Nursing a rivalry, whether it's with a colleague, friend or sibling can sound stressful, but the right kind of competition can be a powerful motivator and push us to be better. Source: AXIOS, September 10, 2025. Link. Warning - people may be more likely to be unethical or cutthroat when competing against a rival because they really want to win.” INSIGHTS: Constant … [Read more...]
It’s the process that counts
What’s the point of coming in and doing the same thing? What difference do we make if the problems we solve never end? In practice, there is no finish line, no graduation and no mission accomplished, says Andy Roark, DVM, in this thoughtful article. Source: Today’s Veterinary Business, August 1, 2025. Link. We can choose to embrace the process and find joy in our … [Read more...]
No title, no problem
Leadership begins the moment you care more about the success of others than your own. Source: Veterinary Advantage, May 2025. Link. One of the biggest mistakes I see young professionals make is thinking leadership means talking more. Nope. It’s about talking better.” INSIGHTS: It starts with listening to understand. … [Read more...]
Job #1 – Getting results
As a mid-career leader, your development is well underway, but nowhere near complete. You are formed but not finished. Your employees want your time, guidance and recognition. Your boss wants your loyalty, diligence, and competence. Both groups want your leadership, but each toward different aims. Source: Giant Leap Consulting, August 2025. Link. Advancement as a mid-career … [Read more...]
“What Else?”
To fully understand the situation, you need the customer’s perception of the NEED, its IMPORTANCE, QUANTIFY it, then consider the positive/negative CONSEQUENCES and LOOK at the options. Many times, you need to ask follow-up questions. Examples are included in this article. Source: Veterinary Advantage, December 2022. Link. Every practice team member is in SALES . . . and has … [Read more...]
Feedback, a valuable part of the culture
What if feedback wasn’t something to fear but instead something to offer? A tool for growth. A sign of respect. “Silence doesn’t keep people,” writes Heather Prendergast, RVT, CVPM, SPHR. “It makes them feel invisible.” Source: Today’s Veterinary Business, August 1, 2025. Link. If production is the only thing you measure, you miss the big picture, and you will burn out your … [Read more...]
Everyone’s a coach
We don't do our friends, colleagues and loved ones a favor by coddling their smallest impulses, enabling repeated behavior that's dumb or annoying, or letting silence foment mystery and misunderstanding. Source: AXIOS, August 18, 2025. Link. Assume positive intent…often they didn't intend it the way you thought . . . BUT TELL THEM!” INSIGHTS: TELL THEM because … [Read more...]
Time management or prioritization?
Includes Commentary Time management in animal healthcare isn’t about squeezing more hours out of the day – it’s about spending the hours you have on what moves the needle, writes Brian Sullivan. His focus is on salespeople, but the guidance is universal. He asserts that it’s not time that’s scarce, it’s your focus. Agreed. Source: Veterinary Advantage, April 2025. … [Read more...]
The hidden costs of fear in businesses
Fear is terrible and expensive for business. If you could quantify the Total Cost of Fear (TCF) inside most organizations, the number would be staggering, shares author John Ryan. Fear-based messages don’t motivate . . . they paralyze. Source: Giant Leap Consulting, July 2025. Link. When people feel safe enough in an environment, they take interpersonal risks. That means … [Read more...]
Team successes dependent on emotional intelligence (video)
Some teams are superb; harmonious, efficient and high performing. Others get bogged down by bickering and missed opportunities and suffer poor outcomes, shares Daniel Goleman. What makes the difference? A team’s level of emotional intelligence and a set of emotionally intelligent norms. Source: LinkedIn, July 23, 2025. Link. Dr. Vanessa Druskat on TedX [15:51] … [Read more...]
Love and leadership
And no, it’s not another Coldplay meme. Effective leadership has a direct connection to the degree you enjoy (love) your job. If you want a fulfilling leadership career, you’ve got to love the game you’re playing, shares the author, who asserts “The more you love it, the more it gives back” in this piece. Source: Giant Leap Consulting, June 2025. Link. … if you don’t love … [Read more...]
Above all else, Integrity
In a person, integrity means having a strong and unwavering commitment to ethical and moral principles. Merriam-Webster defines integrity as being honest, trustworthy and having a strong moral code. Source: Veterinary Advantage, June 2019. Link. If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.” INSIGHTS: Hard times are the … [Read more...]
Growing your practice
The same 12 elements that produce success for distribution reps calling on your practice will also help your staff produce greater success with your customers. In sales, ‘NO’ is just part of the game, shares Brian Sullivan in this article. Don’t let rejection slow you down; let it fuel you. Each ‘no’ brings you closer to a ‘yes.’ Source: Veterinary Advantage, December 2023. … [Read more...]
Engagement and retention
There’s no magic elixir to the problem of turnover, shares Michelle Gouldsberry. It requires understanding your employees and designing programs that meet their needs. Betterworks research found that employees are almost three times as likely to be running from companies to get away from their old job (72 percent) as they are heading toward new companies for exciting new … [Read more...]
Neuroscience and perspective
Most people think reality is shaped by events, but it’s shaped by how those events are explained. Why does this matter? Because the stories people tell themselves shape the actions they take. Source: LinkedIn, June 13, 2025. Link. When setbacks are explained as permanent, pervasive, and personal, motivation disappears. But when reframed as temporary, isolated, and external, … [Read more...]
Managing resistance
Resistance to change is a natural part of business, and your role when facing a customer’s objections is to facilitate that change and do it better than everyone else. The more you help your customers manage the concerns preventing them from reaching confidence, the sooner you will become more of a trusted adviser versus another person selling something. Source: Veterinary … [Read more...]
Logic, emotions and decisions
Our logical brain and our emotional brain are always at work in any decision-making process. The importance of the decision determines which one drives the decision. Source: Veterinary Advantage, October 2023. Link. The “decision tree” dynamic is constantly in play and creating decision-making attitudes within the customer.” INSIGHTS: Attitudes are situational and … [Read more...]
Plain speak
Plain speak is about clarity, efficiency and making your message stick with your customers. It isn’t about dumbing down your message. It’s about smartening it up. It’s about clarity, efficiency and presenting a message that sticks. No one likes jargon, writes Brian Sullivan. Source: Veterinary Advantage, August 2024. Link. Questions make your clients think and relate their … [Read more...]
Building rapport key to getting a decision (video)
The fundamental question of whether someone likes you or doesn't drives a significant portion of how your customer's decision process will go. In this article, Mike Shultz shares the Rain Group’s 4 Principles of Rapport: empathy, authenticity, similarity and shared experience. Rapport is the foundation for building relationships. Source: Rain Group, December 21, 2023. Link. … [Read more...]
Continuous improvement
Even small enhancements to your customers’ experiences can add up to big wins for your practice or pet services business. Source: Veterinary Advantage, April 2024. Link. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been doing something that works, come back on a regular basis – annually – and take a closer look.” INSIGHTS: Good today, average tomorrow, can lead to mediocre next … [Read more...]
Being present
When communicating in-person, more than 90 percent of the message is in something other than the words used. Pay more attention to how something is said rather than focusing on what is said. Source: LinkedIn, April 23, 2025. Link. When someone feels seen and understood, not just heard, they're more likely to trust, engage, and respond. Be interested in others and others … [Read more...]
Your brand
The most iconic companies—Nike, Apple, Harley-Davidson—rarely talk about themselves. Instead, they talk about what they believe. Source: LinkedIn, April 16, 2025. Link. Powerful brands don’t rely on aesthetics, they rely on emotion, writes René Rodriguez. Branding is how your customers feel about themselves when they engage with your brand.” INSIGHTS: Branding is the story … [Read more...]
Are you a lucky person?
According to Jeff Bezos, Mark Cuban, Warren Buffet and other successful individuals, luck played a role in their success in addition to being an indicator of other admirable qualities. Source: Inc., April 9, 2025. Link. The self-perception of being a lucky person is a good indicator that someone is humble, observant, action-oriented, and willing to bet on themselves, their … [Read more...]
Selling the emotion
Pet owners don’t see their animals as “just pets.” They’re family. They worry about their dog’s arthritis, their cat’s weight gain, and whether their rabbit is secretly plotting world domination. Source: Veterinary Advantage, March 2025. Link. When you tie the product to real-world outcomes, you help your customer see the immediate impact.” INSIGHTS: Speak your customer’s … [Read more...]
Your part in heartworm prevention
You can use the same strategy with your clients that distribution reps use with your clinic to increase heartworm prevention. Ticks, along with mosquitoes, are the principal transmitters of both human and pet vector-borne pathogens. Heartworm is a life-threatening parasite that is 100 percent preventable. Source: Veterinary Advantage, June 2024. Link. Even with so many … [Read more...]
Don’t assume, check to be sure
Every communication in your practice tells your story. Is that how you want your practice to be perceived? If you don’t share your story, people will fill in the gaps with assumptions that may not be accurate, writes René Rodriguez. He shares tips that can help you and your team create a better picture. Source: René Rodriguez, LinkedIn, March 13, 2025. Link. By refining … [Read more...]
Stress and performance
Not always negative … the right kind of stress . . . controlled and purposeful . . . can be a powerful tool for growth, performance and resilience. Source: René Rodriguez, LinkedIn, March 5, 2025. Link. The key to thriving under pressure is finding the optimal level of stress that pushes performance without triggering the negative effects of overwhelm.” - René … [Read more...]
Stretching others
There’s a thin line between motivating employees and creating a toxic situation when leading people to be their best, writes Marcel Schwantes reflecting on the Steve Jobs way. For Jobs, leadership was about setting ambitious standards and helping knowledge workers become their best selves. It wasn’t always a rosy path, but it made people better. Source: Inc., February 20, … [Read more...]
Ego management
One must never lose sight of the fact that you’re just a tiny speck in an infinite universe, like every other human being who ever lived and died. Source: Giant Leap Consulting, February 2025. Link. Hubris appears when you let your leadership power go to your head and you become enamored with your own specialness.” INSIGHT: Real leadership requires you to be in service to … [Read more...]
Facts and feelings
At its core, influencing is about understanding human behavior. What makes people trust, decide or act? Source: LinkedIn Pulse, February 25, 2025. Link. While we like to believe we make factual decisions, the reality is that feelings dominate.” INSIGHT: Acknowledge feelings first, then address the facts. … [Read more...]