Читать книгу Leadership in Veterinary Medicine - Clive Elwood - Страница 38

Leadership as a specific nontechnical discipline within veterinary training and professional development has a somewhat patchy coverage. There are a number of individuals who have gained specific training, e.g. in the context of a Master's in Business Administration, or as part of professional development in a higher education setting, as well as increasing numbers of training courses which may be short, and classroom based (often focussed on a particular sector or need) or longer and demanding experiential learning and reflective practice. The online Edward Jenner Veterinary Leadership Program developed by the RCVS in association with the NHS is one such example of the latter. In the US, the Veterinary Leadership Initiative provides a specific focus on leadership development (Crowley et al. 2019). Other US‐based initiatives have included leadership as an important development area for in higher education leadership roles (Lloyd et al. 2005, 2007, 2008). The Vet Futures initiative from the RCVS included ‘Exceptional Leadership’ as one of six areas of focus, and included in this identification, encouragement (including from diverse backgrounds), development, role‐signposting, mentoring, and life‐long learning of/for leaders and leadership. Further to this, the RCVS Leadership Initiative three‐year plan laid out specific projects designed to promote leadership development for all, ensure the RCVS is an exemplar of leadership and is fit to lead the profession and to highlight the range of leadership development opportunities for veterinary surgeons and nurses. As the 2019 Survey of the Veterinary Professions shows, there is much ground to cover (Robinson et al. 2019b).

There are a number of publications with a focus on veterinary business management where leadership is discussed as part of the necessary skill set. Klingborg et al. (2006) review leadership in the veterinary context and examine how leadership might be developed. Also from the USA come perspectives on, and studies of, outcomes of leadership development programs (Crowley et al. 2019). In their study of in‐practice leadership Pearson et al. (2018) recorded and interpreted the narratives of veterinary surgeons who had moved into practice leadership positions and suggest that this transition is a struggle that improves with time. Tindell et al. (2020) used analysis of semi‐structured interviews to examine enablers and motivations of women in veterinary leadership and concluded that participants wanted to influence change for themselves, including work‐life balance and developing their role, and for others through a position of influence. They wanted to inspire and mentor the future generation of leaders. External enablers allowed this transition to occur, including formal mentors and informal support systems, opportunities for growth and increased responsibility, and leadership training (Tindell et al. 2020).

The use of role models and their stories to inspire and encourage others into leadership is powerful, e.g. the RCVS' Inspiring Veterinary Leaders initiative. In the book Leaders of the Pack the authors share the leadership narratives of exemplary female veterinarians from a wide range of spheres including public health, education, and shelter medicine; this is an unusual and useful text where the focus is the varied and powerful personal stories (Kumble and Smith 2017). Focussing on the personal narrative emphasises that leadership is experienced individually, in a social context, and that no one point of view is ‘better’.

Compared to the vast literature on leadership, there is currently a very sparse evidence base for ‘leadership‐followership’, or other conceptions of collective leadership (Chapters 5 and 11) in a veterinary context. As the few studies show, leadership in veterinary medicine is a rich area for master's‐level teaching and research, with many intriguing questions to ask.