Finalist and overall winner Mackenzie Foord
Summerhill Village Vets Sydney NSW
Tell me about your role and the business you work in
Summer Hill Village Vet is a 12 year old small animal veterinary business that in the past 2 years has seen a spike in demand.
As such, we have had to adapt quickly to many climbing demands, including patient standards of care, staff training and space.
With seemingly no end to our growth, we strive to bring a resilient, warm and hard-working team to face each day.
Why do you think you were selected for this award?
I believe I must have been nominated and awarded Best Team Leader due to several factors. Namely, my strengths of open-mindedness, tenacity and bravery.
Having an open mind and being open to others’ ideas has allowed me to step into the role of Reception Team Leader and succeed in making my team feel heard and appreciated as well as taking on-board suggestions from the practice owners and requests from clients.
Being able to realize a plan to the end in a tenacious manner helps me to push others as well as myself and get results, even if those results are not always ideal, they still provide our practice with information and help us to grow.
Lastly, I’m brave enough to not shy away from discomfort: this takes the form of having difficult conversations and calling out individuals when I think they could be doing better.
How has the training you have engaged in with Lincoln Institute benefited your business?
Getting to be involved with Lincoln’s Emerging Leaders Program, Chrysalis Program and Year 3 of Lincoln’s Lead to Succeed Program has given me an arsenal of helpful strategies and tools to help not only push our practice to improve our working culture and financial success, but also for me to grow my own leadership skills such as listening, coaching, and goal setting.
Why is it important to the veterinary industry that these annual leadership awards are being given?
Recognizing and congratulating the feats of those who are able to set a great example is a fantastic thing.
It helps to bring a sense of camaraderie to all of our colleagues, to spotlight a few amazing people who have gone out of their way to focus on not only themselves and their own businesses, but building a better paradigm for all of their colleagues.
