a major shift in how leadership operates in the therapy business. We’re talking about moving from this old school approach to where therapists wore the hat of therapist as a business owner, to a more intentional and business savvy leadership style. 

So back in the day, therapists built group practices. When we were building these practices, we were making decisions through the lens of a therapist, not necessarily through the lens of a business owner. And trust me, it’s gotten some pretty serious consequences. So as we fast forward to today, we’re witnessing this really purposeful and powerful shift from this hectic and unintentional leadership style to something that’s a bit more deliberate and aligned. And guess what’s driving that change? It’s what you guessed the spotlight on this visionary role. So what’s the deal with being a visionary in a business setting? So typically it’s the person who is sort of like that big cheese, the leader, the person who can see the bigger picture and lay out a really awesome vision for the future of that business.

Maureen Werrbach (00:02:40) – Most often it’s going to be US business owners, but sometimes it can be a business partner or someone else in your business. If visionary doesn’t feel right for you and you’re more of the boots on the ground leading teams type of person, it might be someone else, but there’s always someone that has to be the visionary to ensure that the business keeps moving forward. As our economy and landscape shifts, this person is going to set the overall direction. They’re going to cook up a strategy. They’re going to inspire the team to get on board. These visionaries aren’t just the dreamers. They’re the strategic thinkers that are identifying growth opportunities and breathing life into these really innovative ideas. Being a visionary isn’t about having just a fantastic business idea. It’s about seeing that long term potential in your business and making a solid plan to turn that vision into a reality. And let’s be real, in a world where change is the only constant, you got to keep your finger on a pulse of the industry to see the shifts in trends that change throughout time.

Maureen Werrbach (00:03:44) – The real magic happens when leaders step out of the daily grind and start to step into their visionary role. So a lot of people will ask me like, what does that look like in action? Well, visionaries wear many hats. They set the strategic direction of the business. They dish out on thought leadership. They brainstorm new income streams for the business. They form partnerships with other local or community businesses, and they create a workplace culture that will make sure that the business continues on and that people are on board. So why does this matter for the future of mental health care? Because visionaries are game changers. They’re the innovators. They are steering the ship in our field. And if you’re kind of itching to flex your visionary muscle, here’s some practical tips. You can map out a crystal clear vision for your practice. Be crazy passionate about helping your clients and your patients start to embrace innovation. Start to take risks, get out of your comfort zone and build a really awesome team. That is a hell yes when it comes to your vision.

Maureen Werrbach (00:04:52) – So whether you’re driving the change or just curious about it, let’s talk about how we can unravel that magic of the visionary role in this wild world of a therapy business. It’s not just about having a vision, it’s about making it happen in the most conversational way possible. So when I was building the accountability equation, I noticed this deep lacking in our ability as group practice owners to intentionally. I step into that visionary role. I think a part of it has to do with the process of building a business beyond the idea, right? The idea is the visionary part, but it’s in the getting your hands dirty, getting into the day to day aspect of the business. When we first start to build our business, we often are doing all of the things in our business, which is not visionary. It’s very hands on. So I think we can easily prioritize putting out fires and doing tasks in lieu of creating and building a vision. Another part that I believe is a fear of undervaluing thinking, undervaluing research in our world that we have right now.

Maureen Werrbach (00:05:55) – It’s filled with commentary on doing overthinking, and it trickles down into every fiber of our being. I believe that if we can learn to prioritize the visionary role we all play, our businesses would do better. Our teams would feel more valued because they’d be taking on other important aspects that you’ve been hoarding yourself, and you’ll likely feel more aligned and happy with the work that you do. So I’ve been working on something exciting that focuses specifically on flexing that visionary muscle for y’all. And it’s the visionary magazine. So the Visionary is the first magazine specifically for mental health group practice owners and leaders that takes a look at our industry through a lens that’s visionary only. The visionary magazine grew out of a gap of information that is dedicated to the visionary role that we all assume as practice owners, a role that many of us neglect with information overload. From masterclasses and webinars and emails and courses and conferences, I wanted to create a space where we can dive into learning through a visionary lens in the old fashioned form of a magazine, because who doesn’t love a good magazine? I feel like that’s one of the exciting parts when I travel and I’m in an airport, is I like to grab a bunch of magazines.

Maureen Werrbach (00:07:12) – I love the feel of turning magazine pages, so my goal is for every issue to bring relevant and timely information to you that will help you look at your business from that visionary perspective. My hope is that it’ll help you think forward and creatively about your business so that it will become sustainable and a legacy that you’re proud of. The Visionary Magazine is a quarterly magazine that’s distributed every January, April, July, and October, and each issue is going to focus on articles from the Visionary Lens. So think of topics like AI and mental health. What are tech industries focusing on when it comes to mental health forecasting? The future of private practice insurance companies coming in and building their own group practices. Venture capitalists getting into mental health, private practice, values based mental health care, values based reimbursement. The big five companies in mental health diversifying services in outpatient world, trends in the private practice, mental health space, and obviously so much more. So I’m excited to share this quarterly magazine and I’m 100% positive it’ll help you step into that visionary role more confidently, so you can grab your copy by going to my website, the Group Practice Exchange Comm, and you’ll see a huge old link right on my home page for the visionary.

Maureen Werrbach (00:08:33) – And if you click on that, you’ll be able to get your copy of the physical print magazine or a digital copy if you prefer. And not only that, on that page you’ll see a link to be a contributing writer or advertiser. So we are also always looking for contributing writers or advertisers in the magazine. If you’re a visionary and a thought leader in our industry and you have something important to share, I highly encourage you to apply to be a contributing writer or advertisers. And like I said, the application and the payment for all of that is also on that same page where you can sign up for the magazine. So I want you to think about for this week until my next episode comes out, is in what ways are you prioritizing your visionary role? What is it looking like for you, and in what ways? Maybe 1 to 3 ways that you can better step into that visionary role, something actionable that you can do that’s going to help you do better in terms of being a visionary, because it’s very likely that you are spending more time playing whac-a-mole with all the little fires in your business, when in reality, where you’re most needed is, in the larger scheme of the business, the vision and figuring out like what’s happening in our industry and how might that be impacting our business so that you can drive change and pivot before, you know, industry changes happen to you and to your business? I want to end with sharing just how that looks on my end as an example.

Maureen Werrbach (00:10:13) – So I know some of you might have heard this if you are. A part of my Q and A’s in the membership, but I have my Fridays set specifically as my visionary time. Years ago, I decided I didn’t want to work on Fridays, and by work I mean any meetings, any podcasts, anything in either of my businesses. What I wanted Fridays to be was the time for me to flex my visionary muscle. And so I have two hours in the morning that is dedicated to reading. Anything that I feel like enhances my visionary role. And it can be a business book. It could be reading articles that help me become a better visionary. I have two hours that I have dedicated to Friday mornings of reading and just growing as a visionary. And then the next two hours are dedicated to research. So that’s where I might be looking at and googling or using AI to figure out, like, what are some of the trends? What are some of the things that we’re seeing coming down the pipeline in our industry? What might be some things that I can forecast and look at and research to see, you know, what’s likely coming our way in the outpatient private practice world, that I then need to figure out how I can pivot in my own group practice so that it can not only survive, but also thrive through those changing, whether it’s economic changes or just industry wide changes.

Maureen Werrbach (00:11:45) – As an example, you know, we’re hearing a lot about value based reimbursement and care. We’re hearing a lot about how tech is getting into the mental health world. And so it’s really important for us to know what that means and how that can impact ourselves and our clients, so that we can make sure that we can weather those storms as some of these big wigs that come into this field with intentions that are not for clients, but more for sharing data and making money, that we’re able to withstand that and thrive as that process happens, so that we can better be there for our clients. And so that’s how I use my visionary time, so that then I can go back to my leadership team and say, here’s what I’m seeing likely happening in the next couple of years. What are some ideas that we as a team can look at so that we can better ensure that we can stay profitable, that we can keep employing people, and oftentimes that’s related to diversifying services. But none of that thinking can happen if we’re not prioritizing that visionary time.

Maureen Werrbach (00:12:48) – So I hope this was a great episode for you. And remember to think about those questions that I asked to help you sort of flex that visionary muscle, as I like to say. See you next week. Thanks for listening. Give us five stars on whatever podcast streaming service you use and I’ll see you next week.

Thanks for listening. Give us five stars on whatever podcast streaming service you use and I’ll see you next week.