Finding the Human Edge
From everyday missteps to meaningful repairs, human behavior expert Colette Carlson shares how veterinary professionals can strengthen relationships through simple communication shifts.
There is an incredible amount that today’s advancements in technology and science can do for us. Technology can make us faster, and science can make us smarter.
Yet neither automatically makes us better at human connection, said Colette Carson, a human behavior expert, CPAE Hall of Fame keynote speaker and founder of Speak Your Truth, Inc.
And that’s where a philosophy she has defined as The Human Edge lives.
Carlson has spent more than two decades helping leaders, sales professionals and organizations strengthen communication, build trust and improve workplace performance.
The Human Edge is built on the idea that while technology and artificial intelligence continue to transform business, the qualities that create lasting success remain uniquely human. She argues that organizations gain a competitive advantage by fostering trust, empathy, emotional intelligence, resilience and authentic connection — skills that AI cannot replicate.
Through The Human Edge, Carlson teaches leaders and teams how to build high-trust cultures, improve collaboration, strengthen customer relationships and create workplaces where people feel seen, valued and engaged. Her message is that meaningful human connection is not a soft skill, but a critical business strategy that drives stronger performance, innovation, and long-term success.
“In veterinary medicine, The Human Edge is what happens between the expertise,” she said. “It’s the veterinarian who notices the worried owner isn’t just asking about a procedure, they’re looking for reassurance. It’s the outside sales rep who doesn’t just present products but understands the pressure a clinic team is under and adapts accordingly. Or, the internal team offering additional products and services to clients by way of a powerful story versus just features.”
The irony isn’t lost on Colette. “The more technology enters the workplace, the more valuable human skills become.”
In everyday practice, ‘The Human Edge’ looks like emotional intelligence, curiosity, empathy, and communication that helps people feel seen, understood and respected.
In sales conversations, it means shifting from “What do I need to say?” to “What does this person need right now?”
“People rarely remember every fact you shared,” she said. “They remember how you made a hard day easier, a decision clearer, or a stressful moment feel manageable.”
Trust built in the small moments
According to Carlson, trust rarely unravels because of a single major incident. More often, it erodes gradually through everyday interactions: rushed conversations, unspoken assumptions, dismissive responses or feedback that feels more critical than constructive. In busy veterinary practices and even business organizations, where team members juggle demanding schedules, emotional cases, and frequent client interactions, these seemingly minor moments can quietly damage workplace relationships if they go unaddressed.
The good news, Carlson said, is that trust can often be restored just as quickly through authentic communication. Rather than becoming defensive or focusing solely on intent, she encourages people to acknowledge how their words or actions affected others. “That wasn’t my intention, yet I can see how it landed that way,” is a simple but powerful response that validates another person’s experience and opens the door to productive dialogue.
“And in veterinary settings, where emotions, pressure, and fatigue run high, small relational repairs matter enormously,” she said. “A two-minute conversation can prevent two months of resentment.”
Ways to Stay Connected
For veterinary sales reps, who often operate under intense time pressure, there are a few practical ways reps can stay emotionally present and connected when they’re stressed or rushed. “First, we need to stop pretending things are going to slow down at some point and we can catch up,” Carlson said. Staying connected and present doesn’t require more minutes, it requires more intention.
She offered three practical shifts:
1. “Check in” rather than “Check up”
Instead of: “How are things going?”
Ask: “What’s been on your mind lately?”
Checking up is transactional, whereas checking in is relational. Better questions create better conversations.
2. Use the power of the pause.
Before walking into a room, appointment or client conversation, take one intentional breath and ask: “How do I want this person to feel after interacting with me?”
Thirty seconds of intention changes the interaction.
3. Listen for emotion, not just information.
People often tell you how they’re doing sideways: “It’s been one of those weeks.”
That’s not small talk. That’s an opening, Carlson said. “Emotionally present people don’t necessarily have more bandwidth, they simply notice more.”
Communication is not ‘soft’
Carlson believes it’s time to retire the phrase soft skills. Nothing about handling conflict, earning trust, influencing decisions, retaining clients or reducing turnover is soft, she said. “These are business skills.”
Leaders get more traction when they stop teaching communication as theory and start teaching it as performance. Ask:
- What communication habits create better client outcomes?
- Which phrases escalate tension?
- What behaviors build trust with stressed pet owners?
- What does excellence sound like?
Then make communication observable and measurable.
For example, instead of “Be more empathetic,” Carson recommends asking one deeper follow-up question before offering a solution. “One of my core teachings is that connection lives in the follow-up question.”
Small behavioral shifts beat inspirational speeches every time. “And when you witness someone on your team using best practices, be deliberate in acknowledging them with a genuine, specific compliment,” she said. “‘Adam, I noticed you stayed calm and composed during that challenging billing conversation with our client.’ You allowed her to feel heard, yet remained firm on our practices.”
And if leaders want teams to prioritize communication, they have to model it. Teams don’t follow what leaders say; they follow what leaders repeatedly demonstrate under pressure.
Moving beyond transactional
Transactional conversations focus on products, whereas partnership conversations focus on problems, Carlson said.
A transactional rep thinks: “How do I position my solution?”
A trusted partner thinks: “What pressure is this person carrying that I may not fully understand?”
The best sales professionals ask better questions, listen longer and resist the urge to solve too quickly. After all, people trust people who understand their world. As important, long-term partnerships and loyalty demand that a rep stays connected in the smallest of ways that shows they genuinely care.
“Especially in veterinary medicine, where teams are stretched thin, loyalty grows when someone consistently brings insight, reliability, and empathy, not just inventory,” she said.
The strongest partnerships are built when clients feel: “You understand my challenges, and you genuinely care about helping me succeed.”
Begin with curiosity
For veterinary sales professionals, Carlson believes success isn’t defined by how quickly they demonstrate expertise, but by how effectively they build relationships. She encourages new reps to spend their first 90 days mastering curiosity before credibility by asking thoughtful questions and seeking to understand the unique challenges veterinary teams face before offering solutions.
She also stressed the importance of recognizing the emotional realities of veterinary practice — from compassion fatigue and staffing shortages to difficult client conversations — and appreciating how those pressures influence every interaction. Above all, she said, follow-through matters. Reliability, whether it’s returning a phone call when promised or delivering on a commitment, creates trust that outlasts any sales presentation.
As a final takeaway, Carlson suggested a simple habit that anyone can adopt immediately: replace assumptions with curiosity. Instead of labeling someone as difficult or disengaged, pause to consider what unseen pressures they may be experiencing. Better yet, ask one meaningful question each day that encourages someone to share more about their perspective. Those moments of genuine curiosity foster stronger connections, deepen trust and ultimately increase influence.
Questions build connection faster than answers. Because people are far more influenced by those who make them feel heard than those who simply sound smart.
“Remember, in veterinary medicine, people may come in for the animal, yet trust is built through the human experience surrounding the care,” she said. “That’s The Human Edge.”
Colette Carlson is a human behavior expert, keynote speaker, and founder of The Human Edge, helping leaders and teams strengthen trust, communication, and connection in an increasingly tech-driven world. Learn more at colettecarlson.com
Photo Credit:
istockphoto.com/Halfpoint
