The fear all pharmacy leaders face

After turning the dispensary lights out at night, despite a fear you may feel, you are not alone.

In my previous article “A Leader’s Principal Role: Taking Care of People" I discuss the ruthless requirement and offer tangible examples where leaders take care of people. But while this is going on, who will take care of us?

As the saying goes, it’s lonely at the top. As the boss, you may not be included in the lunchroom chat, the birthday gift card rotation or invited to the Saturday night get-together. Underpinning all the exclusionary themes that come with being the one others report to, is a fear of missing out (FOMO). 

FOMO is most recently linked to social media but I believe it can be applied to a wider spectrum in an effort to support leaders in their everyday lives. FOMO is an anxiety that an exciting event is occurring without us, flushing our brains with a depressed mood.

One common way out for leaders is to develop an attitude of ‘I’m better than others’ or ‘I just have to sacrifice some things in life’ mentality. I’m not convinced that this thought process is the best coping mechanism since it offers a negative spin on the topic, with negative ripples into daily life. 

Instead, try adopting a mentality of ‘I get to’. I get to be trusted with payroll, I get to be in charge of the schedule, I get to make overarching business strategy decisions, I get to decide how much to spend, I get to be focused on how best we will take care of the patient. These thought processes contain positive ripples that better influence downstream attitudes towards other aspects of life and with enough practice, fears of missing out can be replaced with feelings of privilege. 

Also, trust that while you are developing these mental coping loops, you are not alone. Leaders everywhere from all industries, have parts of their day where FOMO creeps in. With all the good those leaders are putting into the world, we can be assured that we must be doing the right things and excluding the wrong things. In essence, FOMO is a clue that you are on the right path. So keep up the good work, you are not alone. If you liked this article, keep the fire burning.

PS: To join a free group of like-minded leaders, check out the Layered Leaders discussion group here