Inspiring Veterinary Leaders

A showcase of diverse roles and experience 

At Royal College Day 2019 we launched a showcase of diverse roles and experience highlighting some of the veterinary leaders of today and tomorrow.

The Inspiring Veterinary Leaders campaign takes a look at 12 veterinary professionals and their different leadership journeys, each of which can be viewed from our dedicated showcase page. Each of the participants is featured in the video below and have shared their leadership stories to demonstrate how diverse these roles can be. 

The campaign falls under the broader RCVS Leadership initiative that was launched in 2018. The initiative, which had the central aim of determinedly putting leadership at the heart of the veterinary professions, was prompted by findings from the Vet Futures project, which revealed concerns about the number and profile of veterinary professional stepping forward into leadership roles.

Reflecting its importance, the leadership theme formed a core part of Amanda Boag’s RCVS presidency.

Speaking of the project Amanda said: 

Vet professionals are almost invariably all leaders, but we are not always good at recognising and promoting this. The RCVS wants to celebrate leaders from across the vet and vet nursing professions, including both those leading every day in their workplaces, as well as those in traditional leadership roles. We want to highlight our qualities as both people and professionals, and emphasise our need to recognise these qualities and, through that, give us all the confidence to take up leadership roles.

The 12 veterinary professionals we showcase here all display inspiring leadership and demonstrate the diverse roles that exist in vet settings.

In our selection of these 12 people we have shown that leadership is not something that belongs only to those who are senior, or those who wear a fancy chain of office around their neck. We believe leadership is something that is ongoing, and something that can be demonstrated at any stage of their career. We want young vets to know what good leadership looks like, and have the confidence to call things out when they are not right."

One of the key strands of the leadership initiative is Tomorrow’s leaders. This seeks to highlight the diverse range of leadership development opportunities for vet surgeons and nurses, the roles and positions that these could lead to, and the impact they could have on the future of the professions.

This Inspiring Veterinary Leaders campaign pursues this objective by bringing together into a series 12 interviews with veterinary professionals that tell a story of how there is no archetypal leader, leadership role, or traditional route to becoming a leader in our professions.

The stories present an honest portrait of the true essence of leadership. Most of all it proves how the qualities that underpin good leadership – such as vision, communication and managing uncertainty – are habitually present in almost all vet professionals – and at every career stage, not merely by those who are senior. The challenge is ensuring that these qualities are recognised and nurtured so that they can offer the confidence needed to encourage the take up of leadership roles.