Leadership and the Compassionate Pharmacist

“Service helps not only the receiver, but the server.  Whoever offers service must improve himself in order to do what has to be done, must think about others rather than only himself.  He learns.  He finds value in what he does.  Thus, his self-esteem grows, and he is able to find meaning in his life.”

                                                                                                - Piero Ferrucci – The Power of Kindness

I am truly blessed.  As a professional speaker, I get to travel around the country and share my Mind of a Champion message with numerous groups each year and connect with scores of people I would never encounter if I was not doing this work.

What is so amazing is that despite the group I am working with, be they business owners, corporate executives, medical professionals, administrators or even high school students, there is a thread of humanity that connects us all.  Despite what stage of life, we may find ourselves in, the challenge of the human condition and a key burning question that lives inside of is generally the same –

“How can I increase my happiness and level of personal fulfilment by truly sharing my gifts to serve in the world?”

I know that this may sound utopian and the many could argue that there are many other challenges and obstacles that they are currently facing that need resolution for them to find happiness.  However, my experience is that many of our perceived problems go away or lose their significance when we get really clear about what we are meant to do in this lifetime, and we get about profoundly and compassionately serving others.  This comes alive for me in the words of my good friend, Dr. James Rouse, who says,

“We are alive to the degree that we serve.”

Before I continue, I want to state that in order for us to truly serve others, we must first take the time and energy to truly take care of ourselves.  Service to others comes not at our personal expense, but rather from the overflow that comes from deeply and compassionately caring for ourselves.  Or as one of my teachers once said to me,

“We must take of ourselves so that we can help take care of others.”

Being of service can seem intimidating or overwhelming, particularly when we believe it needs to be another activity added on to our already robust schedules.  However, small acts of kindness and service, done consistently in our everyday lives can be a source of profound impact in the world, even to those we many never encounter and the fact that we may never truly understand the impact had on them.

This past weekend, I was in Boston speaking to about 200 pharmacists from around the eastern United States.  They were an amazing group of highly trained professionals whose work is extremely important to their patients’ health and healing.  As with most of my keynote messages, I shared my thoughts on the importance of Compassionate Service in our work, regardless of the path we have chosen.  The main point of this message being we must serve before we can truly lead.

As you might imagine, working in the world of oncological pharmacy requires a high degree of precision and exactness when filling prescriptions, as incorrect doses or cross-contamination of medicine can have a serious impact on their patients’ health.  As a result, this is also a highly regulated industry with practitioners needing to follow stringent guidelines and protocols.  While their practices serve their clients in a profound way, the amount of exactness and regulation can cause many practitioners to be so focused on their processes and protocols, that do not get to feel a personal connection with their customers and their healing journey. 

Or so I was told by a woman who came to my autograph table after my talk.  While I was signing books, she came to me and introducted herself, shaking my hand tightly and looking me intently in the eyes,

“I loved what you said about Compassionate Service in your talk," she said.

She then continued, "I believe this is so important.  In our work as pharmacists, it can be a very sterile environment.  We wear masks, goggles and aprons to insure we keep a very clean and precise workplace.  This would make me feel disconnected from my customers and their healing."  

Wondering where she was going in her sharing, she then blew me away when she told me, "So, now what I do, for each and every prescription I fill, is I bless it with compassion for the recipient as I am preparing it.”

I was so moved by what she had shared with me that I sat in silence for a moment, unable to respond.  I then took her hand in both of mine and I gently shook it again as we locked eyes, I thanked her for inspiring me with the amazing work she is doing.

As a result of that experience, I have been thinking, what if each of us took the time to bless our work with compassion for the people we serve?  What if we got present to the human connection within all of our work and with those we lead?  What if rather than moving quickly from one activity to the next, we took time to get present not only with what we were doing, but the actual people we were impacting?  What would the impact be in our work environments, our homelife and where would these intentions and actions give others permission to do the same?

As shared, this does not have to take a long time to do, at all.  Rather, it is just a slight pause to bless our work with positive intention, just like my Compassionate Pharmacist friend.

With that being said, here are three things I encourage all of us to consider this week in doing our work and living our lives that can bring a heightened sense of Compassion Service to our world.

1. Set an intention to serve – When we set an intention to serve and place our consciousness on wanting to provide help to others, we might be very surprised what comes present. Simply saying to yourself, “I want to serve and am actively looking for opportunities to give back,” creates an awareness that seems to magnetize these opportunities to us.  Just like when we get intentional on buying a very specific make and model of a new car – we start seeing them everywhere.  The same holds true when we set our intention on serving others.  Opportunities to do so show up that we never knew existed.  What intention to serve are you willing to set?
2. Slow down – At times we are moving so fast, we completely miss opportunities to serve. How many times have you been walking in a store so intent on picking up what you had come to purchase that you were oblivious to what was going on around you.  Slowing down gives you the time to simply observe.  It also gives you the chance to connect with people and see where assistance may be needed.  During your next visit to the store, take some time to slow down and notice what you see.
3. Be Courageous – Service from a heart-centered space can be one of the most rewarding activities we can participate in. It might take courage to approach someone who looks like they might need assistance and ask if they need help.  It might take courage for you to take a stand for something you believe in and join a group or organization that supports that cause.  It might take courage for YOU to ask for help when YOU need it.  What is something you can do that is courageous in either providing for others or asking others for service?  That lump in your throat that you think is fear, might just be your compassionate heart wanting to come forth and serve.

This week, I challenge all of us to get out of our routines and our comfort zones to serve.  Remember, it doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking, but rather even small and mindful acts to positively impact those we encounter.  Make a game of it and seem how many acts of service you can provide is a day.  You might be very pleasantly surprised on how those opportunities to serve that seemed new, were there all along. 

Then you may find the Compassionate Pharmacist inside of you.

Chris Natzke

Black Belt Leadership Speaking & Coaching