The Lunch Bunch - A Meaningful and Impactful Conversation on Leadership

Abstract

Objective. To describe outcomes of an article club that was designed to foster leadership within Sour pharmacy school by informally gathering interested faculty and staff that provided a safe environment for discussion on leadership concepts.

Methods. Participants discussed a Harvard Business Review’s Top 10 Leadership article monthly. After ten sessions, participants were asked to complete an electronic survey on their perspectives of the activities and could volunteer for an interview. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and qualitative software assisted in analyzing interview transcripts. Videoconferencing allowed for off-campus faculty and staff participation. No direct programmatic costs were incurred.

Results. Four to 24 participants attended each session. Sixteen participants completed the survey, with five volunteering for interviews. All 16 strongly agreed the sessions “increased awareness of leadership concepts,” and 15 strongly agreed/agreed the activities “influenced my leadership decision-making” and “facilitated building a culture of leadership at the school.” Interviews revealed mid-career faculty participated to learn about general leadership concepts from discussions, and some junior faculty participated to gain leadership skills to help with promotion. All participants noted they were exposed to novel leadership styles. Teaching and practice commitments were the two highest noted barriers to participating.

Conclusion. Providing an interactive discussion forum to learn and discuss leadership concepts and qualities is effective for personal growth and professional development. Other schools and institutions can implement similar activities to foster leadership.