Pharmacy U news

Change has been a fact of life since the first pharmacy opened its doors many centuries ago. And it’s a challenge pharmacists and pharmacist-owners will face for years to come.

When I sit down to write this blog, it not uncommon for me to identify experiences I had at various conferences to use as inspiration for my writing. I realize now that we really shouldn’t be surprised about that. After all, a conference is not a natural place where we find ourselves, so when we get there, we absorb and process things differently.

Not outdriving your headlights means understanding what you can control and having the discipline to mentally stay there. Leaders capable of doing this make decisions within their comfort zone, without worrying about what is beyond sight.

As Peter Drucker famously said, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it." When it comes to measuring performance, pharmacist-owners often operate in a business vacuum. They might talk to a neighbouring business, a fellow pharmacist in the next community, or an entrepreneur friend (but probably not a pharmacist-owner).

Courage to persist strongly regardless of how dirty the task allows us to outwork others. Pushing forward, notwithstanding the required sweat, provides an identity of tenacity that we grow to actually enjoy. The effort finds small wins in getting the hard things done by showing up each day and doing things right. For this reason, joy is found in the grind.

One of the best things that a leader can do is to collect a big bag of ideas. Then, when various challenges come up, you have a deeper well of solutions or possible solutions to draw from.

Have you looked at your pharmacy the way a patient does? This is a key question Wayne Caverly of Caverly Consulting asks his clients. One pharmacy he worked with – an old-style drugstore within an even older grocery store – had not seen any serious updates since the 1970s.

Spreading word in the community about patient counselling is no easy chore – especially when many of your customers would rather head for the parking lot with their medication than listen to advice from a member of your dispensary team.