We are talking about being untouchable as a leader.  Being above reproach is so important for leaders to maintain a leadership role.  Being untouchable means having self-control.  Self-control is essential for discipline, both for yourself and also for others, and it is also essential when it comes to controlling your emotions. Do not allow yourself to become emotional and then make decisions based on your emotions.  If you allow people to get you up and make you feel great, then unfortunately, you will also allow people to get you down.  Be the same with your emotions at all times; this takes extreme self-control.  John Wooden, the great basketball coach at UCLA, never gave a pep talk before a game.  He always said that he built everything up to game time and that no pep talk was needed.  Disciplining an employee is not punishment. It is a correction for something that can be done a better way.  You discipline to help, to improve, and to correct; not to punish, humiliate, or retaliate. Self-control keeps you in the present; anytime that you are whining or complaining, you are living in the past.  You cannot change the past so instead, stay in the present with self-control.

Intentness is another characteristic that is necessary to being untouchable.  Intentness doesn’t involve wanting something, but instead, it involves doing something.  Intentness is the ability to avoid temptation.   This involves personal temptation as well as the ability to stay the course and not be tempted to change things.  As I said last time, do not let yourself be tempted to actions with your employees that can be misconstrued as something inappropriate.  Do not party and hang out with employees or drink in front of them.  Be above reproach when around employees in a social setting.  Always stay the course and do not change because someone tells you something.  Stay the course and wait and be patient for your outcome.  Rome wasn’t built in a day and in the same sense, your success in your practice will not be built in a day either.

Always keep yourself untouchable as a leader.  As a leader you are different, whether you want to be or not.  That doesn’t make you better, just different.  If you stay untouchable and have self-control and intentness, you will always have the respect of your employees.  No employee has ever disrespected a leader for being above reproach.  They may make comments to cover up their inadequacies, but they will always deep down respect you.

I believe from experience that the number one common denominator that most veterinarians lack is their people skills.  This is their ability to relate to and communicate with clients.  I have overheard veterinarians talking to clients in rooms and can pretty much guarantee that the client has no idea what they were just told. So why would they approve a procedure that they do not really understand? I have learned from firsthand experience as well as watching other veterinarians, that going into a room and talking on a level that the client understands will pretty much always result in the client opting to perform the procedure. Although the old school veterinarians may have not been the smartest people in the world, many of them are extremely down to earth people who are dedicated to their profession and do not feel superior to anyone; this allows them to relate to people at their level. Today I think that schools put so much emphasis on grade point averages that many of the young veterinarians that come out of school are very intelligent. However, although, they are way smarter than I ever dreamed of being, they cannot always relate to people. They can diagnose just about anything and everything, but they cannot explain it or simply will not explain it in simple terms to a client; therefore, leaving the client frustrated and unhappy with the services.  I believe that many do this because they feel so superior to their clients that they have to talk in this way in order to build themselves up.    I hear them complain about how dumb clients are, yet they can be so self absorbed that when it is 6:00 and time for them to go home, they will leave whether someone is standing in the waiting room or not.

I have never put any significance on grade point averages when hiring someone.  My philosophy is that anyone that can get into and get through veterinary school is given the opportunity to be a good veterinarian.  I look for people that can talk simply and do not present themselves as someone special, but just are who they are.  They should carry themselves with confidence but not be condescending.  They will stay for people that are late because they understand that they are doing this job for the client and the pet, and not just for themselves.  Do not get me wrong; there are a lot of good veterinarians coming out of school today, but some lack so much professionalism which carries over and they cannot do the job that someone else can.  Indeed, some knowledge is important to be a veterinarian; however, listening to people, understanding their needs, and truly caring for them and their pet will be much more successful than the smartest person in the world that cannot relate to clients.

I have always wondered why veterinarians are so afraid of the word.  I have asked so many veterinarians if they believe they are in sales and their answer always seems to be a firm no. Most professionals believe that they do not have to sell. They seem to have the illusion that people will just come to them because they have a need.  However, the reality is that this has never been true, especially not today.

People are shopping around for everything these days, including medical services and specifically veterinary services.  Just because we have our door open does not guarantee that we will obtain customers.  People are looking for a friendly clinic, where they can trust the staff and doctors, and where they will be provided with good service for a reasonable amount of money. We have to sell ourselves to our clients every day, both as the doctors and also the staff, in order to keep clients coming back . In reality, we have to convince our clients to spend their hard earned cash on a service for their pet.  Our job, as a clinic, is to show them the importance of this service and then let them place value on it. If clinics cannot do this for their clients, they will simply go to someone who can.  It is very easy to talk people into or out of services, depending on your belief in that service.  This is why selling is so easy.  If we truly have a passion for animals (and I believe most veterinarians do), then we will want what is best for the pet, and our belief will sell that service.  If we just practice what we believe everyday then it will be easy to provide our clients with more services. Our belief in what we do will ultimately sell the service.  Furthermore, if we truly love what we do, selling will happen more simply then we think. Our attitudes and how we handle our clients will determine the services that the client wants to leave with at the end of their visit.

So the next time you go into an exam room think of selling and see what happens to your average transaction.  As a result, it will increase dramatically and when it does, what happens?  You will make more money, and the client and pet will be better taken care of because you offered them everything possible; you did not pick and choose on what you perceived they could afford. In conclusion, selling is providing your client with the best services possible.

Delegation is the key to being able to become successful and generate average transactions that are profitable, yet still providing the client with the time and service that they want and expect.  How good are you as a veterinarian at delegating during the day? Or do you choose to do tasks that others can do and not let your technicians do what they are trained to do?  The question remains: why do some veterinarians generate a million dollars a year in revenues and others can only produce $500,000?  Given the same number of potential clients, the answer lies in one’s ability to delegate tasks.

As veterinarians, we seem to have an inherent belief that we can do things better than anyone else .  With this attitude, I have seen veterinarians that I have hired insist on doing unnecessary tasks from wanting to draw blood from animals to starting intravenous fluid lines.  They are spending their time doing the work of a technician, while another veterinarian is seeing 3-4 clients in the same amount of time simply because they are utilizing their techs properly.  Veterinarians have to finally get the attitude that they are paid to diagnose and recommend treatments, not necessarily to do the treatments themselves. Until veterinarians start utilizing their resources, we will remain a profession of low producing professionals that are busy doing unnecessary tasks.

When I am working, I picture myself as the quarterback of a football team, and I am directing my offense.  I may have three exam rooms filled with patients to be seen all at once, and I use my technicians to do everything from getting blood, taking x-rays, to starting IV fluids.  I am just going into the rooms, doing a physical exam, ordering tests for my techs to perform, and then reading the results and working up treatment plans.  I am getting paid for what only can do.  Using this method, I did over $1 million in revenues last year; therefore, I know it can be done.  To me, it is a lot more fun because I get to just be the doctor, which is what I want to be. Working this way as a veterinarian does require having good technicians, not necessarily certified ones, but very well trained with lots of experience. Try delegating and you will be surprised at how much more volume you will do and also how much better you will feel at the end of the day. Furthermore, watch and see what happens to your technicians as you empower them .  We can keep the great service that we have always offered as veterinarians, yet see more people if we stop doing tasks that are not needed to be done by veterinarians.

Why do some practices have a group of people that get along so well, while other clinics have a staff where everyone seems to be fighting and no one seems to get along? I do not think that this overall attitude is from the employees , but I do believe it is from the management and the owner. The way that the leadership treats the employees will determine how the employees will respond. Leadership’s attitudes and actions will always determine other people’s reactions.

If the leadership of a clinic respects and treats people with love and humility, then love and humility will become the action your employees will show to clients and to others. Furthermore, I believe that all good and successful leaders lead by showing love and humility toward their employees. It is nothing more than following the golden rule, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Treat people the way you would want to be treated, and see what kind of results you get. We read all the time about developing teamwork and everyone working together. This is a great idea, but the question remains: how do you do this? Many managers and owners have tried and only failed because their employees did not respond properly. This just causes frustration which leaders to anger, and then trying to force your employees to act a certain way which only leads to everything falling apart. The great news is that there is a much easier and less stressful way to lead! Instead, try treating people with love and compassion, and then see what kind of results you get. Tell everyone in your clinic once a day what a great person they are and how valuable they are to your clinic. You will be surprised at how much of a better response people will give you from this as opposed to giving them a raise. All in all, it is simple: people want to be recognized and feel needed. You should never act like you are any better than anyone that is working for you, because in reality, you are not. You just happen to have a degree that allows you to be a veterinarian. Degrees say absolutely nothing about your character. Make people feel important and needed, because without them it would be nearly impossible to function. These little, very important moves will do more for your business and success than anything else you can do.

I do not believe that you have to be friends or “buddies” with your staff; however, you should still treat them this way. Personally, I have made a decision not to socialize with my staff. I work with them every day, but they are never a part of my family or social life outside of the clinic. Socializing outside of work with staff members can be a way for trouble and many unnecessary issues to develop. My staff knows that I care for them and hold a lot of respect for them. I am very humble around them but also a little unapproachable, which keeps me at a distance. You do have to separate yourself a little from the employees in order to have the respect you need from them. However, you must do it out of kindness and humility and not be demanding about it. If you act humble, confident, and treat your employees with respect and the way you want to be treated, they will do just about anything for you. People who are treated this way will go to any degree to make sure things are done correctly and efficiently, because they will take pride in the business the same way that the leader does. If you ever see a staff or have one that is always fighting, watch the leaders and see what they do. Followers are followers because they like to follow. Leaders are leaders because they like to lead. Walk around with a heart of love and humility, and watch your practice grow.

1. Posting the Job

You want to put your job posting in relevant places that the type of people you want to hire will find them. Some of the best free sites to post jobs are Facebook , MySpace and Craigslist but sometimes with these services you can receive hundreds of applicants daily and going through that resumes can be quite difficult. Another avenue is to go through a paid listing service usually through a local newspaper, television station or online service . The benefit to these job postings is that the person seeking employment usually has to register and upload a resume to the site, which means they are a little more serious about finding employment. The third source is to hire a staffing agency but depending on the position this option can be quite costly and depending on the position you are hiring for, this option might not work. As always your best source is through some type of referral, whether it is a current employee or business contact, so make sure you always tell your other team members what position you are hiring for and if they know any qualified candidates.

2. Interviewing the Candidates

This can be one of the most difficult parts of the hiring process. Depending on the position you are hiring for you could get hundreds of applicants applying for the position. You want to come up with a plan and sit down with another member of your team to go through all the resumes. You then want to look for certain things on the resume, like experience, work history, length of employment and any other item that is relevant to that job. With the help of that team member you should narrow down the resumes to 10-15 applicants that you want to interview. If possible you want to set up the interviews within the same day or so to ensure you get the same consistent process for all applicants. When the applicants arrive you want to ask them to fill out your job application if they haven’t already. You want this to be very detailed, so you can learn a little more about them than you did from the resume. You can find applications online for free that you can add or delete items to fit your business. With another member of your team you want to come up with three questions you can ask each applicant. You would be amazed at what you can learn from three questions. That’s it, just three questions from each applicant and that’s all you will need to know about them to determine if they fit into what you are looking for and if they will be called back for a 2nd interview. Once you have sat down with all of the applicants, you and your team member should sit down and review your notes and determine which applicants you want to come back for a 2nd interview. You should at this point have the field narrowed down to 3-5 applicants. The 2nd interview should consist of much more detailed questions about the applicant and more time spent getting to know what type of employee they are. A working interview should immediately follow the 2nd interview. This should consist of a 30 minute on the job interview with yourself or a supervisor that the applicant would be working under. At this point you will want to check all references on the selected candidates and then sit down with your team and decide who the best fit would be.

3. Hiring and Training the Newest Member Of Your Team

Once you and your team have selected the best candidate and you have sent out your offer letter and the applicant has accepted the offer you want to go through an in depth orientation, which should be done before the new member ever begins training. You want to bring the new team member in and get all of the paperwork out of the way, so when they come to work day one, they are ready to go. You then want to sit the new team member down and go through an in depth overview of the company history, company culture, job details, training details and any questions the new team member may have. This way the new team member is familiar with all aspects of the company and not just that specific job. They also get a good feel of the culture and how passionate you and the other team members are about carrying it out each and every day. At this point the new team member is ready to begin their training.

This may seem like quite a lengthy and detailed process and maybe sometimes you just need to get someone in the door right away but following these simple steps will ensure that you are not only hiring the right person for the job but that you will have a team member that will stick around for the long haul.

Many powerhouse businesses have been around for many years.  When deciding on your business operations, you need not reinvent the wheel.  Think of past experiences you have had working with various companies and remember what you liked the most or what left you feeling dissatisfied.  Contact specific people who are managers of successful clinics and ask how they do it.  By doing this, you will be on your way to establishing what makes them successful and what you can emulate in your own veterinary management techniques.

One important area of veterinary practice management is that you duplicate the financial aspect of a thriving business.  Budgeting is essential in keeping your finances in a healthy, comfortable place.  If you find that you are continually in the red month after month, do not continue with your same tactics hoping something will change on its own.  Step back and re-evaluate what you can change to begin producing some profits.  This could include: making employee cuts, skimping on the luxuries in your clinic, and evaluating your inventory.  Remember, in the first year or more of owning and operating a veterinary clinic, you will not likely see a turnaround in profits. However, you must be patient and continue to emulate other prosperous veterinary clinics.

You will undoubtedly face problems in your veterinary practice management.  Do not let issues fester but rather expose them and resolve them as they occur.  What was once a solution may not be anymore.  Do not get stuck in your comfort zone because that is not how problems are solved.  You will note that successful veterinary practices never seclude themselves but are constantly observing the behaviors of their competitors in an effort to stay one step ahead.

After spending five years with this nutritional company, I felt like I needed to get back into veterinary medicine. I was in a new city, Jacksonville, Florida and needed to make a decision to start a new practice from scratch or buy an existing one. As things would work out, I found two practices for sale close to where we lived. I decided to purchase them and possibly depending on how things went, expand and start some more. I knew going in to the practices that the previous owner had a bad reputation and this was something I would need to overcome.

I have always developed a culture of friendliness and taking great care of the client as well as the patient. I quickly found out that culture here was everything but that. Employees were mean to clients and did not care if they took good care of them or not. I had to make a quick decision to make the changes, and I did. I immediately released the entire staff except for one technician that is still with me today, 9 years later. We brought in people that wanted to be part of our culture. So now I had two practices and two veterinarians, and the other veterinarian was of the same culture as the old employees. You would think a professional would step it up and adapt to the changes, but I learned a valuable lesson that education, smarts, and status have nothing to do with your attitude. Your attitude is your own, and if it is bad, it will always be bad if you decide to not make a change. I had to let her go also, and now I was running two practices at the same time.

This is where leadership becomes very important because it can be very easy to get down and depressed when you are working this hard. As a leader, you have to pick it up and stay focused on the long term goal in order to make it happen. Now, after nine years, I have two practices that are running very smoothly. They have grown from a little over $1 million in sales to over $4 million in sales. I have six veterinarians working with me and have a group of around 40 employees. We have a culture that everyone wishes they had. Right now anyone with a bad attitude would be so out of place they would not want to work at the clinic. Through all my experiences from childhood to now, I have taken some inherent attributes and some learned attributes of leadership and turned them into a practice that I am very proud of. The practice supports many families including 2 of my sons who are married with their own families (they both work for me, one is COO and the other is Vice President of Development). It supports my wife, my daughter in college, and my other son at home, and yet I am only working a few days a week. This is a good example of how understanding a few principles and being willing to work hard will allow you to develop into a leader and accomplish anything you want. Next time I will talk about the desire to be a leader and why that is such a necessary attribute.

I learned early on that veterinarians and I am sure any professional are thrown into a leadership role whether they want it or not. Employees and clients will look up to that person for everything. I grew tremendously during this time and learned a lot of what leadership is all about but still never thought of myself as a leader or really hadn’t heard a lot about it. People were looking to me to make decisions and clients were looking to me for answers. All of a sudden I went form a student, to an employee, and finally to someone that people were looking up to for answers and leadership. I took most of this as part of the job and tried to learn a little about leadership but spent most of time still trying to improve myself as a veterinarian. I learned that the more I led the more people looked to me for their leadership. As many people can do my ego started to get the best of me. I did some things that were not attributes of a leader because I let my ego take control of some of my actions. This is a warning I would give to everyone, stay grounded in what took you to this place and do not change. Humility is one of the greatest attributes of leadership and when you forget this, things will appear in your life that you didn’t plan on. Stay focused on the fact that leadership brings a lot of responsibility along with it, a lesson I had to learn with time.

After 15 years of veterinary medicine I was open to another opportunity and life took me in a completely different direction. This is where I learned most of my leadership skills. I will talk about this next time and how I was all of a sudden thrown into a role of leadership to a large group of people and all of a sudden was standing in front of large groups speaking, something I had never done before. I had grown a practice from around $100,000 to over $700,000 through my leadership and now I would really learn about leadership and take my skills to a whole new level.

Once I was accepted into veterinary school after my first application, I had no idea what to expect. I thought I had worked hard in pre-vet but now I would learn what hard work was. Now I wasn’t trying to get good grades it was about getting through school. Our first quarter 10 people dropped out because of the pressure and we only started with 98. When you are given 140 parts to the brain the first day of class and you have never heard any of the terms it seems a little hopeless. My desire to be a veterinarian and my perseverance is what kept me going and these were definitely leadership attributes I would use later in business. Next time I will discuss the start of my practice career and how leadership inherent and developed played into this.