Personal Note from Rachel
The Leaving Cert and Junior Cert are over for another year, and in those households who had a person sitting exams, there may be a sense of relief and freedom, but also anti-climax. The crucible of State exams can certainly show up in our stress responses and leadership approaches - for students, teachers, siblings, and parents! A fascinating case study in interpersonal dynamics, for sure!
Since the last newsletter, I've had the privilege of serving as a Judge for the Irish Pharmacy Awards, where I witnessed the exceptional dedication and innovation within our community pharmacies across Ireland. Seeing the positive impact we can make when we commit to excellence in our workplaces is truly inspiring.
One aspect that stands out in my own leadership journey is the strategic value of reflective practice. For leaders, healthcare professionals, and coaches alike, this practice is a cornerstone for continuous improvement and resilience amidst rapid change. Through one-to-one coaching, competency-based mentor coaching, reflective practice cross-professional supervision, and interdisciplinary training in leadership coaching skills, we can unlock new avenues for learning and growth that are often under-used and under-appreciated yet immensely powerful.
I invite you to reflect on how these approaches could enhance your leadership effectiveness and professional development. I'd also love to hear from you...... Please email me to share what resonated most with you in this month's newsletter and what you'd like to explore further.
4Front’s 6Ps of Positive Practice focus on Mastering Six Inter-Connecting Factors – Purpose, Personal, Professional, People, Products & Services, and Prosperity.
This Month's Focus: PEOPLE
This Month
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Pharmacy: "Pharmacy Employee Job Satisfaction and Job Stress" (Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy) - This study explores factors influencing job satisfaction and performance in pharmacy.
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Healthcare Leadership: "The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Nurse Job Satisfaction and Intent to Turnover" (Journal of Nursing Administration) - This research discusses the role of leadership in staff attraction and retention.
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Well-being: "Well-Being: Positive Development Across the Life Course" by Marcie A. C. Goeke-Morey and Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl - This book explores the connection between well-being and workplace satisfaction.
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Positive Practice: "Positive Organizational Scholarship: Foundations of a New Discipline" (Berrett-Koehler Publishers) - This book discusses the principles of creating a positive workplace that attracts and retains high-performing staff. Click here to read more.
CPD Focus: Embracing Team Coaching Excellence: A Pharmacist's Coaching Development Journey
 Self-Appraisal:
As "The Pharmacist Coach," my commitment to advancing healthcare excellence on an individual, team, and professional level propels me to deepen my ability to support healthcare leaders to be more effective leaders and to support healthcare teams to become more effective teams. Recognising the dynamic landscape of community pharmacy, I seek to enhance my skills to meet evolving challenges by pursuing the ICF-ACTC (International Coaching Federation-Advanced Certification in Team Coaching). The ICF-ACTC outcomes align with PSI Core Competencies, ensuring a comprehensive approach to team coaching that directly impacts pharmacy practice. Specifically, the ICF-ACTC equips practitioners to distinguish team coaching from other development modalities, manage unique team dynamics, establish coaching agreements with stakeholders, foster effective communication, promote collaboration, resolve conflicts, and enhance team autonomy—all vital skills intertwined with the PSI competencies. Click here to download the pdf of my CPD Cycle
 Upcoming Reflective Practice Opportunities for Coaches, Mentors, Super-Visors and Pharmacists
The busiest, most productive, and most inspiring professionals schedule regular time for reflective practice.
They are
- less prone to burn-out,
- more fulfilled in their career and
- have fewer blind-spots when it comes to wisely navigating challenges and dilemmas.
If you are considering partnering with me to support you to prioritise and schedule dedicated time to hone your reflective thinking skills and practice by availing of group or one-to-one super-vision or mentor coaching, CLICK HERE
CLICK HERE to read My Journey in Coaching Supervision, published by my alma mater, the International Centre for Coaching Supervision (ICCS)
If you are interviewing a mentor coach or coaching super-visor you are considering working with to deepen your reflective practice, build your personal leadership skills and progress your goals, here are some questions you could consider asking - and my responses to those questions.
Recent Events
Celebrating International Coaching Week 2024
Theme: 'Innovate. Elevate. Celebrate.' 
If you are a coach or you are a leader/manager who wants to innovate and scale your business, elevate your people, and create a thriving workplace culture that celebrates growth and development, receiving coach training AND working with a coach are strategies proven to accelerate personal, professional and business growth.
However, coaching is an unregulated profession, and standards vary significantly. Therefore, I highly recommend that you do your due diligence in selecting a coach/mentor/trainer, whether you provide coaching services, you want to lead with a coaching leadership style, or you want to partner with a coach.
Here are some resources to explore:
- The International Coaching Federation Ireland Chapter (ICFIreland) has created valuable resources in honour of International Coaching Week 2024. These resources highlight the learning journey of coaches dedicated to deepening their coaching craft through the ICF Credentialing pathways. I shared my journey, and the standards and quality assurance process required to achieve ICF's Individual Master Certified Coach (MCC) Credential and ICF's Advanced Certificate in Team Coaching (ACTC) in ICF Credentialing Podcast: Credentialing Conversations. Other ICF Ireland members share their credentialing journeys in the series LinkedIn Lives: Beyond the Badge.
- If you are interviewing a coach you are considering working with to progress your goals, here are some questions you could consider asking - and my responses to those questions.
Recent Events
Coaching.com Membership - Coaching.com Summit
As part of my ongoing continuing professional development (CPD) as 'The Pharmacist Coach' and to optimise the value I can bring to our cross-professional 'Lead with Coaching' programme, I was honoured to participate at the 14th Annual Coaching.com Summit, where I was an official facilitator for the event. In my role, following each Coaching Mastery Session, I facilitate 'implementation mastery' practicum sessions with 5-10 coaching colleagues, focused on how to put what we've learned into action in service to our clients.
Over the three weeks of Summit events, I participated in 35 live sessions presented by world-renowned experts in coaching and leadership, such as Marshall Goldsmith, Marcia Reynolds, Nir Eyal, and many others.
✅ I gained invaluable insights from the most brilliant minds modeling the coaching style of leadership
✅ I witness other coaching masters in action during live coaching demonstrations
✅ I masterminded with a thriving, global community of seasoned leadership and team coaches
✅ I updated myself with the latest trends and advancements in coaching research and practice
There were hundreds of learnings and possible CPD cycles to write up! Below are SEVEN examples aligned with the themed summit learning tracks that particularly resonated with me and were relevant to my work with clients.
- Coach and Client Wellbeing
- Leadership and Organisational Development
- Teams and Team Coaching
- Coaching Methodologies and Demos
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
- Business Development
- Neuroscience and Psychology
This month, I will share the first three, and next month, I will share learnings from the final four.
Coach and Client Wellbeing:
Many of my most conscientious, ambitious, professional clients teeter on the edge of stress, anxiety, and burnout. The reason many clients initiate coaching, is that they realise their way of working isn't working well anymore, and they need to expand their mindsets, skills and approaches to sustain high performance in health, leadership, and relationships. Since Neha Sangwan is a Physician, Engineer, Executive Coach, and World Leading Authority on Stress & Burnout, I was particularly interested in her workshop, ' What's Keeping You Up at Night - Understanding and Healing Anxiety.' I appreciated how she approached anxiety (and its remedies) from the perspective of the following:
- physical/somatic intelligence (physical, bodily sensations),
- cognitive intelligence (thought-patterns, expanding perspectives, and learning to use our mind productively) and
- emotional intelligence (recognising, naming, and interpreting our emotional responses)
- desire (connecting with how we WANT to sense, think and feel)
- action (intentionally getting present in the body, expanding perspectives, intentionally reprogramming thinking, naming the fear, and asking powerful questions to re-direct focus and attention towards what you want rather than what you fear).
In my work with clients, I have found these approaches valuable in certain contexts and with various clients. If you and/or your team have ever experienced stress, burnout, or anxiety, which of these approaches could be most valuable to you to develop further?
Leadership and Organisational Development:
According to Stanford Professor Carol Dweck, a growth mindset is the belief that our abilities and qualities CAN be developed. Since clients come to coaching because they want to change or improve something, it is important that they believe they (and the people they lead) are not fixed in a static mindset, but that they CAN grow and develop. Eduardo's Briceno' is an expert in engineering and organisational learning science. In his session 'Growth Mindset Action: Unlocking the Performance Paradox,' he explored the balance between learning and performing to achieve personal, professional and organisational growth. His work highlights one of the biggest challenges for many organisations is to (re)create a learning culture, because over-focus on performance hinders long-term growth, kills joy, and punishes mistakes. In a learning culture, there is deliberate attention on Continuous And Never-ending Improvement (CANI). The learning zone includes intentionally reflecting on what worked what didn't work so well, learning from mistakes, surprises, and successes, experimenting with alternative approaches, and practicing elevating skills. For many modern leaders and organisations, fostering a learning culture by Leading With Coaching is imperative. Remember, through your actions, others learn whether abilities can be developed, whether growing our abilities is important and safe, and how we improve. You are a role model.
Ask yourself 'How regularly do I visibly and explicitly act in alignment with how I want people to perceive and think of me?'
Teams and Team Coaching:
In most organisations, improving interpersonal dynamics is key to creating and sustaining high-performing teams. The person in that team who most influences the interpersonal dynamics is the team leader. A team leader's role is complex, and their leadership style in any given moment or circumstance significantly determines short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes. Being an effective team leader requires self-awareness of their influence on interpersonal dynamics, relational awareness of interpersonal dynamics between team members, awareness of behaviours that damage team dynamics, and also awareness of strategies to address these challenges. One of the biggest barriers to effective teamwork is mistrust. I particularly enjoyed Michelle Brody's Summit session, 'Owning Armour: Coaching Teams from Mistrust to Trust.' Michelle is a clinical psychologist and executive coach whose specialty is empowering couples and teams to resolve interactional conflicts by helping them dismantle defensive barriers and foster trust. In her session, she defined trust using David Maister's Trust Equation, which consists of four key components;
- credibility,
- reliability,
- intimacy and
- self-orientation.
Apart from the memorable graphics she uses to illustrate her books and presentations, three key takeaways I believe will support my ability to coach team leaders and teams to uplevel their interpersonal dynamics are to support the client to
1. Identify the presenting trust issue - is it trust building? mistrust starting? returning to trust after a major breach?
2. Identify the skills required to resolve the presenting situation (restoring trust takes different skills than building trust).
3. Distinguish between (mis)interpretation and fact. (Confirmation bias deepens mistrust).
I am honoured to share that, 'given your outstanding performance and long-standing association with Coaching.com Summit and Membership', I have received an invitation to join Coaching.com Membership - Coaching.com Summit for the next 12 months as a facilitator. In this role, I will continue to learn from thought-leaders and mastermind with seasoned leadership and team coaching practitioners to share emerging best practices. As a result, I get to apply my learnings to support you and your teams in your personal, professional, and business leadership and team roles, to address specific challenges and opportunities you face.
📚 Discover Books to Elevate Your Learning Journey!
Welcome to our book corner, where we curate insightful reads to complement your learning from our workshops on Coach and Client Wellbeing, Leadership and Organizational Development, and Teams and Team Coaching.
Upcoming Opportunities for Leaders, Managers and Supervisors
Bespoke 1-2-1 Coaching for Experienced, New, and Aspiring Supervising & Superintendent Pharmacists.
Are you ready to elevate your leadership impact in the pharmacy sector? Introducing the Pharmacist Coach Academy, where bespoke 1-2-1 coaching awaits experienced, new, and aspiring supervising & superintendent pharmacists.
Ideal for high achievers seeking to maintain peak performance or rediscover their passion, our programme is designed for the self-directed, curious, and ambitious. Whether you’re newly appointed or a seasoned leader, embracing coaching can be a powerful catalyst for revitalising your workplace culture and scaling your business.
Our approach isn’t for those seeking remedial solutions or fixating on external faults. Instead, it’s for seasoned and aspiring leaders willing to participate in introspective growth and leveraging their capabilities and influence for positive change.
Unlike training or mentoring, coaching delves into personal growth and tailored strategies that amplify leadership effectiveness. As Rachel's client, you will have a strategic thought-partner who will collaborate with you in various creative processes designed to inspire you to maximise your and your team's personal and professional potential.
Join those who value ongoing learning and refuse to settle for OK. Invest in yourself and your team, break free from the status quo, and click here to explore our brochure detailing programme benefits, structure, and how coaching can transform your pharmacy leadership journey. Alternatively, email rachel@racheldungan.com to schedule an exploratory call.
Know that most of my clients were apprehensive about their first coaching session and wished they had invested in coaching earlier than they did. Few know what to expect.... and it is hard to predict because each coaching partnership is unique and different. In this case, real experience tends to be a better judgment than anticipatory prediction!
Coaching sessions can be fun, challenging, thought-provoking, strategic, supportive, liberating, generative, confronting - and ultimately rewarding. I deeply appreciate and admire each of my clients, not just for what you achieve, but more for the initial courage it took for you to partner with me as your strategic thought partner, and the courage it takes to go on your leadership journey, to persist in the face of your challenges and fears and cultivate your inner strength, to become a version of yourself that you are increasingly proud to be.
Rachel’s coaching had a profound impact on me. Her ability to help me look at myself and the impact of my thinking on myself and others helped me shift some deep unresourceful thinking to more resourceful perspectives. As a coach myself, when I work with a coach, I want someone who is willing to let me explore and access deeper thinking in a safe and supported environment. Rachel does just this. She allowed and held the space for me dig deep, be honest and take tangible steps toward what I wanted to change. C Lewis.
Is Now the Perfect Time for Your 2024 Pharmacy Assessment?
Each year the superintendent pharmacist and supervising pharmacist ensure a complete review of the performance of their Pharmacy against PSI standards, using the Pharmacy Assessment System, is conducted and recorded. Both must confirm in the annual declaration to the PSI that it has been done.
As a superintendent and/or supervising pharmacist:
- Do you want the certainty and peace of mind of knowing the pharmacies for which you have responsibility have undergone a third-party peer review and completed a legal assessment requirement?
- Are you constantly looking for ways to acknowledge practice excellence and continually improve the service you provide your customers?
- Do you want to feel engaged in a valuable, creative, collaborative process rather than a solo, tick-box, energy-draining, repetitive task?
Would you like a peer pharmacist to:
- focus your day?
- partner with you to complete a thorough review?
- complete a regulatory compliance check?
- gain a third-person perspective and learnings?
- create agreed-upon action plans to address areas for improvement?
And all completed within one day? If so, click here to learn more about our Pharmacy Onsite Assessment package.
For Leaders, Managers, and Supervisors to develop the Coaching Leadership Style
Our first two cohorts of Lead with Coaching Core Skills (Foundation) took place between February and June.
We had thirty-five participants (a mix of managers, leaders, and directors) who completed all four in-person dates and the two days of mentoring and practice that followed online. We received very positive feedback. Participants come from a range of industries, which provides the opportunity for leaders to expand their thinking beyond the confines of their industry expertise and practices.
Our Sept/Oct cohort is filling fast. Three companies, which represented nineteen participants (six, seven, and six) of the twenty-four from our first cohort, are planning to send their next-level management and teams to the upcoming courses. We invite you and your leadership team to avail of the unique opportunity to join them, and us on our next 'Lead With Coaching' Course in Sept/Oct.
LWC-CORE SKILLS COURSE THREE: September/October 2024 (6 Days - 4 In-Person, 2 online)
- September (In-Person) - Tuesday 10th & Wednesday 11th (Landmark Hotel, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim)
- September (In-Person) - Tuesday 24th & Wednesday 25th (Landmark Hotel, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim)
- October (Online) - Wed 2nd
- October (Online) - Wed 9th
CLICK HERE for the full brochure, including
- Programme outcomes
- Focus for each module
- Why develop yourself and your team as leaders and managers
- Participant feedback
- Meet the 'Lead With Coaching' team
Leadership Coaching | Scope | Impact | Examples | Case Studies
As a Leadership Coach, one of my great privileges is to participate in leadership development initiatives dear to my heart. Not only do I get to be a strategic thought-partner with inspiring leaders who are making a positive difference. I also get to partner with them as they articulate their vision, build their skills and become the person capable of overcoming the obstacles they must overcome in order to challenge the status quo and bring their vision to life in the world.
Ulster University's 25@25 Leadership Programme
Marking the 25th Anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, Ulster University partnered with ICF Ireland (and other organisations) to create an innovative and transformational Leadership Programme supporting 25 of Northern Ireland’s future leaders, which is ending this month.
With the theme of We Inherit our History, We Choose our Future, the 25@25 Programme is Ulster University’s commitment to developing and nurturing the leaders of tomorrow. Over the past year, I have been a member of a group of 25 ICF Ireland Coaching colleagues who have coached a programme leader. Next Friday, we all get to go to Belfast to celebrate together and hear from the leaders about their experience on the year-long programme and how they will take forward what they have learned from each other and an incredible array of global and local leaders to contribute to Northern Ireland's future. The evening will be hosted by Professor Cathy Gormley-Heenan, University Provost, University Chancellor, and globally renowned artist Dr Colin Davidson. The Keynote Speakers will be Dr Jayne Brady, Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, inspiring our next generation of leaders, and Mr Richard Moore, Founder of Children in Crossfire who will share his story of forgiveness, compassion, and optimism for Northern Ireland’s future. It has been an honour to collaborate with ICF Ireland and Ulster University on this project. In participating, we've all learned from each other and brought insights and value back to our clients and organisations.
In addition to empowering youth leadership, professional leadership, female leadership, leadership for social impact, and local leadership are causes close to my heart. Next month I will share my insights from participating in another inspiring initiative called The WILD Network - A global movement to develop strong and inclusive leaders
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