Daring leaders are true to their values and never silent about difficult matters.¹ Transitioning a cultural norm requires courage. Changing the status quo requires courage. Overcoming systems that promote inequality, inequity, and injustice requires courage. Integrity is choosing courage over comfort. The ACCP leadership is committed to remaining true to the College’s values, including integrity, honesty, reliability, and accountability. We strive to “dare greatly.”

During the April Board of Regents (BOR) meeting, we were joined by an external consulting team, which has partnered with us on a cultural “reconstruction project.”² The BOR has embarked on work to diligently build a culture where everyone feels they belong.³ After watching a video, “Inclusion Starts with I,” board members recognized that to fully embrace diversity and inclusion, the help of every ACCP member was required.

An individual has not started living until rising above the narrow confines of individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

–Dr. Martin Luther King⁴

Equality assumes everyone benefits from equal treatment, independent of individual needs or challenges. Equity acknowledges differences in opportunity, privilege, and access among individuals. When we remove systemic barriers by addressing inequities, we create justice for all. Patients, colleagues, students, trainees, and communities desire to be respected and treated equitably. But how can we dare to lead and make this happen?

Inclusive, daring leaders invest in change and accountability. They seek to be curious and learn from others. They acknowledge gaps in their understanding. They don’t presume that communication issues lie elsewhere. They invest in self-excavation to disrupt their own biases. They take key steps to become better listeners – showing respect across different opinions and experiences. This is the road we are traveling during our reconstruction project.

Growing in awareness as inclusive leaders has shifted our perspective as we listen actively to others. Learning about the impact of exclusion and inequality on career opportunities, recognition, mentoring, and health is sobering. Understanding the concept of privilege provides perspective on the inherent factors associated with our own individual opportunities and sensitizes us to the struggles faced by the AAPI, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ communities and others who face disabilities or socioeconomic challenges.

Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.

–Dr. Martin Luther King⁴

Clinical pharmacists can help build bridges to health equity. The daring leadership of over 200 ACCP members resulted in the launch of the Health Equity Practice and Research Network (see the accompanying story in this issue of the ACCP Report). This PRN will provide a springboard to educational and scholarly initiatives, creating a platform where issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion are shared. Collaborative partnerships will help grow these components that are so critical to our mission and values.

Our engagement across pharmacy organizations is also crucial to overcoming systemic racism, bias, and gender inequity. After the American Pharmacists Association communicated with me regarding my comments last month,⁵ I am encouraged to share with you our joint commitment to support accountability for harassment, intimidation, and abuse of power in pharmacy organizations. As ACCP president, I participate in the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners quarterly meetings. Established in 1977, JCPP provides an interactive platform where national pharmacy organizations can engage in discussions affecting our profession. This group of national leaders stands united in addressing factors affecting diversity, equity, and inclusion. ACCP members can be encouraged by this unified voice to build a more diversified, inclusive culture across all pharmacy organizations.

Despite the iterative nature of this journey, important progress is being made – but we are constantly reminded that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Training and skill building are prerequisites for completing any marathon. Each “runner” must assess what is needed to successfully participate. The BOR and leadership are moving forward in this inclusive leadership journey. We are no longer unaware – and we are now moving ahead to actively create a more inclusive organizational environment.⁶

This action will require each of us to ask, “Who is NOT at the table?” As gaps in representation are recognized, regardless of where they are within our scope of influence, we ask that each ACCP member reach out and become a daring leader. What is a daring leader? Daring leaders are those who acknowledge that they are learners/leaders trying to get it right by listening to underrepresented voices and having the courage to be vulnerable and engage in “hard conversations.” Moreover, daring leaders lend their voices in support of others, seek opportunities to mentor those facing inequities, and promote nominations, presentations, and publications that provide a voice on behalf of all ACCP members.

The BOR is fully engaged in the “marathon,” both individually and as an organization. I confess, I have never run a marathon. If I were to do so, my training program would look significantly different from many of yours. That is okay. But unless I sincerely commit to enter the race, I will never start my training – and if I never start, nothing will change. Will there be naysayers? Of course! Will there be critics who say I move too slowly? Yes! But when that happens, and it will, let’s remember the words of Theodore Roosevelt (as quoted by Brené Brown⁷):

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.

–Theodore Roosevelt

We can’t run this marathon without our members. Join with us – Dare greatly!

References

1. Brown B. Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. Ebury Digital, 2019.
2. This Old House… From the Desk of the President, February 2021.
3. Belonging. From the Desk of the President, December 2020.
4. KeepInspiring.Me. 123 of the Most Powerful Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes Ever. Available at https://www.keepinspiring.me/martin-luther-king-jr-quotes/. Accessed May 12, 2021.
5. Motion to Refer. From the Desk of the President, April 2021.
6. Brown J. How to Be an Inclusive Leader: Your Role in Creating Cultures of Belonging Where Everyone Can Thrive. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler, 2019.
7. Brown B. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. New York: Penguin, 2012.