24 March 2026
Dr Pretty Basra gave attendees an introduction to leadership, mindset, and what she believes is ‘the female advantage’ in optometry during 100% Optical 2026 (28 February–2 March, Excel London).
Basra is a mentor and coach, specialising in business and mental fitness, as well as an optometrist and practice owner.
During her presentation, held on Monday 2 March in the Optical Academy, Basra emphasised that she wants to uplift female eye care practitioners, and help them to see situations differently.
“Optometry is changing. What optometry was 10 years ago is not what it is now. So, leadership must change too,” she told attendees.
The quality of leadership ultimately does have a real impact on people, Basra noted.
She emphasised that there are increasing levels of burnout and disengagement from those working within optometry.
The profession allows for a fusion of science, fashion and healthcare and Basra finds it “heartbreaking” when she encounters people who have disengaged from it, she shared.
“Leadership shapes culture, and culture shapes care,” she noted, adding: “Leadership is a behaviour, not a job title.”
‘Soft skills’ such as communication and empathy are essential in the profession, and this is why women have an advantage in an optometry setting, Basra believes.
Emotional intelligence as a non-negotiable in healthcare
Basra went on to explain why she believes that emotional intelligence is vital in healthcare settings.
Empathy builds trust, collaboration strengthens teams, and emotional intelligence creates safe environments, she said.
Because patients will remember how practitioners made them feel more than anything else, “in healthcare, we have to have active listening,” Basra noted.
Basra believes that this level of listening can allow patients to feel safe enough that they will share vital information that they might have withheld otherwise.
Active listening can help practitioners “start to manage those difficult conversations,” she said.
Advising that practitioners take their time and avoid rushing in these situations, she emphasised: “A lot of the time, patients just want to be heard.”
Culture, communication and professional trust
“Culture is created, not announced,” Basra believes.
She added that a good workplace culture has to come from the team itself.
Clear boundaries can prevent harm, good communication decreases the likelihood of complaints, and trust safeguards professional reputation, Basra said – adding that the culture of a practice can be eroded if there is a lack of trust between colleagues.
Basra emphasised the importance of female practitioners knowing their boundaries and ensuring that colleagues know them too, especially in a context where many women might see themselves as “people-pleasers.”
“People-pleasing” can compound existing issues, Basra believes.
“If you don’t set boundaries, life will set boundaries for you,” she emphasised.
Basra also asked attendees to consider: “Would you ever talk to anybody else the way that you talk to yourself?”
When practitioners are cruel to themselves, this can affect how they show up to practice, she emphasised, adding that she hopes practitioners will be able to identify when they are doing this in order to stop themselves “going down that road.”
“Confidence often lags behind competence,” she noted.
People have to tell their brains how they are going to do something before they do it, Basra advised.
She encouraged attendees to identify one behaviour that they would like to stop, and one that they would like to start – and then to consider what they could do to make these changes happen.
She offered her own example of a behaviour that she will tell her brain to stop doing: asking ‘is that ok?’ every time she makes a request.
Ultimately, it is mindset that changes behaviour and impacts how you show up at work, Basra told attendees.
She added: “The future of optometry is human-centred. When leadership improves, patients feel it first.”
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