Kaylee King

HCM 4630
Interview questions
Lauren Hardin
Pharmacist and Co-Owner of Urgent Health Care Pharmacy and Carolina Pharmacy
1) As a healthcare executive, which core competencies do you believe create the best possible
leader and why?
I believe there is many core competencies that make up a great leader but to name a few I
will start with communication. A leader must be able to communicate with all of their
employees effectively as well as with their costumers, other business partners, and in my job
with physicians. The ability to explain, listen and empathize with your employees and
customers will have a profound effect on their satisfaction. Another core competency is
fostering teamwork. A successful leader is able to work cooperatively with others as well as
motivate their team to do so as well. Last but not least another core competency of a great
leader, especially in healthcare is the ability to manage change. The healthcare field is
constantly changing and a good leader will be flexible and help others successfully manage
change as well. Pharmacy is a very competitive business as there are multiple independently
own pharmacies and chain pharmacies in the town. My business must be willing to
constantly change and adapt to continue to attract costumers and not lose business to the
surrounding pharmacies.
2) Please describe your leadership style and why it is most important to you?
My leadership style is mix between transactional and transformational leadership style. I
take a more proactive approach and try my hardest to constantly motivate and empower
my employees to love the work they do. I like to think I give them a lot of freedom, allowing
them to choose the days and weekends that work best for them. If they work over a day
because we get very busy at night then I allow them to come in a little later on a particular
day. I also implement a transactional style in ways though as I offer a raise at the end of
each year based on how they performed that year as well as other factors. I also must
clearly state what they can and cannot do as technicians and must oversee some of their
work, especially when dealing with stronger medications, to protect my license.
3) What values are the most important to you as a leader and provide an example of you
implementing these in the workforce?
The values that are most important to me are integrity, ambition and empathy to name a
few. Two years ago I opened up a pharmacy in another town in the middle of February. Of
course it takes a while to build up costumers but for a while business was slow. I wanted to
keep my employees up to date on the struggles the business was experiencing with clear and
frequent communication at team meetings. The employees felt as if they knew exactly what
was happening. I know it usually takes a pharmacy 5 years to get to solid ground with
finances and costumers but I was determined to get it up an going sooner than that so I have
continued to advertise the business through restaurant menus and school and city functions.

4) Explain a time you had to resolve a problem among your team or a worker and the action you
took in doing so?

Kaylee King
HCM 4630
I have had employees who did not get along well with one another which constantly caused
tension in the workplace. I decided to conduct a meeting as soon as I noticed it was
beginning to get worse with time and effect productivity. I conducted a meeting with our
whole staff to talk it out and diffuse the problem. They were able to resolve the problem. At
the end of the meeting I made sure to discuss with everyone the consequences of conflict in
the workplace and the importance of coming to me with any problem that arises in the
future.
How do you maintain professionalism throughout the work day?
I maintain fairness throughout out all of my employees. I allow them to form opinions and
perform their own duties without the threat of being fired. My employees and myself also
maintain a level of professionalism by striving to treat all workers and costumers fairly
regardless of race or gender on a daily basis. I also maintain professionalism by following
through on the commitments and promises I make to my employees and try to maintain a
positive attitude through out the work day.
6) How do you encourage teamwork in your facility?
I encourage teamwork in a number of ways. I first make sure my team members feel
important. I want them to all be passionate about the business and focus on achieving goals
and this is done so by making sure everyone on the team are aware of how important there
part is in the team. I also encourage inputs and suggestions from everyone so in that way
there voice can be heard. I also delegate responsibilities to members of the team that way
they know I trust them with some key responsibilities.
7) Describe the most successful team building exercises you have used to motivate your team?
My pharmacy is in a parking lot right next to a bowling alley so sometimes after work I will
get everyone together for a fun competitive game of bowling. I have found this is a stress
free way to get my employees to cooperate with one another and build relationships outside
of work. We also ask the urgent care workers that we work beside to join as we also work
closely with them on a number of projects in relation to health and wellness.
8) In the workplace you are in or in your opinion what is the most important aspect of emotional
intelligence?
The most important aspect in my job in terms of emotional intelligence is self-motivation. I
work long hours and usually take my job home with me as a business owner so it is
important that I find the drive to stay self-motivated. It is also important that my employees
see this because the more I am motivated the more they will get motivated and become
involved as well.

9) Describe a creative work-related project, which you have carried out.

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HCM 4630
Flu season is a busy time for a pharmacy. Last year our pharmacy couldnt keep Tamiflu on
their shelves as people from surrounding counties were finding there way through our doors
for it. A lot of times a family member will pick up the flu and then two days later their
spouse or children are coming in because they got it. This year we decided to make
brochures and put them out to try and cut down on the number of people who will get it.
We included things such as early signs and symptoms, how it can be spread, how to prevent
others from getting it once you have it, and so on. All of my workers put in there input and
suggestions and then I delegated one member to actual create the brochure making sure it
was an attention grabber for people at the counter. Our team also collaborated with the
physicians and nurses at the urgent care beside of us as well and we placed the brochures
out in their office too.
10) Describe a weakness that you have improved upon as a healthcare executive?
Over time I have learned to do less talking and do more listening. As a healthcare leader you
must be willing to listen more and empathize with your customers, employees and even
business partners to be a successful leader and have a successful business.
11) How do you see health care executive/management jobs changing in the future and do you
see these changes happening sooner or later?
In pharmacy particularly it is getting harder to be a small business owner because we
receive lower imbursements. With Obamacare especially insurance isnt paying much over
cost. In this case I see more business owners selling out to competitors and just becoming
managers for bigger chain pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens. I see these changes
happening sooner since Obamacare has already taken effect in most places.

Interview Reflection Essay

Kaylee King
HCM 4630
For my interview I chose a pharmacist and business owner by the name of Lauren
Hardin. I am in between going to physical therapy school or pharmacy school and so
since I have geared previous papers towards physical therapy I decided to gear this one
towards leadership in a pharmacy career. The pharmacist I chose to interview is a coowner in two different pharmacies. Her latest pharmacy opened a few years back and
collaborates with physicians and nurses at the urgent care it is connected too. The
responses I gathered from my interview with Mrs. Hardin will help guide my leadership
model along with my career.
Before conducting the interview I reflected on the topics we touched on in class
so far and formulated the questions based on this. My first three questions correlated with
the topics we covered at the beginning of the semester on leadership competencies,
values, and models. Interestingly enough Mrs. Hardin stated that one of her core
competencies was fostering teamwork, which has been a reoccurring theme through out
our leadership class. She reiterated the benefits behind a strong and stable team in order
to have high performance in the workplace. She went on to say that communication and
flexibility were also key competencies that healthcare executives should have. Coowning in two different business requires her to be very flexible in the time she a lots to
each. Owning two businesses also says a lot about her ambition, which was a value she
spoke on.
I also found her leadership style to be interesting as she said she was a mix
between transactional and transformational. I felt like these two styles can be
contradictory to each other but the way she explained it made since. Her transactional
style was reflective to her line of work, as she has to clearly define the roles and

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HCM 4630
expectations of her employees. She also offers a reward to her workers based on their
performance from that year. On the other side of things she also exhibits a
transformational style. She puts passion and energy into everything she does and really
cares about her employees. After the interview she called me on the phone to make sure
her answers were ok and what not and had a conversation with me that led her to
speaking on the amount of inspirational motivation she fosters without her even knowing
it. She has many student interns from a local high school that shadow at her pharmacy
and many of them ask her opinion on whether they should pursue a pharmacy degree or
not. She motivates each and every one of them to follow their hearts, but encourages
them into pharmacy because of her positive experience with it.
The next two questions I asked dealt with problems in the workplace followed by
professionalism. Just like many of the cases read in class, problems among workers occur
in real life. I like her approach as she conducted a meeting with the whole staff not just
the two causing the problems because everyone had become aware of the issue. She also
made sure to explain the consequences of their actions and scolded all of her
employees to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. I decided to follow
up this question with one on professionalism, as this also foreshadows ways to prevent
problems from occurring. Her biggest thing was treating everyone fairly including both
costumers and employees. Mrs. Hardin makes sure that everyone gets equal recognition
and the opportunity to be heard. She doesnt want anyone to feel that the way she runs
things are unfair as that is a quick way to cause concerns and lose employees. Mrs.
Hardin also upholds professionalism on a daily basis with her positive attitude. I believe

Kaylee King
HCM 4630
this is one of the best professionalism tips someone can give because a positive attitude is
so influential in the workplace.
The next two questions were about teamwork and team building. Mrs. Hardin
encourages teamwork by first making sure everyone on the team knows how important
they are to the success of the business. She gives them plenty of opportunities to be heard
and to voice their opinions. She also delegates different roles to everyone in the team so
each person is aware of their responsibilities. I believe her response reflects how my
group in class operates on terms of teamwork as well. Every project we each assign
ourselves one or two tasks and /or delegate roles amongst ourselves to work more
efficiently, as we have found that method to be the most successful. I also asked her to
describe team-building exercise implemented in her business. She found that bowling is a
great way to relieve stress and tension from the workweek and to get her employees to
engage with one another in a friendly way. I believe this is a great idea as it requires
workers to work together in teams in a fun and non-work related manner.
The subsequent question asked was what part of emotional intelligence she found
most important. Her response was self-motivation because she is constantly surrounding
herself with her work and would probably get burnt out easily if she didnt continue to
motivate herself. I believe that many healthcare executives would probably agree with
her answer because it is easy to get bogged down in all the responsibilities and tasks that
accompany being a leader. I also followed that question up by asking her if she had ever
taking a Myers Briggs test or any test closely related to that, but she had not so I through
that question out.

Kaylee King
HCM 4630
My last three questions were based on other miscellaneous topics covered in class
including creativity in the work place, weaknesses, and change in the future. I asked Mrs.
Hardin to describe a creative project in her workplace in which she replied saying she
created a brochure in collaboration with her employees and physicians and nurses from
Urgent Care next door. I believe it is a smart business move to work with the physicians
and nurses that are next doors as it could in turn lead to other business opportunities just
as we have learned in class on networking and professional relationship building. I was
also interested in knowing what weaknesses she has improved upon over her time as a
health care executive. Her response was that she has learned to listen more and talk less.
As a student hoping to one day become a health care executive I can learn a lot through
that statement. I believe that being a leader and boss can sometimes go to your head and
you may take on the role that your lives are crazier and even more important and may put
your employees and what they have to say to the back burner. To be a successful leader
you must care for those you lead and take the time to listen to them more often then not.
The final question I asked Mrs. Hardin was how she saw healthcare
executive/management jobs changing in the future. Her response wasnt exactly what I
was looking for as she spoke more on locally owned business more than leadership
positions. But she did say that insurance and Obamacare would have a negative impact
on pharmacies and this could in turn effect other management jobs in the future which is
something I need to take into consideration when looking for a career.
After reflecting on my interview I will use Mrs. Hardins responses to help guide
my personal leadership model. From a broad prospective she noted that some of the core
competencies and values reflecting a healthcare leader were communication, flexibility,

Kaylee King
HCM 4630
ambition and integrity. I want to make sure I am a leader who listens to my team and is in
constant communication with them so that they can trust me. These key components also
help describe my transformational leadership style as I strive to be a leader that promotes
teamwork and being an inspirational role model to my followers, just as Mrs. Hardin
does. Mrs. Hardins interview encourages me to never be afraid to network with as many
people as possible because it is important to improve contacts both internally and
externally. I will also take her responses on team work and team building and mold them
into whatever leadership position I one day hold to ensure my team is just as satisfied as
hers are. I respect all of her responses and wish to emulate her leadership style in the
future.
I still may be unsure of what degree will be hanging from my wall in three to four
years from now, but Mrs. Hardins interview will help shape me into a successful leader
when the time comes. Her responses will help guide my leadership career in many
different ways. Using the core competencies and values that she sees important for a
successful leader to have motivates me to become efficient in each of those as well as
complement them with many more. Two of her values that really stood out to me were
ambition and integrity as these were also two of the ones that described me in my Myers
Briggs assessment. I will use these values to help choose a career in which allows these
strengths to shine forth. I will also use her responses on teamwork and team building to
guide the way I create a positive work environment with a satisfied and motivated team. I
want to always keep things fun so that the word job doesnt have such a negative
association with it by doing various team building exercises, even if it is as simple as a

Kaylee King
HCM 4630
game of bowling after a long work week. Realizing that these key things are important to
have as a successful leader will guide my leadership career down a flourishing path.
Mrs. Hardins responses will not only guide my future career but will also help
guide my life long learning. I can take her advice and apply it to things and events outside
of the workplace such as with family, sports teams and community events. I am very
involved with camps for children with diseases and disorders, church groups, and events
such as relay for life which all involve communication and corporation with people. Her
responses on these aspects can help me understand how to better approach situations such
as these. After this interview I am especially encouraged to listen more and talk less no
matter if its a 10-minute conversation in Wal-Mart or a meting in my church because
when you speak less you can do more! Mrs. Hardins responses will benefit my learning
in all walks of life.
In conclusions my interview with Mrs. Hardin has provided me with a plethora of
ways to become a successful leader. From teamwork, leadership models, emotional
intelligence and more Mrs. Hardin successfully works and runs two stores with a great
team behind her, all the while collaborating with other healthcare leaders. I will use this
interview with Mrs. Hardin to help guide my leadership model, leadership career, and
even my life long learning in the hopes that I can be as great of a leader as she is.