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Challenging the Status Quo

Clarity (Part 3) – What Makes Your Hospital Unique?

By Rebecca · May 18th, 2012 · Comments (0)

Now, if you are following these blog posts and following through with an action plan, you have created a leadership team and have a well-defined purpose and core values.  The last building block is UNIQUENESS.  As much as the other two areas are essential-this last building block is where you can tap into the creativity of your entire team.  If you do, I bet you will come up with great ideas to differentiate your hospital from the crowd.

Today, our competition is fierce, and if we have a cookie cutter hospital (like most of them), why would we expect people to choose us over the hospital around the corner.  Your hospital’s UNIQUENESS can be a real game changer.  Again, like defining your PURPOSE, this should be something that gets you excited. 

One of my favorites is my friend’s hospital, who’s UNIQUENESS, is all about creating a Ritz Carlton™ experience for her patients and clients.  Not only does she and her team do this amazingly well, but once she vocalized her hospital’s UNIQUENESS- the way in which they do things completely made sense-greeting customers by name, getting the door for them, exceeding expectations.  Creating these experiences becomes not just “have to’s” but “get to’s” when your team understands and embraces your hospital’s UNIQUENESS.

While brainstorming about this, we had recommended she take her team (albeit small team) to spend the night at a Ritz Carlton™.  How many people who work in an animal hospital have ever had the opportunity to do something like that?  I am certain this experience will forever cement in her team’s DNA what the Ritz Carlton™ experience she is trying to emulate is all about!

The possibilities for your hospital’s UNIQUENESS are endless, but you must decide on one.  Well, you don’t have to, but if you want to create the hospital you have always envisioned, I challenge you to take some time and really figure out what your UNIQUENESS is or what you want it to be!

 For any of you who have been working on this or want to, please feel free to share any ideas you have.

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Clarity (Part 2) – Your Purpose and Core Values

By Rebecca · May 15th, 2012 · Comments (0)

This is probably one of my favorite subjects because this is the area you can start differentiating your hospital from everyone else’s.  As I spoke about in an earlier post, figuring out your WHY- the reason you started your hospital is essential.   You as the owner can come up with this on your own, but it is actually quite a great experience to go through with your leadership team.

The best way to come up with your WHY- is to figure out what gets you fired up.  Like I have mentioned Tarheel Veterinary Surgical Specialists’ WHY is to provide the surgical excellence and compassionate service we would want for our own pets.  That is not a statement that would work for all surgical groups, but it is why each of us on the team does what we do.  It makes the bad days better and the good days great.  It is amazingly powerful to make decisions based on a single sentence. 

Your WHY will provide CLARITY, not only for you, but more importantly, CLARTIY for everyone in your hospital.  Fundamentally, we all want to be associated with something bigger than ourselves, and having a PURPOSE beyond just making money will provide that for your team.

Once your PURPOSE is established, it is essential that your leadership team develop CORE VALUES that support the PURPOSE.  The CORE VALUES should provide standards of behavior that MUST be maintained by everyone on the team.  Your CORE VALUES will provide the framework for how the day-to-day interactions at your hospital occur.

We are in the process of hiring a new surgical assistant and yesterday was her first day of the working interviews.  Why I even bring that up is because after our workday was finished, Robyn and Jason met with her to give her an opportunity to ask questions, bring up any issues without me being around.  So during their conversation, Robyn pointed to our core values and told our interviewee “Everything we do is based on these values-you will not see any decision getting made that is not congruent with these values.”  Wow, that made feel great to hear someone on my team emphasizing our core values and explaining the way they SHOULD work in every practice.

One note on CORE VALUES- the hard part is not coming up with them.   The hard part is living them out every day.  You and the leadership team must ALWAYS adhere to the core values or they will soon be seen by your team as a joke and will then become more detrimental to the morale than if you did not have them at all. 

So take the challenge- Come up with your PURPOSE and CORE VALUES- if you do I assure you will be starting down the path of creating the hospital you have always longed for!

Does anyone have their CORE PURPOSE or CORE VALUES they would like to share?

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Clarity – Your Leadership Team

By Rebecca · May 11th, 2012 · Comments (0)

Since the beginning of veterinary medical practice, the authoritarian model of leadership has been the standard.  This is something that was pressed into us before veterinary school (at the hospitals we have worked in) and when we were in veterinary school.  The person with the most knowledge is in charge.  You know, because knowing a lot about Cushing’s disease certainly makes you a great leader-really?  It has, in the past, been all about position-the person with the most credentials is the one making all the decisions.  Just in case I am not clear, being the owner of your practice does not make you a true “leader”.  There is a vast chasm between owner and leader!

The authoritarian model of leadership has been proven not to be the best way in the business world, and that holds true in veterinary medicine as well.  The stakes are just too high for only one person to be making all the decisions.  These days, you need to be an influencer- someone people want to follow rather than someone people have to follow (a great read on this subject is Leadership is Dead.)  What this also means, is that you no longer have to be the authority on everything in your hospital.  Now I know that is going to be hard for some of you control freaks like myself, but having people around you working together is going to be essential. 

Like a wise mentor of mind once said, “all of us is smarter than one of us”.   You and you leadership team will be able to accomplish way more than just you can, even if you think you can “do it all yourself”.

What is the key for moving from “just getting by” to actually “starting to thrive?”  I believe the first step to clarity is creating a leadership team.

Your leadership team should consist of the key people within your hospital.  Ideally this would be all of the doctors, the practice manager, and at least one representative from each of the different areas (customer service, technician, kennel etc).

 

Here are a few keys to creating your hospital’s leadership team:

  1. It needs to consist of at least 3 people.
  2. Everyone must be committed to a once a week meeting (1-1.5 hours)-same time, same day each week.
  3. Do a DISC profile on each leadership team member (dedicate at least one meeting initially to discussing communication styles.)
  4. Have each member complete the Strength Finders 2.0 or StandOut and assessment (quick read)
  5. Required reading by the team (reinforcing key ideas-books we use include Habitudes, QBQ and the Go-Giver.)
  6. Assign one person the task of agenda and note-taking.
  7. This team must be respectful but be able to speak the truth to each other-things can not be left unsaid or pushed under the rug.
  8. The leadership team MUST be unified no matter what, each person must walk the walk and talk the talk EVERY day.

 Have any of you created a leadership team within your hospital-what is working and what is not? 

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How to Envision, Create, and Sustain Your Ideal Animal Hospital

By Rebecca · May 7th, 2012 · Comments (0)

There are four things you must embrace in order to create the type of animal hospital you have always imagined.  Having these principles in place will help you attract the right people, make your practice stand out in a crowd, and allow you to have a life as well as be a practice owner. 

A great analogy for this is how you would go about building a house.  First is the foundation, then the walls, next the inside and lastly the roof. 

Clarity-the foundation.  First, knowing and articulating your why (purpose) and core values; Second, creation of your leadership team; Last, figuring out your uniqueness-what makes you stand-out from the hospital a mile down the road.

Once you have the foundation set, then the walls go up.

Communication-the four walls- 1. There needs to be scheduled weekly leadership team meetings. 2. Scheduled weekly or biweekly team (hospital staff) meetings. 3. “ Golden rule” communication needs to be the rule rather than the exception. 4. Articulation of the purpose and vision by the entire team.

Once you have the foundation and walls in place, all the good stuff can happen on the inside.

Culture- what happens on the inside- this is when you can mold the culture to be anything you envision.  Your hospital’s culture is what sets you apart from the crowd.  It is what brings in the people you want and keeps others far away. 

Once you have the foundation, walls and inside complete, then the roof goes on.

Creation-the roof- this is when real change for the better occurs.  This is when you have an engaged team who are working in their strengths and enabling you to have the most successful hospital possible.

This is a preview of what I will be sharing with you, during the next few weeks and we will go thru each of these in more detail.  I firmly believe that if you take a step back and take some time to really focus on these 4 core ideas,  you can envision, create, and sustain your ideal animal hospital.

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Why Does My Blog Exist ?

By Rebecca · May 4th, 2012 · Comments (0)

Getting back to the topic of why, I wanted to share with you why I started this blog. 

I had a realization about two years ago that our profession was not headed in a good direction.   I have been in this profession literally since I was a little kid.  My dad is a veterinarian, and I was in grade school when he was in veterinary school.  I spent untold amounts of time working in his practice and also was fortunate enough to work with many of his colleagues who made it very clear to me that being a veterinarian is what I wanted to be more than anything else!

Since I have been in the profession in some capacity for about 35 years-I have seen a lot of changes-we are definitely practicing better medicine, and pets today get treated as well as, if not better than, some of us when we need to see a medical professional. 

Unfortunately, there have also been some changes for the worse as well.  Practice owners are under increasing amounts of stress every day. The pressure to have the newest and best equipment and facilities, the struggle to be the leaders we want to be within our practices, and the feeling of inadequacy we all struggle with when we finally realize we can’t be it all or have it all are all contributing factors to this increased stress.

We also can’t overlook the huge number of women who now make up the younger practitioners.  These women believe they can have it all – a career; a family etc. and that is something we know will not really be possible with the path we are on.     Almost all new graduates are coming out of school with somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000 of debt.  Honestly, those are numbers I literally can’t wrap my brain around.  I can’t imagine how that feels on top of trying to learn all there is to learn, thinking about having a family, and maybe owning their own practice (I can feel my anxiety level increasing just as I write this!).

I believe in order to have the practices we want to have, as well as live the kind of lives we want to live, we must embrace a new way of doing things.  We must challenge the status quo because it is no longer working!

So this blog exists for a few reasons- first, to create a community of like-minded people who can share their successes as well as their struggles.  The members of our community can then become the change agents we need in veterinary medicine -people who are not going to do things the same old ways because those ways are no longer sustainable.  This community will embrace their leadership roles, the influence they have, and the difference they can make in all of their team members and clients lives.  John Maxwell says “everything rises and falls on leadership” and I believe that with every ounce of my being!

We need you to be a leader-whatever you role is- in the practice you work in!  Are you ready to join us because we need you?

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Who Are You Listening To?

By Rebecca · May 1st, 2012 · Comments (0)

Heard a great quote the other day from John Maxwell “You only automatically get older, you do not automatically get better.”

So are you getting older and better or are you just getting older?

There are many ways out there to improve yourself and reading is one way to do it, but that can be hard to do given our hectic work schedules and personal lives.  Another great option is your iPod™.  Now don’t get me wrong-iPods are great for holding your music but why not use some of your time while driving or working out to better yourself as a leader.

You can get audio books from Audible.com but what I like even better are podcasts.  I prefer podcasts because they usually last around 30-45 minutes and are chocked full of great information.  There are 3 podcasts that I listen to as soon as they are released- The Dave Ramsey’s Entreleadership podcast, Andy Stanley’s Leadership podcast , and the newest addition is Michael Hyatt’s This is Your Life podcast.

Dave Ramsey’s Entreleadership pod cast is hosted by one of Dave Ramsey’s key people, Chris LoCurto. Each episode usually contains a short segment from Dave Ramsey, and then there is an interview of an influencer in the world of business.  I can’t tell you how much valuable information I have gleaned from this outstanding podcast.

Andy Stanley’s Leadership podcast unfortunately only comes out once a month.  Andy is a pastor of a group of churches in the Atlanta area.  I believe he is the most amazing communicator I have ever heard.  He is so gifted at taking a complicated topic and making it not only simple but also memorable.  He is a leader in a non-profit organization, but I assure you the information you take out of his podcast is essential to running ANY business!

Lastly, is the newest podcast to the bunch- Michael Hyatt’s This is Your Life podcast.  Michael Hyatt is a former CEO of a book publisher and has one of the most read blogs in the world.  He is dedicated to leadership and helping others live intentional lives.  He has only been at this for a few weeks, but I am really enjoying his podcast every week!

So are you going to get better or you just going to get older?  The choice is yours and here are a few podcasts that can help you become the best leader you can be and help you leave the kind of legacy you will be proud of.

Do you have any favorite podcasts you enjoy?

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Where is your NOT doing List?

By Rebecca · April 27th, 2012 · Comments (3)

A few years ago, I finally came to the realization that I could not have it all and be it all to everyone-mainly myself.  Before that point, I, like many professional women, really thought I was a multi-tasking fool, and I could do it all.  Thankfully for me, I did not realize this when most people do- when they have a complete meltdown.  

My moment of clarity came when I was at an event where Jim Collins was speaking (author of “Good to Great” and his latest book “Great by Choice”, and he asked how many of us had a to-do list.  My hand shot up as I am the Queen of the to-do list and love, love, love marking through each task I complete (I bet there are some of you out there who know exactly what I am talking about!). 

Then he asked- how many of you have a not doing list? What? Why would I have that?  I can do it all for extended periods of time without a break, right?

Well no, actually I can’t- or at least I can’t be the person I want to be and more importantly the person I need to be to those closest to me when my mind is constantly on all the things I have to do.  My moment of clarity came one Friday (my day off) when I was reviewing my to-do list and it had 12 errands I had to get done. Yes, 12 errands on my day off- I realized that was ridiculous, and I got home from my day off completely exhausted! 

So what was I going to give up- what did I not have to do and could get someone else to do for me?  After not much thought actually, the one thing I really hated to do was shopping.  So I found someone who would do my shopping and all the errand running that was filling my day off.

 I can’t put into words how great it is to get home every Tuesday and see my refrigerator and pantry full.  Then I walk to my desk in my office and there are the copies Marilyn had made for me.  One thing I can assure you is without Marilyn doing all those things that had to be done (but not by me), I would not be writing this blog.  More importantly than that though, it has allowed me to take things “off of my plate” so that I am with those who I love I am not constantly thinking of that never-ending to do list.

 So what should you put on your not doing list- Is it house cleaning? Is it shopping?  Is it trying to “do it all” at your hospital?

 It is hard for any of us to admit that we can’t do it all, but the reality is NONE of us can, and I will bet you will not miss doing the things on your not doing list any more than I do.

 If you could give up one or two things that you could currently hire someone to do or find someone to do for you, what would they be?

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Why Does Your Practice Exist?

By Rebecca · April 24th, 2012 · Comments (3)

That is the million-dollar question isn’t it?

I hope it exists for more than just to make you a lot of money and give you a cushy retirement package.  Because even if that sounds great to you, your hospital’s reason for existing-it’s WHY-should be way bigger than that!

There is an amazing book that every hospital owner needs to read.   “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action”, by Simon Sinek, is a game changer.  It is one of the best books I have read and really made me understand the underlying principle behind what makes one company stand out from all the rest.  (i.e. Apple™ vs. IBM™, HP™, Dell™ …)

Sinek also has a great TED talk summarizing the book that you can watch here.

Sinek’s basic premise is that people don’t buy what you do they buy WHY you do it.  The Why is what separates the great companies from their competitors.

After reading “Start With Why”, I spent a long time trying to nail down exactly what our WHY was.  Now this may sound like a simple thing, but I am here to tell you it is not.  First, relationships came to mind.   Relationships with my team, our customers (veterinarians and support staff), our clients, and their pets are definitely at the center of everything we do, but I did not think that was it.  After a whole lot of brainstorming we figured it out.    

Ultimately what we realized as a team and now talk about all the time is:

 We exist to provide the level of surgical excellence and compassionate service that we would want for our own pets.

Everything we do, every decision we make as a business is made with our WHY at the front and center.   Who we have on our team, what hospital we work with, what type of follow-up care we provide, what we want on our website, and the list goes on…

Just the other day, I received a call about a particular surgery.   This was a situation where it was definitely not wrong to do what they were asking, but it just did not fit what WE would do if it was our own pet, so we declined the procedure, and the pet went elsewhere.  It is not easy to say no to a surgery, but I know being true to our “WHY” is more important than doing every surgery, because if I get to the end of my career knowing I compromised our WHY to make more money-what kind of living is that?

So take some time with your leadership team and figure out what your WHY is, and I promise it will make all the difference!

Any of you already have your why?  Would you be willing to share?

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An Awesome Dog Named Ginger

By Rebecca · April 20th, 2012 · Comments (0)

Earlier this week a great dog had to be put to sleep and as hard as that was for her wonderful owner, he knew it was the right thing to do for her.  Ginger was a beautiful 11 and a half-year-old chocolate lab who loved her dad as much as she loved life!

 I met Ginger and her dad about 6.5 years ago when she had torn her cranial cruciate ligament.  We did surgery and soon had to do surgery on the other leg as well (big shocker that was!).  She recovered well from surgery but a few months later she fell in a hole and needed another surgery on the right leg, presumably to remove a torn meniscus.  That surgery was probably one of the most difficult surgeries of my career, and on top of that I was about 8 months pregnant with my daughter.  It was a day I will never forget.  The leg was never completely right after that, but she did the best she could and Ginger was a fighter!

 Fast forward to now (6.5 years later) and her dad contacted me via our website and asked me if I remember him and Ginger.  Are you kidding me- of course I remembered them and I responded to him immediately.

 To make a long story short, he wanted to know if I would come see Ginger because she was really having a tough time.  So we went to see her at his house, and she is a bright as ever but her poor body is just giving out.  We make a few recommendations and decide to give her a few more days to see if she can get through this most recent setback.   Unfortunately the recommendations don’t work and her body can’t take it anymore so her dad makes the selfless decision to put her to sleep.

The reason I am telling you this is because what we do matters. 

Her dad wanted to pay me for coming to see Ginger, and I felt like I was the one who should be paying him!  Paying him for the way he made me feel by contacting me so many years later because he wanted my opinion.  You can’t put a price tag on the relationships we are able to form with these wonderful owners and pets we are so privileged to work with.

So if you are having a tough day, remember Ginger and her dad and all those wonderful pets and people we are so fortunate to get to work with.  

We are so lucky to get to make a real difference in people’s lives everyday and don’t forget what an awesome privilege that is!

They are the ones that make it all worthwhile!

Do you have any memorable pets or owners whose stories you would like to share?

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How We are Hiring Differently – This Time Around……

By Rebecca · April 17th, 2012 · Comments (0)

Based on my multitude of mistakes the last few times we tried to hire a surgical assistant, we decided to do it differently this time around.

The first thing we did was create an ad that was very different than a traditional veterinary assistant/technician ad would be.  What I think is interesting about this ad is though it may appeal to the RIGHT person, I think it may turn off the wrong person which was what we were trying to do.

We received an application from someone in another state.  The first thing I did was check her out on facebook.  (Actually, I had already cancelled a phone interview with someone when I checked out their facebook page, and I immediately knew they would not be a good fit with us).  She was “friends” with a good friend of mine so I texted my friend who gave her rave reviews. 

Even though my friend knew her, I still wanted to check out her references, which were glowing, and their biggest concern about her was that she was leaving them!  (Check on Competency and Character)

When I had a phone interview with our leading candidate she spoke with me about the ad and how it really stood out to her and I could tell what was said had resonated with her. (Check on Culture)

Our next step was a DISC profile (chemistry).  This was a deal breaker.  Working with my coach Dan Foster from Building Champions™ , we had decided that I absolutely needed someone who was extroverted and very detailed oriented which would be someone who was a high I and high C on the DISC profile.  Without the high I, they would struggle in the Customer Service Advocate role they needed to have within our team.  The attention to details (high C) goes without saying as it is in every facet of their job as a surgical assistant.  The DISC profile came back with exactly what we were looking for.  This individual is a High I, High S and High C.  Robyn and Missy are high S’s and I am a high D and high I.  What is cool about this is with this type of individual, we will have a well-rounded team that will allow us to be the strongest team possible since our strengths are in different areas. (Check on Chemistry)

Now the hiring process is not concluded yet but I feel much better about this hire than some of the past ones I have had.  You must have CHARACTER and COMPETENCY, but do not overlook CULTURE fit and CHEMISTRY.  Still have to do the working interviews and dinner so I will keep you updated on our progress.

Steps to finding the right fit for your team:

  • Have an ad that stands out-focusing on your hospital’s core values
  • Check them out on social media
  • Check out the references (do a background check)
  • Do a phone interview
  • Do a DISC profile
  • Have multiple working interviews
  • Get feedback from your team
  • Take them to dinner (preferably with their spouse or significant other)

Yes this does seem like a lot of work, and it is, but it is a lot better than going through the experience of a bad hire that we have all been through before.

Anything I have left out or anything you would like to add?

 

 

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