Greetings and good wishes to all of our WSVMA colleagues. I hope this edition of the newsletter finds you well and thriving. With the arrival of spring, the relaxation of Covid mitigation protocols, increasing rates of vaccine distribution, and the return of longer daylight hours with the promise of warm sunshine, it’s easy to feel optimistic about the future.
Since my last column, the board and our WSVMA organizational team has been pushing forward to position our organization for excellence as our post-Covid future becomes more clear. As you have learned from the copy of Board Briefs that was sent out earlier this week, the Board took advantage of our team’s learned experience with working from their home and the favorable real estate climate to reposition our workforce and sell our WSVMA office property. This step allowed us to recover our investment along with a profit and strengthen our financial position after coming through what has been an interesting, and at times, challenging operational year.
Simultaneously, we have been executing on every step in our Board’s strategic plan, moving forward with our diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and engaging with state officials to advocate for our profession. I am pleased to report that with every meeting of the board, new progress is being made. I am particularly excited about our responsible pet owner initiative and the ideas and tools that will come from that committee’s efforts; tools that I hope at some point will become available for interested association members who are committed to educating their clients on the medical and husbandry needs of their pets. Stay tuned for updates on these projects and more. Your WSVMA is on the move!
In previous messages, I have shared with you my thoughts on Dr. Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective Leaders and in particular, his first three habits, the habits of self-leadership. Being proactive, beginning with the end in mind, and putting first things first are habits of self-mastery and self-actualization. They move us from a place of being dependent on an external locus of control to becoming independent and being more able to guide and promote or position one’s self for success, accomplishment, and fulfillment. The next three habits are about moving beyond independence to enhance our ability to promote interdependence in our work environment with the specific goal of working with and leading others to achieve better collective outcomes. Important as the first three habits are for helping us become the best version of ourselves, we live in a world where we work with others and where interdependence and synergy are critical to achieving personal fulfillment and optimal team outcomes.
That step to interdependence starts with the fourth habit, “Think win-win!”
Consider that in life, there are four ways that any agreement or relationship can go: Our interactions can be Win-Win where each party has an important need that is appropriately met. They can be Win-Lose; a zero-sum game in which there is only one winner and someone else fails to achieve any beneficial outcome despite their heartfelt participation and committed effort. They can be Lose-Win; a zero-sum game in which one party gives up their needs or goals in an effort to placate the other party. Finally, an interaction can be Lose-Lose, where there are no winners and quite possibly, a prevailing mindset of mutually destructive vengeance or resentment may be present.
The only sustainable, healthy, productive relationship is that of Win-Win. For productive relationships or agreements to survive over time, they must contain or achieve something beneficial for each of the parties involved. The foundation for Win-Win requires the presence of trust and a mindset of abundance and possibility. Without the ability to gain from an interaction while genuinely investing in it over time to meet the needs of other parties, that situation or relationship is doomed to fail. As we look across society, we see friendships, marriages, and business partnerships that fail when the relationship is anything other than win-win. An associate who works diligently to drive the medical and financial accomplishments of a veterinary practice who is then under-appreciated or under-rewarded would be a classic example of a failure to maintain Win-Win in a veterinary setting.
Veterinary practices are built on a record of delivering on the philosophy of Win-Win! The majority of our clients typically seek the advice of a veterinary care provider in an effort to help their animal, usually a pet, live as long and as well as possible. Clients who are producers would tell us that they would like their animals to live comfortably into their intended use. Veterinarians are typically drawn to the profession wanting to make a positive difference in the lives of animals and by extension, in the lives of clients and the communities in which they reside.
Ask yourself, what would Win-Win Look like during a healthcare interaction at your clinic? Would you recommend the scope of care that prevailing wisdom and medical evidence suggests would support your client’s pet living into its full genetic potential? If so, Bravo! If not, why not? Clients seek and pay for healthcare support for their pets, with the hope that they are being briefed on the medical condition and needs of those pets. How would they behave if that weren’t the case? Consider the obese pet that we see every day. Would that owner be interested to know that if maintained at ideal body weight, that pet could live a better, more pain-free life, with less disease? Did we communicate that clearly to the owner and actively recommend the products and strategies needed to effect a positive change in the pet’s lifestyle? That is what they paid for…our professional opinion. The only way the doctor-client relationship can be maintained and grown over the life of any pet is if that relationship is consistently structured as being Win-Win.
That reality is something for each of us to consider as we ponder the deliverables, we provide to clients who entrust their beloved pets into our care. Structure a Win-Win healthcare experience and you will be your client’s nominee for Veterinarian of the Year!
By Dr. Richard DeBowes, President
Posted May 7, 2021