49 The most important leadership trait a CEO needs to possess is the capacity to motivate with actions—to make your team believe in you and your vision. It’s important to create a balanced environment and make sure no one feels superior to the rest of the team, and that has to start with me. If I am able to find that balance and create an environment for everyone to shine and work with the same passion I do, while remaining humble, then we have a winning team, regardless of what comes our way. I was honored to be invited to join the Barry and Judy Silverman College of Pharmacy’s Community Leader- ship Council and work with so many brilliant colleagues. It comprises leaders in the different aspects of the profession who gather quarterly to discuss the profession, the future, and what we think needs to be proactively addressed in the education of future Pharm.D.s. It really is an amazing opportunity, as I get to propose ideas based on my vision or angle, which is different because my view is more international. I think the pharmacy profession in the United States is going through a disruptive and scary period. Independent pharmacy, which plays an important role in our society, is being destroyed and abused by predatory practices of pharmacy benefit managers. However, the eternal optimist in me says we are going to end up in a better place as a profession. We have to understand that the profession as it exists today is still very young. Pharm.D.s only became mandatory about 20 years ago, and we are only a couple hundred thousand in a population of more than 300 million. o In the Dominican Republic, we have a highly specialized practice that focuses on the administration, management, and optimization of specialty medications for multiple specialists, ranging from oncology to rheumatology. In Ecuador, we established a compounding pharmacy that is the first of its kind. I brought the president of Quito’s pharmacy association to NSU for a meeting to discuss future collaboration and exchange. Our dream is to make clinical pharmacy succeed in Latin America, as well as globally. Top left: In his role as CEO of PharmCare Services, Mike Rizo leads a company that has experienced significant growth since its inception in 2005. Bottom left: Rizo credits his wife Judy for playing a pivotal role in his success.
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