Simon Says Eat Last. Dr. Dave Says Leaders Eat First.

Simon Sinek said leaders eat last. 

Dr. Dave served 5 years in the Army. He spent 18 years chairside. He gets why Simon said it. He also knows why that advice is starving single-location dentists. 

In this practice, you're the Private, the top producer. The General setting the vision. Eat last in that setup, and things start to fall apart. 

In this episode, he breaks down what eating first actually looks like and the initial move most owners skip.

Transcript

Leaders eat first. 

I know, I know — the great Simon Sinek wrote Leaders Eat Last. I served five years in the Army. Trust me, I get exactly why he said it. But in a single-location dental practice, you're the private, the top producer, and the general. Eat last in that setup and you don't lead. You starve. 

Let me tell you about a client of mine. She's genuinely killing it. I've watched her completely transform her practice in a couple of years. Colleagues would wonder how she pulled it off. I told her so last week. I said something like, "What you've built here is remarkable. I hope you know that." 

She didn't even blink. She just smiled politely and said, "It's a work in progress." Deflected it like she's been training for the Olympics in deflection. 

And the strange part? I've heard that exact line from so many dentists I've coached. Word for word. Like it's a secret practice owner handshake. You can't even take a compliment without flinching. 

So what's actually going on under here? 

You've been running on empty for so long, you forgot what full feels like. You've been the servant for so long, being seen feels dangerous. Burnout researchers have a name for this. They call it inadequate reward. When the money, the meaning, the recognition, the time freedom don't match what you're pouring in — your brain files a claim. This investment isn't paying off. 

That's not weakness, my friend. That's biology. 

And here's the part that nobody wants to say out loud, so I'll say it. A dentist who eats last for years doesn't build a great practice. Or a great culture. Or a great patient experience. And everyone knows it. The team knows. The patients know. Your spouse definitely knows. The kids have known the longest. 

Servanthood without self-stewardship is not noble. It's slow-motion martyrdom in a white coat. 

Now hear me clearly. Entrepreneurship has seasons of real sacrifice. That's just part of the deal, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something. But a season has a beginning and an end. When the sacrifice becomes the whole career, you didn't build a practice. You built a prison with great lighting and mood music. 

So what does eating first actually look like? 

It means you're well compensated. The money matches the value you're creating. It means the practice is designed around what brings out the best in you — not what you've inherited or tolerated for years. And it means you're properly recovered. Real sleep. Real time off. A nervous system that resets. 

You think that's egoic? No. It's just the conditions you need to sustain a great business. 

A good place to start: read Profit First by Mike Michalowicz, and then actually do what it says. Pay yourself first — before the payroll, before the vendors, before that shiny piece of equipment your rep keeps emailing you about. 

It's the financial pillar of eating first. And one of the cures for inadequate reward — written down, with a system attached. 

Eat first. Then lead well.