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  • Season 6: Episode 144: Before You Hire Another Person, Look at the Work

    Season 6: Episode 144: Before You Hire Another Person, Look at the Work
    Oct 12 2026

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    “We need another person.”

    Maybe you do.

    But before you add another salary to payroll, Sarah Beth Herman wants you to answer a different question:

    What exactly are you hiring them to do?

    In this episode of No Silver Spoons, Sarah Beth looks at something that happens quietly inside growing companies: work accumulates. Temporary responsibilities become permanent. Processes get duplicated. Great employees become the people everyone depends on. Eventually the team is overwhelmed—and leadership assumes the solution is another hire.

    Sometimes it is.

    Sometimes you've built a bad job.

    In this episode:

    • Why being overwhelmed doesn't automatically mean you're understaffed
    • How businesses accidentally accumulate unnecessary work
    • Why your best employee may be holding together your worst process
    • The danger of rewarding competence with more and more responsibility
    • Why moving work between employees doesn't actually eliminate it
    • How technology can create capacity without simply replacing people
    • The difference between a true capacity problem and a work-design problem
    • What to examine before approving another position

    This Week's Challenge

    Choose one position in your company that always seems overwhelmed.

    For five working days, look at what that person actually does—not what their job description says they do.

    Then ask:

    Should this work exist at all?

    If it should:

    Is this actually the right place for it to live?

    And finally:

    If this person disappeared tomorrow and I had to build this job again from nothing, would I intentionally rebuild it exactly this way?

    If the answer is no, don't start recruiting yet.

    Start there.

    Support the show

    SOCIALS:
    No Silver Spoons®: Instagram
    Dentistry Support: Instagram | Facebook | Linkedin
    The Dental Collaborative: Facebook
    Sarah Beth Herman: LinkedIn | Personal Bio | Links
    Free Training for Dental Offices

    DISCLAIMER:
    The content provided in this podcast, including by Sarah Beth Herman and any affiliated guests, is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice, including but not limited to medical, legal, or business consulting services. Listeners engage with the content at their own risk and are responsible for any actions taken based on the information presented. No guarantees are made regarding the accuracy or completeness of the content. For any questions, clarifications, or crediting of sources, please contact us directly, and we will make necessary adjustments.
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    19 Min.
  • Season 6: Episode 143: Your Revenue Number Is Lying to You

    Season 6: Episode 143: Your Revenue Number Is Lying to You
    Oct 5 2026

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    ou crossed $1 million. Or $5 million. Or maybe you're having the biggest revenue year your company has ever had.

    Great.

    How much money did you actually make?

    In this episode of No Silver Spoons, Sarah Beth Herman challenges one of the numbers entrepreneurs love talking about most: revenue.

    Revenue can be growing while payroll grows faster. Your biggest client can be one of your least profitable. Sales can be up while cash gets tighter. And scaling a product with bad economics doesn't fix the problem—it gives the problem volume.

    So before you set a bigger revenue goal for 2027, Sarah Beth wants you to understand what happened to the money you already made.

    In this episode:

    • Why higher revenue doesn't automatically mean a healthier business
    • The difference between revenue, profit, and actual

    Support the show

    SOCIALS:
    No Silver Spoons®: Instagram
    Dentistry Support: Instagram | Facebook | Linkedin
    The Dental Collaborative: Facebook
    Sarah Beth Herman: LinkedIn | Personal Bio | Links
    Free Training for Dental Offices

    DISCLAIMER:
    The content provided in this podcast, including by Sarah Beth Herman and any affiliated guests, is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice, including but not limited to medical, legal, or business consulting services. Listeners engage with the content at their own risk and are responsible for any actions taken based on the information presented. No guarantees are made regarding the accuracy or completeness of the content. For any questions, clarifications, or crediting of sources, please contact us directly, and we will make necessary adjustments.
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    17 Min.
  • Season 6: Episode 142: Stop Waiting for January: The 90-Day Business Reset

    Season 6: Episode 142: Stop Waiting for January: The 90-Day Business Reset
    Sep 28 2026

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    We have roughly 100 days left in 2026. That is not the end of the year. That is still a lot of business.

    In this episode of No Silver Spoons, Sarah Beth Herman kicks off the real work of Season 6 with a 90-day business reset built around five areas: revenue, expenses, people, operations, and leadership.

    This isn't another conversation about manifesting harder, joining another cohort, finding another mentor, or waiting until January to finally get serious. Believe in what you're building. Pray about it. Want it badly. But at some point, we have to open the P&L, look at the pipeline, review the payroll, fix the process, have the conversation, and make the decision.

    Sarah Beth breaks down the Stop. Fix. Finish. Build. framework and challenges business owners to look beyond top-line revenue, question recurring expenses, examine how jobs are actually designed, identify operational problems that keep surviving, and use their calendars to see where their leadership time is really going.

    Because sometimes we aren't gathering more information anymore.

    We're avoiding a decision.

    In this episode:

    • Why revenue growth doesn't automatically mean your business is healthier
    • The expenses you may still be paying simply because nobody questioned them
    • Why an overwhelmed team doesn't always mean you need another employee
    • How poorly designed jobs can become “performance problems”
    • The operational issue your company may have learned to work around
    • What your calendar says about your actual priorities
    • Why changing direction isn't the same thing as giving up
    • The five decisions Sarah Beth wants you to make before moving into 2027

    This Week's Challenge

    Ask yourself:

    If I built this business today, knowing everything I know now, what would I refuse to rebuild exactly the same way?

    Then ask:

    What am I calling a 2027 goal that is actually a 2026 problem?

    Pick one thing and do something about it within 24 hours.

    For the rest of 2026, No Silver Spoons is keeping it simple: under 20 minutes, every week, with something you can actually use in your business.

    There are plenty of places to go when you want motivation.

    Come here when you're ready to work.

    Sponsored by Dentistry Support® — Delivering Results. Simplifying Everything.

    Support the show

    SOCIALS:
    No Silver Spoons®: Instagram
    Dentistry Support: Instagram | Facebook | Linkedin
    The Dental Collaborative: Facebook
    Sarah Beth Herman: LinkedIn | Personal Bio | Links
    Free Training for Dental Offices

    DISCLAIMER:
    The content provided in this podcast, including by Sarah Beth Herman and any affiliated guests, is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice, including but not limited to medical, legal, or business consulting services. Listeners engage with the content at their own risk and are responsible for any actions taken based on the information presented. No guarantees are made regarding the accuracy or completeness of the content. For any questions, clarifications, or crediting of sources, please contact us directly, and we will make necessary adjustments.
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    20 Min.
  • Season 6: Episode 141: Now What? — Welcome to Season 6

    Season 6: Episode 141: Now What? — Welcome to Season 6
    Sep 21 2026

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    Sarah Beth Herman opens season six of No Silver Spoons by transitioning from season five’s self-focused leadership work to a new emphasis on what leaders are actually building, arguing that good leadership must produce results and that September is a better reset point than January because it offers evidence. She warns against funding old decisions, confusing revenue with success, and adding headcount before understanding the work, highlighting business “drift,” bloated expenses, unclear roles, and the strategy-execution gap. She assigns listeners to review the last 60 days of bank/credit card statements for unquestioned expenses, rethink payroll by examining work rather than names, and revisit 2026 goals by sorting them into done, still matters, doesn’t matter anymore, and avoided. She previews episode 142’s “90-Day Business Reset” across revenue, expenses, people, operations, and leadership, sponsored by Dentistry Support.

    Support the show

    SOCIALS:
    No Silver Spoons®: Instagram
    Dentistry Support: Instagram | Facebook | Linkedin
    The Dental Collaborative: Facebook
    Sarah Beth Herman: LinkedIn | Personal Bio | Links
    Free Training for Dental Offices

    DISCLAIMER:
    The content provided in this podcast, including by Sarah Beth Herman and any affiliated guests, is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice, including but not limited to medical, legal, or business consulting services. Listeners engage with the content at their own risk and are responsible for any actions taken based on the information presented. No guarantees are made regarding the accuracy or completeness of the content. For any questions, clarifications, or crediting of sources, please contact us directly, and we will make necessary adjustments.
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    19 Min.
  • Season 5: Episode 140 The Human Side of Leadership™: The Finale: What Will People Remember About the Way You Led Them?

    Season 5: Episode 140 The Human Side of Leadership™: The Finale: What Will People Remember About the Way You Led Them?
    Sep 14 2026
    Send us Fan MailOne day, you will lead someone for the last time—and there is a very good chance you won’t know it when it happens.There will be a final meeting. A final conversation. A final correction. A final ordinary Tuesday when someone works for you.And eventually, your name may come up in a room you aren't in.What will they say it was like to be led by you?In Episode 140 of No Silver Spoons, Sarah Beth Herman closes Season 5 and The Human Side of Leadership™ Summer Series with the question underneath nearly every conversation we've had this season: What are people actually going to remember about the way you led them?This isn't about being liked. It isn't about creating a perfect leadership legacy or making sure everyone tells a flattering story about you.It's about recognizing that there is a human being on the other side of your leadership.Sarah Beth looks back at some of the most important conversations from this season—from why smart people stay stuck and why employees rarely leave overnight, to the stories leaders tell themselves, authenticity over imitation, respect versus approval, integrity, accountability, rescuing employees, and finally having enough self-awareness to ask, “What if I'm the problem?”Along the way, she returns to several ideas worth carrying beyond this season:“We don't make decisions based on reality. We make decisions based on the story we've accepted as reality.”“Consistency beats charisma.”“Seeing potential in someone does not obligate them to do something with it.”“Consequences don't disappear just because a leader removes them. Most of the time, they transfer to somebody else.”And perhaps the most important reminder of the entire series:There is a human being on the other side of your leadership.Before closing Season 5, Sarah Beth gives listeners one final leadership exercise:When people worked with me, I hope they felt ________.Because I led them, I hope they became ________.When they tell the story of my leadership years from now, I hope they can honestly say ________.Then comes the harder part: look at the last seven days of your leadership and ask whether your actual behavior would lead people to fill in those blanks the same way you did.Because leadership legacy isn't built someday.It's being built on an ordinary Tuesday.In this episode:Sarah Beth revisits the defining lessons of Episodes 131–139, reflects on how leaders evolve over time, explores why ordinary interactions can become lasting memories for the people we lead, and challenges leaders to separate being respected from being liked.She also talks about integrity when nobody is watching, why rescuing one employee can quietly punish another, why silence isn't always agreement, and why mature leadership requires the ability to examine your own contribution to recurring problems.Finally, Sarah Beth says goodbye to Season 5 and shares what comes next.Episode 141 officially launches Season 6 of No Silver Spoons. Rather than jumping immediately into the first topic, Sarah Beth will use the Season 6 premiere to share exactly where the podcast is going next, why the direction is changing, and what leaders and business owners should be thinking about as we finish 2026 and begin positioning ourselves for 2027.Then, in Episode 142, we get to work.Season 5 asked:Who are you as a leader?Season 6 begins asking:What are you going to build with that leadership?EPISODES REFERENCEDEpisode 131: The Human Side of LeadershipWhere the summer conversation began.Episode 132: Why Smart People Stay StuckWhy knowing better doesn't automatically mean doing better.Episode 133: People Don't Leave Jobs OvernightWhy disengagement often begins long before the resignation.Episode 134: The Stories We Tell OurselvesHow the meaning we assign to events can become the reality we respond to.Episode 135: The Leader Your Team Actually Needs Is Probably Not Who You ThinkAuthenticity, consistency, the Purple Cow, and why leadership isn't imitation.Episode 136: Being Liked Isn't the Same as Being a Good LeaderRespect, cultural intelligence, accountability, and commanding a room without humiliating the people in it.Episode 137: Integrity & The Standard of LeadershipWhy leadership makes our decisions visible and why integrity still matters when nobody is watching.Episode 138: Stop Rescuing Your EmployeesWhy seeing potential in someone doesn't obligate them to use it—and where the consequences go when leaders continually remove them.Episode 139: What If You're the Problem?The uncomfortable role self-awareness plays in mature leadership.Episode 140: What Will People Remember About the Way You Led Them?The finale.SPONSOR COPYThe Human Side of Leadership™ Summer Series is sponsored by Dentistry Support®.Dentistry Support® provides remote dental office support designed to help dental practices operate more efficiently through eligibility verification, dental billing and AR support, phones, help desk support, systems, ...
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    23 Min.
  • Season 5: Episode 139: The Human Side of Leadership™: What If You’re the Problem?

    Season 5: Episode 139: The Human Side of Leadership™: What If You’re the Problem?
    Sep 7 2026
    Send us Fan MailWhat if the recurring problem in your organization is not your employee, your culture, your process, or your systems?What if part of the problem is you?In Episode 139 of No Silver Spoons, Sarah Beth Herman continues The Human Side of Leadership™ Summer Series with one of the most uncomfortable leadership conversations of the season: self-awareness, blind spots, accountability, psychological safety, and the impact leaders have on the environments they create.This episode is not about blaming leaders for everything that goes wrong. It is about becoming secure enough to ask one question:“What part of this belongs to me?”Sarah explores why success and authority can actually make self-awareness harder, why employees may stop giving honest feedback even when a leader believes their “door is always open,” and what research tells us about the gap between how self-aware people think they are and how self-aware they actually are.She also discusses the surprising research behind high-performing healthcare teams that reported more errors, not necessarily because they made more mistakes, but because people felt safer talking about the mistakes that were already happening.The episode challenges leaders to examine patterns, not just people.If every employee becomes “too sensitive,” maybe the communication deserves another look.If nobody takes initiative, maybe the leader is unintentionally overriding every decision.If the same problem keeps returning with different people, maybe the system deserves investigation too.And because the leader is part of the system, sometimes that investigation has to include us.Episode 139 also sets up the final episode of Season 5 and The Human Side of Leadership™ Summer Series, followed by the Season 6 premiere in Episode 141.In This EpisodeSarah explores the gap between intention and impact, why authority changes the way people communicate with leaders, how silence can become learned behavior, and why leaders should never mistake a lack of disagreement for genuine alignment.She also looks at psychological safety, accountability, employee engagement, and why a leader’s title can create a power difference even when they see themselves as approachable.The episode closes with one practical challenge: choose one recurring problem in your organization and ask yourself what you may be doing, allowing, rewarding, avoiding, or failing to communicate that is helping it continue.Key TakeawaysSelf-awareness is more than understanding your intentions.Authority changes how people experience conversations with you.Silence does not always mean agreement.Good intentions do not erase poor impact.Psychological safety and accountability can coexist.Recurring problems are data.Leaders should examine systems, communication, and their own behavior before assuming the problem is always someone else.Feedback is information, not a verdict.Accountability that only travels downward is authority, not true accountability.Featured Quotes“Being a good person does not mean you can’t be the problem in the room.”“My title changes the room whether I want it to or not.”“Sometimes silence is learned behavior.”“Good intentions do not cancel out bad impact.”“Sometimes we create the behavior we later resent.”“Patterns are data.”“What part of this belongs to me?”“You know your intentions. Other people know your impact. A mature leader needs information from both.”“Accountability that only travels down an organization isn’t really accountability. It’s authority.”“Your title should never make you unreachable. Your success should never make you unteachable.”That’s Good MomentThink of one recurring problem in your organization.Pick one.Maybe it is turnover, poor communication, missed deadlines, weak initiative, ineffective meetings, burnout, or a team that constantly brings every decision back to you.Then ask:What am I doing, allowing, rewarding, avoiding, or failing to communicate that might be helping this continue?Sit with the question before answering it.Then, if you really want to test your self-awareness, ask someone you trust what they see.When they answer, do not immediately explain, correct, or defend your intentions.Listen first.You may discover the problem is not you.You may discover part of it is.Either answer gives you something useful.Research and Statistics MentionedResearch discussed in this episode includes findings from organizational psychologist Tasha Eurich suggesting that while roughly 95% of people believe they are self-aware, only about 10% to 15% may actually meet stronger criteria for self-awareness.The episode also discusses Amy Edmondson’s research on psychological safety in healthcare environments, including the counterintuitive finding that stronger-performing teams sometimes reported more errors because employees were more willing to discuss mistakes.Gallup research is also referenced regarding the influence managers...
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    31 Min.
  • Season 5: Episode 138: The Human Side of Leadership™: Stop Saving People from the Consequences of Their Own Choices

    Season 5: Episode 138: The Human Side of Leadership™: Stop Saving People from the Consequences of Their Own Choices
    Aug 31 2026
    Send us Fan MailIn Episode 138 of No Silver Spoons, Sarah Beth Herman talks about the uncomfortable line between supporting employees and rescuing them—including lessons she's learned from hiring family, former coworkers, and people she believed would perform differently for her.This episode explores mistakes versus patterns, psychological safety versus accountability, what happens to your best employees when poor performance is repeatedly excused, and one question every leader should ask:Who is paying for the consequence you're removing from someone else?You might be the reason your employee still isn't performing.Not because you failed to help them.Maybe because you never stopped helping them long enough to find out what they would do on their own.What Listeners Will LearnListeners will hear Sarah's perspective on hiring people she already knew, why family relationships can complicate accountability, and how familiarity can cause leaders to ignore performance warning signs they would recognize immediately in another candidate.The episode also breaks down four situations leaders need to stop treating as though they're interchangeable: a mistake, a knowledge gap, a pattern, and a choice.Most importantly, Sarah challenges leaders to look beyond the struggling employee and consider the impact repeated exceptions have on the people who consistently meet expectations.Featured Quotes for GraphicsI'd have your team create quote graphics from these six:“Seeing potential in someone does not obligate them to do something with it.” — Sarah Beth Herman“A relationship is not a performance qualification.” — Sarah Beth Herman“At some point, you have to believe the behavior.” — Sarah Beth Herman“Who is paying for the consequence I'm removing from this person?” — Sarah Beth Herman“Consequences don't disappear just because a leader removes them. Most of the time, they transfer to somebody else.” — Sarah Beth Herman“You can care deeply about somebody without carrying what belongs to them.” — Sarah Beth HermanAnd the outside leadership quote referenced in the episode:“Clear is kind.” — Brené Brown (Brené Brown)That's Good MomentThis week's That's Good Moment puts the accountability conversation back on the leader.Think about one person you're currently leading and ask:What am I carrying that actually belongs to them?Then work backward.Have you clearly communicated the expectation? Have they been appropriately trained? Do they have the tools and resources they reasonably need? Do they understand what success looks like? Have you provided appropriate support?If the answer is yes, there's one more question:What consequence am I currently preventing this person from experiencing?Maybe you're constantly reminding them. Maybe you're correcting their work before anyone notices. Maybe someone else is covering for them. Maybe you've moved the deadline again. Maybe you like them. Maybe they're family. Maybe you've known them for years.The goal isn't to become less compassionate.It's to recognize that you can care deeply about someone without carrying what belongs to them.Research/Statistics for Team UseThese are the research points I would approve for graphics, captions, show notes, or episode promotion.58,000+ teachers / approximately 545 schools / three years: Research examining psychological safety and accountability found that felt accountability had a cumulative positive impact on school performance, while psychological safety interacted with accountability and strengthened its effects under the conditions studied. (Academy of Management Journals)170,000+ survey responses / 545 schools: Follow-up longitudinal research found the relationship among psychological safety, accountability, and organizational performance was more complicated than assuming psychological safety alone improves performance. (Academy of Management Journals)Manager behavior matters: A Journal of Management field study found employees whose managers used monitoring behavior that reinforced accountability perceived greater accountability for their performance; perceived accountability mediated the relationship between managerial monitoring and subsequent performance. (Sage Journals)Psychological safety ≠ low standards: Amy Edmondson has explicitly argued that psychological safety and high standards are not a trade-off. In healthcare, people need to be able to speak up about mistakes and problems while still being expected to perform at a high level.Support the showSOCIALS:No Silver Spoons®: InstagramDentistry Support: Instagram | Facebook | LinkedinThe Dental Collaborative: FacebookSarah Beth Herman: LinkedIn | Personal Bio | LinksFree Training for Dental OfficesDISCLAIMER:The content provided in this podcast, including by Sarah Beth Herman and any affiliated guests, is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice, including but not limited to medical, legal, or business ...
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    22 Min.
  • Season 5: Episode 137: The Human Side of Leadership™: What Are You Carrying Into the Room?

    Season 5: Episode 137: The Human Side of Leadership™: What Are You Carrying Into the Room?
    Aug 24 2026
    Send us Fan MailYour team is reading you before you ever say a word.They notice the rushed entrance, the change in your tone, the unusually short response, the tension you're carrying from the meeting before theirs. They may have no idea what happened, but when you're the leader, people naturally try to make sense of what they're experiencing.In Episode 137 of No Silver Spoons, Sarah Beth Herman continues The Human Side of Leadership summer series with a deeply personal conversation about emotional intelligence, integrity, confidentiality, and the responsibility leaders have for what they bring into a room.Sarah shares a story from her early thirties about an annual performance review she still remembers years later. She was overseeing more than 30 dental practices, had taken on significantly more responsibility, and walked into the meeting expecting her compensation to reflect the value she was bringing to the organization.What stayed with her wasn't actually the raise.It was the room.Before the conversation really began, she could sense something had changed in the leader sitting across from her. Looking back now, after 12 years of owning and leading her own company, Sarah sees that experience very differently.The conversation raises a bigger question:What are you carrying into the rooms you're responsible for?This episode explores the research behind emotional contagion and emotional intelligence, but it also goes somewhere leadership conversations don't often go: the responsibility that comes with access.As leaders grow, they gain access to more information. They know what's happening financially. They know who's struggling. People confide in them. They sit in conversations others don't. They may know personal details about employees, clients, and the business that most people never hear.But access is not permission.Inspired by something Sarah encountered while completing HIPAA certification at Dentistry Support, this episode introduces a different way to think about the idea of "minimum necessary" in leadership. Not as a HIPAA rule applied outside its proper context, but as a question leaders can ask themselves about the information, emotions, assumptions, and experiences they carry from one room into another.Because emotional intelligence isn't about becoming emotionless.It's about becoming aware enough to recognize what belongs in the room and what doesn't.In This EpisodeSarah explores why a leader's emotional presence can affect an entire room, what research on emotional contagion teaches us about the way feelings move through teams, and why emotional intelligence involves much more than staying calm.She also discusses the difference between self-awareness and self-minimization, including an important lesson she wishes she'd understood earlier in her career:You can know where you need to grow without pretending you don't know where you're already strong.The episode moves into the ethical side of leadership and asks what happens as leaders gain access to increasingly sensitive information. Sarah challenges leaders to consider whether everything they can know is something they actually need to know, and whether information entrusted to them is influencing decisions where it doesn't belong.Most importantly, she asks leaders to examine whether frustration from one conversation is quietly becoming someone else's burden in the next.Key TakeawaysHaving an emotion is not the same thing as handing your emotion to everybody else.Emotional intelligence does not require leaders to pretend everything is fine. Sometimes saying, "I'm frustrated this morning, but it has nothing to do with anyone on this call," creates far more stability than forcing everyone to guess.Self-awareness does not require self-minimization.Knowing your weaknesses shouldn't require pretending you don't know your strengths.People experience more than your words.They experience tone, silence, hesitation, urgency, body language, and consistency. Leaders cannot control every interpretation, but they can become more intentional about what they're communicating.Leadership gives you access. Access is not permission.Knowing something does not automatically give you permission to repeat it, carry it into another conversation, or allow it to shape an unrelated decision.Integrity matters when people don't have all the information.Sometimes leadership means making a principled decision even when sharing confidential information would make that decision easier for others to understand.That's Good MomentThis week's actionable challenge is intentionally simple.Before one meeting every day, give yourself ten seconds.Before you walk through the door, click Join, or pick up the phone, ask yourself:What am I carrying right now?Does it belong in this conversation?What does the person on the other side of this interaction actually need from me?You may realize you're still irritated about the meeting you just left. You may recognize that something you know...
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    21 Min.