How did that happen?
Why don't they do something about that?
Do these questions sound familiar?
Unfortunately, they are all too common in our everyday personal and work life.
Where is the leadership?
Successfully leading the pharmacy enterprise means that you need to choose to lead, whatever your practice role, title or experience level, fostering strong connections between peers and colleagues, and across organizational levels and functions. You can choose to lead, to do "something" about the challenges, issues and obstacles you face in your role and your organization. Building leadership skills, experience and capability is a lifelong commitment, a journey that starts now, from where you are today, to gain the confidence and behaviors that will drive the decisions, actions and results that will define your personal leadership legacy . . .
IOM Highlighted the Leadership Need
In 1988, the Institute of Medicine urged that leadership -- or lack of it -- was at the core of many of the issues facing the healthcare system. While leadership has been a growing focus of attention across many industries, including healthcare, there has been a lot of talk, and far less skill building. As social values and expectations have changed, there has been a dramatic shift from authority-focused leadership (also referred to as BIG L leadership) to collaborative, team-oriented leadership, but professional education and training support have not kept pace with the need for skills development and knowledge transfer. Even less developmental attention has focused on leadership skill building for mid-level and line managers, and almost none is dedicated to the clinician, staff pharmacist, technician and anyone else who provides a strategic role in the fulfillment of the everyday work of the overall Pharmacy Enterprise.
NQF Placed a Laser Beam on Pharmacy Leadership
More recently, the National Quality Forum (NQF) has endorsed best practices that should be universally applied to to reduce the potential of harm to patients. A culture of leadership for safety has been a pivotal component from the initial recommendations in 2003, but the most recent update in 2009 underscored the importance of leadership and organizational culture across the continuum of care, but specifically dedicated a chapter to medication management, and even more directly focused on the role of the pharmacist as a vital leader with a strong role in administrative leadership to reflect their authority and accountability for medication systems performance across the organization. This is a critical time for pharmacists to choose to lead. What are your skills, how ready are you to take up the challenge, and where do you need to strengthen your capabilities?
Personal Leadership Assessment Tools
Your natural leadership skills and style are the foundation and starting point for your journey. Self-assessment of where you are, where priority opportunities for self-development should be focused, is a first step. This resource will enable you to evaluate critical aspects of your leadership capability, to identify areas for growth and nurturing and to begin the development of a personal plan for your leadership journey, future and legacy.
Developing Collaborative Leadership Practices
Several assessment instruments are designed to provide you with a line of sight to your potential and the opportunity to make the most of your leadership journey, including a range of self-assessment opportunities, including
