Knowing When to Ask for Help is Being a Good Leader

Photo courtesy of Practice Performance Partners. Dr. Laurie Sorrenson confers with Practice Performance Partners. Dr. Sorrenson offers tips for assembling a team of consultants and mentors for when difficult challenges arise.

Assembling a team of management consultants and mentors

By Laurie Sorrenson, OD, FAAO

Sept. 3, 2025

As optometrists—and especially as practice owners—we’re used to being problem-solvers. We’re trained to diagnose and fix things, whether it’s a corneal ulcer or a front desk workflow issue.

But over the years I’ve learned that one of the most important leadership skills isn’t having all the answers—it’s knowing when and who to ask for help.

Some problems are outside our comfort zone or expertise. Others are so emotionally charged that reacting solo could make things worse. Sometimes, your gut just tells you, this could go sideways fast.

Here are a couple of the situations where assembling a team in advance proved beneficial to me when practice challenges arose.

The Swearing Employee

We had a longtime employee with a bad habit of using inappropriate language at work. I had counseled her about it before and, to her credit, she toned it down for a while. But then one night my chief operating (COO) officer sent me a video—and it changed everything.

The video showed the same employee yelling in the tech room, going off about another staff member. It was aggressive, full of profanity and frankly, abusive. It crossed a line—actually, several lines.

We knew we needed to terminate her. But my COO, who is strong and capable, asked that we wait until the next morning when my business partner (also my son) could be present. She was genuinely concerned about the employee’s reaction and didn’t want to handle it alone, even though I thought it needed to be handled immediately. But I also did not want to put her in an uncomfortable, scary situation.

Before we decided exactly how to handle it, we reached out to Joe DeLoach, OD, FAAO, with Practice Performance Partners. After reviewing the video, Joe advised us that, given the threatening behavior and concern for staff safety, we could handle the termination over the phone and instruct the employee not to return to the office. That’s what we did.

It wasn’t the way I would have preferred to handle a termination. But in this case, protecting our team had to come first. I was grateful to have professional guidance backing that decision.

The Identity Theft Call

One day years ago I picked up the phone—the caller calmly explained that one of my employees had stolen their Social Security number.

I was taken aback. At first I thought maybe it was a scam. But the caller had specific, credible information. Was it possible? What should I do? What were my legal responsibilities?

This was way outside my comfort zone, so I called our attorney right away. After investigating, he confirmed the accusation was true. The employee had used someone else’s Social Security card to get a job because she was in the country illegally.

Following my attorney’s advice, I let the employee go. It was an incredibly difficult moment but it had to be handled properly and lawfully.

That incident reminded me that when legal, ethical or human resources (HR) issues arise, it’s not just about doing what feels right—it’s about following the correct process. That often means involving professionals.

Don’t Go It Alone

In this new article by Stuart Oberman, Esq., the complex topic of sexual harassment is addressed. It reminded me again how important it is to have clear policies in place by someone who knows what they are doing like a HR/compliance/HIPAA company/attorney and to know when to seek outside help.

For example, I once had an employee report that another had made a sexist comment. I documented the complaint as advised by my attorney and asked the reporting employee to sign the documentation. They refused and quit on the spot. But because I followed legal counsel and had the incident documented properly, I knew we had done the right thing.

Final Thoughts: Asking for Help is a Sign of Strength

We’re all going to face tough moments as practice owners. Some will blindside us, others will challenge our core values. But I’ve learned that asking for help is not a sign of weakness—it’s a sign of maturity, humility and commitment to doing what’s right.

Whether you’re dealing with a toxic employee, a legal crisis or a personal accusation that rocks your world, you don’t have to navigate it alone. Surround yourself with people you trust. Build your network of advisors and mentors. When that gut instinct says, this could get messy, don’t ignore it—pick up the phone.

Sometimes, leadership means being the one who’s willing to say, “I really don’t know what to do here but I do know who to call.” Assembling a team of consultants and mentors before you actually need them gives you the power to ask for help.

Read another recent column by Dr. Sorrenson