Leadership can make or break any job experience. A great leader can change how you feel about the work you’re doing. They can impact how you see yourself and your potential for doing great things. They can help you through hard days and challenge you to do better. To be a great leader at VEG, you don’t have to be a manager, director, or VP. You can be a veterinary nurse helping a new vet assistant during a busy shift; a doctor who takes a few extra minutes to check on a teammate after a difficult case; or a VEGgie who sees how we can do something better and raises their hand with an idea. At VEG, these are all leaders.
No matter your title, being a leader here is about showing up for others, taking the time to communicate and create trust, and helping your team succeed. We encourage everyone to be a leader, to strive to take on a leadership role, and to take advantage of the many programs and opportunities available to develop your skills and make an impact on your team—and beyond. This is why basic leadership training starts on your first day at VEG.
Leadership training starts on day one
Mandatory for all new VEGgies, Basic Leadership Training introduces all aspects of leadership education at VEG—from taking courses and observing leaders in their hospitals, to setting goals and meeting with managers to reflect on their growth. At the end of training, there is a discussion about how each VEGgie can continue growing, and their plan to reach these goals in the short- and long-term. For VEGgies who aren’t in formal leadership positions, leadership training gives them a foundation they can use in their current roles.
“It's important that we recognize true leaders from an early stage,” said Zachary Croslin, a medical director at VEG Fort Worth. “I think that happened with me. I was recognized early on as a NERD and encouraged to continue the growth pathway into leadership at VEG. I've continued to take on additional tasks and initiatives that have helped grow both myself personally and my hospital as well.”
It’s our vision to promote 80% of our leaders from within, so we help them build on what they learn in Basic Leadership Training to help them reach the next level.
Leadership at VEG
This next level includes leadership roles in our hospitals: medical directors, who guide clinical quality; hospital managers, who shape their hospital’s culture and operations; nursing managers, who lead their veterinary nursing teams and ensure patients receive the best care; and market owners, who make sure their region of VEG hospitals—and all of the people within them—can thrive. We expect all of these VEG leaders to work toward creating an environment where people feel supported to learn, grow, and share their ideas. For VEGgies who step into these roles from the start, there isn’t one type of person or personality we are looking for, but they all approach leadership the same way.
VEG leaders take an active part in the happiness and success of the people they lead. They work closely with their VEGgies’ to understand their goals, make sure they’re attainable, and remove any roadblocks in their way. They celebrate their wins, provide mentorship and advice, and give difficult feedback when needed—but in a way that helps each person grow and do their jobs better.
“There's a great saying that people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care,” said Cara Spadaro, a senior hospital manager at VEG White Plains. “I think authenticity and genuinely caring about your people, your customers, and the well-being of your hospital—that's the mindset you have to have. It is a true ownership mindset. You have to be humble enough to know that the mistakes are yours and the wins are your team’s.”
Our leaders not only give direction, they build trust with their VEGgies, sharing their own experiences—from successes to failures and everything in between—so their VEGgies have a trusted example of what to do and where they need to go—especially when dealing with critical situations that can be the difference in saving a pet’s life.
While many of our leaders come in knowing how to do this already, it doesn’t mean they’ve learned all there is to know. At VEG, our leaders never stop learning.
Learning to lead the VEG Way
VEG invests in leadership development programs to help our VEGgies continue to build the skills they need to serve their people as their responsibilities grow. One of these programs is VEG Academy, which helps our frontline leaders strengthen their skills with courses that cover everything from emotional intelligence and hospital management to difficult conversations and coaching and development. VEGgies can also access the L.E.A.D. Library, an easily accessible collection of 10- to 15-minute online courses covering topics our leaders often deal with, including problem solving, decision making, communication, and more.
“When we start the training process together, I tell VEGgies that I have two goals for them,” says Jen Whitten, VEG’s Director of Operations. “The first one is to help them be successful and the second one is to be happy. I think they go hand in hand, and I love that I get to do that. I love that I get to help them grow and be successful leaders, but to help them be happy along the way.”
Developing our leaders also means creating space for them to step away from the day-to-day to get to know each other, compare ideas, and learn from each other. Sparks, our annual leadership summit, brings together more than 300 VEG leaders each year to do exactly this. Over two days, VEGgies participate in a variety of sessions and programs meant to inspire, spark conversation and collaboration, and celebrate leadership—from mainstage sessions setting the vision for the year ahead, to breakout sessions focusing on role-specific leadership development, to an awards ceremony celebrating frontline leaders whose leadership has made a lasting impact in their hospitals over the past year.
“Sparks strengthens our leadership harmony, ensures our teams are equipped with the knowledge and tools to enhance hospital operations, and reinforces our shared mission,” said Jessi Passalacqua, who oversees the entire Sparks event. “By bringing leaders together, Sparks helps VEG maintain its strong culture, improve patient care, and push forward with the initiatives that will define our success.”
Whether you start at VEG as an experienced leader or are on the path to becoming one, you’ll have the opportunity to make leadership a lasting part of your career—by learning from others, developing your own approach, and showing up for the people around you.
