Meet Andy Adler, Director at Aidos Advisory

Andy please describe your current role and professional interests?

I currently run my own business, Aidos Advisory, working with vet practices on their management and strategic planning, leading to sustainable local ownership. I spend the other half of my time working with farming organisations on their journey to a sustainable future.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I do not have a typical day! If I am at home I will be either behind a computer screen or talking to clients. I coach various business leaders and am viewed as an 'external ear' for internal problems. I am also a director of Farm Carbon Toolkit, so I spend time supporting the CEO and attending meetings. If I am in practice or an organisation, I am normally facilitating conversations about the future of business and how to deliver a sustainable farming system. We constantly think about the environment of an organisation and how we can change their context to meet the needs of the future.

What is your favourite part of the job?

Finding the right challenging question to allow the people I speak to change their mindset.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

I guess twofold.

1. I often find myself as the fulcrum of people's disputes, and the energy to facilitate conversations and reach a resolution can be challenging.
2. I am now a generalist in a specialist world. Being able to market my skills and be clear about what I bring to organisations is hard. I know that once I am in the door I always stay there as long as there is fit. Getting a foot in the door is not my great skill set!

Do you have any tips for achieving a good work-life balance?

I do not believe you can achieve a work-life balance. I work in my life and live in my work. For me it is all about what I prioritise and when. When my kids were very young I did an MBA, when my children were much older I changed my career to support them. ( I am definitely not a baby person) I have been fortunate to have a strong marriage and we have supported our different learning at different times.

I prefer the idea of a career balance. At different times in my career, I have prioritised different things - making money, learning and intellectual advancement, and family. Currently, my priority is creating my own business and delivering a sustainable future

How do veterinary professionals currently help to drive sustainability?

Good question. We are carers by nature. We were taught to care about animals, and now the planet needs healing, so we can care about that, too. Vets have big engines (brains), so they can deal with a multitude of complexities, which is what sustainability is. It is a conversation with many different challenges and contexts. We can find data to make agreements and be humble enough to know that we do not know much (well some vets can!)

On a practical level, farm vets can work with farmers on animal health and welfare. We can also improve efficiency, although we struggle with what effectiveness actually is. In my view effectiveness is more important. Having a balanced scorecard approach to success which involves profit, animal welfare, carbon, energy and community is a much harder conversation. To challenge farmers to think about whether they are doing what they can for sustainability- Carbon, Energy, food, nature, water.

What do you feel are the major opportunities to drive sustainability in the veterinary sector?

Within the vet sector- plastic, anaesthetic gases, fuel use, business management, financial management.

External to the sector- Agriculture and allowing farms to become efficient and understand their context to support their journey to a sustainable future.

What are your top tips for veterinary professionals wishing to take the first steps to drive sustainability in their roles?

Just do it. Have conversations- be humble and ask to learn what people think and want in a future world. We are all on a journey with an unclear destination. We are not experts in the future because no one is. Enjoy experimenting and being entrepreneurs of the future.

If you could wave a magic wand and make one improvement to drive the sustainability impact of the veterinary profession, what would it be?

We could accept we are not experts on the future, and we could be humble enough to ask for help and create collaborative conversations that explore the future.