8 Lessons to Leadership

So your practice owner came in one day and told you that instead of continuing at your current position in your veterinary hospital, you are now the manager. Or office manager...or practice manager...or technician manager, etc… Maybe after this decision was made, it was never announced to the rest of the staff. Maybe it was assumed you already were because you are the longest term employee and know how to do it all. You know who you are. You are the person that knows where the keys are to the faucet outside, you know the password to log onto the computer that’s barely used, and you know where to get the best price on that one drug one of your doctors used that one time. But starting today...it’s official. And though you appreciate the faith they have in you, what on earth are you supposed to do now?

Step one

Take a deep breath, because all will be well. I didn’t say it would be easy, and I didn’t say it would be all sunshine and roses. I said all will be well. But the first thing that you have to decide (in the whole becoming a manager thing) is if you even want to. You may feel that you deserve this position because you have been there the longest. You have put up with the crap the longest amount of time. That doesn’t necessarily mean you should be the leader.

But in veterinary medicine, isn’t that how it works? A staff member is thrown into a position of leadership without any skills, or resources, or sometimes even the desire to be the boss. So, you need to make the decision if this is what you want to do. As the new leader in your hospital, you are now responsible for much more than you were five minutes ago. And your new position requires more of you. It is a different kind of work! If you think about it and decide that this position is not what you want to do, that’s OK. You should be proud that you know yourself well enough to know that this is not the right direction for you. And that’s great. But you have to say something. You can’t beat around the bush. You can’t be wishy-washy. You have to say these words to your boss: “I do not want to be a leader or hold a leadership position in this hospital. Thank you for the opportunity but I respectfully decline”.

I know this is an article about becoming a leader in veterinary medicine, but so many of us are in this position and shouldn’t be. So I want people to know that if you don’t want to be a leader...that is OK.

Step two

Now that you have made the decision to become a leader in your hospital, and you have spoken to your boss… What do you do first?

This starts with something as simple as a job title and job description. You need to know what you’re responsible for. And I don’t understand why people don’t see that. How are you supposed to lead if you don’t know what you’re supposed to lead?

You need to be given or create, a list of duties and responsibilities that are now yours. This needs to be something that is agreed-upon and supported by your boss or owner. They trust you enough to put you in a leadership position within their hospital, then they should trust you enough to complete the duties that have been assigned to you. But once again, you need to know what those are.

Step three

You will need to understand that if you have been promoted to a leadership position, and have previously just been one of the staff… Your work life will change. I am not saying it’s going to be worse. I am not saying it’s going to be better. I am saying that it is going to be different. It will take some time, some mistakes, and some growth to maintain those working relationships.

People say that you can’t be friends with people you work with and to an extent, that’s true. If you have a best friend that works at your hospital with you, and you have now become their boss, are you willing and able to set your friendship aside for the best of the business? Are you willing to fire your best friend if that’s what needs to happen for your hospital?

How about if everyone goes out to a bar one night after work… And your behavior in front of your coworkers becomes inappropriate. The next day at work, their opinion of you (and your qualifications to lead them) might be different than they were the previous day. Just another factor to keep in mind when taking on a leadership position. Your work friendships will change.

Step four

You are now in charge of people. You are responsible for teaching them, nurturing them, helping them grow within their position. And sometimes babysitting them. Because let’s be real… A group of employees working together can sometimes feel like you’re running heard on a group of children.

So now comes the coaching and creation of a new team. Depending on the size of your hospital and the number of people you are responsible for, it is now your job to provide your staff the skills for them to do their job. If you have a small team, you might be able to do one on one training on a much more frequent basis than if you have 25 employees.

Or maybe you need to make the decision to train one person and they are responsible for training the rest of the staff on a certain task. Sometimes being a leader is learning how to delegate. Decide who is capable and willing to teach others and let them teach! Training or coaching people to do things the way your hospital agrees that they should be done is an important aspect of leadership...Especially if they have never had someone in charge before!

There’s going to be a lot more work put on your shoulders at the start of your job. If they are not already in place, you will need to create protocols and standards that everyone uses. But in a long-term view, it will make your job, and your life, significantly easier.

Step five

When you do not know what to do, ask for help. Do you hear me up in the cheap seats? Ask… For… Help. There is no chance that you are going to know how to do everything brilliantly and perfectly and correctly in one week. Or even one month. Or sometimes even one year.

Go to conferences, read articles, find a group of supporting peers who are in the same position as you. Join a hospital managers association and join a practice management Facebook page. The options are endless!

Ask other leaders questions. Everyone who has been a leader longer than you has a different perspective and a different answer and sometimes that’s what you need. You need to see something from the outside and it can completely change your whole perspective. Or they’re going to give you an answer that was right in front of your face all along, but you were so busy dealing with a problem, that you didn’t see it. And guess what… That’s OK.

Step six

You are going to make mistakes. Your staff is going to make mistakes. The people who lead you are going to make mistakes. And it’s OK. But, be willing to own your mistakes. Be willing to tell a staff member or team member what you did and how you fixed it. Be willing to share that. If you are willing to talk about the mistakes that you’ve made, it shows that you are human. And you are humble enough to know that you are not perfect.

I have made so many mistakes along the way… But I’ve also learned so much from those mistakes. Once upon a time I was asked to take over the accounting software and accounts payable position at a practice. I had one session with the person who had done that task previously. And I became very overwhelmed. I messed up some numbers in that program and could not seem to ask for help and admit that I had a weakness. When that error came to light, I admitted it and did my best to fix it. But the damage was done. My owner didn’t feel they could trust me and I ended up leaving that hospital. But you know what… I learned from that. I learned that it’s OK to say that I don’t know and it’s OK to ask for help and I know that I’m a better manager because of that.

Step seven

The worst thing that you can do to your staff is play favorites. Everyone in your hospital, regardless of how well the person is liked or how long they have been at the hospital, should be held to the same standard. Rules are in place for a reason. If you create a policy that staff members can be no more than five minutes late to their shift each day, then everyone in the hospital needs to be held to that same standard. There should be a repercussion for the employee that comes into work 15 minutes after their shift starts every single day. If something as small as that is not fixed, what kind of example are you setting to the rest of the staff? You are showing them that some rules only apply to some people, and that is not OK.

If you create a standard or rule in your practice, your job as a leader is to uphold that rule. That also means that you can’t come in 15 to 20 minutes late to your shift. Lead by example because I promise, your staff is watching.

Step eight

Celebrate victories. And some days, the victory is going to be that every single staff member showed up on time for their shift. Celebrate that. So many times a leadership position becomes about correctives. It becomes about handling all of the negative aspects of a job. It is a never ending job coaching the staff who need to relearn a task, or be shown a different protocol. And you need to look for the victories.

There needs to be a shift in thinking. Be the person that celebrates others accomplishments. When your technician draws blood on the first try for the 10th time in a row, celebrate that. When your kennel staff sets up a fecal correctly, celebrate that. When your reception staff handles another angry client without losing their temper, and keeps a smile on their face, celebrate that. And please be sincere. People can see through fake all day long. If you give a compliment, mean it. And don’t just say thank you at the employee Christmas party.

Get into the habit in the mindset of promoting positivity. There’s a saying that says “throw kindness like confetti” and I believe that’s a powerful statement. Be the kind of boss that you want to have. Treat people how you want to be treated. Be kind. Be humble. And know that in the end, all will be well.