From Manager to Mentor: Stop Babysitting Clinicians, Start Leading Your Group Practice
Are you ready to stop babysitting clinicians in your group practice? If running a group practice sometimes feels like herding highly educated cats, you’re not alone. Moving from manager to mentor group practice leadership requires systems, clarity, and a willingness to stop being the bottleneck. This post walks through how to shift out of constant firefighting and into sustainable, ethical leadership.
I see this all the time with practice owners.
They didn’t set out to manage people. They wanted to practice clinically, maybe supervise, maybe build something meaningful. And suddenly, they’re exhausted, reactive, and stuck in the middle of everything.
This conversation with Amanda Esquivel, a Texas group practice owner with 50 clinicians across seven locations, named what so many owners feel but don’t know how to articulate: The problem usually isn’t the staff – it’s the role we’re stuck in.
Badass Therapists Building Practices That Thrive #167 From Manager to Mentor: Stop Babysitting, Start Leading Your Group Practice
Stop Babysitting Clinicians
Most practice owners rotate through four roles, often without realizing it.
1. The Babysitter / Manager
This role is heavy on rules, reminders, and monitoring.
When I hear owners say, “It’s like herding cats,” this is usually where they are.
The result?
Owners feel exhausted and resentful
Staff feel comfortable—but disempowered
No one is dreaming, stretching, or growing
Everyone is waiting to be told what to do.
2. The Bottleneck
This one sneaks up quietly.
The owner becomes the beginning and the end of every task, decision, and approval.
Even when delegation exists, nothing moves without them.
Owners feel rigid and overworked.
Staff feel controlled and judged—not because they’re doing something wrong, but because they’re waiting.
This is where burnout accelerates.
3. The Firefighter
Firefighters rescue—sometimes from real emergencies, sometimes from imagined ones.
In this role:
The owner feels dysregulated but powerful
Staff feel dysregulated and helpless
Decisions happen fast, systems don’t develop, and anxiety spreads.
Firefighting feels productive in the moment.
It’s not sustainable.
The Role That Changes Everything: Mentor and Leader
This is where the work shifts.
Mentors don’t rescue.
They develop.
In the mentor role, owners:
Build people and systems
Lead with curiosity instead of control
Align staff with a clear vision
And here’s what changes:
Owners feel purposeful and focused.
Staff feel supported and challenged.
They’re not being talked down to.
They’re being invited into something bigger.
Why This Is So Hard for Clinicians-Turned-Owners
Let’s be honest about what you’re up against.
1. The American Dream Narrative
We’re told success means more money, more impact, more growth.
But entrepreneurship isn’t neutral.
It demands leadership skills we were never taught.
2. The “Private Practice Fantasy”
Many clinicians were sold the idea that private practice is the gold standard.
No one explained the systems, risk, or management required.
So when clinicians become employees, expectations clash.
3. Generational Shifts
The employer–employee relationship has changed.
What motivated previous generations doesn’t motivate everyone now.
This isn’t a values failure—it’s a systems problem.
4. Conflict and Power Avoidance
Most clinicians want to be liked.
Avoiding hard conversations feels safer in the short term—but it creates resentment long term.
5. Dual Roles
If you employ and mentor, you are already in a dual relationship.
Avoiding leadership doesn’t eliminate that—it just makes it messier.
The Real Reasons Staff Leave Group Practices
Over time, patterns emerge.
Siloed “Us vs. Them” Cultures
When departments are separated, people lose sight of the shared mission.
Using “we” language matters more than you think.
Pay Without Transparency
Low pay hurts.
But unclear pay hurts more.
Staff don’t need full financial control—but they do need education.
When people understand where money goes, resentment softens.
Missing Tools and Resources
Job aids, templates, training libraries, referral lists—these reduce cognitive load.
They also communicate investment.
Unrealistic Expectations
Expecting staff to:
Carry unsustainable caseloads
Act like business owners
Read your mind
…is a fast track to turnover.
Undelivered Promises
Full caseloads that never come.
Issues that are acknowledged but never addressed.
Trust erodes quietly.
Shifting From Manager to Mentor Group Practice Leadership
This shift to stop babysitting clinicians and start mentoring them doesn’t happen overnight.
It happens in stages.
What You Can Do Today
Clarify your current “why”
Update your email signature to reflect leadership
Acknowledge what you don’t know
Own your shortcomings without over-disclosing
Transparency is for education—not guilt.
What You Can Do This Week
Clearly define supervision vs. business meetings
Review past staff exits without shame
Begin drafting role-specific job descriptions
Structure reduces anxiety—for everyone.
What to Do This Year
Schedule intentional one-on-one meetings
Build systems that live outside your head
Track metrics so accountability isn’t personal
When numbers speak, leaders can listen.
The Hard Truth
You can do everything right—and people will still leave.
That doesn’t mean you failed.
The real question is this:
What value do you offer that would be difficult for a solo practitioner to recreate?
That answer becomes your practice’s anchor.
Mentorship.
Training.
Protection.
Systems.
That’s how you move from managing behavior to developing professionals.
Where This Blog Connects:
Podcast Episode: From Manager to Mentor: Stop Babysitting and Start Leading
Matching Training Replay: From Manager to Mentor – Amanda Esquivel
Related Reading:
Blog post by Kate Walker, Ph.D., LPC-S, LMFT-S
Creator of Texas’s first fully online 40-Hour LPC/LMFT Supervisor Training Course.
Kate is the founder of Kate Walker Training, where she helps counselors, supervisors, and practice owners build sustainable, ethical, and profitable businesses.
👉 Ready to grow your supervision practice? Explore the 40-Hour Supervisor Training Course or join the Step It Up Membership.
This post is a written summary of a podcast episode hosted by Dr. Kate Walker. We use AI to help format the transcript and check for clarity and spelling, turning spoken content into an easier-to-read format.
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