How pharmacists can become leaders

I’ve often been asked about my leadership journey: How did I develop skills, how do I create high-performance teams, where did I start and what am I doing now? First, I want to share what I define as real leadership. Leadership is not about title, position or power. It is also not the same as management. Managers do a job and many of them never transition into leaders. Leaders take responsibility for those who do the job. They “take care of” those they lead. This is not a soft, idealistic, concept. It is the hard work of recognizing the potential of those you lead, developing their talents and working with their limitations to continually encourage growth. It’s about creating trust within the team, not avoiding difficult situations and continually bringing the team together. It is about developing a culture where growth can happen and creativity flourishes. It’s where members feel they are essential to the team, contributing to a higher purpose and free to express frustrations as well as ideas and solutions. There are many ways pharmacists can learn leadership skills through: mentorship, observing others, education, experience and trial and error. When I started out as a manager, not yet understanding what leadership really was, I went purely by trial and error. (To be clear, this is not the recommended route!) I soon realized that I wasn’t doing a great job with my staff. I was falling prey to negativity, stress and lack of clarity. It took me a while to realize that I needed to focus on my own development, so I could create the culture I needed to cultivate a strong team. Mentorship would’ve been invaluable when I started out, but I didn’t know anyone in pharmacy who was a role model. So after a lot of failures and small wins, I educated myself on leadership and teams and started applying some of my learning. I asked for regular feedback from trusted team members, realizing that I had a lot to learn. One of my biggest lessons in the last few years is that leadership is a lifestyle, not a destination. Even when you have achieved your goals (i.e. when the team is built and is performing well, positivity is high and team members are thriving), the work is not over. Circumstances always change and develop and shake up the equilibrium. COVID-19 is a great example of this. Incorporating new team members is another example—perhaps one of the most challenging to an already high-functioning team. If this is all so hard, why bother? Why not just continue as we are? Well, the answer seems to be pretty clear in many blogs and posts and comments and discussions in dispensaries around the country. Pharmacists and dispensary staff are not happy. They tolerate their jobs. Disillusionment begins almost immediately after graduation for new pharmacists. The purpose of the leadership lifestyle is to create and maintain teams who trust each other, take care of each other and value each other and the organization. Who doesn’t want that? Who doesn’t want to feel they are cared for, that their work has meaning and enjoy being part of a team? Cultivating that is your job as a leader. It is no small feat, but one so valuable that it changes lives. Here are some resources to kick-start your learning as a leader. Enjoy the journey! 1. Brown, Brené, Dare to lead: Brave work. Tough conversations. Whole hearts. New York : Random House, 2018. 2. Sinek, Simon. LEADERS EAT LAST: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t. New York: PORTFOLIO/PENGUIN, 3. Covey, Stephen M. R., Rebecca R. Merrill, and Stephen R. Covey. The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything. Unabridged. [United States]: AB Publishing, 2017 4. Harvard Business Review: Leadership Resources https://hbr.org/topic/leadership Carlene Oleksyn, BSP Pharm, CDE, CTH, is the owner of Meridian Pharmacy in Stony Plain, AB, and owner and director of the Stony Plain Travel Clinic.