I’ve always loved the story of the three stonecutters building St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. As the story goes, Sir Christopher Wren, the famous architect, was walking among the workers who were building the cathedral and he spoke to three of them.
To each stone cutter Sir Christopher asked the same question: “What are you doing?” The first man he spoke to replied harshly, “I’m cutting this stone, obviously. It’s tedious, hard work.” The second man paused, wiping his brow, and said “I’m cutting this stone to earn money to feed my family. This is how I provide.” When Sir Christopher asked the third worker what he was doing, the man stopped and gave him a huge smile. “I’m building the world’s greatest cathedral and it will inspire generations!”
All three workers were doing the same job, but the reason they worked was different. The experiences these three people had while building were disparate, and I suspect that the quality of their work was divergent as well.
In my career, I have been truly blessed to be able to support the people of veterinary medicine as they serve pets and people. Although I have talked and written all about the business and management side of veterinary medicine, I’ve never seen myself as someone who celebrates business or management. Instead, I’ve always tried my absolute best to support people who are taking ownership of their own lives and careers. The best way I have found to do this is by teaching and talking about business and management.
The idea that I might be able to lift the burden for someone who is struggling by sharing a lesson I have learned, making them laugh, or just letting them know they are not alone inspires me to keep writing and sharing. In helping those who work in this profession, I see myself as the joyful third stone cutter, building a majestic cathedral.
While the desire to make the lives of my veterinary colleagues better almost never wanes, I do often wonder if what I am saying is actually helpful to people. I strive to share lessons, humor, and reassurance that they are not alone, yet the question of whether I’m truly delivering a valuable service always lingers. And it is with this uncertainty that I try to keep sharing and creating to serve the people I care about.
Earlier this week, I was informed that I was voted “Speaker of the Year” at the VMX conference for Practice Management. VMX is the largest veterinary conference in the world, and I was honored to be invited to lecture there back in January. To have the people who attended my talks vote for me feels like a direct message that what I’m sharing is helpful, and that I am delivering a valuable service. This reassurance means the world to me.
I am going to continue to do what I can to help people in our profession turn their jobs into the careers they want and to find meaning in their work. I want to thank all of you who voted for me to receive this award, and who give me words of encouragement by email, online, or in person.
I feel truly grateful to be a part of the veterinary profession, and I look forward to continuing this journey alongside all of you. Thank you for making this work so incredibly rewarding.
