The Race

A note from EVT coeditor in chief, Kathleen Ruby: At EVT, we believe that everyone in the profession can and should be a leader. No matter where you sit on your team, or in your practice, you have the power to make a positive difference. Whether it is deciding to smile or treat coworkers with kindness, OR create a transformation that changes the entire way your practice functions, you can find a way to be a difference maker.

One of the guiding values of our publication is the concept of Servant Leadership. We think that this leadership paradigm mirrors the honor and commitment of the "calling" to the life of medical caregiver.

Servant Leaders make the world a better place, no matter where they reside. They use their gifts, and their presence to lift up and celebrate the people around them. They look through the behaviors, actions and missteps of the people in their world, to see the remarkable human beings residing underneath. This affirmative awareness calls to the best in people.

I've known Dr. Aubrey Lavizzo for the past 4 years and have worked with him in a number of capacities. He sees the world through the eyes of a Servant Leader. I can't help but see myself as a better person when I'm in his presence. When I endeavor to describe the prototype of the Servant Leader to others, it is Dr. Aubrey that I see in my mind's eye.

In the following blog, Aubrey shares a short vignette of a transformational relationship that I've had the honor of observing for the past few years. He illustrates how one man (or woman) can make a difference through a willingness to reach out to another. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did...but then I actually got to see Eli's shining eyes first-hand.

The Race

From the start, the challenger led most of the way, the defending champion a few yards behind to his left. But the champion seemed unfocused as they approached the last hundred yards; maybe the hype of this year's race and the scattering of his admiring, cheering fans distracted him from his goal: three-time winner of the annual VLE Challenge Race.

Then, as we turned onto the short but steep gravel road just before a turn left onto flat blacktop a little over a hundred yards from the finish, I could sense him reengage and I felt him as he quietly closed the gap, still on my left. I smiled as I thought, "Now the race is really on!"

Elijah Selzer and I met in 2007 during the annual AVMA Veterinary Leadership Experience at the Ross Point Camp and Conference Center, nestled among stately lodgepole pines on the Spokane River in Post Falls, Idaho. Eli was 6-years-old with a 6-year-old's bright smile, respectful inquisitiveness, and eyes Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor and “Art of Possibility” author Ben Zander would exclaim "shining!" Eli's parents are the “keepers of the kitchen” and year-round residents at the camp, and I'd heard from his brother, Isaac, that Eli enjoyed running. As a running aficionado and former marathoner, I struck a conversation with Eli about our mutual interest. That conversation led to the 1st VLE Challenge Race in 2008. Over the years, Eli and I shared our thoughts about our love of running and how its discipline helped us achieve our goals.

I remember the awestruck look on Eli's face that day in 2007 as we stood talking just outside the conference center where 150+ veterinary students, veterinarians of all disciplines, veterinary faculty members and administrators, animal health industry leaders, NCVEI/AAVMC/AAHA /AVMA leaders, and VLE facilitators and faculty had gathered, selected by their respective organizations and schools from around the world, to participate in the annual retreat that is the AVMA Veterinary Leadership Experience.

The AVMA VLE was created in 2003 "to strengthen the intrinsic leadership potential of participants through an interactive curriculum designed to encourage and promote personal transformation. Students (participants) can be exposed to learning experiences and curricula that are likely to promote character development and the enhancement of nontechnical (professional) competencies, including emotional intelligence, professionalism, communication, teamwork, leadership, wisdom, and creativity."

Wow. Sounds like some Don Quixote's off tilting at windmills, doesn't it?

In 2006, I, a seasoned, cynical, somewhat jaded veteran of small animal practice, found myself a participant in the Gamma AVMA VLE class, thanks to a serendipitous meeting with VLE founders Rick DeBowes and Kathy Ruby. Long before then, I had lost my way, my purpose, in our most noble profession and for years, I struggled to regain a sense of self, of self-worth, in a world whose mantra and message had become the solitary, paralyzing command: "Produce!"

The positive, powerful, and empowering lessons of VLE renewed my commitment to the profession, particularly to our students who stand taller upon our shoulders, if we let them, and VLE restored my belief in the noble concept of service upon which the profession was founded over 4,000 years ago. And I have returned as a sponsor and as a facilitator every year to pass forward VLE's gifts. VLE was, and is, life-changing. It's clear, unequivocal message is this: we create our future by the choices we make. As our profession, community, society, and world become increasingly interdependent, our choices become ripples in an ever-widening pond. Wise choice then, is the fruit of altruistic emotional intelligence and the innate desire to serve the common good.

As we crested the hill, Eli moved abreast on my left and we turned onto the blacktopped parking lot 75 yards from the finish. Unexpectedly, I am taken back to long-ago finishes at the Boston Marathon on Boylston Street, where thousands lined both sides of the street, cheering on the suddenly energized runners. Ahead, on either side, lining the last 75 yards, were nearly all the 2010 Eta AVMA VLE participants, all wildly cheering on Eli.

In an instant, Eli was 5 yards ahead.

As quickly as he crossed the finish line, he was encircled, and then lifted onto someone's shoulder, his eyes bright as stars, his smile, well, there are no words to describe Eli's smile that day. His mom and dad, and his brother Isaac, were at the finish line. There were tears of joy, plenty for all.

When asked for postrace comments, Eli simply said: "I want to thank Aubrey for helping me to win."

The last morning of VLE is given to a simple yet powerful 'Bell Ceremony' after which participants leave, returning to their families, their schools, their lives, humbly ringing out the empowering messages of VLE, creating the ripples in their ponds.

At our final facilitator meeting later that afternoon, we sat outside the cafeteria on the porch overlooking the Spokane River in warm sunshine and we spoke softly of our own special moments during the retreat when we were privileged to share in what has become a positively transformative experience for so many, and still, too, for each of us, every year. The words of 9-year-old Elijah Selzer simply but eloquently say what the AVMA VLE and our profession, and ultimately servant leadership, are about after all: helping each other to win. (Watch a video of Aubrey and Eli preparing for the big race here.)

-Aubrey

[Editor's Note: Want to know more about the VLE? Watch highlights from this year's 2010 experience here.]