About this episode

Joan McCue discusses the challenges and insights of stepping into leadership as an outsider in veterinary practices.

Listen in this week as I chat with Joan McCue, CVPM - Veterinary Hospital Manager at VetCor in Aiken, South Carolina. Joan joins me to explore what it really feels like to step into leadership as an "outsider" and how that perspective can shape both trust and growth within a team. She reflects on her journey across three very different veterinary practices, from being completely new to the field to taking on major cultural and organizational shifts, and how each transition forced her to rebuild her confidence, credibility, and connection from the ground up. We talk openly about how isolating management can sometimes feel, especially when you're the only person in your role, and how that distance can be both uncomfortable but also necessary. Joan and I dig into the reality that mistakes are unavoidable in leadership and that building trust often depends on how those mistakes are handled rather than avoiding them altogether, and she highlights the importance of creating a culture where staff feel safe learning, asking questions, and owning errors without fear of negative consequences, while I reflect on how involving teams in decision-making can strengthen investment even when it…

People in this episode

Host: Veterinary Hospital Managers Association

Guest: Joan McCue

Topics covered

• leadership
• trust building
• team dynamics
• organizational change
• management challenges
• cultural shifts

Keywords

• leadership
• trust
• team building
• management
• veterinary
• organizational culture
• mistakes in leadership
• professional boundaries

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: VetCor

Places: Aiken, South Carolina

More episodes of VHMA Manager to Manager

• Managing with Positivity in a Challenging Veterinary Culture · July 9, 2026 · 36 min
• From Chaos to Flow: Urgent Care in the GP Practice · May 14, 2026 · 37 min

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