Front Matter
Preliminary Material
Letters
Give to Others, and You Will Receive Tenfold in Return
Stay True to Your Values
Just How Do You Know When to Make a Job Move?
It Takes a Team to Create Change
You Need the Big E: Enthusiasm
Venture Out of Your Comfort Zone
We Can Have It All, We Just Can’t Always Do It All
What Are You Going to Do for the Rest of Your Life?
Love Being Exactly Who You Are
Life Is What Happens While You Are Busy Making Other Plans
Lessons Learned from Others’ Experiences Enrich Our Lives
Living with Imposter Syndrome and Knowing That You Belong in the Room
Don’t Fret about Career and Personal Life Balance—There Is No Such Thing
Serve Your “Every Patient”
Be Active, Shape Your Future, and Demonstrate Leadership for Others Following in Your Path
Be the Voice
Follow Your Heart, Seize Opportunities, and Realize There Are Always Trade-Offs
Social Relevance, Purpose, and Legitimacy
Build the Strongest Foundation of Knowledge and Skills That You Can
Learning to Ignore the Lies We Tell Ourselves
We Need More Pharmacists Outside of Pharmacy
A Mantra to Live By: Sí Se Puede! (Yes, You Can!)
Do Not Ask More of Your Staff Than You Are Willing to Give
You Can Only Control Your Choices
Networking Is Not Overrated, It Is Underestimated
Grow, Create, Lead
There Is No Growth in a Comfort Zone and No Comfort in a Growth Zone
Making Difficult Career Decisions
If You Don’t Have a Mentor, Get One
Pharmacists Finally Forged Their Place in the World of Public Health
My Cancer Experience Taught Me to Put Patients First
Planning for the Future
Nurture an Enduring Passion for Patients and the Profession
Pursuing Constructive Change in Pharmacy
Final Thoughts

Find Your Passion and Pursue It with a Sense of Urgency

in Letters to a Young Pharmacist
Author:
Ronald H. Small
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37573/9781585287109.030
Restricted access

In getting to know Ron, you will find him very principled and willing to be candid about his opinions. Ron epitomizes being his own person. He is one of the first people to justify and achieve being a Chief Pharmacy Officer and thus positioned himself at the senior administrative table. Since retiring, he has become a Certified Executive Coach (CEC) to pursue his passion for leadership development by creating and utilizing centers of knowledge and excellence in healthcare processes. Ron focuses on improving healthcare leadership performance by helping individuals to develop and sustain new perspectives, attitudes, skills, and behaviors.

He serves as a primary faculty for the Pharmacy Leadership Academy’s Leading for System Reliability in Safety and Quality Course. Although for most of his career he did not venture far from his North Carolina roots, he traveled to Asia and South America as a speaker and educator in his role as a consultant with Joint Commission International and Joint Commission Resources.

Ron’s bachelor of science in pharmacy and master of science in business administration degrees are from the University of North Carolina. He advises that in his experience, all great success stories have one thing in common: people with passion and a sense of urgency to succeed.