Mar 20, 20182 min read

Shift Happens! Next-Stage Veterinary Practice Management and Leadership

We are at an important crossroads. Faced with rapid change, increased competition, economic challenges, increasing personal debt, and burnout, we need to consider new ways to preserve our practices and our people.

The future is becoming increasingly difficult to predict and change is needed for businesses of all kinds to remain relevant and effective in our rapidly changing and connected world. However, most veterinary practices still rely on a way of working designed over 100 years ago for the challenges and opportunities of the industrial age.

Our client base and their expectations are changing. The percentage of employees who are happy and engaged in their work environment has not significantly improved in the 60 years since this statistic has been measured. It’s time to call into question some of the long accepted workplace best practices that no longer serve us.

As a veterinary practice leader, what if you could …

Create a team that's adaptable and responsive to change?
Adopt an authentic leadership approach that doesn't rely on chain of command or micromanagement, but a framework for dialogue & collaboration?
Effectively engage people so they choose accountability and responsibility over an attitude of entitlement?
Build an organization that achieves bottom-line results while rallying people around shared values and unity of purpose?
Cultivate an inspired environment, where you can dream and take risks to accomplish extraordinary things?

All this is possible when you honor six design principles (adapted from the references listed below) that show up as common themes shared by progressive, “next-stage” organizations across a variety of industries. You must shift …

From a Focus on Profit to Purpose and Values
From Directive Leadership and Centralized Authority to Collective Leadership and Distributed Authority
From Predict and Plan to Experiment and Adapt
From Hierarchical Pyramids to a Network of Teams
From Secrecy to Radical Transparency
From Getting the Job Done to Putting People First

Einstein’s definition of insanity – doing the same things over and over while expecting different results – is truer today than it has ever been. To deal with a future of rapid change, we need to reframe the way we think about work.

We all need to learn how to break the mold of “business as usual” and to create an inspired workplace by unleashing the power of an innovative and collective approach to leadership and veterinary practice management.

References