One of the most significant benefits of VMG membership is the deep understanding members gain about their business: what drives it upward, what drags it down, and exactly what steps will help it grow. But knowing what to do and actually doing it are two different animals.
Execution is hard. The day-to-day pressure of running a practice, from seeing cases to managing staff and talking with clients, creates a whirlwind of activity that interferes with strategic thinking and needed improvements. You might face this dilemma daily. Despite knowing that forward booking would dramatically improve follow-up care and revenue, a chaotic day allows too many clients to leave without scheduling their next appointment. Patient care and practice finances suffer.
Have you identified an area of focus to strengthen your practice but struggled to put your plans into effect? VMG’s Professional Development Team has the solution. Its exclusive VMG Productivity Leagues program, a hands-on boot camp followed by three months of coached weekly leagues, gives members a world-class approach to implementing business strategy that creates lasting, positive change.
What is the VMG Productivity Leagues program?
The program is built on The 4 Disciplines of Execution®, a methodology for mastering business strategy and execution amid daily tumult.¹ Executives pay thousands of dollars to attend large training conferences to learn these disciplines.² But VMG members enjoy an exclusive, intimate experience: a two-day certification workshop and boot camp with just 30 people, all from VMG member clinics, led by Chris McChesney, co-author of The 4 Disciplines of Execution. More than a theoretical class, the boot camp is designed to support implementation. Following the workshop, attendees join a league: three months of weekly follow-ups with a specially trained Execution Coach to ensure the new habits stick.
Moving from the whirlwind to results
The VMG Productivity Leagues program helps each practice cut through the daily noise using four specific disciplines:
- Focus on one Wildly Important Goal. Instead of trying to change everything at once and hoping something works, the practice team selects one specific goal that will make a clear difference to patients and profitability. Past examples include forward booking rates and heartworm testing and prevention compliance.
- Act on Lead Measures. This discipline echoes the Pareto Principle: roughly 80% of results come from 20% of activities.³ It helps practices identify the key levers that will have the greatest impact and use those levers to make a difference.
- Engage practice staff with a scoreboard. Identifying goals and levers is only half of the process. You have to act. A visible scoreboard keeps the entire clinic team engaged and working toward the goal.
- Develop a sense of accountability. Weekly check-ins with other attendees highlight successes and gaps, allowing real-time adaptation and building success into the practice culture.
Real results from VMG members
The VMG Productivity Leagues program works. By applying the four disciplines, VMG members have seen significant improvements in patient care, financial metrics, and team culture.
- Explosive growth in forward booking. After Veterinary Practice Manager Carrie [LAST NAME] attended the boot camp, Best Pets Vet Hospital in Tewksbury, MA, increased its forward booking rate from 10% to 80%.
- Payment at time of service. After Business Manager Courtney Metz brought the four disciplines to The Animal Medical Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, the practice doubled the percentage of clients making a payment before leaving or by the end of the day.
- Cultural transformation. The program’s benefits go beyond the balance sheet. Missy Hagemann, Practice Manager at Maumee Bay Veterinary Hospital in Oregon, Ohio, saw a tremendous shift in morale: “I’m not even hearing the word burnout anymore; the morale and culture have just completely changed.”
Turn your goals into reality
As with all VMG courses, the magic lies in the combination of expert instruction and peer support. Attendees facing similar challenges in their own veterinary practices share solutions and support one another in weekly league calls facilitated by an expert coach.
If you’re ready to move beyond the “whirlwind” of your daily practice and achieve a Wildly Important Goal, don’t wait. Visit the Professional Development page on VetConnect and register yourself or a key team member for an upcoming series.
References
- McChesney, C., Covey, S., Huling, J., Walker, B., Thele, S. The 4 Disciplines of Execution. Simon & Schuster, 2021.
- FranklinCovey. “The 4 Disciplines of Execution.” Accessed 5 November 2025. https://www.franklincovey.com/courses/the-4-disciplines/
- Lavinsky, D. “Pareto Principle: How to Use It to Dramatically Grow Your Business.” Forbes.com. Published January 2014, updated July 2020. Accessed 3 December 2025. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davelavinsky/2014/01/20/pareto-principle-how-to-use-it-to-dramatically-grow-your-business/
