Self-care as a Leadership Skill

An extra allocation of floating holidays for the executive director. A sabbatical. A singing bowl that implies “slow down.” These are a few of the tactics being utilized by executive directors according to author Mark Athitakis. His recent blog post opens with the statement “Executive burnout has a way of trickling down. The smart leader knows when a break is necessary – and plans ahead for it.” A longer article by Athitakis, Ways to Wellness: Leadership and Self-care, appears in Associations Now magazine. The issue of executive self-care will be addressed in the Saturday, July 14, education session that VMAE is presenting in Denver and will feature Dr. Jennifer Brandt and Dr. Elizabeth Strand as they team up to present “The Veterinary Executive Toolbox: Conflict Transformation, Boundary Setting and Wellbeing.”