Transforming pharmacy practice through contemporary leadership models: Behavioural drivers of workplace motivation, innovation and professional performance

The global pharmacy workforce is witnessing a transition from focusing on medication dispensing to patient-centered clinical care. This transition demands a similar change in the workforce, especially in leadership. However, leadership in pharmacy relies significantly on role-based management instead of evidence-based behavioural models. This narrative review synthesized contemporary behaviour focused leadership models - transformational, authentic, servant and distributed leadership, and their effects on pharmacy workforce motivation, innovation and professional performance. A narrative literature review was conducted by integrating interdisciplinary evidence extracted from pharmacy, healthcare and leadership literature. Two models are suggested for empirical testing in future studies to replace existing valid frameworks. A narrative literature review was conducted by searching published literature from 2000 to the present in MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Scopus. It's no longer sufficient for pharmacy leadership to continue to engage in a transaction - based management approach. Contemporary leadership behaviour has exhibited a tendency to fulfil pharmacy workers basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness), as defined by self-determination theory (SDT). Evidence suggests that contemporary leadership behaviours are associated with reduced burnout, increased resilience, and enhanced climates of innovation. The pharmacy profession should view leadership as more than a soft skill or a management position and instead frame it as a primary behavioural competency. Two conceptual heuristic models are offered here to further guide empirical research, education and leadership training, given the current lack in evidence.