Alice Moore, of Garston Veterinary Group and XL Vets reports.
The team behind ‘Veterinary Women in Leadership’ (VWIL), a collaborative project between XLVets and Veterinary Woman, were delighted to be involved in BVA’s inaugural ‘BVA Live’ event at the NEC in Birmingham last month. VWIL were invited to host a panel discussion in the popular Business, Career & Debate theatre, and used the opportunity to provide a platform for inspirational female leaders to share their career stories.
There is plenty of evidence to show that having a role model is a key enabler of leadership development and for this reason mentorship and representation have always been at the very core of the VWIL project. The group offers access to a free network of mentors from across all sectors of the industry, and has hosted several successful online and in-person CPD and networking events since it was founded in 2020.
On this occasion the panel was made up of Jo Oakden RVN, Business Support Manager at Vet Partners, Eve Thomas MRCVS, Director of Builth Wells Veterinary Practice and Liz Munro MRCVS, Clinical Director at Palmerston Veterinary Group. The three panellists spent some time talking through their own career pathways before taking questions from the audience and facilitating discussion around the challenges facing women aspiring towards leadership.
Navigating the challenges of facing women aspiring towards leadership
Jo spoke first about how she navigated her journey from being an aspiring PE teacher at school to becoming the president of the British Veterinary Nursing Association in 2021, amongst many other impressive achievements. Jo talked about how her first leadership role, as a deputy head nurse in practice, demanded a high level of self-reflection and careful refinement of her communication skills. After the birth of her second child, Jo explained how post-natal depression prompted her to take a step back from veterinary nursing and how her subsequent stint in retail taught her a lot about customer service, as well as giving her the time and space to recover from a challenging period. Jo ended her talk by sharing three key pieces of advice; life doesn’t always take the path you expect it to, always be open to opportunities and never feel like you’re a failure.
Next to speak was Eve, who shared her experience of buying her own practice in rural Wales, mid-pandemic. Eve spoke honestly about the challenges she has faced over the past 2 years, including the tricky shift from team member to leader and the feelings of guilt associated with being a working parent. She highlighted the importance of recognising your own ‘essential needs’ which, for her, included having a good support network and business partner, a healthy work-life balance and maintaining a positive working environment. Eve demonstrated to the audience that, even when timing isn’t perfect, it’s important to seize rare opportunities when they arise and to believe in your own abilities.
Lastly, the audience heard from Liz, who spoke openly about her experiences as a veterinary surgeon returning from maternity leave. Liz spoke about the critical judgement that many mothers receive from others, regardless of whether they choose to return to work ‘full-time’, ‘part-time’ or not at all. She shared her fears of being ‘managed out’ by previous employers, compounded by a lack of appraisals and integration with the wider team, and a sense that newer, younger vets were being promoted above her. It was clear that many members of the audience could identify with these feelings and how they contributed to a lack of self-confidence and ‘imposter syndrome’. Liz went on to explain the value of mentorship and how her personal relationships and conversations with others had inspired her to take a more proactive approach towards her career progression. She shared a piece of advice that she’d received from Carolyne Crowe that had made a profound impression on her at the time; ‘the worst thing they can say is no and then you’re no worse off than you were before, the best thing they can say is yes and then you get what you want’. Like Eve, this prompted Liz to compose a list of essential needs that would help her hugely in navigating the path between work and parenthood.
“Life doesn’t always take the path you expect it to, always be open to opportunities and never feel like you’re a failure.”
Jo Oakden
Opening the floor to questions
Once Jo, Eve and Liz had shared their impressive career stories, the floor was opened up for questions. The first point for discussion was, unsurprisingly, around the importance of role models. Jo acknowledged the effect of unconscious influences throughout her career, both positive and negative, and emphasised the importance of having a trusted, critical friend to turn to for advice. Eve strongly advocated the XLVet community, of which her practice is part of, and was full of praise for the support and guidance that she has received from fellow professionals in the group during her leadership journey.
The conversation then turned towards gender bias and how it inhibits female progression within the profession. It cannot go unsaid that despite the increasing ‘feminisation’ of the profession, women are still under-represented at leadership level, and the panel recognised the lack of equal opportunity for practice partnership as an example of this. Jo revealed that she had often remained silent on family life in the workplace because she was concerned that motherhood would be perceived as a weakness by others. She related this to issues such as the menopause and called on the audience to help ensure that these conversations were being had amongst colleagues.
Wider societal issues
The discussion then centred on some of the wider societal issues affecting women in leadership and, in particular, the need for flexible roles. As a ‘part-time’ clinical director, Liz stressed the importance of having a strong network of collaborative leaders within a business, especially when spread across multiple sites. She advised open communication, strict time management and effective delegation strategies. The panel acknowledged that an increase in flexible working requests was arguably accelerated by the feminisation of the profession over recent years, but that this was a reflection of broader cultural inequalities that exist around the distribution of childcare between men and women. The audience called for legislative reform and practice policies to move in line with the cultural shift towards gender equality, including the omission of gender pronouns from legal documents and the adequate provision of parental leave in partnership agreements.
“The worst thing they can say is no and then you’re no worse off than you were before, the best thing they can say is yes and then you get what you want.”
Carolyne Crowe
The session concluded with the panellists answering a question from the audience asking how each of them are inspiring the next generation of veterinary women in leadership. Jo referenced her roles at BVNA and as chair of the diversity, inclusivity and widening participation group; Liz spoke about being a STEM ambassador for school children and her sense of responsibility towards her daughter’s generation; and Eve explained how she continually strives to lead her team by example and nurtures a give-and-take ethos that ensures flexibility and understanding for everyone. But regardless of these admirable ambitions, the fact that these three women chose to stand on stage and share their leadership journeys was true testament to their vision and value within the VWIL community and there is no doubt that they will continue to inspire women and men with their achievements for a long time to come.
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