What has this year taught you to carry forward?

Recently, I found myself celebrating two very different milestones.

One was the marriage of a pharmacy client I have worked with for eight years. The other was an organisational team completing the Lead With Coaching Certificate together.

Neither celebration could tell the whole story of the years, conversations and decisions that led to it. Yet each gave us a reason to stop and acknowledge how far people had come.

I have been thinking about that as September draws to a close. We are often quick to look at what remains to be done before the year ends. There is value, too, in recognising what has developed along the way. Otherwise, we may plan the next quarter without seeing what this one has taught us.

What Have We Learned to Listen For?

Listening has been the thread running through this year’s newsletters.

In the first quarter, we considered what it means to listen to ourselves: to our values, energy and experience alongside the responsibilities we hold. In the second, we turned towards our relationships, including how we listen across difference and discern what is ours to carry.

The past three months have brought those questions into sharper focus at work.

In July, we listened to the business as a system. Figures are useful, but so are repeated bottlenecks, unclear ownership and the quiet ways a team has learned to work around difficulty.

In August, we considered what a leader may still be carrying. Professional accountability cannot simply be handed over. Other decisions, however, may continue to flow through one person long after a team has become capable of sharing the thinking.

In September, we asked what new learning this season might invite and, more deeply, what we are practising differently because of what we have learned.

These questions belong together. They help us see what is working, what may be costing too much and where development is already beginning. You can revisit any of the earlier letters in the newsletter archive: https://racheldungan.coachesconsole.com/newsletters

As we approach Q4, I would ask: What have you heard clearly enough this year that you no longer want to set aside?

World Pharmacists Day: Recognising What Is Working

World Pharmacists Day falls on 25 September. It offers an opportunity to acknowledge the contribution pharmacists make before we turn to the changes our profession may need.

Across Ireland, pharmacists bring knowledge, judgement and care to people’s lives every day. Some of the most valuable parts of that work are easy to overlook: a concern noticed, a medicine explained, a question that helps someone speak more openly, or a colleague supported through a difficult decision.

We should give that work its due. We should also notice the teams, relationships and practices that allow it to continue well.

When we ask what healthier futures will require, we can begin by recognising the value already being created. That is a question for every profession represented among the people reading this letter.

What are you proud of contributing this year? Who helped make that contribution possible? What deserves to be strengthened, rather than taken for granted?

Two Ways to Review Before You Plan

You do not need to wait until December to look back. A review now can help you use the final quarter with greater intention.

Look Across Your Life With the Wheel of Life

The Wheel of Life helps you notice how different areas of your life and work are fitting together. It may show where you feel well supported, where capacity is stretched, or where a part of life has received less attention than you intended.

There is no perfect shape to achieve. The value lies in asking what your picture means in this season, before deciding what deserves care.

Explore the Wheel of Life.

Begin Your Year in Review Early

The Year in Review offers a different view. Look back over January to September. What changed? What did you contribute? What did you learn through work that went well and work that did not go as expected?

From there, you can decide what to continue, what to change and what may be ready to end. You can then choose one area to practise deliberately over the next twelve weeks, leaving time at year’s end to notice what you learned.

Explore the Year in Review.

Choose the tool that speaks to the question you have now. You may find that one honest observation is more useful than a long list of new goals.

What Might You Practise With Others in Q4?

If your review points towards the conversations happening in your team, Lead With Coaching offers a place to develop and practise a coaching approach to leadership.

The question is not simply what a leader can learn in a programme. It is what becomes possible when people return to work better able to listen, think together and take appropriate ownership. That development takes practice, particularly in the conversations where responsibility and pressure are real.

If this is the work you or your team are ready to undertake, explore the LCI programmes here.

You are also welcome to reply to this email and tell me what you are considering. A conversation can help you decide whether a programme fits.

If You Need Space for Your Own Decision

You may first need time to consider a leadership question of your own. My 90-minute Strategic Thinking Session offers a confidential space to step back, explore what matters in this season and decide what deserves your attention next.

Read about the session and reserve your place here: 90-minute Strategic Thinking Session

One Question for You

What is one thing you want to acknowledge from the first three quarters before you decide what comes next?

Reply with a sentence if you would like to share it. I read every response.

If someone in your circle would value this reflection, please forward it to them. They can read previous editions and find the newsletter here: sign up to receive future newsletters here.

Warm regards,

Rachel Dungan
The Pharmacist Coach
MPSI | ICF-MCC | ACTC | NBC-HWC | EMCC-SP
Director of Education, Lead With Coaching Institute
Founder, 4Front Pharmacy Solutions

P.S. If this newsletter has highlighted something important you would like space to think through, reply to me at rachel@racheldungan.com and tell me what you are carrying. I will point you towards the most appropriate next step, whether that is a Strategic Thinking Session, 1:1 Coaching, the LCI Certificate, or simply a useful resource.