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Joy and Happiness in Vet Med is an excerpt from a keynote lecture by Dr. Andy Roark. Too often in veterinary medicine, we are led to believe we should have days packed with smiles and kittens and laughter. If our days don’t look like that, we must be failing. Social media has just made these feelings worse for many of us. This perspective is misguided, and all of us in veterinary medicine are being affected. So let’s talk about it… what does it mean to be happy?

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By Hilary Sorrenti

There is a quote in regards to leadership that I really admire by the Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu.

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”

A little over a year ago I was promoted to a leadership role in a small animal veterinary clinic. This is only the second leadership position I have been in, and first in the field of veterinary medicine. When I started in this role it seemed like managing staff was all about correcting mistakes and creating new policies. While I was speaking directly to the staff at meetings it felt like my words were not penetrating. It was as if the mistakes did not matter and that the new policies weren’t being understood.

I discovered that I felt that way due to an imbalance. These staff meetings full of talk of mistakes and policies were unintentionally coming across as harsh interventions. By simply voicing the mistakes and policies to the staff, I was blocking their natural process of correction and causing unrealized resistance. Waves will ebb and flow with a crest and a trough. If a wave were all trough, it would eventually hit some form of resistance.

Imagine the symbol of Yin and Yang. You see two opposites swirling into each other with a small dot of the other in each. The symmetry of the design is balanced, and the colors contained in each side shows that to achieve the balance you must have both Yin and Yang, or as I discovered in leadership – both guidance and intervention.

Through various resources including the Uncharted Veterinary Community, our team began using tools to increase engagement and participation in business problems and we began to see a positive change. Using open-ended questions and discussions truly helped the process unfold. Instead of “This is the mistake and here is how to fix it,” the leadership team switched to “This is the mistake. Why is this a problem?” and “How do you think we can fix this?” The ideas began to flow! But just as Yin and Yang are not one without the other, the guided questions were not without gentle intervention.

Not all things can be decided by the staff on their own and that is where the balance comes in. As a leader, it is my job to lead, just not without flexibility. A suggestion can be made that might not be the best idea for the business. In these cases a conversation of “That’s a good idea, but what do you think about this?” could be tried. Or, “Do you think we may run into this problem if we do it that way?”

Working in veterinary medicine there are some rules that are absolutes. Being responsible for an animal’s life requires some strict rules that must be followed. Surgical procedures, for example, have very specific rules and procedures to ensure patient safety. As a leader, it is your responsibility to make these known, but it is important to explain the “why” and to teach the “how,” and to intervene when necessary.

Implementing these leadership behaviors makes Lao Tzu’s quote achievable. If you let your staff’s process unfold it will appear to them that you’ve done very little when in reality you’ve done a great deal. You’ve guided them to the goal that you’ve been seeking all along with a delicate hand, not a forceful one. They will be proud of themselves and own their actions.

I’ve enjoyed watching our team grow and learn through this balanced approach. The next big challenge was accepting less direct recognition for myself! When the team takes ownership just be proud that you helped them get there. They are your team after all and you would not be one without the other.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Unchartedvet.com editorial team.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hilary is a Veterinary Assistant and Manager at a small animal clinic in Pennsylvania. While she works with small animals, her hobby is riding horses. At home she enjoys spoiling her German Shepherd, Chandler. 

In this episode, Dr. Andy Roark and Stephanie Goss talk about why the veterinary front staff and the back staff go to war, what’s good about these conflicts (YES! There are good parts!), what’s bad about them, and how to address it so you can keep the good and lose the bad.

Andy talks about why front vs back is often not the real problem but instead a symptom of other issues, how these behaviors become chronic, and the practice diagnostics to run to figure out what’s really going on. Stephanie explains the importance of candid conversations among the leadership team, 1-on-1s with key people on the floor, and (possibly) team meetings. Andy and Stephanie discuss how and why these meetings often go terribly wrong, what you can do to avoid having that happen.

Dr. Katie Berlin joins the podcast to share a true story of front desk vs associate vet, and how she and her team fixed the problem and moved one step closer towards practice bliss.

Love the podcast? You probably need to be an Uncharted member. Learn more and then join the tribe at www.UnchartedVet.com

Our Guest:
Dr. Katie Berlin is a small animal vet, word nerd, marathon runner, group exercise instructor, and shiny object chaser from York, PA. She graduated from Williams College with a degree in Art History and worked in art museums before going back to school and earning her DVM from Cornell in 2009. She is an avid supporter of Fear Free and low stress practice methods and the battle against burnout and compassion fatigue in the veterinary profession.

By Brian Bourquin, DVM

One area where I think that our clinic, Boston Veterinary Clinic, has really shown and allowed us to grow with over 150 new clients a month are our wonderful reviews. Unlike other practices that wait in fear for the dreaded “1 STAR” Review, we took a more active role in preserving our reputation and good name. First, we actively ask clients that have a great experience to share it on sites where people will review practices. This starts you out on a solid platform. A 1 star review does not mean as much against a sea of 5 stars. Secondly we are proactive. We do not wait for that bad review; we contact pet owners immediately when we know it went less than perfect at least in the pet owners eyes. Lastly, don’t take it lying down. We have had a number of clients that once they felt listened to, we acknowledge that mistakes happen. It’s how you handle those mistakes that really matters and a few of our detractors are now our biggest cheerleaders!

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Unchartedvet.com editorial team.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Fueled by childhood dreams of being a keeper at his own zoo, Dr. Bourquin realized his path to a career in veterinary work at a young age. His journey began with becoming valedictorian of his high school class and continued with graduation from Cornell University, the number one school in the US for veterinary medicine. After 13 years a Boston veterinarian, he founded Boston Veterinary Clinic in 2012, placing an emphasis on trust, compassion and top-level patient care.

Uncharted Conference Companion – The April 2019 Uncharted Conference is right around the corner! This bonus episode of the podcast has EVERYTHING you need to know about how Uncharted works, what it is, and what’s going to happen in Greenville SC on April 25-28, 2019.

In this episode, Andy and Stephanie unpack the Anchor Ball, all the workshops, the main stage talks, the mic drop talks, and even the brand-new Choose Your Own Adventure sessions. They lay out the social events, and even how the conference wraps up and sends people home with both a plan and the support they need to carry it out.

Find out more about who is speaking at Uncharted here and to become a member and register for the conference, visit www.UnchartedVet.com