Join Strategic Leaders Today and Become the Leader Your Team Deserves
Strategic Leaders is our flagship training program for veterinary professionals who are seeking the skills to fix staff drama, overcome overwhelm and propel their practice to the next level with a crystal clear vision supported by the right team.
Learn and develop the tools to build an awesome culture in your veterinary practice
Grow the skills needed to run a successful and profitable veterinary practice
Join our growing Veterinary Leadership Community
Download our free brochure to learn more about my Strategic Leaders course.
Strategic Leaders
For practice owners who want to create harmonious, stable work places delivering emotional, financial and clinical success
What will you get?
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30+ hours of on-demand continuing education
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Weekly group coaching by Dr. Dave Nicol
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Actionable toolkits, resources, and bonus content to ensure your success
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Networking via our growing Veterinary Leadership Academy community forum.
What will you learn?
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How to create and implement your vision of practice success
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The skills and frameworks you need to lead your team and manage your business
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How to build a team that supports your vision and how to identify and attract the key hires who will help you achieve success
Questions? Contact support
Course Curriculum
As a Strategic Leaders community member, Dr. Dave Nicol will take you through the 4 critical areas needed for you to create an efficient and happy team: Vision & Strategy, Performance Management, Hiring and Leadership.
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These on-demand video resources, combined with the toolkits and weekly coaching sessions provide everything a modern veterinary leader needs to build a flourishing veterinary practice.
Vision & Strategy
Creating Your Vision Statement
Every well-led business has a clearly articulated vision. This is job one for every Leader yet very few practices have this in place. In this module, you’ll learn how to craft a vision statement that works.
Module Length:
1.5 Hours
Study Time:
3 Hours
Vision & Strategy
Execution: Turning Your Vision Into Reality
Vision without execution is called hallucination. In this session, you’ll learn how to bring your vision to life and weave it through the fabric of your business.
Module Length:
1.5 Hours
Study Time:
1 Hour
Performance Management
Values & Behavior Statements
Successful practices understand values and how they drive behaviour. They can articulate these and use them to drive good behaviors and outcomes. You’ll learn how and create your own in this module.
Module Length:
1.5 Hours
Study Time:
1 Hour
Performance Management
Triple Loop Leadership and Feedback
Based on clear communication, regular check-in and good feedback, this system takes all the stress out of performance management.
Module Length:
1.5 Hours
Study Time:
1 Hour
Performance Management
Objectives & Measures
Most individuals do not have a clear expectation of what work they are expected to complete and to what standard. This is remedied by having clear written objectives for each position.
Module Length:
1.5 Hours
Study Time:
1 Hour
Performance Management
Handling Difficult Employees
Understanding human needs and communication preferences is essential for all leaders. Once we understand more about how people work, managing them (even the difficult ones) gets easier.
Module Length:
1.5 Hours
Study Time:
1 Hour
Hiring
The Personal Profile (AKA Avatar)
Mistake number one is not creating the avatar of your perfect team member for each role. We’ll talk about how to build your avatars then use the details to inform the rest of the hiring process.
Module Length:
1 Hour
Study Time:
1 Hour
Hiring
The Selection Process
Using testing is a smart way to rule candidates in or out fairly. And most people have no idea how to perform an effective interview. In this session, you’ll learn how to create selection test processes and perform highly effective interviews.
Module Length:
1.5 Hours
Study Time:
1 Hour
Hiring
Writing And Using Job Adverts That Get Responses
How do you write a good job advert that gets results? We answer this question during this session and will have you writing job ads that help attract the right applicant while putting off all the others.
Module Length:
2 Hours
Study Time:
2 Hours
Hiring
Onboarding For Success
When you hire someone, the job is not done. In fact, it’s just getting started because you still have to get them up to speed fast. In this session, we focus on onboarding new team members, so they become effective fast.
Module Length:
1.5 Hours
Study Time:
1 Hour
Leadership
Ten Principles For Leadership Success
Leaders need a toolkit for success. In this presentation, we’ll focus on the fundamental principles of how to be a good leader and how you should use them.
Module Length:
1.5 Hours
Study Time:
2 Hours
Leadership
The Generational Divide
Generational shift is occurring and it’s causing problems in the workforce. Understanding & overcoming these issues is essential for anyone building a team.
Module Length:
1 Hour
Study Time:
1 Hour
Leadership
Time Management Mastery
Time management is something we all struggle with. In this eye-opening session, you’ll learn how to create 500 quality hours extra each year with some minimal habit changes.
Module Length:
1.5 Hours
Study Time:
45 Minutes
Leadership
Positivity, Beating F.E.A.R & Avoiding Burnout
How do we toughen our minds so we can show up as the best version of ourselves each day? We’ll formulate your mental toughness plan in this session.
Module Length:
1 Hour
Study Time:
1 Hour
Weekly Group Coaching Sessions with Veterinary Leadership Expert Dr. Dave to Help Get You Unstuck
Get expert advice on how to approach difficult leadership challenges
Meet and share ideas with other like-minded veterinary leaders
Ask questions about the course content and make the material directly relevant to your practice
Take part from anywhere in the world, in any time zone with questions submitted in advance and recordings of each session available to all members
Peer Support from Our Veterinary Leadership Community
Meet and share ideas with other like-minded veterinary leaders, ask questions about the course content and make the material directly relevant to your practice, get expert advice on how to approach difficult leadership challenges—all from anywhere in the world, in any time zone.
Meet Your Instructor
Dr Dave Nicol is a highly experienced veterinarian with more than 25 years experience in general practice. He is renowned for expertise in running successful and sustainable veterinary practices. He owns Roundwood Vets and Roundwood Pet Hospice & In-home Euthanasia. Both are values-led organisations where culture comes first.
Dr Dave is a prolific author who has written three books, including "So You're A Vet...Now What?"—an essential read for new graduate vets. He has also written hundreds of influential articles and blogs, most recently a chapter on leadership for the prestigious Veterinary Clinics of North America.
Dr Dave is one of the original podcasters of vet med, hosting both "Blunt Dissection" and "The Veterinary Leadership Success Show," which have been downloaded more than 300,000 times.
He was voted VMX's Practice Management Speaker of the Year in both 2019 and 2024.
Away from veterinary medicine, Dr Dave is a competitive triathlete and was selected to represent Great Britain in the Triathlon European Championships in 2024.
Dr. Dave Nicol
BVMS Cert Mgmt MRCVS
Who Is Strategic Leaders For?
Practice
Owners
Practice Managers
This course is specifally for your senior leadership team, those who are completely comitted to the success of your practice. We recommend an owner and practice manager take this class together for maximum efficacy.
Subscriptions cost $350/person per month*
Multi-person discounts apply
Academy Highlight
"We’ve grown from five people to 19 and more than doubled our revenue. That growth would have been unmanageable without the tools and structure we got from the course."
Dr. Casandra Fowler, owner of Harmony Animal Hospital, turned to the Veterinary Leadership Academy to overcome staff drama and regain focus on her growing practice. With her manager, Denise, she built leadership skills, eliminated toxicity, and boosted revenue by 250%. Now, they thrive and inspire others in the Academy community.​