Lori William

Lori William Partner of Strategix, focusing on maximizing practice efficiencies and engaging teams.

There’s a moment in leadership that doesn’t always get talked about.It’s the moment where you already know what needs to...
06/11/2026

There’s a moment in leadership that doesn’t always get talked about.

It’s the moment where you already know what needs to happen, and you can feel it clearly, but you haven’t fully moved on it yet. You think it through again. You revisit it from another angle. You give it more time, hoping something will click in a way that feels more certain.

And while all of that is happening, it doesn’t stay contained. It follows you into conversations. It sits in the background of your decisions. It shows up in how you respond throughout the day.

Over time, that hesitation starts to feel heavier than the decision itself.

I see this often with leaders who are thoughtful and self-aware. They’re not guessing their way through things. They’re paying attention, reading situations well, and understanding more than they give themselves credit for.

What slows things down is staying in that space between knowing and moving. That space holds energy. And the longer you stay there, the more it starts to affect how you lead.

When you decide, even without perfect certainty, something settles. Your focus sharpens. Your presence becomes steadier. You move with more clarity in the moments that matter.

It doesn’t mean everything is resolved. It just means you’re no longer holding something that’s already asking to be released.

When you think about what’s been sitting with you lately, is it something you’ve already decided… or something you’re still circling?

“I need more new patients.”I hear this from doctors constantly. So the first thing I do is pull their missed call rate.T...
06/09/2026

“I need more new patients.”

I hear this from doctors constantly. So the first thing I do is pull their missed call rate.
The average I see on-site? Around 30%.

You don’t need more new patients. You need to answer the phone. That’s a system problem. And it’s fixable.

The five front-of-house systems that have the biggest impact on revenue in the practices I work with:
• New patients added to new patients booked — target should be 85–90%
• AI insurance verification before the consult — reducing objections before they happen
• Same-day or one-step starts — families already know treatment is coming, stop making them return multiple times
• The new patient phone call — case acceptance begins here, not inside the consult room
• Brown banana follow-up — reconnecting with pending patients before they go cold is often untapped revenue

Your front desk is not just administrative support. It’s one of the biggest revenue drivers in your practice. The Ritz-Carlton puts every employee through 200 hours of training before they interact with a guest.

How much training does your newest front desk hire receive before answering the phone?
Save this and share it with your practice manager.

Reach out and schedule a complimentary, no pressure call to discuss today!

06/04/2026

A lot of leaders are looking for the moment where things finally shift.

The strategy that works, the decision that moves everything forward, the point where momentum starts to build. But most of the time, it doesn’t come from something new. It comes from what’s already there.

The things that have been noticed, but not fully followed through on. The small actions that don’t feel urgent, but carry more weight than they seem to.

I see this often with leaders who are doing the work and still feel like something isn’t moving. They’re engaged. They’re committed. They’re paying attention.

But there are a few pieces that haven’t been handled consistently yet. And those pieces matter. They shape how teams respond. They influence how decisions move. They determine how steady things feel over time.

This is where leadership separates. Not in intensity, but in consistency. Not in doing more, but in doing what matters when it would be easier not to.

If this is something you’ve been noticing in your leadership, you can send me a message. We can look at what’s sitting there and where things can start to shift.

There are parts of leadership that get a lot of attention.The visible moments. The decisions that carry weight. The conv...
06/02/2026

There are parts of leadership that get a lot of attention.

The visible moments. The decisions that carry weight. The conversations that feel important.
But that’s not where most of the separation actually happens. It happens in the parts that are easier to avoid.

The follow-ups that don’t feel urgent. The preparation that happens before anyone else sees it. The conversations that would be simpler to push to another day.

Those moments don’t look significant on their own. But over time, they shape everything.
I see this often with leaders who are trying to move things forward and feel like they’re doing everything they can. They’re showing up. They’re working hard. They’re staying committed.

But there are still a few things sitting just outside of their focus. Not ignored, but delayed. And that’s where momentum starts to slow down.

Because those are often the exact points where clarity is created. Where trust is built. Where direction becomes stronger. Not in big shifts, but in how consistently those moments are handled.

That’s what separates leadership over time. Not more effort, but more attention to what actually moves things.

When you think about your own leadership right now, what’s something small that keeps getting pushed, even though you know it matters?

A YES attitude isn’t something that sits on the surface of how you lead.It’s not about staying positive or keeping your ...
05/28/2026

A YES attitude isn’t something that sits on the surface of how you lead.

It’s not about staying positive or keeping your energy high when things feel easy. It shows up in the moments where there isn’t a clear answer.

In how you take responsibility for what’s in front of you. In how you respond when something doesn’t go the way you expected. That’s where it lives.

I see this often with leaders who are putting in the effort and still feel like something isn’t fully clicking. They’re consistent. They’re showing up. They’re doing what they’ve been taught.

But there’s a layer underneath that hasn’t fully shifted yet.

Because success isn’t built on effort alone. It reflects how you lead yourself through the moments that don’t come with clear direction.

That’s where ownership becomes real. That’s where clarity starts to form. And that’s where things begin to move differently.

If this is something you’ve been noticing in your leadership, you can send me a message. We can look at where you’re leading from right now and what might need to shift.

Two things patients universally dislike:Waiting. And paperwork.And yet many orthodontic practices are still handing new ...
05/26/2026

Two things patients universally dislike:
Waiting. And paperwork.

And yet many orthodontic practices are still handing new patients a clipboard the moment they walk through the door.

With patients now visiting two to three practices before making a decision, that first experience carries more weight than ever.

Here’s what digital optimization looks like inside a high-performing practice:
• Online intake forms sent by text before the appointment, so patients arrive prepared instead of overwhelmed
• Appointment confirmations by text, because nearly 30% of voicemails are deleted before they’re ever heard
• AI insurance verification completed before the consult, so your team walks in informed and objections are reduced
• Photo triage for emergencies, where many bracket issues can be assessed before chair time is booked unnecessarily

Efficiency and patient experience are not opposites.

When your systems remove unnecessary friction, your team has more time to focus on the part technology will never replace, building trust and connection with patients and families.

What’s one manual process in your practice that technology could simplify right now?
Drop it in the comments, I read every one!

Link in bio to book your complimentary 30-minute practice call.

05/21/2026

There’s a difference between learning how to lead and trying to fit into a version of leadership that doesn’t fully reflect how you operate.

Most leaders build their approach by watching what works around them. You pick up patterns, language, and ways of handling situations, and you apply them as best as you can.

And for a while, that works. But over time, there are moments where something feels slightly off. You notice it in how you communicate, in how you make decisions, and in how much you trust your own voice in the room.

It’s subtle, but it stays with you. That feeling isn’t something to ignore. It’s usually the point where your leadership is starting to evolve.

You’re not losing your way. You’re refining it. Taking what you’ve learned and shaping it into something that actually reflects how you think, how you connect, and how you lead.

That’s where things start to feel more steady again.

If this is something you’ve been noticing in your own leadership, you can send me a message. We can look at what’s working, what feels off, and how to bring it back into alignment.

There’s a point in leadership where something starts to feel off, even when everything on the outside looks like it’s wo...
05/19/2026

There’s a point in leadership where something starts to feel off, even when everything on the outside looks like it’s working.

You’re doing what you were taught. You’re following the structure, the tone, the expectations that you’ve seen modeled over time.

And yet, something about it doesn’t feel fully aligned.

It shows up in small moments. In conversations where you hold back what you would naturally say. In decisions where your instinct is clear, but you hesitate before acting on it.

Over time, that creates a kind of tension that’s hard to explain.

You know how to lead. You understand what’s needed. But the way you’re trying to do it doesn’t fully reflect how you think or how you connect.

I see this often with women in leadership roles who are capable, thoughtful, and deeply aware of the people around them. They’ve learned how to lead in a certain way, and they’ve also developed their own way of seeing, communicating, and holding a room.

And those two things don’t always match.That’s where things start to feel heavy. It’s not in the work itself, it’s in trying to lead in a way that doesn’t feel natural anymore.

The shift isn’t about throwing everything out. It comes from recognizing what still fits, and what doesn’t. And allowing yourself to lead in a way that actually reflects how you think, how you communicate, and how you connect.

That’s where leadership starts to feel more grounded again.

Have you been leading in a way that doesn’t fully feel like you anymore?

There’s a difference between needing more information and not fully trusting what you already see.From the outside, thos...
05/14/2026

There’s a difference between needing more information and not fully trusting what you already see.

From the outside, those two things can look very similar.
You’re still thinking things through, asking questions, and taking your time before making a decision.

But internally, it feels different. There’s a sense that something hasn’t fully landed yet, even though part of you already understands the direction.

That feeling doesn’t stay contained. It shows up in how you communicate, in how quickly decisions move, and in how your team experiences you in the process.

You can often notice it early in the day, sometimes in a quick check-in or conversation, where something feels slightly held back. The conversation is happening, but the direction isn’t fully grounded.

When a decision is made, things don’t suddenly become perfect. But they do become clearer. And that clarity changes how everything moves from that point forward.

Conversations feel more direct. Decisions feel more stable. The team doesn’t have to work as hard to understand what matters.

This is a core part of the YES Methodology.
Helping you move from thinking through leadership to actually stepping into it in a way that feels steady and self-trusting.

If this is something you’ve been navigating in your leadership, you can send me a message. We can look at where you’re holding back and what it would take to move forward with more clarity.

Full chairs. Packed schedule. Team working non-stop.And yet something still feels off.Sound familiar?After 30 years insi...
05/12/2026

Full chairs. Packed schedule. Team working non-stop.

And yet something still feels off.
Sound familiar?

After 30 years inside orthodontic practices, I can tell you this is almost always a schedule problem, not a people problem, not a marketing problem, and not an effort problem.

Here is the math most practices are missing:
If your goal is 50 starts per month and your conversion rate is 65%, you need 103 new patient exams to get there, not 77. Because about 25% of those exams won’t be ready to start.

Is your schedule actually built for 103 exams per month?
A few things the highest-performing practices I work with do differently:
• Like appointments grouped together so clinicians aren’t context-switching all day
• Longer procedures placed mid-day instead of being crammed first thing
• A junior chair running retainer checks, scans, and observations so skilled clinicians stay focused on production

In one site visit, I recovered 4 hours and 15 minutes of clinical chair time — in a single day — just by reviewing the day sheet.

Your schedule should be working for you. If it isn’t, that’s the first thing we fix.
Save this post and share it with your scheduling coordinator.

Click the link in my bio to my website to book a complimentary 30-minute practice call.

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Okotoks, AB
T1S2E8

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