Learn the ABCs D&E of pharmacy leadership

It is not uncommon when I am discussing leadership with someone, especially a young leader, for the question to come up about what the most important things are a pharmacy leader does. 

There are many answers – and good answers – to this question. People are often looking for those basic things a good leader does. For the purposes of this article, we will refer to those basics as the ABCs of leadership. 

A good leader is like a diamond. There are many angles and facets of leadership that come into play to create the environment that allows an organization to move forward. 

Today, I want to focus on two areas which can be a stumbling block for many leaders.  These two areas are the D and E of leadership – Development and Equipping. Do we equip our teams and ourselves with the tools we need to be successful? And once we have that equipment, are we developing our teams and ourselves to use that equipment efficiently and effectively?

Imagine you wanted to start your own baseball team. You have a team of players, but you must equip them with bats, balls, gloves, uniforms, and a ballpark to get started.  But you and I both know that simply equipping the team does not mean the team will be successful. We must help each player develop his own skill whether that be batting, pitching, fielding, baserunning, and so on. 

The same premise holds for us in pharmacy. And I can tell you that I failed horribly at this early on. 

Way back in 2006, I was part of a small team of pharmacists (there were about a dozen of us) beginning immunization services. We had this whole training and retraining program that our pharmacists went through. The goal was for each pharmacist to give 200 flu shots that season. We equipped these pharmacists with vaccine, syringes, sharps containers, cotton balls, vaccination cards, gloves, and several other things. We did everything we knew to do at that time to equip our pharmacists. Then we turned them loose...and waited.

How many pharmacists do you think gave 200 flu shots that first season? The correct answer was...zero. We did have one pharmacist who came very close; he gave about 190 immunizations that season. But I also had one pharmacist who gave fewer than 20. 

How can that be? They were all equipped the same way. The answer is that these pharmacists were not developed. We didn’t develop these pharmacists to use their technicians. We didn’t develop these pharmacists to have conversations about vaccines with their patients. In short, we didn’t help them develop to a higher level. And their results reflected this.

The truth is this happens all around us. We may equip people, but we often take the development for granted. We think it will happen automatically. 

We all still have patients with adherence issues. Simply having a tool to help with adherence is likely not enough. We need to develop our teams to use them. We need to give them the equipment to succeed.

So, let me ask you this: how are you developing yourself and your team? Drop me a note with what you do to keep improving.

Until next time –

Jesse McCullough, PharmD

Connect with Jesse on LinkedIn