My kids are FINALLY out of school so it now truly feels like summer. I love finding good books to read and am always looking for recommendations. While my vacation taste is usually mysteries, I also like to read at least a few books on more serious subjects.
When my partner and I opened our practice, neither one of us had ever had a business course. We had both worked in ER practices and had been deeply engaged in growing those practices. However, we had a lot of learning to do. Luckily, we are both readers, so we would find books, read books, talk about them, and implement new ideas in our practice.
This list has become my personal business reading canon. I hope you find something on here to educate, inspire, and engage you this summer.
The 2019 veterinary business summer reading list.
Good to Great by Jim Collins
Good to Great is one of the first really good business books I read when we started our practice. Jim Collins looked at the businesses that had been really successful over a long period of time and tried to find what set them apart. He found that all these businesses had a truly strong “hedgehog.” He defined your hedgehog as the intersection of what you are deeply passionate about, what you can be best at in the world, and what drives your economic engine. By keeping your hedgehog front of mind, you can avoid getting distracted by opportunities that don’t really fit. Many of the business mistakes I have made were when I “squirrelled” and added something to the business that really didn’t fit the “hedgehog”
This concept of the hedgehog spoke so strongly to me, that it ended up being part of the discussion in many staff meetings. It was in so many staff meetings, that I have been given hedgehog Christmas ornaments and even hedgehog socks!
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
A couple years in, we were growing really fast and trying hard to keep track of who we wanted to be and how to manage it all. During that time, the surgeon in our practice gave me this book. It is the story of the founding of Patagonia and provides a roadmap for how to create a successful company that truly lives your values. It is a great demonstration of the triple bottom line philosophy: people, planet as well as profit.
Traction by Gino Wickman
In the first couple years, my partner and I read a TON of books. There were a ton of great ideas but it was hard to figure out how to implement change in our practice. Traction is a compilation of the great ideas from previous books but placed into a cookbook type format for implementation in your practice.
The basic idea is to really figure out what you want your business to be in 10 years. If you want to be there in 10 years, what do you have to accomplish by year 3. If you want to be there in 3 years, what do you need to get done this year, this quarter and then this week. Looking at the big picture but then ratchetting down into the nitty gritty can be very effective for strategic planning.
If Disney Ran your Hospital: 9 ½ things you would do differently by Fred Lee
Like many veterinarians, my partner and I built our practice first concentrating on the pets and the medicine. We soon realized that we would only truly be successful if we were as good at caring for our clients as caring for their pets. This book is a great way to look at medical client care through the lens of a different industry. The lessons in this book can be easily taught to your whole staff for improvements in how you interact with clients.
Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
None of the things you want to accomplish in your business will happen unless you have alignment of your team. This fable tells the story of a new CEO and how she builds her team to turn around a company in trouble. I listened to this as an audio book one summer during drives to summer camps and work and highly recommend it in this format.
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
I’ve talked before about checklists and would characterize myself as an Atul Gawande groupie. This year, I’ll even be lecturing on checklists at IVECCS 2019.
Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic by Leonard Berry and Kent Seltman
This is a great study of what really makes the Mayo Clinic tick and why its brand is synonymous with excellent medical care. I think there are lots of great ideas in this book for improvement in our veterinary practices.
The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits by Zeynep Ton
In veterinary medicine, if you hire a business consultant or sell to a corporation they will quickly zero in your staff costs and try to reduce this line item. I love this book because it examines companies that pay their employees better than the average in each industry and are still incredibly successful. The key: empower your employees so they can help you grow, cross train, and put effort into operational efficiency.
Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott
Ultimately success in business (and in life) comes down to communication. We often think we do better when we don’t ruffle feathers and tread lightly. Kim Scott argues that we are happier and more successful when we speak directly, truthfully, but with compassion for others. There is more information on this book in my previous blog on the subject.
StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath
The idea of this book is that lots of different types of personalities can be great leaders. However, you can’t just mimic someone else’s style and be successful. If you understand your own strengths, you can figure out how to lead using them. Instead of trying to change into something you aren’t, you can hire for those strengths instead. The book comes with a strengths assessment and then ideas for how to lead using your own strength profile.
Hope you find something on this list to enjoy this summer. Do you have your own favorite book? Please reply in the comments!
