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The Veterinary Leadership Success Show

By Dr Dave Nicol
The Veterinary Leadership Success Show
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5 of 121
  • 121: Struggling to Recruit? Start Here with Dr. Dave Nicol
    Hiring is one of the hardest jobs in veterinary leadership right now. Everyone’s fishing in the same tiny pond, and most practices look and sound exactly the same. In this episode, I break down why veterinary recruitment feels like such a nightmare, and more importantly, what you can do to fix it. Spoiler alert: it’s not just about throwing more money at the problem.We’ll dig into what employer branding really means, how to stop writing job ads full of buzzword bingo, and why a clear vision, purpose and set of lived values will do more for your hiring than any signing bonus. I’ll also give you a simple equation to score your employer brand, so you can see exactly where you’re strong, and where you’ve got work to do.If you’re blaming “the market” for your hiring woes, this one’s going to challenge you. Because the truth is, there are practices out there with people lining up to join them. The difference? They’ve learned how to tell their story. And you can too.Your story could be the key to better hires. Join our upcoming webinar and find out how, save your seat now.Episode Outline:[00:01] – Why hiring’s tough[03:00] – Standing out[07:01] – Employer brand 101[10:17] – Vision vs buzzwords[11:05] – Purpose, mission, values[16:21] – The brand equation[19:46] – Telling your story[22:26] – Employee experience first[25:08] – Don’t blame the market[27:33] – Be unapologetically you[29:11] – Webinar preview[30:01] – Free NPS surveyResources & Links Mentioned:Register for our Employer Branding WebinarJoin our free Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey studyDownload our leadership brochuresFollow Dr. Dave Nicol for More Leadership Insights:Follow Dr. Dave: @drdavenicolLearn more about the Veterinary Leadership AcademyEnjoyed this episode?Leave a review on iTunes and share it with your veterinary colleagues!Mentioned in this episode:Mentioned in this episode:Is managing conflict and stress within your team becoming a daily struggle? Are strained relationships and unresolved tensions holding your veterinary practice back? For many practice owners, navigating the complexities of team dynamics can be overwhelming. Without the right skills, stress and conflict can quickly escalate, affecting your practice’s culture and performance. At the Veterinary Leadership Academy, we specialize in helping practice owners develop the skills to manage conflict and reduce stress. Our program will teach you effective communication strategies, how to handle difficult conversations, and ways to foster a positive, collaborative team environment. With weekly group coaching sessions, you’ll receive ongoing support to address these challenges head-on. The course is fully online, accredited, and open for applications now. Visit drdavenicol.com/veterinary-leadership-academy to apply today. Don’t let conflict and stress undermine your practice. Equip yourself with the tools to lead a harmonious, high-performing team. Visit...
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  • 120: Help! My Clinic Is Growing Too Fast with Jenni George, CVPM
    In this episode of the Veterinary Leadership Success Show, I’m joined by the brilliant Jenni George, CVPM. Jenni is a practice manager, co-owner of Deerfield Veterinary Clinic, and living proof that building a practice is never boring.Her story? Well, let’s just say it starts with a fold-up table in the living room, a flannel blanket for style, and a husband with big dreams but questionable bill-paying skills. Fast-forward to today and she’s running a 25+ person, multi-doctor hospital. Along the way there have been triumphs, chaos, a few questionable jello shots… and oh yes, an old “friend” who ended up in jail after botching their clinic build. You just couldn’t make it up.Together we dig into the truth about practice growth: what works when you’re starting out, why it all falls apart when you get bigger, and how to keep evolving as a leader so your clinic doesn’t implode under its own weight. Jenni is funny, sharp, brutally honest, and not afraid to tell you exactly what she got wrong, and what she’d do differently.If you’ve ever thought “Help! My clinic is growing too fast!” or felt like your team has outgrown your leadership, this one’s for you. Buckle up, this one’s packed with chaos, comedy, and the kind of lessons you only learn the hard way.Episode Outline:[00:03] – Tequila & bad ideas[05:42] – From living room to hospital[07:46] – 3 big start-up mistakes[11:00] – Friends vs leadership[13:23] – Stages of growth[17:01] – Hiring the first vet[23:22] – Standing out locally[29:01] – Outgrowing your space[33:22] – Power of a manager[35:58] – Beating imposter syndrome[38:31] – Here for the people[40:42] – Culture cracks[44:45] – Building leaders[49:13] – Vision = next levelConnect with Jenni George:Learn more about Deerfield Veterinary ClinicDeerfield Vet Clinic on Facebook Follow Dr. Dave Nicol for More Leadership Insights:Follow Dave: @drdavenicolLearn more about Veterinary Leadership Training: Veterinary Leadership AcademyEnjoyed this episode?Leave a review on iTunes and share it with your veterinary colleagues!Mentioned in this episode:Mentioned in this episode:Is managing conflict and stress within your team becoming a daily struggle? Are strained relationships and unresolved tensions holding your veterinary practice back? For many practice owners, navigating the complexities of team dynamics can be overwhelming. Without the right skills, stress and conflict can quickly escalate, affecting your practice’s culture and performance. At the Veterinary Leadership Academy, we specialize in helping practice owners develop the skills to manage conflict and reduce stress. Our program will teach you effective communication strategies, how to handle difficult conversations, and ways to foster a positive, collaborative team environment. With weekly group coaching sessions, you’ll receive ongoing support to address these challenges head-on. The course is fully online, accredited, and open for applications now. Visit drdavenicol.com/veterinary-leadership-academy to apply today. Don’t let conflict and stress undermine your practice. Equip yourself with the tools to lead a harmonious, high-performing team. Visit...
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  • 119: Why Your Veterinary Practice Needs a Vision with Dr. Dave Nicol & Oliver Loveday
    In this episode of the Veterinary Leadership Success Show, I’m joined by my copilot, Oliver Loveday, Head of Community here at the Veterinary Leadership Academy. We’re digging into one of the most overlooked but absolutely critical parts of running a successful veterinary practice: your vision.And I don’t mean some fluffy slogan you stick on a wall and then ignore. I’m talking about the hard graft of clarifying your purpose, your mission, and your values, the foundation stone that makes everything else work and align. Without it, you’re building on sand. With it, you’ve got a north star to guide the biggest decisions you’ll ever make: who you hire, how you shape your culture, the way you connect with clients, and even how you hold yourself together on your toughest, most difficult days.The painful truth? Most practice owners either don’t do this work, or they do it badly. And when that happens, it’s only a matter of time until the cracks show. Poor hiring decisions, a toxic culture, poor team alignment, wasted energy, and a practice that feels harder to lead than it should.Oliver and I share stories from inside our community of practice owners who’ve gone through what we call “vision casting.” These are raw, vulnerable, sometimes emotional sessions that strip back the layers and get to the truth of why their practice exists. And when that clarity hits, you feel it. A good vision gives you goosebumps and butterflies. It attracts the right people, keeps your team moving together and motivated, and fuels you as a leader when the simplest tasks feel impossible.If you’re wondering where to start with your vision, this is the episode for you. Tune in, hear how we do it, and if you’re serious about taking the next step, reach out to Oliver Loveday to find out how we can help.Episode Outline:[01:00] – The Owner’s 3 Core Jobs[03:30] – What Vision Really Means[05:00] – Switching Brains: Logic to Creative[07:00] – Why Vision Matters in Hiring[10:30] – The Goosebump Test[12:00] – Vulnerability & Masks[16:00] – Real-World Examples[27:00] – Humility in Leadership[29:00] – Our Practice Vision[30:30] – What You Need To Do NextConnect with Oliver Loveday:Book A Call with OilverConnect with Oliver on LinkedinFollow Dr. Dave Nicol for More Leadership Insights:Follow Dr. Dave: @drdavenicolLearn more about the Veterinary Leadership AcademyEnjoyed this episode?Leave a review on iTunes and share it with your veterinary colleagues!Mentioned in this episode:Mentioned in this episode:Is managing conflict and stress within your team becoming a daily struggle? Are strained relationships and unresolved tensions holding your veterinary practice back? For many practice owners, navigating the complexities of team dynamics can be overwhelming. Without the right skills, stress and conflict can quickly escalate, affecting your practice’s culture and performance. At the Veterinary Leadership Academy, we specialize in helping practice owners develop the skills to manage conflict and reduce stress.
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  • 118: Why Clients Leave Your Vet Clinic and How to Stop It with Dr. Dave Nicol
    In this solo episode of the Veterinary Leadership Success Show, I’m diving into a topic that’s been bothering me for a while: trust.Now, on paper, the public still ranks vets among the most trusted professionals out there – second only to nurses in most surveys. But out in the real world, I keep seeing behaviours that chip away at that trust. Slowly. Quietly. Consistently. And if we’re not careful, the credibility we’ve spent decades building as a profession is going to unravel.From sloppy admin at the front desk to thoughtless social media posts that poke fun at clients, we’re creating cracks in the very foundation of our relationships. I’ll share a personal experience that brought this home to me in a big way, and we’ll look at why training, communication and emotional intelligence aren’t soft skills – they’re survival skills.If you’re a veterinary leader who wants to build a practice your clients trust and your team is proud to stand behind, this episode is for you. Because trust isn’t built by accident, it’s built on purpose, or not at all.Episode Outline:00:00 – The client-bashing problem01:25 – Why trust matters03:00 – How relationships break05:00 – The skill behind good interactions07:15 – Are we really empathetic?09:00 – When trust breaks: my story12:00 – Systems vs people13:45 – What leaders must fix15:30 – Take actionWant more leadership tools in your corner?Follow me: @drdavenicolCheck out: Veterinary Leadership AcademyRun your eNPS: drdavenicol.com/get-your-enpsIf this episode hit home, leave a review or share it with a teammate.Mentioned in this episode:Mentioned in this episode:Is managing conflict and stress within your team becoming a daily struggle? Are strained relationships and unresolved tensions holding your veterinary practice back? For many practice owners, navigating the complexities of team dynamics can be overwhelming. Without the right skills, stress and conflict can quickly escalate, affecting your practice’s culture and performance. At the Veterinary Leadership Academy, we specialize in helping practice owners develop the skills to manage conflict and reduce stress. Our program will teach you effective communication strategies, how to handle difficult conversations, and ways to foster a positive, collaborative team environment. With weekly group coaching sessions, you’ll receive ongoing support to address these challenges head-on. The course is fully online, accredited, and open for applications now. Visit drdavenicol.com/veterinary-leadership-academy to apply today. Don’t let conflict and stress undermine your practice. Equip yourself with the tools to lead a harmonious, high-performing team. Visit drdavenicol.com/veterinary-leadership-academy now.
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  • 117: Are Vets to Blame for Rising Costs? Unpacking BBC’s Latest Article with Dr. Dave Nicol
    In this episode of the Veterinary Leadership Success Show, I’m addressing yet another wave of bad press, this time from none other than the BBC, whose front-page headline accused rising vet fees of driving more pets to be euthanised.The article tries to point the finger at corporate practices, but let’s be honest, most readers won’t see that nuance. To the public, it’s not “corporates”, it’s “vets.” All of us. Once again, our profession is being dragged through the mud to serve someone else’s agenda.So I’m taking this one personally, and professionally. In this episode, I call out the lazy data, the unverified claims, the internal sabotage from within our own ranks, and the real damage this kind of media narrative causes to public trust and veterinary morale.Corporate practices aren’t going away. And sniping from the sidelines with half-truths and clickbait headlines won’t solve anything. So, what will? Leadership. Engagement. Advocacy. Starting with you.If you’re a vet who cares about the long-term trust, sustainability, and credibility of our profession, this episode is for you.Episode Outline:[00:00] – Another Week, Another Hit Job[01:00] – Corporate Vets as the Easy Target[03:00] – The Public Doesn’t See the Difference[04:15] – “We’ve Lost Trust”? Nonsense[05:30] – What the Data Really Says[06:15] – Economic Euthanasia: Any Proof?[07:10] – What’s Actually Driving Costs[08:00] – Value, Communication, and Leadership[08:50] – Whining Isn’t Leadership[09:30] – Perception Becomes RealityEpisode Links:BBC Article: More pets being put down due to rising vet bills, BBC toldFollow Dr. Dave Nicol for More Leadership Insights:Follow Dave: @drdavenicolExplore Veterinary Leadership Training: Veterinary Leadership AcademyEnjoyed this episode?Leave a review on iTunes and share it with your veterinary friends. Your voice helps others discover the show and join the leadership movement.Mentioned in this episode:Mentioned in this episode:Is managing conflict and stress within your team becoming a daily struggle? Are strained relationships and unresolved tensions holding your veterinary practice back? For many practice owners, navigating the complexities of team dynamics can be overwhelming. Without the right skills, stress and conflict can quickly escalate, affecting your practice’s culture and performance. At the Veterinary Leadership Academy, we specialize in helping practice owners develop the skills to manage conflict and reduce stress. Our program will teach you effective communication strategies, how to handle difficult conversations, and ways to foster a positive, collaborative team environment. With weekly group coaching sessions, you’ll receive ongoing support to address these challenges head-on. The course is fully online, accredited, and open for applications now. Visit drdavenicol.com/veterinary-leadership-academy to apply today. Don’t let conflict and stress undermine your practice. Equip yourself with the tools to lead a harmonious, high-performing team. Visit drdavenicol.com/veterinary-leadership-academy now.
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About The Veterinary Leadership Success Show

Short conversations with smart people with good ideas to help you run your veterinary practice more effectively. Each month, your host, Dr. Dave Nicol, puts a subject of importance to practice managers under the microscope with a subject matter expert to help you grapple with real-life management problems. Loosely arranged around the topics required to complete the CVPM, this show will help you with ideas and inspiration to take on some of the big problems and opportunities we all face in veterinary medicine.
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