Dispensing Leadership: Defining Your Philosophy
Join Shawn Bjorndal, PharmD, RPh, and Jesse McCullough, PharmD, for the first episode of Dispensing Leadership, a new podcast from Drug Topics® and RPhAlly.
In today’s complex health care landscape, having leadership skills is an integral part of being a pharmacist. Strong leadership skills allow pharmacists to improve workflows, successfully guide their teams, and improve health outcomes. Without them, the result is disjointed dispensing of medication, uncoordinated patient care, and stagnated innovation.1
In Dispensing Leadership, a new podcast offering from Drug Topics® and RPhAlly, Shawn Bjorndal, PharmD, RPh, a visionary health care executive with over 16 years of experience and founder of PGxAlly, and Jesse McCullough, PharmD, a pharmacist-turned-entrepreneur with a passion for leadership development, will discuss essential leadership skills for pharmacists, how to develop them, and, ultimately, how to advance the pharmacy profession.
In the first episode, Shawn and Jesse discuss why defining a philosophy is key for pharmacists who want to excel in their career. Jesse outlines the key components of creating a philosophy, including taking an inventory, asking how it can serve you, and the importance of not being afraid to upgrade or change if there are better ways to think about it.
“My call to action would be, to begin by taking an inventory,” Jesse said. “What are some of those common phrases or what are some of those common beliefs that you have? Those are absolutely your philosophy. Take an inventory of that. As you make that list, you need to ask yourself, ‘How do those philosophies serve me?’ Are they beneficial or are they detrimental to the work that you are trying to do?”
Be sure to tune in every month on Drug Topics for important conversations that will help you develop your skills to become an effective pharmacy leader. All episodes of Dispensing Leadership will be available in a video format via DrugTopics.com, with an audio version available through Spotify.
References
1. Aman M, Arakawa N, Anderson C. Leadership competencies and behaviors in pharmacy: A qualitative content analysis. 2025. Res Social Adm Pharm. ISSN 1551-7411, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2025.02.001
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