As a veterinary leader, defining success is one of the most important tasks you can undertake—for yourself, your team, and your practice. Start by defining success clearly for yourself and your team to avoid falling into survival mode, where you’re just doing enough to get through the day. Success isn’t just about finishing the shift—it’s about actively creating a thriving environment where your team can grow, engage, and perform their best work.

Success, when properly defined, provides direction and motivation. It taps into both the logical and emotional aspects of the brain, setting you and your team on a path toward meaningful achievements. But how do you define success effectively? What happens when you don’t? And what practical steps can you take to ensure you’re always moving in the right direction?

Defining Success: A Path to Better Choices

Until we clarify the destination, our brains aren’t wired to figure out how to get there. Defining success helps leaders stop reacting to whatever comes their way and start making intentional choices that lead to better outcomes. It’s much like planning a trip—you can’t figure out the best route until you know the destination.

Activating the Reticular Activation System (RAS)

Once you define where you want to go, something remarkable happens in your brain: it activates the Reticular Activation System (RAS). The RAS acts like a filter, helping you notice what’s relevant to achieving your goal. For example, have you ever noticed that once you decide to buy a particular car, you suddenly see that car everywhere? That’s your RAS at work. When you define success, your brain starts looking for ways to make it happen, filtering in the information, tools, and opportunities that support your goals.

In a veterinary hospital, this means that once you define what success looks like for your team—whether it’s more engaged staff, better client satisfaction, or improved patient care—your brain starts noticing opportunities to move toward those outcomes. It also connects the logical and emotional sides of your brain, helping you stay motivated as you move in the right direction.

What Happens When You Don’t Define Success?

When success is left undefined, veterinary leaders and their teams can quickly fall into unhealthy patterns. Here’s what happens when we don’t have a clear vision to guide us:

Success Becomes Survival—and Blocks Improvement

When you don’t define success, your leadership defaults to survival mode. Instead of striving for growth, innovation, or higher performance, you and your team just do enough to get through the day. This mindset prevents any pursuit of improvement—there’s no effort to find better ways to work, and no focus on growing individually or as a team. In survival mode, everything stays the same. The same actions are repeated day after day, leaving no room for growth or progress..

Lack of Development, Growth, and Learning

When your leadership is driven by survival rather than success, you rely on old habits and patterns of behavior instead of exploring new ways to improve. There is no focus on development, growth, or learning. Instead of looking for opportunities to improve, you may find yourself thinking the same thoughts, making the same decisions, and dealing with the same challenges, day in and day out.

Disengagement and Lack of Motivation

The result of relying on habits and failing to pursue improvement is disengagement. Without a clear vision of success, people disengage from their work. They stop striving for anything new, and motivation drops. This creates a rut where both personal fulfillment and organizational growth come to a halt. Instead of driving progress, leadership becomes about maintaining the status quo.

Loss of Fulfillment

Ultimately, the lack of a clear definition of success leads to a loss of fulfillment. People want to feel like they’re making a difference, and without a clear destination, it’s hard to find meaning in the day-to-day tasks. Veterinary leaders who don’t define success end up with teams that are unfulfilled, unmotivated, and disengaged.

Success Questions for Veterinary Leaders

Defining success starts with asking the right questions. These questions help you identify the kind of leader you want to be and the outcomes you want to achieve. Below are examples of success questions that every veterinary leader should consider:

For Leaders:

• What kind of leader do I want to be?
• How do I want my team to think about me?
• What kind of difference do I want to make in the practice?
• What will be better if I show up and lead the team well?
• What kind of culture do I want to create in the practice?
• Why will this matter for the pets? For the clients? For me?

For Teams:

• How do I want my team to show up every day?
• What kind of attitude would I like them to bring to the practice?
• How should my team handle challenges or unexpected events?
• How do I want my team to feel at the end of each day?
• How should my team approach learning and development?

While these are just a few examples, they are the starting point for creating a clear definition of success. Once you have these answers, you can begin taking action and making decisions that align with your goals.

How Great Veterinary Leaders Build Success

Great veterinary leaders understand that defining success is just the beginning. To achieve it, they need to establish habits and structures that keep them on track. Here are three key strategies that can help you continuously move toward success:

1. Build a Habit Around Success Questions

Success doesn’t happen by accident—it’s the result of intentional planning. Start each day, week, or month by asking yourself key questions that align with your goals. Instead of reacting to daily challenges, take control by proactively setting your focus. Questions like, “What will I improve today by showing up as my best self?” or “Who on my team needs support, and how can I help them?” guide your actions and keep you moving toward success.

For example, as you start your day, you might ask, “How can I make today better for my team?” or “What steps will I take to lead with purpose?” These questions help frame your day and ensure that every action you take aligns with your long-term vision of success.

2. Work in Both Small and Large Timeframes

Veterinary leaders often have long-term goals, such as improving team culture or creating a better client experience. But achieving these goals doesn’t happen overnight. That’s why great leaders work in both small and large timeframes. They define what success looks like in six months or a year, but they also focus on the small, daily actions that move them closer to their goals.

If your long-term goal is to improve team communication, for example, you might start by having short, daily check-ins with your team. These small actions can build up over time, creating lasting change. The key is to balance long-term vision with short-term action.

3. Continuously Update Your Veterinary Leadership Goals

Regularly revisit your definition of success to make sure it aligns with your evolving practice and team. Take time each quarter to assess your progress and refine your goals. If you’ve made strides in one area—like improving patient care—set a new target, such as enhancing team collaboration. Updating your vision keeps you and your team motivated and moving forward. 

For example, if your team has made progress in reducing stress during peak hours, you might set a new goal for improving client interactions or increasing the efficiency of patient care. As you make progress, allow yourself to celebrate these wins, but always look ahead to what comes next.

Define Success and Lead with Purpose

In veterinary leadership, defining success isn’t optional—it’s essential. Without a clear vision, you risk falling into survival mode, losing motivation, and missing out on the opportunities for growth and fulfillment that come with leading a thriving team. By defining success, you not only activate powerful cognitive processes that guide you toward your goals, but you also foster a culture of engagement, development, and meaningful progress.

Take the time today to define what success looks like for you and your team. By doing so, you’ll build a roadmap that ensures continuous growth and lasting impact. Your success—and the success of your practice—depends on it.

What's your definition of success? Inspire your colleagues in the comments below.