How openness and vulnerability can strengthen veterinary teams

Trust is the foundation of effective leadership, according to Anita Patel, DVM, senior director of clinical excellence at IndeVets. During the 2026 AVMA Convention in Anaheim, California, Patel spoke with dvm360 about communication strategies that can help veterinary leaders build stronger, more aligned teams. In this video, she discusses why vulnerability, openness to feedback, and acknowledging uncertainty can foster trust, encourage accountability, and empower team members to contribute their own ideas.

Below is the transcript, which has been lightly edited for clarity.

dvm360: What communication strategies can help leaders create alignment and trust among diverse veterinary teams?

Anita Patel, DVM: So, the basis of that is trust, and how do you gain trust with your team? The first step is vulnerability. As a leader, you have to be able to acknowledge your own failures, or acknowledge where maybe you don't know what the right answer is, because then you open your team up to feeling we're human. We're not perfect, and when you can show that you're also human and that there's things that you're not always going to do right, or that maybe you need your team to come to you and open your eyes to, then you're leaving space for them to do the same thing.

And so when you build that trust because you can show your own vulnerability, you come from a place of leadership where you do a much better job of empowering others to take accountability and take the lead and ownership of something, versus just going through the motions or doing what you've asked. You allow them to come to the table with their own ideas, which is always going to get you a better product or a better path or whatever it is you're looking for.

When you can make sure that you've created that foundation and that space for others to come to you, the basis of that is leading with vulnerability and the ability to welcome feedback from your team, and doing it early and often both ways. I think that that fosters the trust you need to do that.