Leadership blame: "the fish rots from the head down".

I got asked recently how I think "the fish rots from the head down" applies to the veterinary profession.

I was being interviewed for a magazine and I think they asked it because I'm usually a decent bet for a controversial soundbite or being willing to call BS on stuff.

But in this instance, I shot them down pretty quick.

Yep, it's true that there are some leaders who need a kick up the butt, and are maybe in it for the wrong reasons. But in my experience, this is the rare exception rather than the rule.

Most leaders I know - which is quite a few at this point - desperately want to do the right thing. They're working their butts off to make things better and keep people happy. Admittedly, they don't always know how to do that, but mostly, veterinary leadership failures are a reflection of the environment.

The wider societal shifts leading to unrealistic expectations and incivility. The profession-specific challenges of emotions, costs, and a highly empathetic workforce. Their own personality traits meaning they're desperate to not let anyone down that they spend all their time helping and putting out fires and solving problems, that they never get to do the stuff that matters. And ultimately, because our industry is stuck in a loop of conversations about wellbeing and culture that never actually seems to turn into ACTION to make things better.

So in this case, I think the fish rots because it's left in the burning hot sun.

In 2026, what if we decided to stop crapping on leaders?

What if we decided it was time to realise that they're just as stressed, hardworking and desperate to make things better as the rest of us - probably more so.

What if we gave more systemic support to middle managers, improved succession planning so people aren't walking in blind and/or naive, talked about sustainable leadership, remembered that right to disconnect policies apply to leaders too, and cracked down on assuming it is the leaders to blame for a vast proportion of cultural challenges that could be solved by the wider team if they were willing to step up.

Let's just put the goddamn fish in the fridge, and give the poor thing a chance!!