Personal Note from Rachel

COVID-19, technological transformation, changing work practices, a world-wide labour shortage, rising inflation, war, climate crises etc. are creating a highly Volatile, Uncertain, Chaotic and Ambiguous (VUCA) personal, professional and business environment.   

This VUCA environment necessitates changing the way we think, work and lead.

Ten years ago, I completed my first coach training.  At that time, in the midst of the Celtic Crash, I did not envisage the immense changes we would navigate in the past decade.  Our challenges have evolved.  What we are now called to do, in the midst of exponential change, should not be under-estimated.  Risk mitigation strategies that worked in a linear model are no longer fit for purpose in a time of exponential change.  To take a metaphor, the opportunities we have to surf the tsunami and grow, expand and develop are unparalleled.  For the risk averse, remember, the riskiest strategy you could adopt right now is to stay 'plodding along' in the daily grind, maintaining the status quo and hoping that the tsunami will not hit.  Global trends indicate that individuals, professionals and businesses that do not embrace the white knuckle ride, by continually evolving towards personal, professional and business mastery will rapidly become redundant.  Nobody is exempt.   

Over the past ten years, in my pursuit of coaching mastery, I have come to appreciate how counter-cultural 'The Coach Approach' really is.  Contrary to prevailing societal norms filled with fear-based reactivity, unconscious bias, 'know-it-all' tendencies and individualism, coaching offers the reflective space we so desperately need to be conscious, curious, courageous and collaborative as seek to thrive and live in deeper integrity with what is truly most important to us. 

A leader's job is to thrive and to co-create a culture where you, your team and those you serve thrive and feel inspired to be at their best.  Nobody is exonerated from this work.  Leadership is a daily practice that starts with self-leadership, also known as personal leadership or self-care.  From a solid base of self-care, you can lead by coaching and empowering others and productively manage conflict.  Indeed, productive conflict can be generative and healing, when handled by our Sage Selves.  

At the recent WBECS Summit, Mo Kasti, founder of CTI Leadership shared the top 10 development areas for healthcare leaders, identified by the Healthcare Leadership Institute.  How would you rank YOUR top 10 development areas?  

 Difficult Conversations 

Since conflict management is THE #1 area for development identified among healthcare team members in 2022, it seems like an opportune time to revisit this topic. 

When it comes to managing conflict, there is a world of difference between how our Sage and Saboteur aspects of Our Selves approach difficult conversations.

When we get into a difficult conversation with a customer or staff member, we often go on the defensive.  We arm ourselves with our reasons, our opinions, and our certainty that we are right.  However, most of us give very little thought to our role in creating the atmosphere in which our conversation happens. 

The atmosphere matters.  It makes a difference.  When we adopt a military mind-set, we create 'winners' and 'losers', which fosters a 'them' versus 'us' mentality.  We focus on the customer or staff member being 'difficult,' when the truth is that they have different needs, different priorities and a different viewpoint from us.   This does not automatically make us right and them wrong.   

Left unresolved, these difficulties usually grow until an explosion occurs, often on the shop floor. 

To mitigate against these difficulties, for your part, consider how 

• do you make it safe for customers or staff members to come to you with problems? 
• do customers and staff members know they can come to you with a difference of opinion or something that needs to be settled?
• do they know they will be treated with respect? 
• do you approach the difficulty?  As if you are on opposite sides of the counter or as if you are part of a team, looking for a solution together.

Difficult conversations can be a calm, mature discussion between equals, when you both listen and seek to understand each other.  Are you willing to take the first step by putting your own defences aside, listen with curiosity, compassion and courage and assume the best in the other person, for the sake of seeking a solution?  

When you do, it makes it far more likely that the other person will respond in kind.  The impact on the relationship, customer loyalty and professional fulfilment is profound. Are you willing to discover and develop new skills for the sake of reducing stress and transforming your professional impact? 

If you would like to dive deeper into this topic, click the button below to learn more about our free 6-part audio course.  Resolving conflict from a collaborative rather than combative lens pays dividends.

6 Part Resolving Conflict Audio

Gain access to Positive Leadership resources designed to decrease stress and improve your ability to host difficult conversations. For example, the resources include links to assessments and videos:

• Learn more about how Positive Intelligence mental fitness can improve productive conversations by watching the Positive Intelligence TED Talk
• Discover the saboteurs that are negatively affecting your impact and influence by taking the Saboteur Assessment.  Remember - conflict is not only about conflict with others.  We also experience inner conflict between our Sage Self and our Saboteur Selves! 
• Discover your Positive Intelligence Quotient (PQ Score)
• And more! Click Here.

Do you know about the 12th Annual Summit of WBECS by  coaching.com?  

WBECS is the World Business and Executive Coach Summit.  It features global thought leaders across a range of disciplines related to leadership & organisational development, peak performance, productivity, neuroscience, psychology, wellbeing at work, team dynamics and business & technology trends. 

Register for Free to access to this year's top rated sessions at this year's Summit including Shirzad Chamine's Session 'Positive Intelligence - From Self-Sabotage to Self-Mastery': https://mbsy.co/6fNFPt 

If you are interested in an even deeper dive into upgrading your mindset and skills at managing conflict in a collaborative, productive manner, The Positive Intelligence Program® could be a great fit for you (and your team).

The programme grows your three core mental fitness muscles within six weeks, installing the foundational mental fitness operating system, on which mastery can be built.  The Breakthrough app delivers neuroscience based, personalised daily practices that result in powerful new habits for a positive mind.

Intentional on-going focus on building your three Core Mental Fitness Muscles allows you to prioritise mastering your mindset as a fundamental, lifelong leadership practice.

To equip you to optimise the benefits from your initial six- week intensive mental fitness training, the 4Front Positive Leadership Programme facilitated by Rachel Dungan, Certified PQ Coach® includes an additional four months of support to engrain your PQ practice so that you sustain your momentum, assume a steady, sustainable pace going forward so that you (and those with whom you interact) reap the rewards of your ever strengthening mental fitness muscles.   

Our next cohort starts on September 5, 2022. Learn more here.

Some of you know that I have practised yoga or pilates for the past 19 years.  Initially inspired by back pain, I decided to deepen my practice over COVID by taking a yoga teacher training online.  I wanted to learn in an inclusive, multi-cultural community and I wanted to expand my yoga practice to include yoga philosophy, breathwork, meditation and physical postures.  I chose Happy Jack Yoga for my RYT-500hr yoga teacher training because the team represents the yin and yang aspects of yoga.  Ex-engineer Jack is a high performance coach and teaches much of the more energetic and philosophical aspects of yoga.  His wife Hanna teaches more of the restorative and meditative aspects of yoga.  Together, they and their team are brilliant at holding a safe, non-judgemental space for participants to share their raw experience.

We all know leadership begins with self-leadership and self-leadership begins with self-care.  Without optimising our own energy, we have nothing to give to others. If you feel inspired to learn from one of my teachers CLICK HERE to join Happy Jack's Five Day Win Your Day' Lifestyle challenge.  It is a FREE resource.  I look forward to hearing what you discover!   

4FrontPharmacy Online offers all pharmacy staff OTC pharmacy specific training, in medical conditions, product knowledge and consultation skills.   4Front's STEPS™ Consultation Framework offers a proven strategy to host productive pharmacy consultations and reduce the risk of unproductive defensive, aggressive or passive consultations.  

Start your journey with 4Front Pharmacy Online for FREE and experience every course with four easy-to-follow steps:

• Step 1: Choose your course and review learning outcomes
• Step 2: Watch course video at your own pace
• Step 3: Review resources, references, and reading materials
• Step 4: Take the Course Assessment and get a certificate (Premium Membership required)

Once you are a registered member of 4FrontPharmacy Online, you can also enrol for 4Front's Positive Leadership Series - a free member benefit. 

The topic for our June 29th LIVE Zoom Call is 'Caring for the Caregiver - Caring for your Physical Health.'  Click https://www.4frontpharmacy.ie/leadership-series to register.  

IPN’s Pharmacy Business Excellence Series is for community pharmacists committed to growing their professional and business knowledge and skills to overcome challenges and thrive as a community pharmacist.

4Front Pharmacy is proud to partner with the Irish Pharmacy News (IPN) to bring you the ‘IPN/4Front Pharmacy Business Excellence Series.’ In this series, you will learn how to apply 4Front’s 6P’s of Pharmacy Excellence to navigate the ‘Future of Pharmacy.’

4Front’s 6P’s of Pharmacy Excellence are
1. Personal Leadership
2. Professional Practice
3. People (Patients/Customers/Staff/Other Healthcare Professionals)
4. Products and Services
5. Promotion
6. Prosperity (Profit and Time)

This month's download focuses on 'The Evolving Role of Supervision in Pharmacy Practice' and includes an example of a CPD Cycle that you could write based on your engagement with this article.  

Click here to download the full article.