March is Women's History MonthMarch 8th is International Women's Day. For this occasion, we asked some of the previous women guest leaders one question: “What three skills should each individual take with them to build a better future?” Their thoughtful responses contribute to a collective understanding of the skills necessary for shaping a more innovative, inclusive, and sustainable tomorrow.
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Insights from Women Leaders Series
The Insights from Women Leaders series was launched in October of 2020 as a platform to hear from women leaders with varied backgrounds and perspectives on leadership, addressing current and future challenges, what skills we need moving forward, and how their experiences have shaped their outlook.
The guests have included over 34 leaders from various prestigious and reputable institutions from across the globe, their backgrounds are diverse, their accomplishments many, and the insights and perspectives have provided have been extremely valuable.This series highlights the journeys and contributions of various women leaders, who share their insights on a range of topics impacting their industries, our communities, and their role in shaping the future. |
The goal of the series is to learn from women thought leaders and decision-makers to empower current and future leaders, both men and women, to positively impact organizations and communities. Diversity of thought, experiences, industries, education and training is important to us as it highlights the mosaic of perspectives that are represented in different settings that helps drive decision-making, and positive change.
Guest Leaders
“The pandemic has provided us, in pharmacy associations, an unprecedented opportunity to collaborate. In the pandemic, fourteen national associations have come together – and we work together at least every week on how are we going to make sure that the pharmacy profession has been positioned effectively to take advantage of the opportunities that this pandemic has unfortunately or fortunately presented.” - Dr. Lucinda Maine Dr. Lucinda Maine joined Dr. Rola Kaakeh for our inaugural Insights from Women Leaders event on October 16, 2020. To a global audience, Dr. Maine shared her professional journey and insights on a range of topics impacting pharmacy, healthcare, women, leadership, among many others.
“Good leaders still want to inspire teamwork, want to get out of the way of their teams, and need to be flexible. Those qualities are important in any sector. I think in healthcare though, layered on top of your role as a leader, you still need to be very clinically savy. You have an extra layer of things you need to be competent in. Healthcare is different in that in many cases you’re layering your role as a healthcare professional on top of being a leader.” – Dr. Erin Fox Dr. Fox highlights the need to focus on your teams, decision-making, advocacy, leadership, growth through getting out of your comfort zone, the power of saying yes, what makes great leaders, accomplishing our goals to make things better for patients, and of course, her commitment to eliminating drug shortages.
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"Leadership is over glorified and the real change always comes from the followers. When in a leadership position, you have to dare to be that lone nut who has to dance alone in front of a crowd. But if you can do this in a way that is convincing and easy to follow, others will have the guts to stand up and join in. It is the followers that make a lone nut a leader.” - Dr. Karin Källander Dr. Kallander discussed current initiatives she’s working on and her commitment to finding solutions to make life better for women and children across the globe. She highlighted the importance of incorporating communities in research and implementation to improve the level of impact, research quality, and uptake. Dr. Källander described how she defines success, leadership, and the skills needed for present and future challenges.
"I believe a leader should be knowledgeable and compassionate. A leader’s knowledge provides a compass for progress while their compassion will allow them to understand team dynamics to reach a common goal." - Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford highlighted the enormous challenge of our times, including racial inequities and obesity, among many others. She discussed her thoughts on being a trailblazer, what narratives she would like to contribute to, the significance of emotional intelligence, and the need to recognize that you cannot do everything alone.
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“Leaders have the passion to drive change, the curiosity to be continuous learners, and the resiliency to improve the future for those who depend on them.” - Dr. Jessica Daley Dr. Daley spoke about her professional journey, what excites her about the future, and her desire to be remembered for providing patients with quality, effective, and cost-conscious care. She provided advice on having productive conversations with diverse stakeholders and highlighted the core leadership skills and tools professionals need when working to address current and future challenges.
“Find the megatrends, connect the strategy, but it has to link to the improvement of something fundamental. As a leader, help connect the what to the why for your team to enable and empower them." - Madhuri Sebastian Madhuri spoke of her professional journey, thus far, including the successes and challenges and the future of technology. She discussed her thoughts on leadership, working with diverse stakeholder, and provided advice on various communication strategies and building effective teams.
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"All leaders, in any industry, have three important responsibilities. First, setting a clear vision that others can get excited about and constantly refining that vision to be relevant and fresh. Second, being accountable when things (invariably) go wrong and promptly making decisions to resolve problems so that stakeholders can trust that the project has someone who will be accountable. Finally, sharing the credit, inspiring and celebrating their team when things go well." - Savaria Harris Savaria spoke about her legacy, including the responsibility she feels to represent and provide a voice for those who are not in the room or in conversations. She provided valuable advice on the power of patience, overcoming obstacles, building resilience, how to best leverage diverse perspectives, and identifying your guiding forces to create the positive impact you want to make.
"Leadership takes courage. There are many ways to exhibit courage as a leader and some examples include doing the right thing, even when it’s difficult, ceding control to trust your team and taking calculated risks. Having courage is how we move forward and make progress." - Dr. Saira Haque Dr. Haque spoke about the origins of her interest in clinical informatics, her professional interests (e.g., care coordination, equitable data, information sharing), and where she’s focusing her efforts moving forward. She provided valuable insights into the power of data, how to build effective teams, the importance of inclusive environments, and strategies to become a better leader.
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“You are here. You are important. You are valuable. You are meant to do something. And when you are taking on a big challenge, you are taking on what is placed in front of you. You do what you can - to the best that you can. Whatever I do, I do it with other people. How can I, with others, keep moving it forward?” - Dr. Joan Reese Dr. Reede highlighted her professional journey, the need to be impact-driven, and the power of leveraging diverse expertise and perspectives. She discussed her thoughts on leadership and the necessary foundation for which leaders must prioritize. She provided advice for those interested in health equity, social determinants of health, diversity in the workplace, and leading teams.
"I think there is a big difference between a leader and a good leader. All leaders need to make decisions, set direction, and build teams to execute tasks. Good leaders do so by creating and fostering a highly supportive and motivating environment that brings out the best in people, promotes efficiency and trust within and across effective teams, and helps achieve sustainable organisational progress." - Margo Warren Margo highlighted the work of the Access to Medicine Foundation and her commitment to engaging diverse stakeholders to work towards improving access to medications. She discussed how she defines success, legacy, the importance of empathy, and several lessons learned from the pandemic that will direct our efforts to foster an environment for positive, equitable impact globally.
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“In the quintessentially VUCA conditions created by Covid-19, leaders need to go beyond creating and communicating an effective vision for their organizations. They need to work alongside their teams with empathy, flexibility and determination, to ensure survival through the crisis and preparedness for the post-Covid world.” - Dr. Vinika Rao Dr. Rao spoke about her life’s work in gender diversity in leadership, male allyship, and multigenerational influences in the workplace. She discussed how she sets priorities and some current global initiatives she is working on within her various roles. She also provided advice on how to have difficult conversation and create supportive teams.
“We must have the tenacity to lay bricks everyday, while never losing our vision of the cathedral. Sustained action with intention paves the way for extraordinary outcomes.” - Aashima Gupta Aashima spoke about what legacy means to her, initiatives that have emerged during the pandemic, telehealth, and future challenges. She highlighted her commitment to interoperability and information sharing in healthcare and her outlook on leadership.
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“A leader is someone who provides the inspiration and vision to empower people to do their best work.” - Dr. Claire Bloomfield Dr. Bloomfield highlighted the work of NCIMI and her commitment of engaging diverse stakeholders to work towards solutions. She discussed how she defines success, the power of self-reflection, and how she creates trusting environments that focus on encouraging and uplifting her teams, and so much more.
“A leader is someone that can create an environment and vision for everyone to succeed. One who paves a path that may not be visible to others and lays down one brick at the time together with the team.” - Dr. Rose Martin Dr. Martin discussed her vision and passion for addressing access to healthcare issues and optimizing telehealth. She discussed numerous topics, including hindsight bias, mindset, points of intersection, qualities of a good leader, and how thinking and training like an athlete can contribute to professional success. She highlighted her experience as both a Karate athlete and coach for Olympic athletes and how that has shaped her outlook.
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“Leader: A visionary person who adds value by leading people from within and show them the way. They have the willingness to respect, serve their people and listen to them. Their wisdom, integrity, ethics and respect to people are their values. They can make a difference wherever they go.” - Dr. Rola Hammoud Dr. Hammoud spoke about how her values, commitment, and willingness to learn have driven her decisions and outlook. She discussed how her interests and experiences grew throughout her career and brought her to where she is today. She highlighted her commitment to patient care, transitions of care, and how taking holistic, ethical, supportive, and diverse perspectives will advance healthcare. She provided advice for current and future leaders as they look to make a difference in others' lives.
"I want to practice more courage, be more fearless, take risks, and make sure that we use our time to make a difference in the lives of others." - Sherlaender "Lani" Phillips Lani spoke on the power of communication, focusing on your people, having courage, and creating your environments for success. She shared a personal story that shaped her path towards a legacy of influence. She provided insights on the essential skills and tools needed to be an authentic and compassionate leader.
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“An effective leader has an evolving adaptable vision, continually earned trust, and the courage of their convictions. Empowering strengths of individuals and collaborative relationships is a must.” - Dr. Jan Hirsch Dr. Hirsch highlighted how pharmacy education is changing, prioritizing equitable access to healthcare and medicine, and what challenges keeps her up at night. She discussed the essential qualities of a leader and the need for viewing the journey as an adventure. She stressed that trust, adding skills and experiences, asking questions, and seeking advice are critical to creating environments of success.
"The best leaders exist to lift up those around them and unlock their full potential. Leadership is about practicing vulnerability, empathy, and authenticity and inspiring others to do the same.” - Shweta Maniar Shweta highlighted her journey, work with diverse stakeholder, and the future of life sciences. She discussed her thoughts on leadership, prioritization, and tackling challenges. She provided advice on various communication strategies, the art of the owning your successes, and the power of uplifting others.
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“Effective leaders have civility and humility without losing strength in conviction, passion and purpose. Having those characteristics demonstrate that one truly cares about those they lead. Effective leaders listen well so they understand all sides and can explain their decisions with respect to those with a differing opinion. This is done based on logical thinking, and empathy and not with anger or emotion. With these leadership characteristics others will follow because they know their voice will be heard and they know even in disagreement the leaders care about how they think and feel.” - Dr. Mary Ann Kliethermes Dr. Kliethermes discussed the need to break silos within disciplines and strive to achieve specific items or metrics (rather than pursuing positions) when mapping out your own personal and professional aspirations. She also provided leadership advice, elaborated on her thought-process on various topics, and discussed what we could learn from medication safety.
"I think a leader is someone who serves, first and foremost. Service to those you’re trying to provide for but also serve to those you lead." - Mikelle Moore Mikelle discussed the power of listening to address challenges, strategies to engage diverse stakeholders, how to prioritize community needs, and the need to look at things as systems of interconnected parts. She also discussed how she defines leadership and how to create the environments necessary to work towards the desired outcomes and impact.
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“Success is in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I have the power to define myself as the beholder in that sentence! I've been fortunate to work in a lot of different types of environments. Necessary leadership skills that were common despite this are: tolerance of ambiguity and the vision to see complex change as a system.” - Dr. Tina Brock Dr. Brock spoke about the necessity of learning across disciplines, the power of acknowledging and sharing failures, and how to approach difficult situations. She discussed her own professional journey and aspirations for the future. She also provided advice to those within academia and across settings as they look to make an impact in whatever it is they are working on, and so many other topics!
“Strong leaders are passionate about their organization’s mission and understand the critical role that their team members play in realizing that mission.” - Betsy Lane Betsy spoke about how her passion for marketing grew, where she hopes to make an impact, her thoughts on leadership, as well as the exciting initiatives she’s working on. She also provided advice to diverse professionals looking to build their skills, among many other topics.
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"The reason why it can be difficult to describe a leader is that it is often so difficult to be a leader. A good leader is one who can set a clear path ahead and bring their team alongside to advise, support and ensure everyone is on board, even when that path changes direction. A good leader is one who can do this with charm, humility and clarity and who learns along the way. Learning to be a leader, and a good leader at that, is a lifelong endeavour that never ends." - Dr. Catherine Duggan Dr. Duggan spoke about how to continuously spot opportunities to learn and add value. She discussed her own professional journey, the successes and the roadblocks, and how that has shaped her outlook on both her professional and personal life. She also provided advice to current and emerging leaders across the world and shared how her team has stepped up and delivered valuable content during the pandemic.
“Don’t allow perfection to prevent you from taking advantage of a role. You will figure it out. Be yourself, take courage, and shoot for the stars.”– Dr. Charlene Hope Dr. Hope shared her professional journey and insights on a range of topics impacting quality and safety in healthcare, the importance of developing current and future skills, the power of networking, the need to focus on communication, and building her legacy through her professional contributions and small acts of kindness - among numerous others.
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"The most effective leaders combine humility with purpose. Caring for each other and facilitating a team's full potential involves leveraging every member's abilities and passion, so that the team can realize it's full capabilities. Thoughful leaders are able to harness this energy, while navigating teams toward a shared, common goal." - Dr. Joy Bhosai Dr. Bhosai summarized the work her team at Pluto Health conducts, her leadership philosophy, and how she thinks we can address current and future challenges. She also discussed the importance of confidence and using your voice to make change happen. She provided leadership advice for our diverse audience and her perspectives on failure.
"I’d describe a leader as someone who has a truly collaborative perspective. By understanding and valuing the goals and motivations of your colleagues, you will gain allies, support those early in their careers, and ultimately build a strong institution." - Kate Klein Kate spoke to the importance of understanding the context in every situation, prioritizing sustainable solutions, the power of building strong teams, and the significance of being generous with your time and ideas to create a successful career. She shared several exciting new initiatives she's working on and what she believes we've learned from the current pandemic.
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“Great leaders inspire those around them with confidence, vision, and the will to excel. They measure their success not by what they alone achieve, but by what they help others achieve.” - Susan Cantrell Susan discussed the top priorities and initiatives of AMCP and her perspectives on critical topics, such a health disparities. She took us through her professional journey and how she got to be where she is today. She provided guidance for those looking to build effective cultures, teams, and leaders — as well as strategies to communicate diverse perspective across numerous stakeholders.
"A leader is someone that is inspiring and driving others towards a common goal. Encouraging and demonstrating to the team where we want to go." - Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram Dr. Hachach-Haram spoke about her journey from surgeon to entrepreneur, her lessons as a leader in the operating room and in the startup space, and how to build effective teams. She stressed the importance of creative supportive, creative, and flourishing environments to build her team members. She took us through her leadership journey by highlighting her thought-process and what she hopes to continue learning. She discussed the importance of mentoring and how that has shaped her desired legacy.
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