Personal Note from Rachel
Embodying a Coaching Mindset – Leading with Presence, Clarity, and Compassion
December 2025 Edition — The Value of Positive Practice | With Rachel Dungan, The Pharmacist Coach
Welcome
Leading with a Coaching Mindset in the Busiest Season
December is a month of paradox. As leaders, especially in healthcare and pharmacy, we are often holding space for:
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Joy, connection and celebration
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Sadness, stress, infections and sheer busyness
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Professional deadlines and personal demands
It’s also a time of renewal—licences, credentials, year-end evaluations, relationship beginnings, maintenance and endings. In my world, 2025 brought a triple renewal:
✅ My ICF-MCC leadership and health and wellness NBC-HWC coaching credentials, as well as leading the ICF international programme accreditation for LCI's 'Diploma in Coaching for Leaders'
✅ My PSI ePortfolio pharmacy continuing professional development (CPD) review
✅ Ongoing responsibilities across my businesses, family and professional communities
What has sustained me, my family and the leaders I coach, through intensity and achievement alike?
A coaching mindset.
Not just as a tool, but as a way of being.
What Is a Coaching Mindset—Really?
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines it as “developing and maintaining a mindset that is open, curious, flexible, and client-centred.”
That sounds simple. In practice, it means:
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Pausing instead of reacting
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Asking questions instead of giving answers
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Noticing your saboteurs and choosing a wiser response
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Leading from vision rather than pressure
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Resting without guilt
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Staying present, human and whole
This is not just about how we support others. It’s about how we lead ourselves—especially under pressure.
🧭 Reflection Prompt:
How do you meet yourself in moments of pressure? What might shift if you listened more deeply—to yourself, your team, or the context around you?
Applying the Coaching Mindset to Yourself
Leadership begins with self-leadership.
Before we model curiosity, presence or compassion for others, we’re invited to extend it to ourselves.
Whether you’re recovering from burnout, navigating high-stakes leadership decisions, or simply trying to keep things afloat over Christmas—consider:
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How do I speak to myself under pressure?
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Am I offering myself the same compassion I offer my team or patients?
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Where might I soften my inner dialogue or release perfectionism?
Self-coaching is not about “fixing” yourself.
It’s about listening inwardly with care, recognising your own needs, and choosing from a place of wisdom, not urgency.
Leadership isn’t about being superhuman. It’s about being fully human—with courage and grace.
Applying the Coaching Mindset at Home
The holidays often amplify the dynamics in our personal relationships—those closest to us, who also tend to trigger us most!
This season, try applying your coaching mindset not just at work, but at home.
Stay curious. Slow down. Listen beneath the surface.
🧭 Consider:
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What’s most important here, beneath the words?
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What might they need from me right now—presence, patience, reassurance?
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What’s the story I’m telling myself—and is it true?
Often, when we stop trying to control or correct, and instead listen and reflect, something shifts.
Coaching doesn’t mean being passive. It means creating space for real connection and trust—even in the messiness.
Sometimes the most transformative coaching conversation you’ll have… is with your child, partner, parent, or sibling.
🧭 Reflection Prompt:
How do you meet yourself & your loved ones in moments of pressure?
What might shift if you listened more deeply—to yourself, your relationships, your context?
From Burnout to Boundaries: A Pharmacy Business Owner’s Story
Last November, a pharmacy owner reached out, exhausted.
“I love my team. I love my patients. But I don’t love how I show up anymore.”
Through 1:1 coaching supported by the PQ mental fitness programme, she:
✅ Identified her top saboteurs: Hyper-Achiever, Restless, Judge
✅ Learned to pause and respond rather than react
✅ Joined the LCI Certificate in Coaching for Leaders to build team confidence
Now, she says:
“Coaching didn’t remove the pressure. It changed how I meet it. I’m no longer leading on empty—and my team is thriving because of it.”
End-of-Year Leadership Support — My Primary Recommendation Right Now
If you’re reading this and thinking, “I need space to think, but I don’t have time for something complicated,” this is the offer I most recommend.
A 90-minute 1:1 Strategy Session, combined with mental fitness support over Christmas, is designed specifically for leaders who want to finish 2025 steady and step into 2026 clear and resourced.
90-Minute 1:1 Saboteur Strategy Session (€299)
Includes (at no extra cost):
This is not a taster.
It’s a complete, integrated leadership reset — delivered in a way that respects your time, energy, and reality right now.
Why I’m Recommending This Now
December often requires us to “push through,” but you also need to stabilise, reflect, and choose how you want to lead next.
This combination gives you:
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Immediate insight into what’s draining your energy (Saboteurs)
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Daily mental fitness practices to calm your nervous system and restore perspective over Christmas and carry through into January
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A 90-minute strategic coaching session in January to turn insight into decisions, boundaries, and direction
You don’t need to be “ready.”
You just need to be willing to pause.
How It Works
Under my 2025 PQ Coach licence, I have a very limited number of places remaining on the 6-week PQ Mental Fitness Programme.
These places must begin before the end of 2025.
So, while places last:
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Book and pay for a 90-minute 1:1 Strategy Session (€299)
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Schedule the session for January 2026
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Receive full access to the 6-week PQ Mental Fitness Programme, starting immediately / over the Christmas period
This means you can:
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support your energy and steadiness now,
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and enter January with a clear, grounded strategic conversation already booked.
What the 6-Week PQ Mental Fitness Programme Supports
Over six weeks, you’ll:
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train attention, focus, and presence,
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learn to recognise and work with Saboteurs under pressure, and
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strengthen your Sage — the part of you that leads with clarity, empathy, creativity, and grounded action.
This is practical, evidence-based mental fitness designed to support real leadership life — especially during demanding seasons — not another thing to manage or perform.
This is NOT a good fit for you if you are looking for quick fixes, external answers, or someone to tell you what to do.
It is for those of you who are willing to pause, reflect honestly, and lead differently — with greater self-awareness, steadiness, and intention.
If This Feels Like What You Need
👉 Book and pay for a 90-minute 1:1 Saboteur Strategy Session here (€299)
Places are genuinely limited due to licensing and start-date requirements. If this is calling you, I encourage you to trust that.
A Glimpse Into the Year-End Conversations I’ve Been Having With Executive Coaching Clients
At this time of year, many of my executive coaching conversations naturally turn towards reflection — not just on what was achieved, but on who they have become in the process.
What strikes me, again and again, is the depth of gratitude, pride, and quiet astonishment that emerges when we take the time to look back properly — at the starting point, the midpoint, and where they are now.
Common themes I’m hearing include:
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deep appreciation for people and relationships,
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surprise at just how much was accomplished under pressure,
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pride in navigating genuinely difficult challenges,
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and a growing self-awareness about what truly matters — and what no longer does.
Many speak about facing fear — not because it disappeared, but because they chose to act in alignment with their values anyway.
That, to me, is real leadership courage.
When we look at these reflections through a simple leadership lens, the returns are tangible:
ROI — Return on Investment
Progress against financial goals and milestones, stronger commercial judgement, clearer value creation, and greater confidence in how money is earned, allocated, and stewarded.
ROE — Return on Energy
More intentional use of mental, emotional, physical, social, and spiritual energy — with clearer boundaries around what drains it, and deeper nourishment from what restores it.
ROT — Return on Time
Sharper clarity on where time has the greatest impact, fewer reactive demands, and more focus on the work and relationships that genuinely move the needle.
ROC — Return on Capacity
An expanded ability to meet complexity, uncertainty, and challenge with increasing wisdom, steadiness, care, and grace — rather than depletion or force.
As their coach, I hold immense admiration for the courage this kind of growth requires.
And I carry deep gratitude for the privilege of walking alongside leaders as clarity, confidence, and compassion emerge — often more quietly than they expect, but more powerfully than they realise.
This is the work beneath the work.
And it’s why sustained executive coaching creates change that lasts.
Executive Coaching — End-of-Year Invitation
6-Month 1:1 Executive Coaching Partnership | 20% off until 31 December
If a single strategic session helps you reset, but what you’re really seeking is space to integrate and lead differently over time, this is the deeper invitation.
This 6-month 1:1 Executive Coaching partnership is for leaders who want to move into 2026 with steadiness, clarity, and energy — not by pushing harder, but by leading more consciously.
It offers protected space to:
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think clearly in the midst of complexity,
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strengthen decision-making and leadership presence,
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navigate pressure without depletion,
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and lead in a way that is ethical, human, and sustainable.
This is not about fixing problems.
It’s about investing in your capacity to lead well — month by month.
How it works
This allows you to make the decision now — and step into the work when the timing truly supports you.
👉 If you know that 2026 calls for a steadier, more intentional way of leading, this is your invitation.
The end-of-year rate is available only via this link until 31 December at 12 midnight (Irish time).
If you’re deciding between the one-off strategy session and this longer partnership, a helpful question is: “Do I want clarity for a moment — or support to live it, lead it, and embed it over time?”
🌍 LCI Diploma in Coaching for Leaders — Enrolling Now for 2026 cohorts
Because leadership grows faster when we learn together.
If you’re ready to stop leading in isolation and want to build leadership capacity that lasts, the LCI Diploma in Coaching for Leaders offers something different: a cross-industry, cross-professional peer learning environment where leaders learn with and from one another.
Many participants choose to join with a colleague, friend, or leadership peer — sometimes from the same organisation, sometimes from a completely different industry. Learning alongside someone you trust, while also being stretched by diverse perspectives, deepens insight and accelerates growth.
The Diploma Pathway
Module 1: Foundation Certificate
Feb | Apr | May | Sep 2026 cohorts
The Foundation Certificate is specifically designed for leaders to complete alongside team members — whether in the same cohort or different ones. It creates:
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a shared understanding of what “leading with coaching” really means,
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a common cultural language across teams,
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and a stronger collective capacity to lead, grow, and create value together.
Many organisations use this module to seed a coaching culture and strengthen leadership at multiple levels simultaneously.
Module 2: Practitioner Diploma
Nov 2026 cohort
The Practitioner Diploma is designed for senior leaders, team leaders, and internal coaching champions who want to deepen their coaching capability, ethical awareness, and leadership impact — and to embed coaching more intentionally within teams and organisations.
🎁 Book both modules by 31 December 2025 and receive a complimentary 90-minute 1:1 strategy session in Q1 2026 — a dedicated space to align the learning with your real leadership and organisational context.
If this feels like a good fit for you, you might also consider who else could benefit from coming on the journey with you — a trusted colleague, a rising leader, or a peer in another business or industry.
And if this isn’t right for you right now, you may well know another leader who would thrive in this kind of rich, peer-based learning environment. Please feel free to pass it on.
👉 Explore the Diploma and upcoming cohorts here.
To enquire about booking yourself and/or colleagues onto this programme, book at 30min Coffee Connection call here.
Additional Ways I Can Support You (When the Time Is Right)
If you’re reading this with a specific professional context in mind — coaching, pharmacy, leadership development, or team systems — here are other ways I support clients throughout the year. There’s no need to decide now; these are here when they’re useful.
For Coaches & Coaching Leaders
👉 Book 1:1 sessions for professional development
For Pharmacists & Pharmacy Owners
👉 Book pharmacy-specific supports
Practice Prompt: December Reflection
Take 5 minutes. Ask yourself:
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What will I say yes to this month—for rest, joy, or connection?
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What will I say no to—without guilt?
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What energy do I want to carry into 2026?
Because leadership doesn’t pause in December, and neither does our personal growth.
Watch Your Inbox – Year-End Reflection Edition
Between Christmas and New Year, you’ll receive your 2025 Reflection Edition, including:
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Coaching questions to celebrate, release, and realign
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A preview of our 2026 theme: Listening
Let’s begin next year clear, connected, and ready to grow.
Rachel’s Ecosystem of Support
🧠 Lead With Coaching Institute
ICF-accredited Certificate & Diploma in Coaching for Leaders
→ CLICK HERE
🩺 4Front Pharmacy Solutions
1:1 coaching, CPD mentoring, team development, and PAS reviews
→ CLICK HERE
💻 4Front Pharmacy Online
Self-directed CPD for pharmacy teams + Common Conditions training (launching soon)
→CLICK HERE
📨 Email: rachel@racheldungan.com
📱 WhatsApp: +353 86 602 5584
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If December asks anything of us, it’s not perfection — it’s presence.
Presence with ourselves.
Presence with those we lead and love.
Presence with what truly matters as the year turns.
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Wishing you peace, presence and purpose this December.
With warm regards,
Rachel
‘The Pharmacist Coach’
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