10 communication skills for effective leadership

Discover 10 communication skills to add to your personal toolbox to help you become a more effective leader. Come away with specific questions and phrases you can put to use immediately. Understand how being curious and hearing others’ perspectives can help you be more effective as a leader, whether in clinical practice, organized veterinary medicine, or everyday life. 

This session originally was presented at AVMA’s 2025 Veterinary Leadership Conference.

Learning objectives:

• Develop a toolbox of communication skills that will help you become a more effective leader.
• Explore a set of open-ended questions and reflective listening techniques that will help you better understand your colleagues’ needs and support their growth as leaders.
• Understand how curiosity and communication can empower you and those around you to navigate challenges and change.

Dr. Wendy Weirich received her DVM from Michigan State University and her MSc from The University of London Royal Veterinary College. She has worked in various capacities, including small animal medicine, sales, marketing, training, clinical studies, and animal welfare. As a professional consulting veterinarian at Hill’s Pet Nutrition, she works with veterinary specialty practices to keep them up to date on the latest advances in veterinary nutrition and provides technical support for the mid-Atlantic market area team. She has a passion for growing leadership skills and improving patient outcomes through effective communication. She is a certified facilitator in the DiSC® (dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness) personality assessment, and a trained veterinary communication coach. She facilitates communication skills and styles workshops for veterinary health care teams in specialty and primary care practices around the country.

Dr. Weirich has held several leadership roles at the D.C. Academy of Veterinary Medicine including president, vice president, director, and speaker program chair. She has served on the board of directors for the American Association of Industry Veterinarians (AAIV) and as AAIV’s primary representative to the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee. She is a coach for the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine‘s FRANK Communication Workshop series.

Outside of work, Dr. Weirich enjoys spending time with her family and farm animal pets on her farm in Virginia where she also practices pottery and soap making skills.