What is leadership? What does it really mean and why is it critical for a veterinary practice? Every leadership journey I take with practice owners and managers starts with a discussion of positive influence, culture, mission, vision, values, good communication, clear expectations and feedback loops. However, I want to begin this article with the end in mind. While you know what leadership is (in theory), making it stick during the boiling-hot messes of daily veterinary practice can be hard.
The thing is, making leadership stick shouldn’t be difficult. Leadership is the accumulated, repeated behaviors you demonstrate while handling hot messes every day. What you say (in words, facial expressions and body language) and how you say it (your tone of voice) can affect the outcome.
As a leader, you can choose to be positive and influential, curing the messes long term, or you can have an outburst and create a dictatorship that leaves team members too afraid to think critically for themselves. The latter style produces robots and parrots unable to make proper decisions, and they ultimately become disloyal and leave the practice.
Look in the mirror. Do you have an influential or dictatorial leadership style?
Achieving Together
Let’s start with your practice’s goals. What are they? At the hospitals I consult with, a fully staffed, well-utilized, efficient team is a critical goal. A practice like that allows veterinarians and credentialed veterinary nurses to practice at the highest level of their licenses, utilizes veterinary assistants to their highest capacity, and gives the receptionist team the autonomy to create an exceptional customer experience. A collaborative practice that is fully staffed and has the right team members in the right seats on the bus is a dream team that any owner or manager would beg to have today.
What sets a dream team apart from an average team? Everyone consistently displays respect for one another, accountability and collaboration, and they embrace psychological safety. In addition, they develop and maintain a learning environment so the team can critically problem-solve before issues arise. An aligned dream team works toward the same goals through collaboration and systems thinking. The result? They become emotionally invested in the success of their business. Yes, “their” business because they take pride and ownership in what they do.
Guess what? A dream team can be yours. The few that exist have a waiting list of veterinarians and credentialed technicians who want to join the team. With outstanding leadership, you, too, can create one.
Getting From Here to There
Dream teams don’t form overnight. And they don’t happen without great leadership. Everything (and I mean everything) starts at the top. Behaviors, attitudes, communication styles and expectations trickle down to the rest of the team.
Take another look in the mirror. What your team does or isn’t doing is a reflection of leadership.
Leaders create an environment where team members know the practice’s goals and how everyone can contribute. They have a clear path to achieve those goals. A sense of purpose is established when team members know why, how and when. Great leaders ensure a sense of purpose.
Good leaders talk the talk, while great leaders invite collaboration, ownership and autonomy. Great leaders walk the walk to ensure team members achieve goals together, fulfilling a sense of purpose.
Goal-sharing alone doesn’t lead to the art of leadership. A practice’s culture must be a primary focus of every owner and manager. Culture is a collection of attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that promote communication, collaboration and safety within teams. While goal-sharing and achievement are essential, goal achievement and emotional investment are hard to accomplish without a great culture.
Culture is like a garden; you must prepare the soil, fertilize, water, pull weeds and repeat. Never stop working on a positive culture that grows your people.
The Power of Attraction
Great cultures create a great place to work. A great place to work is a fully staffed hospital that:
- Retains and attracts talent.
- Delivers phenomenal customer service.
- Has tremendous client compliance and incredible patient care.
A great workplace allows every team member to achieve a sense of purpose and invest in the practice emotionally. Collectively, the outcomes significantly decrease the burnout rate, improve employee retention and, believe it or not, increase the practice’s profitability. When people love coming to work, they give their best every day. They are self-accountable, self-motivated and proud of what they do and represent. They have a career, not just a job.
Eighty percent of what practice managers and owners should do daily is lead and grow employees and continuously coach them to be their best. When you grow people to be emotionally invested, you’ll spend only 20% of your time developing processes and procedures. After all, you don’t need as many rules when you have an invested team.
On the other hand, practices with poor leadership and culture keep the bosses busy 90% of the time creating rules and protocols and telling team members what to do. That combination can result in a mass exit of employees. Don’t be that leader.
Admitting that you’re a poor leader can be difficult, especially if you’re in an ownership or management role. Or maybe you’re a good leader because of your team’s stability. But could you be better? Can you be great?
Look at your team. Review your practice’s goals and culture. Then, look in the mirror. Be the positive, influential leader your team members will remember you for in the years to come. Then they can call you great.
LEARN MORE
- “Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” TEDx Talk with Simon Sinek, bit.ly/47kj3dW
- “Lead to Thrive: The Science of Crafting a Positive Veterinary Culture,” by Josh Vaisman, bit.ly/3H31cO0
- “Leading and Managing Veterinary Teams,” by Dr. Amanda L. Donnelly, bit.ly/3H3XBPQ