The Veterinary Leadership Experience: A Step Toward the Exceptional

Dr. Betsy Charles always knew she wanted to be a doctor, a human doctor. That is, until she almost got accepted to medical school for human medicine.

It wasn’t until she was working at an athletic club and her supervisor, a show jumping enthusiast, introduced her to a veterinarian that she decided to pursue animal medicine instead. “I struggled with human medicine because sick people aren’t very fun to be around. Veterinary medicine was perfect – same medicine, no sick people,” she said.

Charles went on to graduate from veterinary school at Washington State University (WSU). While there, she met Dr. Kathleen Ruby, the head of WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine Counseling, Wellness and Professional Skills Development department. Ruby was one of the co-founders of the WSU’s Veterinary Leadership Experience (VLE), a program designed to help students develop the skills necessary not only to succeed professionally, but personally too.

Charles attended the Veterinary Leadership Experience as a participant in 2005 and was immediately hooked.

“It combined my love for leadership with my love for veterinary medicine,” she said. “It was a natural fit.”

Seven years later Dr. Betsy Charles, who earned a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership in 2009, is now the Director of Veterinary Leadership Experience and leading the organization during a time of new excitement.

That’s because the VLE, which began as an orientation program for students at Washington State University, is in transition. It is moving away from WSU and toward becoming its own foundation.

“Dr. Kathleen Ruby and Dr. Richard DeBowes developed an amazing program, one that can have a lasting impact on our profession. Now, we’re focusing on getting an infrastructure in place,” Charles stated. “Once we lay that foundation we can think about where else our program can go.”

Charles is also intent on expanding the program. The Veterinary Leadership Experience is currently held the first week of June at Ross Point Camp and Conference Center, in Post Falls, Idaho. She said the VLE is looking at offering multiple locations around the country to make it easier for participants to attend.

“We’d like have regional events in the future,” she said.

While many changes are in store for the program, one thing will remain the same.

“The core of the program will not change. We will still focus on creating emotionally intelligent veterinary professionals who understand what it means to be a servant leader,” Charles explained.

The curriculum was designed to build the skills associated with emotional intelligence (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship building) using an experiential model. “The research shows that people who lead from a place of authenticity are much more likely to be followed. We hope to give people the skills to discover who they are so they can then be more authentic veterinary professionals,” Charles added.

That core includes team-building activities that focus on managing and building relationships, and how to interact with those around you.

“It’s really how you can be a person of influence no matter where you are. In your job, your family,” she said. “It instills personal leadership skills veterinary students need to be successful in medicine and in life.”

Another aspect of the VLE’s growth is that it isn’t just for students anymore. What started out as a program for about 80 participants in 2004 has grown to as many as 250 students and faculty from veterinary schools around the world- as well as a few private practitioners and even some industry sponsors.

Charles believes the program’s unique approach is one of the many reasons for its success.

“It’s experiential,” she said. “You learn by doing, rather than sitting in a lecture hall.”

“It’s one thing to learn the theoretical approach,” she added. “Here, we want to take the next step and make the theory applicable so you can go home and put what you’ve learned into practice.”

Charles said for her, the best thing about the Veterinary Leadership Experience is learning something new every time she participates.

“It constantly challenges me to think about myself, my strengths, and my weaknesses,” she said.

Success Stories

The impact of the Veterinary Leadership Experience reaches far beyond the walls of the Ross Point Camp and Conference Center. Dr. Betsy Charles said she’s heard countless success stories from those who have attended VLE over the years.

“We had a faculty member attend in 2008. He had been thinking about starting his own business, but kept putting it off. He came to the VLE and went home and started his own diagnostic lab. It turned a profit in the first year of business,” Charles said. “He said the VLE helped give him the skill set that enabled him to launch the business.”

There are personal success stories too.

“I saw a student at NAVC last year who had attended VLE,” Charles explained. “She said she came home from VLE and decided it was time to stop making excuses about her weight, so she made the changes necessary and as a result, has lost over 100 lbs.”

“I didn’t even recognize her,” Charles added. “She was a different person, not only physically, but also in her level of confidence. She said the VLE gave her skills for what she needed to get healthy.”

One Profession, One Voice
When asked if there was one thing about the Veterinary Leadership Experience, she could share with readers, Dr. Betsy Charles responded with the following:

“If we, as veterinary professionals are going to successfully navigate the many challenging opportunities facing our profession, we need to stand together with a unified, clear, articulate and persuasive voice – it can't be business as usual. I think the VLE equips those who attend with an idea about the skill sets necessary to have influence and speak in that clear, unified voice. Through hands-on learning, VLE attendees, whether veterinary student, faculty member, private practitioner, industry partner, technician, or kennel staff, are given the tools necessary to make a difference as a leader in the profession. The program is designed to be the starting point for a life of personal and professional development and as such, is creating a group of individuals who can't be satisfied with the status quo, a group of individuals willing to do the difficult personal work necessary to become people of influence no matter where life has them positioned.”

The Veterinary Leadership Experience will be held the week of June 4, 2012, at Ross Point Camp and Conference Center, in Post Falls, Idaho. To learn more, including how you can participate in the VLE, visit their website.