Veterinary Voices

Decoding DISC Leadership - Understanding the “ACCOMMODATING LEADER” style - 8/8

• Julie South of VetStaff & VetClinicJobs • Episode 187

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Curious about how to unlock the full potential of Accommodating Leaders in your veterinary practice...?

In this insightful episode, Certified DISC Trainer and Resilience Coach Julie South takes uncovers the world of the Accommodating Leader, celebrating their strengths while also exploring pathways for their growth and development through the lens of DISC Flow profiling.

Here are three compelling takeaways that will have you eagerly tuning in:

  1. Gain a comprehensive understanding of the core traits that define Accommodating Leaders through the DISC framework. Julie breaks down how these empathetic, people-oriented individuals (high in Steadiness) thrive in collaborative, supportive environments where mutual respect reigns supreme. You'll learn effective strategies for communicating and working alongside accommodating leaders, ensuring a harmonious team dynamic.
  2. Discover valuable insights into the potential challenges accommodating leaders may face, such as a reluctance to embrace change or a tendency to avoid conflict. Julie provides practical tips on how to gently encourage these leaders to step outside their comfort zones, embracing their "stretchy zone" and unlocking even greater potential within themselves and their teams.
  3. Explore tailored approaches for different personality types (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Compliance) when interacting with an accommodating leader. Whether you're a task-driven individual who values efficiency, a people-oriented team player, or a detail-focused stickler for processes, you'll gain specific guidance on building a productive and positive working relationship with your accommodating leader.

With Julie's deep expertise in the DISC Flow personality model and her passion for building resilient veterinary teams, this episode promises to be an invaluable resource. You'll walk away with a newfound appreciation for the accommodating leadership style and practical strategies for maximising their impact within your clinic.

Contemplating your next career move?
Tania Bruce - VetStaff's passionate kiwi recruiter - would welcome the opportunity to have a 100% confidential chat with you. Tania's a former Ortho Head Vet Nurse so speaks your language!

How to get more bang for your recruitment advertising buck
This is what VetStaff is really good at so if you'd like to stretch your recruitment dollar, please get in touch with Julie because this is something VetStaff can help you with.

Committed to DIY-ing your own recruitment?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs

Revive Your Drive - daily 2-minute videos for veterinary employers and employees to help revive their drives at work and at home.

Julie South [00:00:05]:
Accommodating leaders the lead vet, the head nurse, or the manager who embodies dependability, empathy and unwavering support. These leaders thrive in environments where collaboration and mutual respect reign supreme. You're listening to the vet staff podcast, episode 187. I'm your show host, Julie south. These leaders are the ones who take charge with a gentle hand, ensuring that tasks are completed with utmost care. Their calm and collected way gives a sense of stability and reassurance for their team, even amidst emergencies and chaos. Today we are celebrating the accommodating leaders for their total commitment to ensuring harmonious and supportive workplaces where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute their best. However, we'll also explore ways to encourage these leaders to step outside their comfort zones and embrace their stretchy zone.

Julie South [00:01:18]:
When accommodating, leaders grab flexibility and openness to new ideas with both hands, they unlock even greater potential within themselves and their teams. So let's have a look into the world of the accommodating leader, celebrating their strengths and exploring pathways for their growth and development. Thank you for tuning into the Vetstaff podcast, where veterinary professionals can top up their resilience tank, get their heads, scoot on straight, and get excited about going to work on Monday mornings. Again, this is episode 187 and I'm your show host, Julie South, Disc certified trainer and resilience coach the Vetstaff podcast is powered by Vetstaff Limited, the recruitment agency on a mission to help vet clinics recognize, retain and recruit their dream teams. We show clinics, vets and nurses how to crack the communication code that's unique to them, so resilience skyrockets and people want to join and stay. You can find back copies of the Vetstaff podcast@vetstaffpodcast.com this is the final episode in our exciting eight part series, all about leadership styles based on the disk, behaviour and personality model. Disc is a research backed and science based personality profiling tool used to understand our behaviors, our communication styles, and our work preferences. It's about understanding what makes you and the people you work with tech next week, we start a whole brand new series on how to build stronger teams.

Julie South [00:03:12]:
But until then, if this is the first time you've picked up this podcast, you might like to go back and check out vetstaffpodcast.com dot to see if you recognize yourself or your leader and how to make things work even better for you than they do right now. This week we're looking at the accommodating leader style, how to work with them, and what to say if you are being triggered by them. Using the disc framework, accommodating leaders focus on generating a supportive on achievement, achieving a supportive and a collaborative environment. These are the people who lead with gentle hands, ensuring that their team feels valued and empowered to bring their best every day. What's important to the accommodating leader who's a steadiness type in the disc framework, is building strong relationships and creating a sense of belonging within their team. These leaders are into setting clear expectations and creating a predictable and a supportive work environment. You'd probably describe your accommodating leader as one who is people oriented. They are into prioritising the needs and the well being of others.

Julie South [00:04:42]:
They're into collaboration and support. They are empathetic, they have exceeded exceptional listening skills and they understand the perspective of this perspectives of others. They create senses of belonging and respect in their teams and they are supportive. They provide unwavering support to their team. They create safe and encouraging spaces for growth and development. Accommodating leaders shine very bright in roles where collaboration and collegiality, empathy and supportive environments are absolutely critical. Therefore, that makes them ideal leaders within vet clinics where teamwork, compassion and a focus on animal welfare are absolutely essential. If you're on the team of an accommodating lead vet, they will excel at building strong relationships with their teams.

Julie South [00:05:52]:
They are the ones who are collegial and collaborative, where everyone on the team feels valued and empowered to contribute their knowledge and their skills. What's important to them is both the patients and their team. You'd know that you mattered if your lead vet was an accommodating leader. Your accommodating head vet nurse would be instrumental in creating a friendly and an inclusive clinic for their nursing team. They would provide unquestionable support to the entire nursing team, making sure that everyone feels valued and respected. You would feel listened to and understood if you ever raised any concerns to your accommodating leader head vet nurse. However, as great as their listening and their empathy skills are, accommodating leaders might need to push themselves just a little bit to be a little bit more open to change. This is because they value stability and established routines.

Julie South [00:07:02]:
It means they can sometimes, okay, maybe even a lot of times, be reluctant to embrace new things. Also, their preference for avoiding conflict might lead them to bury their head in the sand from time to time when it comes to making hard decisions or having any of those difficult conversations. So that's a big overview. Now, what's it like being on the team of an accommodating leader? The good, the bad, and then what to do when things start turning up ugly. If you are someone who is task oriented and likes to get things done quickly, then for you when everything is going good, you'll appreciate your accommodating leaders clear expectations and organized approach. Their way of doing things means that you can channel your energy to get things done without wasting time, which is perfect for you. When it gets a bit challenging, though, your methodical leaders decision making might test your patients, they're careful. Slower than your pace.

Julie South [00:08:17]:
Could feel frustrating for you when you just want to get on and get things done fast. Maybe there are too many rules for you. Maybe there's too much focus on the little stuff or people seem a little bit scared to try something new. Overall, you might find your accommodating leader to be a bit too cautious. Their preference for minimizing risk could clash with your desire for fast results and running fast with new ideas. You might feel like you're stuck in a bit of a rut. You might think things along the line of we're missing out because we're too scared to make a move. Or maybe why does it feel like I'm always being questioned when I want to take charge? If that's you, if those thoughts sound familiar, then here's what you could say something along the lines of I totally get that we need to think things through and we can't just rush into stuff, but I'm a bit worried we might miss some great shots because we're hung up on doing things by the book.

Julie South [00:09:25]:
Can we please figure out a way to keep what's working with our careful planning, but also jump onto new chances when they pop up? Now, if you are more of a people oriented person who still likes to move fast, then for you when things are good, you'll appreciate your accommodating leaders supportive and collaborative and collegial approach. This space that they create means that you feel comfortable sharing your ideas and working with others to achieve goals and results. When things get a bit challenging, though, you could find their methodical pace rather slow. You're into a faster pace where things and ideas can be implemented fast. You might feel a bit stifled when there's a bit of an overload of rules and not enough space for creative brainstorming or team interaction. It annoys you like crazy when you see innovation being sidelined just for the sake of sticking to the script. When your clinic feels more like a stuck in the mud, no fun follows the rules place then a high energy space for exchanging ideas and boosting each other's energy. Overall, you might feel or believe that your accommodating leader is a good listener and someone who values your input.

Julie South [00:11:07]:
But you might also feel like there are times when you need to bite your tongue and be a bit more patient with how they make decisions which are slower than you would like. You may start to feel a bit deflated or that your creativity is being squashed. You might think to yourself things along the lines of my new ideas, my new fresh ideas are falling on deaf ears, or all these regulations are draining our team's energy. If that sounds familiar, what you could say then along the lines of I really appreciate your attention to detail. I believe, though, that we could really make more of a difference if we had more opportunities brainstorming. How about we set aside some time for an open ideas session where everyone can pitch in without any pressure and see what new ideas we can all come up with now, what if you're the type who likes stability, values people and wants to make sure everyone's perspective is considered? If that's you, when everything is going good, you'll feel a strong connection with your accommodating leader. Their methodical approach and their reliability for you creates the calm, supportive environment that aligns perfectly with how you like things being done. This means that you feel understood and valued because, like you, they prioritize collaboration, collegiality, stability and careful progress.

Julie South [00:12:49]:
When things start getting a bit challenging, though, it could be when there are times when even you, with your shared value for keeping things on an even keel, having steadiness, might feel like that intense focus on procedures and routines is heading too far towards being too rigid and or too unbending for you. This could have you thinking that you're on a team that prioritises tasks over people, and it could conflict with your need to make sure everyone knows that they're valued and cared for. Overall, you might feel that your accommodating leader is someone that you can relate to, someone who shares your commitment to consistency and team. But you'll also recognize that together, because you are so alike, you might need to balance task efficiency with personal considerations to keep the team both productive and engaged. If that is how you might be thinking or feeling, then what you could say is we both appreciate the importance of structure in our work and we also understand the value of supporting our team members. Is there a way we can ensure our focus on procedures doesn't get in the way of us creating a great team place to work? Perhaps we could look at ways to include more personal recognition into our routines, making sure everyone feels valued and supported. And then lastly, if you're a detail oriented, results driven person who likes things done by the book, then for you, when it's all good, working with your accommodating leader will often feel like a match made in heaven. Their exact approach to ensuring quality and devotion to standards is in perfect alignment with you.

Julie South [00:14:58]:
You'll both take pride in diving into the specifics and going for accuracy every single time. Your accommodating leaders methodical planning and total risk aversion aligns perfectly with your need for order and predictability at work. When it's challenging, though, at times you and your accommodating leader may find yourselves getting overly bogged down, focusing on the minor details resulting in bottlenecks, your shared focus on precision could occasionally cause analysis paralysis. This makes it difficult for either of you to make a decision and move forward. Sometimes you might both need to take a step back and consider the bigger picture so you can get things done. You may find it frustrating if there's resistance to new ideas that could improve processes. You like doing things by the book, but also believe in continuously improving methods or systems to get better outcomes. Generally, you'll appreciate your leader because they mirror your own penchants for diligence and commitment to proven processes.

Julie South [00:16:21]:
However, you'll also recognise that to drive best results, you may sometimes need to stretch beyond your shared comfort zones of dealing strictly with details and get more innovative and strategic. You could feel a little bit boxed in, perhaps thinking we might be missing out on opportunities to do better work. Or I wish there was a way to suggest improvements without disrupting our workflows. What you could say if that's like it is for you, then you could say something along the lines of I really value the systematic approach we take in our attention to detail, but I believe we could achieve even better results by regularly reviewing and refining our methods. Could we set aside some time to explore potential improvements that would keep our high standards while possibly increasing our effectiveness and our results? I hope you found this helpful as a way to understand yourself a teeny tiny incy wincy dink a little bit better, and how you might relate to someone who has the accommodating leader personality style. Next week we're going to look at teams in a bit more detail, great teams plus where and how teams start to fall apart, where they start bickering and then things start fraying just ahead of an implosion. So remember to click that photo button on your podcast app of choice so you don't miss out on that episode. Have you ever wondered what makes you tick? Taking the disc personality profile assessment gives you that info, plus how to get along better with other people.

Julie South [00:18:22]:
For leaders, you'll discover your leadership style and your strengths. When everyone in your clinic has been assessed. Your team's collaboration levels will seriously go through the roof because everyone understands everyone else better. Keen to learn more then get in touch Julietstaff dot co dot NZ and I can give you a guarantee on that as well. Congratulations on getting this far. You are part of an elite group of listeners who have made it all the way to the end. I'm going to assume that you like what you've heard. If so, therefore, can I ask you to do me a favor, please and help spread the Vetstaff podcast love.

Julie South [00:19:11]:
All you have to do is share it with three veterinary friends who are maybe losing their mojo or maybe even your manager because you can see that what we've talked about today is beneficial. Thank you. Doing that will help rekindle the passion that the veterinary sector had when you all started studying and getting excited about going to work on Monday mornings. This is Julie south signing off and inviting you to go out there and be the most fantabulous and resilient and empowered version of you you can be. The Vet staff podcast is proudly powered by vetclinicjobs.com comma, the new and innovative global job board reimagining veterinary recruitment. Connect in veterinary professionals with clinics that shine online. Vetclinicjobs.com is your go to resource for finding the perfect career opportunities and helping vet clinics power up their employer branding game. Visit vetclinicjobs.com today to find vet clinics that shine online so veterinary professionals can find them.

Julie South [00:20:26]:
Vetclinicjobs.com.

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