Douglas Pharmaceuticals

Liv Wilson

Cast your mind back to the 2000s - the buzz was about task-orientated leadership, with little input from team members. The 2010s saw “leaning in” and tech becoming our best friend. What has the 2020s bought us so far? The rise of purpose-led leadership. Say what we like about COVID-19, but we cannot disagree that it is triggered more people to look for meaning at work.

Fundamentally, purpose comes from three places - outside of work, from the actual work you do, and in the organization. Thankfully, it is easy to find purpose in the organization when you make medicine that improves lives!

Just like every other industry and workplace over the last two years, Douglas Pharmaceuticals has experienced change and challenge. Back on site and back to (new) normal, this year, we have committed that every leader will receive a development opportunity to ensure that they are suitably equipped for this type of leadership.

But how do you develop your leaders to lead their people during this purpose-driven revolution? How can they connect with their people to find purpose in the work they do? We have approached this challenge through curiosity and community connection.

Curiosity

Only when there is a trusted relationship with their team members will there be an open dialogue on purpose, how their purpose can fit with the work they do, and how it aligns with Douglas’ purpose.

For our bulk leadership roles and emerging leaders, we offer a 90-day program where we support the alignment to our leadership expectations - clarify, connect, coach, and celebrate.

This is the MVP of leadership development - geared heavily towards ensuring that our leaders build sustainable relationships with their team members through curiosity. They spend time on listening, effective questioning, understanding motivations, and building trust.

This focus ensures that individuals feel empowered, which in turn leads to a deeper connection to the organization’s purpose, continuing to build our culture.

Community Connection

Douglas has a strong connection to the community, holding established relationships with several local charity partners. For our more senior leaders, we have leaned into this for our development offers.

We have partnered with providers who leverage our leadership capabilities to work with our charity partners on their strategic challenges, both in hackathon form and a sustained 10-week program.

• For the hackathon, this partnership enables us to provide a learning program that empowers our leaders by immersing them in a societal issue - leveraging and amplifying their communication, negotiation, and time management skills.

• For the 10-week program, our partnership means leaders are connected to their purpose and impact on others - linking to Douglas’ purpose and the social issues in our community. The skills of collaboration, empathy, and strategic alignment are strengthened through this purpose-led program.

“We are improving motivation, retention, and engagement by developing our leaders to connect with their people during this purpose-driven revolution. Our team members have clarity on the value that they add and how they are making a difference”

Ultimately, when it comes to leadership development, we take a bespoke approach - we invest time in our leaders explaining how to connect with their people at an individual level, so it makes sense to do the same for them.

By developing our leaders to connect with their people during this purpose-driven revolution, we are improving motivation, retention, and engagement. Our team members have clarity on the value that they add and how they are making a difference.

Make a difference for your leaders, your people, and your community, and consider how you can apply purpose-led leadership development.