ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR
- 5/13/2024
Could five minutes change your life?
What difference can five minutes make for you? Will your pharmacy business be different? How about the way you interact with staff and patients? Or the way you do the jobs you do every day? - 4/29/2024
Serving others should be on your leadership list
The local pharmacy is a wonderful illustration of a place where leadership is required. Each member of the staff as well as each patient has unique needs. The leader recognizes the best way to serve each person is by tailoring the approach for each person and situation. This is definitely not a science, but an art form that develops over time as it is nurtured. - 4/29/2024
3 friends – the critic, the “friend” who never shows up, and your best friend
I don’t know what your relationship is like with these three friends, but I invite and encourage you to be the best friend to today, just as he is to you. Do not count on tomorrow, for he is always accompanied by tons of anxiety. Learn from yesterday, but do not spend so much time that you are filled with regret over what you woulda, coulda, shoulda. - 4/22/2024
What’s the pharmacy leadership skill of the future?
Have you ever been knocked down? We all have. We have all been knocked down literally or figuratively before. And chances are, we will all be knocked down again. But is that such a bad thing? - 4/15/2024
How do you make tough decisions in your pharmacy business?
In the pharmacy, there are many decisions to make. Some are easy to make, others are much more difficult. The decisions are not only about patient care; they also include decisions about staffing, inventory management and contracting, and list goes on (and on). - 4/8/2024
Pharmacists, where do you get your inspiration and motivation?
Are you able to inspire and motivate others to do the things that need to be done to get where they want to go? I have had far too many conversations with far too many pharmacists which highlight this struggle. I can recall one pharmacist telling me, "I can't get anyone to do what I want them to do." In another conversation a pharmacist told me "I don't know what to say to my patients." - 4/1/2024
What’s your view? Half empty, half full, or something else?
As you look at your pharmacy team, you may see some cups which are half empty as well as some that are half full. You may even see a cup or two that need a good wash. No matter the individual or collective state of your cups, take a moment to "refill the cups" of your team. - 2/26/2024
The hope of healthcare – learn to overdeliver
We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Some expectation of time was set and not met. We overpromise and under-deliver. This leads to frustration for the people we serve. In the pharmacy, my default wait time I’d tell patients to fill a prescription was 10 minutes. When I was able to produce the prescription in six minutes, the patient was happy. If I took 12 minutes, the patient was unhappy. - 2/19/2024
Pharmacy leaders don’t quit, they step up
You must continue to improve so that you can continue to advance your team on their mission. No one will follow a pharmacy leader promoting outdated philosophies and goals for long. - 2/12/2024
The hope of healthcare— Play. To. Win.
Over the course of my career, I have had the privilege of meeting and interacting with thousands of pharmacists. When I first started out, I did not know the rules of the game. Allow me to correct that. When I first started out, I was playing a very small game. I thought the game was to correctly fill a prescription for a patient as quickly as possible. If I did that, I would win.