Episode Details

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In this episode, host Brendan Howard interviews veterinary consultant Josh Vaisman. Josh Vaisman has been a member of the veterinary community since 1995 and in 2009 became the practice manager and owner of two small-animals veterinary practices. 

Running the two practices, Josh found himself burnt out and made the decision to step away from practice management. Since then he has been on a mission to help veterinary professionals create positive work environments and avoid getting burnt out as he did. This is why, in 2018, Josh co-launched Flourish Veterinary Consulting. Flourish Veterinary Consulting helps veterinary professionals create positive work environments. Using positive psychology techniques, they aim to revolutionize the veterinary field by promoting self-sustaining, flourishing work environments. As well as being the co-founder of the company, Josh is their lead consultant and positive psychology practitioner.

Josh has a master’s degree in Applied Positive Psychology & Coaching psychology and has also gained certificates in Positive Psychology, Workplace Culture, and Building Effective Teams. In this episode, he discusses the philosophy of the four P’s in order to be a successful and positive leader in veterinary medicine. 

Outline of this episode:

• [01:11] The intro ends and the podcast begins and Josh and Brendan discuss the research behind emotional wellbeing 
• [06:03] Brendan asks Josh is it usual for people to come to him with underlying issues 
• [08:03] Focussing on positive psychology to avoid ‘crisis mode’ looking at the ‘Perma Model for wellbeing’
• [10:20] Josh discusses ‘not doing bad just getting by’ means
• [12:10] Brendan and Josh discuss what emotional well-being means for veterinary leadership. Josh introduces the ‘Four Ps of Positive Leadership’.
• [13:19] Josh discusses the first ‘P’ – Psychology Safety 
• [15:35] Josh introduces the next ‘P’ – Purpose
• [16:52] The third pillar, path, is explained
• [17:27] The last ‘P’ for progress is explained
• [19:44] Brendan asks Josh to go into more detail about how progress release to reciprocal respect 
• [21:40] Josh talks about the ‘coddling leader’
• [25:11] Josh discusses how ‘coddling leaders’ can change their style using examples 
• [27:21] Brendan asks Josh to explain how third P (path)  
• [32:28] Josh talks about the 3 components of the ‘path’ pillar 
• [34:40] Do people with type A personalities/perfectionist personalities find it hard to lead because of the pressure they put on themself?
• [37:12] Josh and Brendan discuss ‘purpose’
• [41:35] Psychological safety, why it’s important? Josh gives an example of a real-life scenario he has seen 
• [51:05] How can leaders implement psychological safety?
• [58:50] Brendan asks Josh about his history working with bees before the episode comes to an end 

Resources Mentioned:

• https://www.flourishveterinaryconsulting.com/
• Perma Model of Wellbeing 

Connect with Josh Vaisman:

• LinkedIn
• Josh at Flourish