What Does It Take To Be A Good Leader?

[Mr. Corporate Pharmacist]

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Calling all Pharmacy Students pursuing Retail Pharmacy:

Do you consider yourself a leader?

What's your number one question about how to succeed in leadership?

What do you think it takes to move up the corporate ladder?

 

[VictorOfHungerGames]

Calling all Pharmacy Students pursuing Retail Pharmacy:

Do you consider yourself a leader?

What's your number one question about how to succeed in leadership?

What do you think it takes to move up the corporate ladder?

At cvs it was considered good leadership if youre able to boss people around like youre the boss of the bosses. Watching Thanos vomit his ****ty logic reminded me of how exactly a leader is considered at cvs.

This one girl that was a pic of a store i floated at once in awhile totally threw me under the bus just for her to look good. I honestly did not do anything wrong but she was one of those types that would twist everything around for her advantage. Later her techs confirmed to me that she made **** up just to get herself recognized. Now shes a DM lol soooo.... clearly, that's what a leader should be.

To answer your question, you need to not care about others and only look out for yourself. Push those numbers and make them lots of money no matter who you step on or hurt. Forget being a good pharmacist, be a good slave theyre paying you to be. Dont think, just do as they say. Before you know it, youll be on top of food chain.

 

[Mr. Corporate Pharmacist]

At cvs it was considered good leadership if youre able to boss people around like youre the boss of the bosses. Watching Thanos vomit his ****ty logic reminded me of how exactly a leader is considered at cvs.

This one girl that was a pic of a store i floated at once in awhile totally threw me under the bus just for her to look good. I honestly did not do anything wrong but she was one of those types that would twist everything around for her advantage. Later her techs confirmed to me that she made **** up just to get herself recognized. Now shes a DM lol soooo.... clearly, that's what a leader should be.

To answer your question, you need to not care about others and only look out for yourself. Push those numbers and make them lots of money no matter who you step on or hurt. Forget being a good pharmacist, be a good slave theyre paying you to be. Dont think, just do as they say. Before you know it, youll be on top of food chain.

This is what I used to see when I was a student. Bosses yelling at direct reports. Manipulation, politics, and brown-nosing.

Back then, I thought poorly of the company and how the staff were victims in all this atrocity.

When I became a PIC, I even started to think of myself as a victim during times of forced culture and bad management.

But I learned quickly that nothing changes unless I do something about it.

Instead of being bystanders, or subjects, to all this cultural mess, why not take things into our own hands?

Retail Pharmacy will continue dying if we continue to allow in-breeding of poor leadership.

How do you climb the corporate ladder WITHOUT selling your soul?

 

[PharFromNormal]

How do you climb the corporate ladder WITHOUT selling your soul?

By listening to all the fantastic advice provided by Mr. Corporate Pharmacist of course! My engagement is up, my metrics are, my paycheck is up, and my bs skills are up! I don’t consider my soul to have been sold but rather fused with the soul of the corporate gods. It’s all a matter of perspective really! Whatever is higher than grateful on the mood elevator... that’s where I am! Thank you McPharmD (Mister corporate PharmD)!

 

[Mr. Corporate Pharmacist]

By listening to all the fantastic advice provided by Mr. Corporate Pharmacist of course! My engagement is up, my metrics are, my paycheck is up, and my bs skills are up! I don’t consider my soul to have been sold but rather fused with the soul of the corporate gods. It’s all a matter of perspective really! Whatever is higher than grateful on the mood elevator... that’s where I am! Thank you McPharmD (Mister corporate PharmD)!

I love your enthusiasm lol. Channel that bad boy.

 

[olabrador23]

I love the sig "Zero to Hero in Retail Pharmacy" 🙂

 

[Mr. Corporate Pharmacist]

I love the sig "Zero to Hero in Retail Pharmacy" 🙂

My peers inspired me. I love sharing zero to hero stories, and everyone has one.

 

[sakigt]

If youre trying to find a place in Chicago with a map of Detroit you will fail. You may hype yourself, stay positive, drive faster, look more closely, maybe even accept you may never find the place and just be happy. But the reason you don't end up at the correct location isn't your lack of effort, you've got the wrong map. (stolen from the 7 habits of highly effective people)

 

[Mr. Corporate Pharmacist]

If youre trying to find a place in Chicago with a map of Detroit you will fail. You may hype yourself, stay positive, drive faster, look more closely, maybe even accept you may never find the place and just be happy. But the reason you don't end up at the correct location isn't your lack of effort, you've got the wrong map. (stolen from the 7 habits of highly effective people)

Love Stephen Covey. May he rest in peace.

His point is that you need the right mindset (new paradigms) and toolset (new skills) to reach a new destination (goal).

Those 3 variables will differ for many people.

I do see a mismatch of mindset in retail pharmacy though. Too many practitioners only wanting to be clinical pharmacists in a business setting.

Too many DMs who have no clinical or pharmacist experience.

No emphasis on the right tools (business and leadership), but rather on arbitrary goals with no purpose.

No wonder no one has any real ambition or goals to strive for. We're all dust under these white coats.

 

[Wickett]

My comment pertains to your last question mainly:

I think it really depends on the direct leadership above you. If you have a cold, uncaring boss that only wants numbers, having top numbers is the only way to get in his/her good graces. If you have a boss that values patient and employee relationships, maintaining good customer service as well as keeping your employees happy and speaking well of you will help you there. Honestly, it seems the only real way to move up the corporate ladder is to be a chameleon, see what your boss wants, and deliver that. In general, enthusiastically delivering on the corporate initiatives (regardless if they make sense or not) is the best way to be noticed.

I personally have no real desire to move up the ladder beyond where I am at as PIC. I did a corporate rotation in school and that environment had no appeal to me (expected to be artificially enthusiastic about everything, never question any decisions or proposals brought up by upper management, your aptitude is almost solely judged by numbers on a spreadsheet, etc). I really just try to run my store as smoothly as possible, give my boss honest assessments on the store's performance as well as thoughts on new corporate initiatives, and try not to be a general pain in the ass. Having some empathy towards what is expected of your boss and letting him/her know you are aware of these things seems to really help in building a mutually beneficial relationship. I am fortunate I have a great boss overall.....I know for many they aren't so lucky and their success solely depends on meeting corporate demands/metrics.

 

[Mr. Corporate Pharmacist]

My comment pertains to your last question mainly:

I think it really depends on the direct leadership above you. If you have a cold, uncaring boss that only wants numbers, having top numbers is the only way to get in his/her good graces. If you have a boss that values patient and employee relationships, maintaining good customer service as well as keeping your employees happy and speaking well of you will help you there. Honestly, it seems the only real way to move up the corporate ladder is to be a chameleon, see what your boss wants, and deliver that. In general, enthusiastically delivering on the corporate initiatives (regardless if they make sense or not) is the best way to be noticed.

I personally have no real desire to move up the ladder beyond where I am at as PIC. I did a corporate rotation in school and that environment had no appeal to me (expected to be artificially enthusiastic about everything, never question any decisions or proposals brought up by upper management, your aptitude is almost solely judged by numbers on a spreadsheet, etc). I really just try to run my store as smoothly as possible, give my boss honest assessments on the store's performance as well as thoughts on new corporate initiatives, and try not to be a general pain in the ass. Having some empathy towards what is expected of your boss and letting him/her know you are aware of these things seems to really help in building a mutually beneficial relationship. I am fortunate I have a great boss overall.....I know for many they aren't so lucky and their success solely depends on meeting corporate demands/metrics.

Your comment is one of the most genuine replies I've received on this forum. Thanks for your thoughts.

The DM is the gatekeeper to resources and opportunities. I can see how being adaptable is important in navigating the political landscape.

But many students will only see this surface-level influence and think this is all it takes to move up and lead.

You have a great leader above you. What traits exactly do you respect in him/her the most?

Do they fit the stereotypical DM described by the cynics? Are they artificially excited and mindless?

If not, how do we teach more people to be like that?

Is there something students and new grads can do to follow that path or move up quicker? There's literally no chatter about this anywhere on the web.

I am starting to see more and more field management positions opening up.

I would like to see more of the right people get promoted into leadership positions

Preparing the next generation of pharmacists is more important than ever.

 

[Wickett]

Your comment is one of the most genuine replies I've received on this forum. Thanks for your thoughts.

The DM is the gatekeeper to resources and opportunities. I can see how being adaptable is important in navigating the political landscape.

But many students will only see this surface-level influence and think this is all it takes to move up and lead.

You have a great leader above you. What traits exactly do you respect in him/her the most?

Do they fit the stereotypical DM described by the cynics? Are they artificially excited and mindless?

If not, how do we teach more people to be like that?

Is there something students and new grads can do to follow that path or move up quicker? There's literally no chatter about this anywhere on the web.

I am starting to see more and more field management positions opening up.

I would like to see more of the right people get promoted into leadership positions

Preparing the next generation of pharmacists is more important than ever.

My boss is unusual in that he is both very aware and empathetic of what the day to day in a pharmacy is like (he is a pharmacist and former PIC within the company) as well as able to dissect the business side effectively (has a business/MBA background). He digs pretty deep into the numbers and trends of each of his pharmacies, so he can see whether or not you are truly doing the best you can. For example, last year we had a significant drop in gross sales. He stopped by and asked me why I thought that was happening, as opposed to simply berating me and slashing my budget. I told him I noticed many of our customers were no longer filling their more expensive meds with us and were now getting them mail order (mainly insulins). Those are also items in which we hardly make any profit on/our gross profit was roughly the same. I pointed this out and afterwards he looked at the numbers more in depth and told me I was right....my average $/rx had dropped pretty significantly, but my gross profit was within 1-2% of the prior year.

Due to this, he fought to prevent our labor budget from being cut, because he knew we still needed that help to maintain our level of customer service. Overall, if he knows you are trying, he will try to do what he can to help you. Heck, he shows up to all his stores' inventories and helps get it done while you are operating the pharmacy. He definitely has goals and metrics, but talks them over with you and is understanding that each store is different and won't always meet every single goal. There is more encouragement/positive reinforcement towards meeting certain objectives vs using fear of repercussions. Personally, I respond much better to that. I am naturally pretty self motivated and want my store to do well, and I am realistic about how to do it. Don't threaten or demean me and I will do what I can to get things done.

Unfortunately, I don't think most companies, especially the big chains, are structured like mine is. My company is employee owned/not publicly traded, and the pharmacy dept is all run by pharmacists. Most companies are publicly traded and led solely by business people...their main concern is to increase profits each quarter and keep stockholders happy. Because of this, the quality of the pharmacy is way down the list of priorities, and this feeling inevitably trickles down to the DM level. If my boss was at the three letter, he probably would be let go or told to simply toe the line and trim operational costs each year to meet specific profit goals. I just don't think health care and pure corporate structure go together. I am not saying that DMs at bigger chains can't be more empathetic and can't help their pharmacies out at all, but invariably the DM that eeks the most profit out of his stores by slashing cost to the bone is going to be looked at in a much better light by the business/corporate side than the DM who doesn't do the same.

It would take an entire paradigm shift in how companies run the pharmacy chain business and how they are organized to really get the leadership you are talking about, imo.

 

[Sugoi Travis]

My company is employee owned/not publicly traded, and the pharmacy dept is all run by pharmacists.

This sounds a lot like Publix.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

Being a good leader... but not necessarily in this order: These are the 3 things I value most and strive to personify.

1) Hard work/work ethic; you need to be outworking the rest of your employees. Lead by example. Do things right the first time.
2) Honesty/integrity - doing the right thing, no matter the cost.
3) Owning your mistakes. Don't blame others... be a leader, step up and take the blame when you or your department make a mistake. It is that simple.

It isn't easy, but it will get you far in life. Nothing worthwhile is easy though.

 

[PharmtoCS]

To answer your question, you need to not care about others and only look out for yourself. Push those numbers and make them lots of money no matter who you step on or hurt. Forget being a good pharmacist, be a good slave theyre paying you to be. Dont think, just do as they say. Before you know it, youll be on top of food chain.

This is how you become the Victor of Hunger Games.