From patients to teams: Veterinary skills that make great leaders

On this week's episode of The Vet Blast Podcast presented by dvm360, our host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, welcomes Jennifer Edwards, DVM, ACC, CPC, ELI-MP, to chat about transferable skills veterinarians need for leadership roles. Throughout the episode, Christman and Edwards highlight the skills and traits effective leaders should highlight in their team members, the need for leaders to recognize and cultivate leadership abilities in their team members, and ways to create a culture of growth and success at your veterinary practice.

Below is a partial transcript, edited lightly for clarity.

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA: We also talk about in vet med about leadership positions and qualities that make a good leader. And you and I know we've been in this field for a long time, sometimes we'll see individuals be promoted just because they've been there for 5 years, or just because they've been there for 10 years, or maybe they have a potential relationship with someone and I'm curious to get your perspective in terms of what specific behaviors or qualities should we be looking for when we're trying to identify leadership potential in our teams?

Jennifer Edwards, DVM, ACC, CPC, ELI-MP: I agree with you that so often the best surgical tech or the person with the most seniority is put into that role, and while they may be good at that role, they also may not be and they, quite honestly, they may not even want it. The characteristics that I would recommend managers looking for are things like noticing, paying attention, kindness, being able to hold space for people, supporting people, tolerance, taking responsibility and not blaming. Yes, it's helpful if they also know a bit about what they're leading. Like say they're going to be leading the surgical team, probably is a good idea, that they have some skill, but they don't actually have to be the best surgical tech.

When you put people into leadership positions that either don't want to be there or have no leadership skills whatsoever, what happens is that the people that they're leading, they can become resentful. They can again start to feel like they don't matter, like they're unheard, and then you end up with disengagement. And from disengagement, it's just a downward spiral, and that's not anything a practice manager wants.

Yeah, I would say. And the other thing for team members is just to remember, from your perspective, you don't have to be the best surgical tech to want to be a leader that you know. Think about the imposter syndrome there that Well, who am I? Kind of shrinking back. You very well, maybe if you're kind, you're compassionate, and you care, period, you can become a great leader. It's all learnable. You just you need to want it, and you need to care about people.