The ACCP Academy Leadership and Management Certificate Program is an educational program aimed at developing leadership and management abilities. The curriculum is designed for those who are currently in leadership or management positions or who aspire to pursue leadership positions in the future. The program will provide official ACCP recognition to leaders and managers who complete the program requirements.

Pharmacy directors, deans, department heads, and program directors are encouraged to integrate the Leadership and Management Certificate Program with their own professional development efforts for management staff, faculty, and others who will benefit from enhanced leadership and management skills.

Simply stated, an insufficient number of leaders exist to meet current and future needs of the pharmacy profession. Increasingly, today's clinical practitioners find themselves in positions that involve leadership and management responsibilities. Others wish to explore leadership career opportunities now or in the near future. More often than not, these individuals have received little or no formal instruction in either leadership or management theory. Furthermore, the increased demand for qualified clinical leaders to assume positions as managers, directors/assistant directors, chairs/vice chairs, and deans is ongoing. Effective developmental programs to assist in preparing qualified individuals to assume these positions are needed now more than ever. Indeed, these efforts will be critical in ensuring that pharmacy continues to advance as a profession.

Leadership development is primarily accomplished through an accumulation of planned and serendipitous experiences designed to prepare an individual for the next leadership challenge. Classroom work and readings will enhance the participants' previous and current experiences by providing insight into current leadership theory and then weaving this new understanding into the contextual framework of the current health care system. The program is designed to enable participants to better lead their own lives and to guide and inspire their associates in the workplace. This enhanced ability will enable pharmacy leaders to better create the changes necessary to advance pharmacy's mission within the health care system.

The curriculum entails completion of four required modules and five elective modules. The program is designed to allow participants to complete the program in 2 years, if they attend both the ACCP Spring and Annual Meetings for 2 consecutive years, or in 3 years by attending only one of the two meetings annually. All modules in the program will be held in association with the ACCP Spring Practice and Research Forum and the ACCP Annual Meeting.

One-on-one mentoring is among the most effective strategies to develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values of a leader. The value of such mentoring is optimized when the mentor can provide evidence-based feedback regarding an individual's performance. Therefore, each participant in the Leadership and Management Certificate Program will be asked to identify a personal mentor (preferably from his or her institution, if possible) with whom he or she will meet throughout the program. The mentor will assist each participant in applying leadership principles to the professional environment. Mentors will meet regularly with their protégés and provide opportunities for the protégé to observe and (if feasible) participate in the mentor's leadership roles and responsibilities.

The program consists of 28 contact hours of live, in-class experience coupled with outside readings. All contact hours will be obtained in conjunction with ACCP Spring and Annual Meetings. Online portfolio-based assignments and assessment tools will provide documentation of program outcomes.

Course Work

Prerequisite Module: Leadership Primer
This foundational module is designed to provide participants with an introductory background in organizational behavior theory and fundamental philosophical concepts of leadership. Several definitions of leadership will be explored and discussed together with philosophical leadership thought. The module is meant to further stimulate each participant to seek additional study and experience in this area. Material covered will involve principles and concepts prevalent from the early 1900s to the 21st century. This 6-hour module serves as a mandatory prerequisite for all of the program's required modules; the primer must be taken first in order to receive credit for any required module.

• Define the difference between leadership and management in multiple environments.
• Describe evidence-based organizational behavior (OB) concepts and apply them to current professional settings.

The Leadership Primer module is a prerequisite for the three required modules described below. The Leadership Primer will be offered annually each spring on the day before the ACCP Spring Practice and Research Forum.

Required Module No. 1: Personal Leadership Development
This module enables each participant to more fully lead his or her life and, in the process, work toward developing an optimal balance between activities in the workplace and at home, service endeavors, and recreational pursuits. The course involves discussion of principles and connected practices designed to enhance personal and professional success.

• Assume responsibility for leading one's professional and personal life.
• Construct and use a personal mission statement.
• Balance personal and professional activities by implementing a life leadership process.

Required Module No. 2: Interpersonal Leadership Development
This module involves principles necessary to enhance interpersonal relationships between associates in the workplace. The concepts of win-win outcomes, self-deception, synergistic agreements, and listening to achieve understanding will be discussed in the context of health care management and delivery.

• Describe the process leading to synergistic, mutually beneficial agreements.
• Relate the principles associated with empathic listening.
• Describe Martin Buber's I-It/I-Thou approach to interpersonal relations and relate the concept of self-deception.
• Describe the importance of using diversity to enhance organizational performance.

Required Module No. 3: The Attributes of a Leader
This module reviews contemporary leadership literature, focusing on the most favored attributes of leaders.

• Relate how knowing yourself, and knowing the context or world in which you lead, increases your effectiveness as a leader.
• Relate how your leadership/management experiences, and your understanding of these experiences, expand your leadership capabilities.
• Create a history of personal leadership development.
• Describe how vision, passion, integrity, trust, curiosity, and daring are associated with leadership effectiveness.

Elective Modules
Each elective module consists of two contact hours of instruction and will be embedded within both the ACCP Apring and Annual Meetings. The purpose of these electives is to provide instruction to meet the leadership or management needs of individual participants. Some electives will focus on a contemporary leadership approach or leadership text. Other electives will address the needs of specific leadership positions (e.g., the clinical manager, the pharmacy department head and/or associate/assistant head, the department chair/vice chair).

Modules are presented by faculty who are recognized leaders in pharmacy practice, education, and administration.

ACCP Academy
Leadership and Management Certificate Program
2008–2011 Curricular Schedule

1. The Leadership Primer will be offered every spring on the day immediately before the beginning of the ACCP Spring Practice and Research Forum.
2. One required 4-hour module will be offered every spring, embedded in regular meeting programming.
3. Two required 4-hour modules will be offered every fall, offered as a premeeting session and/or embedded within regular meeting programming.
4. Elective modules (each 2 hours in length) will be offered every spring and fall, embedded in regular meeting programming.

To apply for the ACCP Academy Leadership and Management Certificate Program, download the online application form. Fees for the ACCP Academy Leadership and Management Certificate Program have been established with today's institutional budgets in mind. Modules within an ACCP Spring or Fall Meeting schedule are available free of charge (other than the normal meeting registration fees). Workshops offered on the day before ACCP meetings require an additional premeeting symposium fee. To cover the cost of electronic portfolio maintenance, there is a one-time $100 portfolio fee, which is due on submission of the program application form.

Questions? Visit the FAQs page or contact Wendi Sirna.

To download the leadership and management application, click here.