Episode 160: Gary Bird

Superhero Syndrome: Why You’re the Problem in Your Practice

You opened your practice because you wanted freedom.
Freedom with your time.
Freedom with your money.
Freedom to treat patients how you wanted to.
But somewhere along the way, that dream flipped. Now you feel trapped. You’re the first one in the office and the last one to leave. You’re answering questions from the front desk, fixing broken systems, double-checking treatment plans, managing upset staff—and by the end of the day, you’re drained.
Why? Because you’re stuck in Superhero Syndrome.
You’ve convinced yourself that only you can do it right. You wear the cape. You play the hero. But what you don’t see is—you’re not saving your practice… you’re choking it.
You’re the bottleneck.
You might not like hearing that, but deep down, you already know it’s true.
Your staff doesn’t grow, because you don’t let them fail and learn.
Your systems don’t work, because you change them every week.
Your stress is off the charts, and your team walks on eggshells, because everything flows through you.
Here’s the truth: the best-run practices don’t have superheroes—they have systems.
They have delegation.
They have trust.
If you want to grow, you’ve got to take off the cape.