Dispensing Leadership: Deciphering Behavior

In episode 15 of Dispensing Leadership, hosts Shawn Bjorndal, PharmD, RPh, and Jesse McCullough, PharmD, discuss the nuances behind leadership types and how some skills can be taught, learned, or caught—opening up a complicated yet paramount door to successfully managing pharmacy teams.

“The reality that I have experienced is that people in leadership roles have behaviors that have been more caught than taught,” said McCullough in this week’s episode. “What I mean by that is that they model a previous leader’s behavior. They’ve seen somebody else do it before and that’s the way they’re going to do it, or ‘This is the way it’s always been done here.’”

McCullough’s outlook is equal parts honest and hopeful. He pushes back on the idea that pharmacy has a uniquely bad leadership problem, arguing instead that leadership gaps are a universal challenge rooted in the fact that most people land in leadership roles because they were good at a previous job, not because they were ever formally prepared to lead.

The result is a cycle of behaviors that are “caught, not taught,” where leaders simply repeat what they witnessed from their own managers, even when those behaviors aren't delivering results.

The conversation also explores the practical side of developing better leadership skills—why reading a book isn't enough, why repetition and application matter more than one-time training sessions, and why the most important leadership lesson of all may be the hardest one to accept.

This episode is essential listening for any pharmacist ready to break that cycle amongst their peers in the pharmacy community.

In Dispensing Leadership, a podcast offering from Drug Topics and RPhAlly, Bjorndal and McCullough discuss essential leadership skills for pharmacists, how to develop them, and how to advance the pharmacy profession. All new episodes of Dispensing Leadership will be available in a video format via DrugTopics.com on the second Monday of each month. Check out our most recent episode: Shrinking the Gap.

Don’t get left behind: Sign up today for our free Drug Topics newsletter and get the latest drug information, industry trends, and patient care tips delivered straight to your inbox.