Managerial process: the reflective practitioner

The successful management journey is replete with moments of truth. Recognizing those moments and their significance for successful managerial practice is both a reflective and a conscious practice. This article, written by a successful pharmacist who now manages a busy public service hospital pharmacy documents his management journey from starting position as a drug store pharmacist to his present position in the public service. The paper uses managerial process theory as a critical tool to assess the author's own managerial style. Starting off as an autocratic manager with micro management tendencies, he has now developed a different style of management built on a basic philosophy about the value of people. He sees a need for managers to build a work environment that supports the efforts of employees. This style has not only made him a more effective people manager and motivator, but he argues it has also made him a better pharmacist. The author concludes by advocating the value of reflective practice, particularly for healthcare administrators as a means of balancing the technical demands of their disciplines with the ongoing requirements of managing people.