On this week’s episode of the Healthy Wealthy and Smart podcast, I had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Emma Stokes onto the show to discuss leadership and advocacy in physical therapy! Emma Stokes BSc (Physio), MSc (research), MSc Mgmt, Phd is an associate professor and a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin. She is the deputy head of the physiotherapy programme and teaches on the entry to practice programmes in Dublin and Singapore. The focus of her research and teaching is professional practice issues that builds on her work with professional, regulatory and charitable organisations. She is the Minister for Health's nominee for physiotherapy to the Health & Social Care Professions Council & Physiotherapists Registration Board in Ireland. She is currently the President of WCPT.   In this episode, we discuss: -Practical steps that create leadership opportunities -Why self-awareness and the Power of No are integral to leadership -Thoughts on what may impact women on their path to higher goals -Dr. Stoke’s experiences with failure and building resilience -A framework for advocacy in physical therapy -How to get the most from a conference experience -And so much more!   Dr. Stokes shares great advice for those who want to get involved in higher roles that before you can lead others, you first need to be able to lead yourself. To develop that self awareness you must, “Be clear about what your values are. So learn about your values—where they’ve come from, how they serve you, how you use them in the service of others, what they bring to you as a person. And if you understand them very explicitly then you will understand when they are challenged and whether you're prepared to have them challenged or whether you need to put your hand up and walk away from a situation.”   We also discuss the importance of looking to a mentor to help cultivate leadership characteristics within ourselves. Dr. Stokes suggests that you, “Identify something that someone does that you admire and have this conversation with them. Find out how they got to where they are. Sometimes it is just looking at a behavior and saying that is a behavior that is a positive behavior that I would like to adopt. It is mimicking.”   Dr. Stokes reminds us that to have an effective therapeutic relationship with the best outcome for our patients, we need to guide them on their journey and that, “The solution is owned by the client. You unpack that solution with them and it is something they own rather than us giving them a fix.”   Being an advocate for physical therapy comes down to, “Understanding what it is you want to achieve and really drill down into that. Once you understand what the outcome is, then you need to look at context. What is the environment in which you want this change to happen, who are the key people that may be the decision makers, understand who the people will be in terms of allies, who are the people who won't be so positive about this change... Understanding the context then allows you to think about what you want to do, the strategy… find the [evidence] you need in order to [support] this.” More about Dr. Stokes: Education and work experience: Emma Stokes qualified as a physiotherapist in 1990 [BSc Physiotherapy, Trinity College Dublin]. While working as a clinical physiotherapist at St. James’s Hospital, Dublin (1990-1996), she completed a post-graduate Diploma in Statistics in 1993 and MSc (Research) in 1995 both at Trinity College Dublin. She took up an academic position at Trinity College in 1996, completed a PhD in 2005 and a Master’s degree (MSc Mgmt, Business Administration) in the School of Business in 2008. She is an associate professor at the Department of Physiotherapy, Trinity College Dublin [1996 to date]. She was elected as a Fellow of the College in 2012. She commenced a Diploma in Leadership & Professional Coaching in September 2014. Since May 2015 she has been the President of WCPT.   Leadership: Emma Stokes has played a number of leadershi