Leading together
A conversation between the president and vice-president
Rayner to Lai Yee
As you begin this term, what feels most important for SBHS to focus on right now?
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Lai Yee to Rayner
From early conceptualisation on a piece of napkin and fast forward to today, what is one strength of SBHS that we should build on more deliberately?
The strengths of SBHS are embodied in the diversity of its members. Not many know this, but this is worth documenting: despite being a member of the International Society of Behavioral Medicine (ISBM), we made an intentional departure from ISBM to call ourselves a society for Behavioural Health, and not Behavioural Medicine. We felt that this was more inclusive and did not reproduce deep-seated hierarchies in health and medicine, which has been dominated by biomedical paradigms. The society’s interdisciplinary focus is also set in stone in our constitution, which requires the society to be representative of diverse professions, practices, and positionalities.
Today, with the advent of artificial intelligence, I see an opposing desire to have a deeper grasp and appreciation of our shared humanity and what makes us human. What really stands out to me in this moment in time is that the ‘human-ness’ of all our work has become more pronounced - in ways where I’m starting to see even stronger threads that run through all our diverse fields of work, practice, and research. We need to start converging on this and start thinking even harder about what the human condition is, and how we can start advocating for health systems to be more person-centred in meaningful, and not tokenistic ways.
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Rayner to Lai Yee
SBHS brings together people from very different backgrounds, including our ExCo team. What kind of leadership culture would you like the ExCo to model for the society?
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Lai Yee to Rayner
In the same vein, how can ordinary members — regardless of role or seniority — take ownership and lead within SBHS?
Ordinary members are considered the ‘shareholders’ of a society, and therefore have voting rights that determine who will be elected to the executive committee, as well as changes to the constitution.
Nevertheless, the Society has many opportunities for engagement beyond serving as an elected member of the executive committee.
We will also be opening a call for co-opted executive committee members, who will serve in specific functions that help advance the society’s aims (e.g., membership and community engagement
Additionally, the Society will provide oversight on the International Congress of Behavioral Medicine 2027 local organising committee, which I will chair. This committee will assist the International Society of Behavioral Medicine (ISBM) in organising the congress in 2027. We will need volunteers to help with conference planning and implementation. The scientific programme and content of the conference will be governed by the ISBM, but the Local Organising Committee will assist with making sure that the local activities and planning are well-managed.
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At the end of this term, what would success look like for you?