Leadership in veterinary medicine used to be simple. You were in charge, and people did what you said. At least, that was the expectation. Today, things look different. Leadership isn’t defined by your job title or your place on the organizational chart. It's earned through how you inspire and empower your veterinary team. It's about creating an environment where people choose to engage, not because they have to, but because they want to.

Great leadership doesn’t happen by accident. It takes intentional effort to remove barriers, spark genuine conversation, define a motivating future, and consistently model the behaviors you expect from your team. Let’s explore how you can actively earn trust and followership every single day.

Four Leadership Choices That Build Trust on Veterinary Teams

Leadership is defined by intentional choices. Each of the following choices helps shape trust, engagement, and overall effectiveness within your veterinary team. When you consistently make these leadership choices, you cultivate a workplace culture where team members willingly invest their best efforts and actively support the team's success.

Remove the Barriers

Trust is the foundation of leadership, and your role carries weight that can unintentionally cause stress or uncertainty among your team. Veterinary practices are busy places, and your team is already navigating client demands, animal care challenges, and the daily pressures of a fast-paced environment. As a leader, you can either add to that stress or significantly ease it.

Your first step is taking fear out of the equation. Recognize the psychological weight you carry, whether it involves scheduling, performance evaluations, or simply how you respond when things don’t go smoothly. Make your decisions clear and predictable. When something goes wrong, separate accountability from blame. Instead of asking, "Who caused this?" start by asking, "How can we solve this?" This reduces anxiety and fosters genuine learning rather than defensiveness.

Trust also requires vulnerability. Share your experiences, especially the ones where you struggled or learned something important. When you openly admit challenges you’ve faced, like a difficult client conversation or adapting to new clinic software, you become relatable. Your team sees you as human, someone who understands what they’re going through. That relatability transforms trust into genuine connection.

Create Meaningful, Two-Way Conversations

Effective leaders don’t just speak, they listen. Great leadership isn’t about issuing directives; it’s about facilitating meaningful conversations. If you want genuine insights and candid feedback from your veterinary team, ask intentional questions. Instead of broadly asking, “Any feedback?” pose something more specific: “What could I have done differently this week to make surgery preparation easier?” or “What’s one thing you think we could improve about our morning huddles?”

These types of precise, low-risk questions invite authentic feedback because they show your team that you genuinely care about their perspective. People are often hesitant to volunteer candid criticism; they fear it may negatively impact how they’re viewed. Your responsibility as a leader is to make feedback easy and safe, ensuring that good ideas and necessary improvements don’t stay hidden behind hesitation.

Equally important, create space for your team’s ideas rather than prescribing your solutions. This might look like asking, “If we set a goal of improving our medication accuracy to 100%, what changes would you test first?” Allowing your team to propose solutions gives them ownership of their work. It creates genuine commitment instead of mere compliance, resulting in lasting change rather than temporary improvements.

Create a Clear, Inspiring Vision for your Veterinary Practice

People rarely invest their energy in a future they can't see clearly. As a leader, your role includes defining a compelling vision that is meaningful, exciting, and attainable for the team to collectively strive toward.

Begin by genuinely investing in your team’s personal goals. Regular, brief check-ins about their aspirations, challenges, and skills can help you align their personal growth with the practice’s objectives. For example, if you learn that one of your veterinary technicians is passionate about dentistry, support them with relevant training or mentoring opportunities. This personalized investment reinforces your commitment to their success, fueling their motivation and trust.

Similarly, demonstrate confidence in their potential to reach that vision. Affirm your belief in their abilities explicitly, saying things like, “I think you can become exceptional at client communication, and I’m here to support you.” Combine your belief with tangible resources and support. Confidence is contagious; when your team feels supported and believes the vision is achievable, their engagement and motivation naturally follow.

Model the Behaviors You Expect

Ultimately, your team will reflect the behaviors you demonstrate consistently. If you want a culture built on curiosity, calm decision-making, and clear communication, it starts with you. Rather than simply telling your team what to do, show them.

When introducing a new process, be the first to try it. If you want to improve dental charting accuracy, do it yourself first on a few cases, then share what you learned. Being the first to adopt new procedures communicates partnership and authenticity. It says, “I’m here with you, not above you.”

Equally critical is consistency. If your reactions shift unpredictably with client volume or daily stress, your team expends unnecessary energy worrying about your mood instead of focusing on patient care. Consistency provides psychological safety. When your team knows what to expect from you, they can direct their energy toward solving problems and providing exceptional service rather than managing your emotions.

Small Choices Make a Strong Veterinary Team

Great leaders aren’t created through grand gestures or occasional moments of inspiration; they’re built through consistent, intentional daily actions. Trust, meaningful conversation, a motivating vision, and consistent behavior are habits that reinforce each other and create genuine followership.

This week, choose just one new behavior to practice. Maybe it’s asking a more intentional question to solicit feedback, or perhaps it’s sharing a personal story during your next team meeting. Small actions compound quickly, and your veterinary team will notice.

Leadership is a daily choice. Make that choice intentionally, and your team won’t just follow you, they’ll thrive with you.

What do you think? Other veterinary pros want to hear from you! Share your experience in the comments below.