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Over the last several weeks, we have looked at the various directions of directional leadership. That is all well and good, but what are you going to do with that information?

Last week I told you about my "plan" to take the last Friday of each month for self-development and how somehow those Fridays just didn't work out as I had planned.

When we talk about directional leadership, up, down and across pretty much covers it, doesn't it? Long-time readers will not be surprised when I tell you we have another direction of leadership to explore – the Fourth Direction of Leadership.

Around 2008 I began learning about performance measures for pharmacy and I was enthralled. What an amazing concept! What if we could describe a way to determine how well a therapy serves a patient?

You would think that leading down is the easiest form of leadership, and perhaps it is. But consider this: if it is supposed to be so easy, why is it so hard? Why is it so challenging?

One of the most important ways we lead is by leading up. This is key for a number of reasons. Perhaps most notably, it is because when we lead up, we make life easier for our boss. And in turn, our boss can make life easier for us.

One of the most important ways we lead is by leading up. This is key for a number of reasons. Perhaps most notably, it is because when we lead up, we make life easier for our boss. And in turn, our boss can make life easier for us.

I trust the new year still finds you well and well on your way to achieving your goals for 2023. Over the course of the next several articles we are going to look at the idea of what I will call “directional leadership.”

It is not uncommon when it is time to sit down and write one of these articles that I reach out to my editor to see if there are any specific topics that I should address.

Considering what to write this week, I am reminded of how many leaders are lonely and feel isolated and disconnected from others.

What do you do when faced with patients with questions and concerns? What about your staff? What are the key lessons we need to learn and impart?

Many years ago, I was building out a network of pharmacists to serve as “MTM specialists.” These pharmacists were being used to address a specific group of patients whose problems were going to be very challenging.

I struggled for a long time with the idea of “winning.” A big part of the struggle came from my definition of winning. I confused dominating with winning.

Do you have a Leadership Lens? Do you look at things with a leader’s perspective? Do you look at situations and assess the ways you can help someone get from where they are to another place? If you do not, do not be discouraged. You are not alone.

In 2005, I received a phone call with an idea. The idea was to get pharmacists trained to provide immunization services. At the time this was an outrageous idea to me. But I did not reject it.

In the real world, building a bridge takes engineers and raw materials and time. In the leadership world, it takes the ability to communicate effectively, to establish and build a relationship, and time.

The relationship principle that I have learned to employ is called the Exchange Principle. The Exchange Principle says before you put someone in his place, you should put yourself in his place.

I ran into an old friend who is currently a district supervisor for several pharmacies. After a bit of small talk, I asked how things were going and how her team was holding up. She went on to describe a bleak situation.

Often, when we start to think about how things can improve, we quickly jump to external sources and resources and become discouraged because we may not have much, if any, control over those resources.

Think about this: when we each of us entered pharmacy school or began working in a pharmacy, we knew very little.

A couple weeks ago, I was scrolling through LinkedIn and one of my colleagues had shared a post about carrots and eggs.

Something that captured my professional imagination many years ago was the idea of measuring quality in the pharmacy industry. How do we know if medications are being used appropriately?

If you have ever seen a late-night infomercial on television, you may have encountered a product that was so amazing and so easy to use that all you had to do was “set it and forget it.” While that phrase may sell product in late night infomercials,

Many people, including myself, believed at one point that patients were very much like a cup. The education provided would be like the liquid filling up the cup.

Pharmacists face leadership challenges from every angle. Staff, customers, prescribers, vendors, and you cannot overlook family. Pharmacists are challenged to lead all these groups (and others) and they all have different requirements.

Early in my career, I recall a man coming into the pharmacy who had just been diagnosed with high blood pressure. He presented his prescription and asked me how long he would likely have to take this medication.

Timing is key for effective pharmacy leadership. Learning when to lead is as important as where to lead. Think of some times when your leadership timing wasn’t right. There are many lessons that can learned by studying the ideal timing of action.

How many treatment algorithms have you seen changed over the course of your career? Several! And you know what? We will likely see some more in the coming years. Why did these changes happen?

If we want to get to a better place, we need to define the place and lead the team there. Will it be easy? No, it will be difficult. And probably more difficult than you thought to begin with. But it will be rewarding.

Over the last couple articles, we have looked generally at the limitations we have as leaders. This is nothing to be ashamed of. It is simply a fact of life. We all have limits. Today, we are going to look at how limits can be good.

When last we met, we began to look at the concept of seasons and how it applies to our leadership. Today, we are going to look at things from a slightly different angle. We have established that we are all leaders.

"...we all have seasons where we contribute most. We all have a sweet spot where we deliver the most value. The extension of this is that all leaders have a sweet spot where they deliver the most value."

Whether we like it or not, we are all leaders. But even though we are all leaders, we have different skillsets and leadership gifts, and that makes us unique. We are all unique leaders.

When it comes to our leadership, there is a point that we really struggle to move past. And we will never move past that point unless we go through the discomfort of growth.

When it comes to becoming a better leader, we understand that this process is not automatic. It doesn’t just happen. It takes intentional effort. There is no minimum or maximum time it takes to become a good leader.

In March of 2010 I attended a meeting where I was introduced to the concept of the Appointment-Based Model of pharmacy. A key component of this concept was using synchronized refills to be able to drive the appointments with patients.

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.

We should strive to be in the centre of activity. When we are here, we gain perspectives that allow us to make better decisions to lead our teams well. The problem is, it isn’t always easy to stay in the centre.

A few months ago, I made reference to “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities and how they seem to come along about every two weeks. I am finding that to be very true right now.

When you are communicating with someone, whether it be a single person or an entire audience (as with a public speaker), it is not just for information, but for transformation.

Leaders must be effective communicators. There is no doubt about it. You show me a leader who struggles to communicate, and I will show you a team that is struggling to perform.

Last time we met, I encouraged you to consider conferences as a great place to find new ideas. Writing that post got me to reflect on the various conferences I have attended throughout my career. I thought I would share a story with you today.

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.

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.

A couple blogs ago we looked at the concept of options and how leaders look for options to navigate through various challenges. Today, we are going to consider the value of an idea. We all have ideas. Some are good. Some are not.

Let me ask you a more focused question: where does leadership fit in to what you are betting on? Is it first? Last? Somewhere in between? Is it even on your list?

How often do we find ourselves in situations where we feel like we have very little choice? This is the only thing we can do. Occasionally, we may look at the opposite position and then make a choice.

The Law of Compensation states that you will be paid based on the demand for what you do, the skill involved with what you do, and the ease with which you can be replaced.

We need to recognize this lesson of the wood stove, because it gives us a tremendous clue for our leadership. We need to operate on the cause end of the law of cause and effect. What does that look like?

I have heard some claim that we are now in the Age of Insight. The age where we take the information available to us and then find ways to apply it in such a way as to deliver a benefit.

In my experience, so many leaders model their leadership based on how they have been led. This often yields limited results when there is near limitless opportunity around them. And when the “storm” comes along, their business is in serious jeopardy.