62 Today's Veterinary Business VetPartners Corner
Over the years, I have asked meeting
attendees, "Does your practice have a mission
statement?" I usually get a few positive respons-
es. The next question is, "Do you know it and
can you recite it?" Rarely are there "yes" replies,
and those who respond speak in generalities.
Why? Because their mission statement is mean-
ingless, the language isn't sticky and the prac-
tice is not utilizing it as a tool for team focus.
Emotional Guiding Light
Many mission statements are so similar that
they are almost interchangeable between
practices. They mention quality medicine,
good client service and kindness to animals.
Do you have an emotional reaction to these
statements? Probably not. It is for that reason
that most mission statements are useless.
Unless practice leaders make the emotional
effort to express their feelings about why
they do what they do, time is wasted writing a
practice mission statement.
Some of the best statements are written
to evoke strong feelings — pride, kindness,
passion and love. Humans like to consider
themselves logical, but they really are just
moving through life, using emotion as a
guide. Because of this, a mission statement
must be the emotional guiding light for the
team. Real effort must be made to develop a
compelling, excitement-evoking reason for
the crusade you call practice.
Try utilizing the following steps to get to
the desired goal.
If yours doesn't elicit an emotional feeling, try again.
Mission statements are dull, boring and useless, and so are annual performance reviews.
Now that I have horrified my fellow VetPartners members, let me explain.
The issue with most veterinary mission statements, which is the subject of this article, and
annual performance reviews, which is not, is that they typically are done poorly.
VetPartners Corner
By Debbie Boone, CCS, CVPM
Time to
revise your
mission
statement?