At the recent American Association
of Veterinary Medical Colleges Veterinary and Health Wellness Summit, Gene
Crumley, Director of Leadership Development at the UC Davis School of Medicine,
gave a keynote presentation on organizational leadership. He addressed the
importance of leaders having a strong
ethical compass, a sense of stewardship, a need to attend to the culture of the
organization, a need to maintain a healthy sense of curiosity, and finally,
demonstrating “courageous vulnerability.” What a gutsy term -- courageous
vulnerability!
I interviewed a couple of American
Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) leaders about the summit in general and
Crumley's statement in particular. Thomas Meyer, DVM, AVMA President, agreed
with Crumley, saying, “What needs to be woven into organizations is a culture
that allows people to admit their mistakes without fear of punishment.” The
only way that will happen is if leaders are courageous and vulnerable enough to
speak up and admit when they make mistakes and praise their associates and
staff for following suit.
In fact, honesty and vulnerability
can be frightening when practiced. People need to be supported when they act
courageously like that. The result is tremendous strength.
Also in agreement with Crumley, Janet
Donlin, DVM, AVMA CEO, said, “Transparency, honesty, ethics; these we hold dear
in veterinary medicine.” Isn't that a wonderful statement?
Donlin suggested collaboration is
essential for the profession to continue progress, hence her participation in
the Veterinary Wellness Steering Committee along with Adrian Hochstadt (AVMA),
Mike Cavanaugh (AAHA), Libby Wallace (AVMA LIFE), Christine Jenkins ( Zoetis),
Doug Aspros (AVMA PLIT), Ted Mashima (AAVMC), Laurie Fonken (CSU), Kathy Ruby
(WSU), Jen Brandt (OSU), Ralph Johnson (VMAE), Mia Cary (NAVC), Mark Olson
(AAVSB), David Little (WVC), Christine Shupe (VHMA), and Rebecca Rose (NAVTA).
I hope these leaders can display
courageous vulnerability, transparency, and honesty as they work together to
face the current situation that the veterinary profession is in. I imagine many
of these leaders realize that our prior tendency to stick our heads in the sand
because impairment of veterinary professionals is a sensitive subject didn't
work. I hope our leaders continue to move forward and truly address our
problems.
There is an ongoing stigma in our
society and our profession that deters individuals from seeking help for mental
health disorders including depression and substance use disorder and addressing
other problems such as financial difficulties, compassion fatigue, and burnout.
That stigma is pervasive and entrenched. Certainly having leaders step up,
admit the difficulties they've faced, and describe what recovery from those
difficulties has looked like will help reduce stigma. Recently the veterinary
profession has shown a tremendous willingness to change and fully address
wellbeing. I am quite hopeful that this willingness will continue.
This post expands on information provided in this dvm360 article, AAVMC wellness summit: Progress made and a path forward.
