How to be a great leader at work

Enhancing your leadership roles at work can help you in your career, and can strengthen your work team’s efficiency and your business.

Learn how to boost your team’s morale

Veterinary Team Brief is an excellent website full of information and tools on leadership for veterinarians, clinical communications, team and individual development, life balance and promoting ethical practices. Other helpful Veterinary Team Brief articles include Enhancing Communication Through Team Building, Building the Best Team, and How to Handle Crucial Conversations.

DVM360’s online resource contains helpful information on Personnel management, promoting a positive work environment and financial management. Another key article by DVM360 is 7 Morale Boosters to Pump Up Your Practice.

View online resources on workplace leadership such as Exceptional Veterinary Team, Harvard Business Review, The Glass Hammer which is geared toward women in leadership, and the Personal MBA websites.

Think about how your team’s personalities come into play in your practice. Personality analysis tools such as Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, DiSC Profile, and Enneagram can be helpful.

Discussing your leadership journey with a trusted mentor is a great way to cultivate your leadership skills.  AAHA has excellent resources within their Mentorship Toolkit, containing information about establishing and maintaining a mutually beneficial mentoring relationship.

Hear examples of veterinarians leading teams and being team players in their workplaces.

Podcast: Fostering Leadership in a Private Practice
Featuring: Dr. Jeff Thoren, owner of Arizona-based coaching and consulting firm, Gifted Leaders.

Podcast: Creating a Positive Work Environment
Featuring: Dr. Aubrey Lavizzo, a practice owner in the Denver area and the 2011 Colorado Veterinary Medical Association Veterinarian of the Year.

Podcast: Challenges and Rewards of a Non-Traditional Career
Featuring: Dr. Bret Marsh, state veterinarian of Indiana and former AVMA Treasurer.

Podcast: Driving Charge When You're Not the Boss
Featuring: Dr. Andy Roark, author, veterinarian and consultant in Greenville, South Carolina.

Podcast: Juggling Family, Work, and Professional Commitments
Featuring: Dr. Karen Bradley, a small animal veterinarian and practice owner in Vermont.

Podcast: Setting Boundaries to Maintain Work-Life Balance
Featuring: Dr. Gary Thompson, small animal practitioner and practice owner in Ohio.

Some other resources include:

1. Veterinary Team Brief

2. Harvard Business Review

3. The Personal MBA

Becoming a practice owner

Podcast: Becoming a Practice Owner
Featuring Drs. Dustin Brown, Abigail Bowers, and John Feutz on recent graduate practice owners, helping to ensure a successful practice.

Reading materials

These books are especially recommended by some of our AVMA Future Leaders.

	Title: The Leadership Challenge Author: Jim Kouzes, Barry Posner Description: The Leadership Challenge is a gold standard for research-based leadership and a premier resource on becoming a leader. All of the inaugural AVMA Future Leaders read this book and found it useful in our leadership journey.
	Title: Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager Author: Ken Blanchard Description: Realize the power of taking responsibility for your work situations and develop your "self leadership." This book will teach you three techniques to empower you in the workplace.
	Title: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People will Follow You Author: John C. Maxwell Description: The author shares the important lessons learned about leadership over the past 30 years and provides you with useful tips to help guide you toward success in the workplace.
	Title: Extraordinary Groups: How Ordinary Teams Achieve Amazing Results Authors: Geoffrey M. Bellman, Kathleen D. Ryan Description: Learn how to maximize productivity of your workforce through teamwork.
	Title: Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment Authors: Jamie Showkeir, Maren Showkeir Description: Learn a new way to effectively communicate with your team. This book teaches you how to communicate in such a way that it fosters creativity while creating real accountability for results.
	Title: Coaching for Performance: GROWing People, Performance, and Purpose Author: John Whitmore Description: This handbook will help you learn the skills to coach effectively, uniting people under one purpose to improve performance. Here you will find numerous examples to help you get started.
	Title: Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work & in Life, One Conversation at a Time Author: Susan Craig Scott Description: Learn how to effectively challenge yourself to face your fears and have those important conversations that are stalling your career. Sometimes the biggest obstacle to success is yourself and this book will help you challenge yourself to get past this and head toward career fulfillment.
	Title: Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive Author: Barbara Fredrickson Description: This book will give you the tolls to create a healthier, more vibrant, and flourishing life. You will learn to see new possibilities, bounce back from setbacks, and become the best version of yourself.
	Title: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't Author: Jim Collins Description: The Good to Great study shares insights into management strategy and practice and might surprise you.
	Title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Author: Stephen R. Covey Description: This is a great introductory book with tips for optimizing your best traits, developing weaker traits, and intimately transforming yourself into a highly effective person. This is a must read and a great place to start your leadership development.
	Title: Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time Authors: Keith Ferrazzi, Tahl Raz Description: Ferrazzi outlines the timeless strategies shared by the world's most connected individuals, from Katherine Graham to Bill Clinton, Vernon Jordan to the Dalai Lama. Chock full of specific advice on handling rejection, getting past gatekeepers, and becoming a "conference commando."
	Title: Negotiate This!: By Caring, But Not T-H-A-T Much Author: Herb Cohen Description: Develop your negotiating skills to help you achieve your goals while remaining true to yourself.
	Title: You, Inc.: The Art of Selling Yourself Authors: Harry Beckwith, Christine Clifford Beckwith Description: This book will teach you how to sell your most valuable commodity, yourself. Here you will learn how to thrive in your career.