Leadership Beyond the Office: Dr. Jeremiah Hawkins on Identity, Trust & AI

 Every profession shapes us. The best leaders make sure it doesn't define them.

In this episode of The Byron Martin Show, host Byron Martin sat down with Dr. Jeremiah Hawkins of Advanced Endodontic Care for a wide-ranging conversation about leadership, business ownership, trust in healthcare, and the growing role of artificial intelligence in dentistry.

Dr. Hawkins is an endodontist, but he is also a pilot, watercolor artist, carpenter, pianist, business owner, husband, and father. That distinction matters to him.

As he explains:

 “I’m Jeremiah. That happens to be an endodontist. I’m not an endodontist that happens to be named Jeremiah.” 

That perspective becomes the thread connecting the entire conversation. Whether he is talking about creative hobbies, leading employees, building patient trust or evaluating AI tools, Dr. Hawkins returns to the same idea: expertise matters, but so do identity, relationships and human judgment. 

More Than a Job Title

Many high-achieving professionals invest years of education, sacrifice and energy into their careers. Over time, it can become difficult to separate who they are from what they do.

Dr. Hawkins has seen that happen among professionals who struggle to step away from their careers, even when they are financially able to do so. His own response has been to intentionally build a life that includes meaningful interests outside of dentistry.

Those interests include flying, carpentry, piano, and watercolor painting.

His watercolor practice began as a project with his youngest daughter during the COVID-19 pandemic. What started as a shared activity gradually became a regular creative outlet and a form of Sunday-morning therapy.

For someone who spends much of his professional life focused on precision and control, watercolor requires a different mindset.

As Dr. Hawkins explains, watercolor painting and micromanaging are “wholly incompatible.”

The lesson extends far beyond art. Good leadership also requires knowing when to guide, when to trust, and when to allow other people to contribute their own ideas.

What Watercolor Can Teach Business Leaders

Business owners often feel responsible for every decision, every outcome, and every problem. That sense of responsibility can easily turn into over-control.

Watercolor has helped Dr. Hawkins become more comfortable with unpredictability. You can influence the process, but you cannot control every movement of the paint.

Leadership works much the same way.

Building a stronger organization requires owners to develop people, delegate responsibility, and create room for others to succeed. 

Building Trust in a Changing Healthcare Landscape

The conversation shifts when Byron asks about the future of dentistry and the pressures affecting healthcare professionals.

Dr. Hawkins reflects on the trust that has historically existed between patients and professionals such as doctors, dentists, and attorneys. That trust was often built through direct relationships, personal accountability and repeated interactions within a community.

Today, that relationship is more complicated.

Insurance requirements, reimbursement pressures, rising education costs and narrowing margins all place additional pressure on healthcare practices. Dr. Hawkins believes those forces can gradually weaken the direct relationship between doctor and patient, encouraging higher patient volume and creating more opportunity for ethical compromises. His concern isn't simply about business economics—it's about preserving the trust that has long been central to dentistry, a profession that has given him so much and remains "near and dear" to his heart. 

That does not mean trust is disappearing. It means healthcare professionals must be even more intentional about protecting it.

In smaller communities such as the Tri-Cities, Dr. Hawkins believes personal accountability can still play an important role. Providers often know their patients outside the office, see them in the community, and understand that each interaction contributes to a long-term relationship.

That closeness can reinforce a simple expectation: always do your best for the person in front of you.

Where AI Is Already Helping in Dentistry

Dr. Hawkins is not opposed to artificial intelligence. In fact, he sees significant potential for AI to improve several parts of healthcare and dental operations.

One example is clinical documentation.

Dr. Hawkins describes how a system could ignore relationship-building conversation, then recognize the moment the discussion shifts to a radiograph, diagnosis or treatment recommendation.

That capability could provide real value.

Dental assistants often need years of experience to accurately capture the language, context, and detail of a fast-moving clinical conversation. An AI-assisted documentation tool could help practices create more consistent notes, reduce missed details and support better continuity of care.

In this setting, AI does not replace the provider or assistant. It supports them.

Trust, But Verify

The risks become more apparent when AI moves from documenting information to interpreting it.

Dr. Hawkins describes receiving radiographs from referring practices that have already been marked by AI software. The system may highlight possible decay, bone loss or infection before the image reaches him.

The concern is not that AI is involved. The concern is that its interpretation can influence the human before the human has made an independent assessment.

When an image is already labeled, highlighted or altered by software, it can become harder for the provider to evaluate what is actually there. If the AI is wrong, the doctor may begin interpreting the image through the software’s conclusion instead of through their own training and experience.

That is why Dr. Hawkins returns to a straightforward principle:

“AI doesn’t — or shouldn’t — eliminate the human. Trust, but verify.”

AI can increase speed, improve documentation and help professionals identify patterns. But it should not eliminate critical thinking, experience, or accountability.

The goal is not to choose between technology and human expertise. The goal is to use technology in a way that strengthens human decision-making rather than replacing it.

Why He Invests in People, Not Just Procedures

Some of the most relatable material in the episode has nothing to do with dentistry.  Dr. Hawkins speaks openly about one of the biggest surprises of business ownership: the amount of emotional energy required to lead people well. 

His response has been to build real culture through a monthly leadership book club (recent picks include The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink and The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel), team retreats, and offbeat bonding trips like riding the Hiawatha Trail as a full staff. 

 Experiences like that can remove workplace barriers and create stronger relationships.

"When we do something different like that," he says, "it kind of tears down who you are" — in the best sense — and rebuilds trust between coworkers who normally only see each other "in the trenches."

Leadership Beyond Dentistry

What makes this conversation valuable is not just what it reveals about dentistry.

It is what it reveals about leadership.

Dr. Hawkins is navigating many of the same challenges facing leaders in every industry:

• How do you build a meaningful identity beyond work?
• How do you lead without controlling everything?
• How do you preserve trust as business pressures increase?
• How do you adopt AI without giving up human judgment?
• How do you build a team that feels connected to something larger than a job?

His answers are not presented as universal rules. They are reflections shaped by his own experience as a healthcare professional, business owner, creative thinker, and leader.

That is what makes them useful.

The conversation is a reminder that leadership is not only developed through professional expertise. It is also shaped by what we do outside of work, how we treat people, and how thoughtfully we respond to change.

Watch the full conversation with Dr. Jeremiah Hawkins on The Byron Martin Show:

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