Leadership is universal. The climber who strides to the front on a tricky ridge is a leader. A parent who organises and drives a local school charity fundraiser is a leader. An individual who trains or mentors a new member of staff is a leader.

We have seen significant changes in what is required of good business leaders over recent years. Indeed, business leaders who have ignored changing consumer demands have found themselves in serious trouble.

That can happen slowly, over time. An event which unfolds rapidly can challenge leaders in different ways, but the principles of getting it right don’t change.

While the pandemic has demonstrated that an external threat can foster, out of necessity, rapid change in how services are provided, innovation has been promoted for years as the key to business success. Viewed in this context, the changes pharmacies have seen in the past few weeks could lead to lasting changes in the sector’s aptitude to adapting and innovating, with beneficial effects. Leadership will be crucial if those benefits are to be realised.

A Government review of how innovation in UK business could be promoted showed that, whether you are a large or small business, high performance in a changing environment requires:

• Inspirational leadership
• Strong management skills
• A highly trained and motivated workforce
• A flexible labour market that promotes diversity and fair treatment
• Workplaces that recognise environmental issues.

This combination of attributes is rare, but further research reveals that the following leadership skills are often missing:

• Creating a sense of vision for the business within a rapidly changing environment
• Motivating people and having the ability to lead them through change 
• Being innovative in products, services and ways of working.

In a survey of nearly 2,000 managers by the Chartered Institute for Leadership and Management and the political think-tank Demos, the single most important factor that people wanted to see in their leaders was ‘inspiration’. However, only 11 per cent actually saw the ‘ability to inspire’ in their leaders. The key question, therefore, for business managers and pharmacy leaders is: “How do I close this critical inspiration gap in my pharmacy to achieve high levels of staff motivation, engagement and work place performance?”

How do I close this critical inspiration gap in my pharmacy to achieve high levels of staff motivation, engagement and work place performance?