This month we’re putting the Pet Pals Spotlight on Josh Vaisman, a proud member of the veterinary community since 1998. In 2009, he took the leap into practice management and ownership, and continued in those roles in two small-animal hospitals until 2018.

Now he runs Flourish, a Veterinary Consulting practice that’s focused on helping veterinary practices do better, more fulfilling work.

What are some ways to re-energize a busy practice’s team?

I often say, “Leadership is all about relationships.” And the research backs me here - teams that believe their leader(s) cares about them as a person, and genuinely cares about their personal and professional success do better. 

They are more motivated, energized, engaged, report significantly higher levels of job satisfaction and lower levels of work stress. Get to know the people who work “for” you on a personal level that makes them see and feel how you care for them, and their energy levels will grow accordingly.

What are a few simple ways that people can thrive within their veterinary organizations?

On a personal level, I think there are two things we can all work on developing - a bit of acceptance and a growth mindset. Acceptance involves an understanding that the work we do in veterinary medicine is incredibly challenging. 

We will always be “stressed” by the work we do. If we are striving to make our work easy, we’re missing the mark and setting ourselves up for failure. Rather, let’s accept that the work can be both hard AND meaningful, all at the same time. Which leads to developing a growth mindset....I saw a great quote from Adam Grant recently in which he said, “Optimism [i.e., a growth oriented mindset] doesn’t mean you ONLY see the bright side. It means you don’t overlook the bright side.” 

With a healthy growth mindset we can accept and experience the difficulty of our work....and see the meaning, value, learning, and growth it provides us as well.

Could you please let us know what Flourish Veterinary Consulting is?

Flourish is a consulting firm built on a specific mission. We strive to take the science of human thriving and bring it to the veterinary community in ways that are digestible and actionable. 

A primary goal for that is to empower veterinary leaders (folks like corporate executives, hospital owners, managers, medical directors, leads, and supervisors) with the evidence-based practices of Positive Leadership so they can cultivate environments in which veterinary fulfillment and thriving is possible.

How can people learn more about Flourish?  Check us out at www.flourish.vet - we’ve got a vibrant blog there with tons of tools and practices to help you cultivate a fulfilling veterinary environment in your hospital. You can also follow our founder, Josh Vaisman, on LinkedIn where he posts a bunch on topics related to our work.