Читать книгу Leadership in Veterinary Medicine - Clive Elwood - Страница 34

How does this perspective help understand the veterinary professions? Following the logic of Hafferty and Castellani (2010), who examine the medical professions from a systems perspective, the unconscious and contradictory forces that are at play, and the resultant types of professional(ism), the veterinary professions might readily be viewed as existing within a complex open system. Hafferty and Castellani (2010) identified 10 key aspects of human medical work (altruism, autonomy, commercialism, personal morality, interpersonal competence, lifestyle, professional dominance, social justice, social contract, and technical competence) and then arranged these within different clusters to identify seven types of professionalism. The authors emphasise that these key aspects of medical work and types of professionalism are not the only ones worth examining and, extrapolating from studies of veterinary professional identity I have added a ‘relational’ archetype (Armitage‐Chan and May 2018; Hamilton 2018). The resultant role complexity is too great for any individual to hold and suggests it is right that we should respect similar diversity of purpose, values, and primary task in the veterinary professions (Table 2.1). A failure to examine, understand, and accept this might underlie some of the dynamic tensions that repeatedly play out as a result of inevitable conflict between differing, yet equally valid, professional stances.

This might all seem a bit ‘unnecessary’ and ‘wishy‐washy’ (‘Just tell me how to lead’, I hear you cry), but it is important to consider the deeper systemic and unconscious forces that might be at play. Understanding drivers of the diverse behaviours, values, and attitudes around us can help with leading effectively and understanding why it can be so difficult at times.