Why I keep returning to India: Hungry, Humble and People-Smart Dental Entrepreneurs

The Ideal Team Player in Action: Lessons from India’s Dental Business Masters

Hungry, Humble, People-Smart.

Patrick Lencioni describes these as the three virtues of an Ideal Team Player in his book of the same name.

As I reflect on 5 days of absolutely non-stop work and fun in Mumbai, I realise why I'm always ready to travel here. It's because of the clients I get to work with.

They are hungry - to improve themselves clinically, as business owners and as humans - and they will gladly sit there for hours and soak up the knowledge. They will also do their homework!

They are humble - I've never worked with audiences that are so completely free of ego, not just in the way they interact with me but also with each other.

We have delegates who have start ups and are barely scraping a living - and others who are amongst the top 10% in India. Yet it would be impossible for a visitor to distinguish between them - and the sharing, transparency and vulnerability in the workshop rooms is both breathtaking and a breath of fresh air.

They are people-smart - largely because India understands "Hospitality" like no other nation I have visited.

"Service is the thing we do, but hospitality is the way we make people feel when we do that thing."

I'd love to be a patient at any practice who work with Dental Business Masters in India.

Dr. Manish Chitnis and the DBM team are teaching them how to stay at the front of the Adoption Cycle in every aspect of modern dentistry and business.

The delegates also arrive with a foundation of hunger, humility and excellent inter-personal skills.

Working in India is a joy and I'm already looking forward to my return in January 2027.

As a dinner companion shared on Sunday evening - "here in India we have small homes and big hearts and we are ready to share both with you."