Section 20.1: Leadership Styles in Informatics Settings

20.1.1 The “Why”: The New Currency of Leadership is Influence, Not Authority

Throughout your career as a pharmacist, you have been a leader. Within the four walls of a pharmacy, your white coat, your knowledge, and your license grant you an inherent authority. When you speak, technicians, interns, and even patients listen because you are the final checkpoint for medication safety—the ultimate subject matter expert. You lead by knowledge, by protocol, and by the legal and ethical framework of your profession. This form of leadership is clear, defined, and essential for the safe dispensing of medications. It is a leadership of authority.

As you transition into pharmacy informatics, this entire paradigm shifts. Suddenly, you are placed on a project team where your pharmacy license carries little direct authority. You are surrounded by brilliant professionals from entirely different domains: network engineers who speak in acronyms about subnets and servers, software developers who debate the merits of different coding languages, project managers who live by Gantt charts and deadlines, and clinical stakeholders like nurses and physicians who have their own deep-seated workflows and priorities. In this environment, stating “because I’m the pharmacist” is no longer sufficient to drive action or build consensus. The currency of leadership is no longer your title; it is your ability to influence.

This section is arguably the most critical in your development as an informatics analyst, because technology projects are, at their core, human projects. They succeed or fail based on the ability of a diverse group of people to communicate, collaborate, and move toward a shared goal. Your role is often that of a translator, a bridge, and a guide. You must learn to lead team members who do not report to you, who may not understand your clinical perspective, and who may be resistant to the very changes you are trying to implement. This requires a new, far more sophisticated leadership toolkit. It requires understanding that leadership is not a singular trait but a dynamic set of skills and styles that you must learn to deploy strategically.

The core challenge you will face is this: How do you effectively lead a team of clinical and technical professionals to build, implement, and optimize a system that improves patient care when you have no formal authority over them? The answer lies in mastering the art of adaptive leadership. You will learn to diagnose the needs of your team, the context of the situation, and your own natural tendencies, and then consciously choose the leadership style that will be most effective. This is the transition from being a leader by title to becoming a leader by influence—the true hallmark of a successful Certified Pharmacy Informatics Analyst.

20.1.2 The Leadership Spectrum: A Deep Dive into Your New Toolkit

To move from an intuitive leader to a strategic one, you must first understand the formal theories and models that describe these styles. Think of this as moving from being a good cook to being a trained chef. A good cook can follow a recipe; a trained chef understands the chemistry of why certain ingredients and techniques work together. They can innovate, adapt, and create new recipes. This section will provide you with the foundational “culinary school” of leadership theory, always framed within the context of an informatics project.

We will explore a spectrum of leadership styles, from the highly controlling to the highly empowering. No single style is “best.” The most effective leaders are those who can move fluidly across this spectrum as the situation demands.

20.1.3 The Master Skill: Situational and Adaptive Leadership

The theories we’ve discussed so far—Transactional, Transformational, and Servant—describe different leadership philosophies. Situational Leadership, developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard, is different. It is not a single philosophy but a practical, adaptive model for applying the right leadership style to the right person at the right time. It is arguably the single most valuable and actionable leadership framework for an informatics pharmacist, who must constantly adjust their approach when dealing with a wide array of people with varying levels of skill and motivation.

The core idea is that leaders should adapt their style based on the “Development Level” of their follower for a specific task. This Development Level is a combination of two factors:

• Competence: The individual’s task-specific knowledge and skills.
• Commitment: The individual’s motivation and confidence regarding the task.

Based on these two factors, the leader chooses one of four corresponding leadership styles, which are a combination of two leader behaviors:

• Directive Behavior: The extent to which the leader engages in one-way communication, spells out the follower’s role, and tells the follower what to do, where to do it, when to do it, and how to do it.
• Supportive Behavior: The extent to which the leader engages in two-way communication, listens, provides support and encouragement, facilitates interaction, and involves the follower in decision-making.

Masterclass Diagram: The Situational Leadership II Model

Masterclass Table: Situational Leadership in Pharmacy Informatics Scenarios

The Follower & Task	Development Level Diagnosis	Correct Leadership Style & Your Actions	What Happens if You Mismatch Styles?
A newly hired IT analyst, with a background in networking but zero clinical experience, is asked to build their first pharmacy order set.	D1: Enthusiastic Beginner Competence: Very Low (doesn’t know what a “sliding scale” is). Commitment: High (eager to learn and make a good impression).	S1: Directing Your job is to provide high direction and low support. You don’t need to cheerlead; you need to instruct. “Here is a printed screenshot of exactly how the final order set should look.” “Let’s build the first two orders together, step-by-step.” “I want you to check in with me after you complete each section before moving to the next.”	If you used S4 (Delegating): “Just build the insulin order set.” The result will be a clinical disaster, the analyst will fail, and they will become frustrated and demotivated. If you used S3 (Supporting): “How do you feel about building this?” This is unhelpful. They don’t need a cheerleader; they need a teacher.
A clinical pharmacist from the floor, who has been on the project for 3 months, is now tasked with leading a validation session with the physicians. They know the clinical content perfectly but are nervous about presenting.	D3: Capable but Cautious Performer Competence: High (knows the order set inside and out). Commitment: Variable/Low (lacks confidence in their ability to lead the meeting).	S3: Supporting Your job is to provide high support and low direction. They don’t need you to tell them what to do, but they need you to build their confidence. “You know this material better than anyone, including me. You are the expert here.” “Let’s do a practice run-through. I’ll play the part of a difficult physician.” “I will be in the meeting with you, but I’m going to be silent unless you look to me for help. This is your show to run. You’ve got this.”	If you used S1 (Directing): “Here is a script of exactly what to say in the meeting.” This would be insulting to their expertise and would undermine their confidence further. If you used S2 (Coaching): This is a close second, but they don’t need much direction on the content, just encouragement on the process.
An experienced nurse informaticist, who has been on the team for two years and has implemented BCMA before, is tasked with designing the training plan for the nursing units.	D4: Self-Reliant Achiever Competence: Very High (has done this exact task successfully before). Commitment: Very High (takes ownership and is motivated).	S4: Delegating Your job is to provide low support and low direction. Get out of their way and let them work. “You are the lead for the nursing training plan. You have the full authority to design it as you see fit.” “The budget for materials is $5,000. Keep me informed of your progress at our weekly check-in.” “Let me know if you run into any political roadblocks that I need to clear for you.”	If you used S1 (Directing): If you micromanaged them and dictated the training plan, they would become intensely frustrated and demotivated. You would be wasting their talent, and they would likely start looking for another job where their expertise is trusted.
The same IT analyst from the first example, now 6 weeks into the project, has built a few simple order sets. He’s struggling with a more complex one and seems frustrated, saying “I thought I was getting this, but this is harder than I expected.”	D2: Disillusioned Learner Competence: Some/Low (knows the basics, but not advanced concepts). Commitment: Low (his initial enthusiasm has faded as the difficulty increased).	S2: Coaching Your job is to provide high direction AND high support. You need to both instruct and encourage. “This is a tough one; it’s normal to struggle with this part. Let’s look at it together.” (Supportive) “Let me explain the logic behind why this rule is built this way.” (Directive) “Why don’t you try building the next piece, and I’ll watch and give you feedback?” (Supportive & Directive) “You’ve made a ton of progress in just a few weeks. Don’t get discouraged by this hurdle.” (Supportive)	If you used S1 (Directing): Just telling them what to do won’t address their flagging motivation. They might complete the task but remain disengaged. If you used S3 (Supporting): Just saying “you can do it!” won’t help them overcome the technical challenge they are facing.

20.1.4 Crafting Your Informatics Leadership Persona: A Self-Assessment and Development Plan

Understanding these leadership models is the first step. The next, more difficult step is to understand yourself. Effective leaders have a high degree of self-awareness. They know their natural strengths, their communication style, their emotional triggers, and their “default” leadership tendency. By identifying your natural baseline, you can become more intentional about developing skills in the other styles, ultimately expanding your versatility.

This is not about changing who you are. If you are a natural servant leader, that is a tremendous asset. This is about adding more tools to your toolkit so that when a situation calls for a more directive or visionary approach, you can step into that role effectively, even if it feels less comfortable.

Self-Assessment: What is Your “Default” Style?

Read through the following scenarios and choose the response that feels most natural to you. Be honest with yourself. This isn’t a test with right or wrong answers; it’s a tool for reflection.

Reflecting on your answers will give you a clue to your natural tendency. Most people have a blend of styles, but often one feels more “home base” than the others.

Personal Leadership Development Playbook

Once you’ve identified your potential default style, you can use this playbook to intentionally develop your versatility. Find your primary style below and focus on the actionable steps to grow your less-dominant skills.

If Your Default is…	Your Potential Blind Spots in Informatics	Skill to Intentionally Develop	Actionable Steps
Transactional (The Organizer)	May struggle to inspire buy-in for difficult changes. Can be seen as rigid or overly focused on process instead of people. May not foster innovation on the team.	Inspirational Motivation	Before every project meeting, force yourself to write down and articulate the “why” of the project, connecting it to patient safety or clinician well-being. Practice public speaking or join Toastmasters to become more comfortable and compelling when presenting a vision. Find a transformational leader you admire in your organization and ask to shadow them or have a coffee meeting to learn from their approach.
Transformational (The Visionary)	May get bored with the essential details of testing and documentation. Can risk burning out the team with constant high energy and new ideas. May not provide enough structure for junior team members.	Structured Execution (Transactional Elements)	Partner with a detail-oriented project manager and explicitly empower them to manage the project plan and hold you and the team accountable. Learn to use project management tools (like Jira, Asana, or even a simple Kanban board) to translate your vision into concrete, trackable tasks. Before delegating a task, consciously ask yourself, “What is this person’s development level for this task?” and provide more specific direction if needed.
Servant (The Enabler)	May avoid difficult conversations or making unpopular decisions to maintain harmony. Can be slow to act in a crisis. May be taken advantage of if boundaries are not set.	Decisive Action (Authoritative/Directing)	Take a course on “Crucial Conversations” or assertiveness training. In your next low-stakes team meeting, intentionally be the first person to propose a concrete solution to a problem instead of facilitating others’ ideas. Role-play a crisis scenario (e.g., a system outage) and practice giving clear, concise, directive commands. This builds the muscle memory for when a real crisis occurs.