Trust Was There Before I Had A Label For It

By Rebecca Rose, RVT
Rebecca Rose Coaching, LLC – Gunnison, CO

Before we talk about leverage, accountability, or results, what veterinary teams are hungry for.

We MUST talk about trust.

Let me ask you a few questions:

• What does trust look like on a normal Tuesday afternoon in your practice?

• How do you know when it’s present?

• How do you feel when it’s missing?

• Who on your team do you trust without hesitation—and why?

Not the dictionary definition. Not the leadership book version. What does trust look like in motion, when the day is full and decisions are happening quickly?

When I graduated as a credentialed veterinary technician in 1987, I didn’t step into a brand-new team.

I already knew my doctors. I had worked with them in high school and through college. By the time I was hired as a new graduate, we had history. We had familiarity. We had rhythm.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that we also had trust—a solid foundation that had already been laid long before I had language for it.

At Town and Country Animal Hospital, Dr. Schick and I worked in true synergy. He could start a sentence in surgery, and the instrument was already in his hand before he finished speaking.

When we were heading out on farm calls, he’d glance at me and I’d say, “The truck’s ready. Packs are loaded. Backup is in place. It’ll take us about 40 minutes to get there.”

We didn’t talk about trust. We lived it. We had each other’s back.

That kind of ease—where people move together without friction—doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when reliability, clarity, and preparation are so consistent that trust becomes invisible.

When Trust Became Visible

It wasn’t until later in my career, when I began working with other veterinary teams, that I started to notice trust—especially when it was missing.

Veterinarians must be able to trust their team members—all of them—in order to practice at the level they want to practice.

And that trust doesn’t come from titles or credentials alone.

It comes from clarity and commitment.

Clarity about:

• The standard of care the veterinarian wants to deliver

• How that care is delivered within the team

• What ‘showing up prepared’ actually looks like in daily practice

And commitment from the team to meet those expectations—consistently.

Trust is built in micro-moments: articulating needs clearly, showing up present with purpose, following through, and doing quality work repeatedly.

When those moments stack, a pattern forms. That pattern becomes confidence. And confidence becomes trust.

Why I Start with What Trust Is Not

Most people can feel what trust isn’t long before they can describe what it is. So that’s where we start.

Teams often describe untrusting experiences as:

• Someone didn’t show up on time

• Follow-through was missing

• The quality of work wasn’t there

• Communication broke down

• Honesty was compromised

We don’t point fingers. We define the behavior.

Then we flip it. Trust becomes:

• Reliability

• Dependability

• Consistent quality

• Clear communication

• Preparation

• Integrity

• Confidence

Trust as the Launching Pad

Everything else builds on this foundation.

I trust my practice manager to hire people who fit our culture. I trust my veterinarian to be honest about the medicine they want to practice. Veterinary technicians and assistants trust that clarity will hold—even in chaos.

When trust is present, teams don’t just work harder. They work together. They move with precision. They move with rhythm.

Trust isn’t just one function among many. It is the foundation everything else stands on.