February 13, 2025 • 42 mins
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Real Talk about Relationships, Real Estate and Regulations inside Senior Living
In this episode, the host dives into the three core aspects of senior living: relationships, real estate, and regulations. Erin explores the importance of balancing these elements to ensure the success of a senior living community. Through personal anecdotes and professional insights, Erin emphasizes the critical role that relationships play in enhancing occupancy rates and building trust. Erin also highlights the real estate lens of senior living, explaining the concept of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and their impact on the industry. Additionally, Erin discusses the often-overlooked importance of regulatory compliance and offers practical advice for leaders to navigate these components successfully.
00:00 Introduction: The Three R's of Senior Living
00:45 Personal Journey: From Naivety to Realization
03:07 Understanding Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
05:05 The Corporate Lens: Real Estate and Relationships
06:22 The Importance of Relationships in Real Estate
07:40 Regulations: A Key Component of Senior Living
09:07 Balancing the Three R's for Leadership Success
11:32 Real Estate Perspective: Corporate and Community Views
18:03 Building Relationships: The Heart of Senior Living
28:28 Navigating Regulations: Lessons and Reflections
36:14 Conclusion: Embracing the Three R's for Sustainable Success
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Microphone (Yeti Stereo (00:00):
Senior living a relationship business
or real estate business.
Ask most community leaders andthey'll say relationships.
Ask a good number of corporaterepresentatives and they'll tell
you the higher that you climb,the more the conversation is
about real estate.
And let's not forget regulationsbecause without compliance, none
(00:21):
of this works.
So, what's the truth?
The best leaders understand howto balance all 3 and in this
episode, we're going to diveinto the 3 hours of senior
living relationships, realestate and regulations, what
they mean, why they matter andhow your ability to navigate
them will define your success asa leader.
(00:43):
Let's get into it.
I I hate to admit to you thatthe majority of my career, I
never thought of senior livingas a real estate thing.
Company, profession, and when Isay majority, I mean, the, like,
all of it.
(01:04):
I, I, I mean, I think my headwas in the sand, I was naive, I
cannot explain to you why Ididn't connect the dots to that.
I think I just was so purposedriven and people centered and
loved to gamify things and wingames.
(01:25):
That going into a community thatwas underperforming, which was
all 4 of my opportunities as amanager inside senior living and
increasing occupancy to thepoint where we were making
money, you know, turning areputation around turning
customer service percentages.
Around all of these were justsuch big goals for me that I
(01:50):
didn't understand another groupof people were looking at it
from a real estate perspective.
100 percent to me, 100 percentoccupied community was more
about.
Perfection, a Super Bowlexperience, winning the Super
Bowl kind of thing, likeclimbing the mountain, it was
(02:12):
never about anything other thanfilling a community with people
to serve.
I just didn't get the, I did notget the memo, and no one
explicitly that I can remembersaid to me, Erin, assisted
living is more of a real estatebusiness more than anything
else.
(02:33):
Because everything to me isrelationship.
It's purpose driven, peoplecentered, and they have a huge
problem to solve, and that ishow to take care of their loved
one, and I have a solution forthem.
That's really what it was forme.
That's it.
Changing people's lives, addingvalue, problem solving, getting
(02:55):
my dopamine hits for the day.
That was it.
So As I walked into thispodcasting journey and on to
LinkedIn, I realized somethingvery quickly.
I didn't understand whateverybody was talking about from
a thought leadership perspectivefrom a CEO level from, you know,
(03:17):
what a REIT was an R.
E.
I.
T.
I didn't know what that was.
And if you don't know what thatis, it is a real estate
investment trust.
So, it's a company that buys andmanages income generating
properties are similar to mutualfunds and allowing people to
invest in real estate withouthaving to buy.
(03:38):
Or manage properties.
So these real estate investmenttrusts buy and manage properties
like office buildings,apartments, Senior living,
shopping centers, and hotels.
They generate income from rent,capital gains, and mortgage
interest.
REITs distribute at least 90percent of their income to
(04:02):
investors as dividends.
And that you can buy REITsthrough a brokerage account or
similar stocks.
These are the people that arefunding REITs.
These are the groups that arefunding the majority of senior
living and when I say majority,it's probably not majority.
I don't know all the numbers.
(04:22):
I know that there's individualowners.
I know that there's big.
You know, for there's bigcompanies that are publicly
traded, I'm not going to getinto all those details because
that's not my expertise.
But what I'm saying is a hugechunk of the people who.
(04:43):
have the power and the money insenior living come from REITs,
real estate investment trusts.
So they are the ones that arecoming in, investing in
apartments like senior living,and pulling the financial
strings.
This is where the pressure iscoming from, okay?
(05:05):
The real estate, the corporatelens of their investors wanting
Dividends wanting the return oninvestment very quickly at each
community.
Man, that's a shock.
I didn't realize it.
I am a relationship trutherinside Senior Living.
(05:27):
The heart of a community is theleadership.
It's the people that run it.
It's the, the, the, thefoundation which is your front
line.
Right?
Like, to me, that is what seniorliving is, and the added bonus
is that we get to be paid forit, people get to make money,
and that residents get to beserved and cared for
(05:48):
appropriately.
But really, the overarchingtheme of senior living is that
it's a real estate business.
And if it's a real estatebusiness, and it is, Then the
conversations that are had atcommunity level and at a higher
level have different themesrunning through them, especially
(06:11):
if you're purpose driven peoplecentered talking to people who
are number driven spreadsheetdriven, you know, percentage of
profit driven.
Relationships and the touchyfeely stuff get in the way, but
the wise leaders in thecorporate offices understand
that relationships are whatdrives success in real estate.
(06:36):
Let's face it.
Do you want to use a real estateagent that cannot connect with
you and you do not have arelationship that you do not
trust?
No, I want a real estate agentwho's going to listen to what I
want, who's going to try to findit, and who's not going to give
up until they find it.
Period.
And they're going to fight forme to get the best deal.
(06:57):
That's what I want in my realestate agent.
Not someone who all they careabout are the numbers.
And what I want doesn't matterand they're going to show me a
bunch of houses that I don'twant.
So there's a difference.
Relationships matter.
Any real estate agent will tellyou that networking,
relationship, being in the rightplace at the right time, and
actually finding the perfecthouse for their customers, for
(07:22):
their clients, is what gets themreferrals and keeps them
consistent in their houseselling month over month.
So, that was a huge, huge eyeopening experience for me, kind
of stepping out from a communitycentered perspective.
Now, I always knew thatregulations were a huge part of
(07:44):
my job.
Well, always is a strong word,because when I first became an
executive director at a verylarge corporation, whom I love
dearly, I will always haveloyalty to this particular
company.
But As a new executive director,regulations in the state of
Alabama was not discussed.
I went and got my license, but Icame back and it was all about
(08:06):
what this corporation needed meto do based on their policies
and procedures.
And let me tell you something, Idrank the Kool Aid, I was all
in, and I did what I was told todo.
I didn't realize that Alabama'sregulations were different than
the policies and procedures ofthe company.
Thank you.
In fact, when the state calledand wanted to talk to me about
state reportables andinvestigations, I never really
(08:28):
even called them back, because Iwas never told that they were
important.
Which is really, really sad.
And not something I'm very proudof.
And I probably set thatcommunity up for a really bad
survey after I left.
But it wasn't my fault, becauseI was 28 years old, I was so
happy to be an executivedirector, and I just didn't did
(08:50):
what the company told me to do.
I was drinking the Kool Aid andI don't know if they knew how
different the state regs wereversus what the company's
policies were.
I don't know.
But you don't know until, youknow, and all you can do is do
better when, you know, right?
And I'm telling you that the 3R's inside senior living, the
(09:11):
big picture that defines yourleadership inside of a community
is relationships, real estateand regulations.
And one of the best things as aleader that you can know if
you're new, seasoned, in yourfirst three years is
understanding that You have fivestakeholders, which one
(09:31):
prioritizes relationships, realestate, and regulations.
Some of them prioritize bothequally and this is the key that
you need to be a successfulSustainable senior living leader
inside of a community and growwithin Your corporation if
that's what you want to do.
(09:52):
I recently did a LinkedIn pollAnd I asked my followers Which R
is most important relationshipreal estate or regulations and a
high number of industry leadersthat participated in the poll
and they, and they range fromvendors that support senior
living communities throughoutthe country, CEOs and vice
(10:14):
presidents, lots of communitylevel leaders.
So there was a big range ofpeople who.
You know, actually answer thequestion.
And it was almost unanimous.
It was about 95 percent ofpeople understood that this
(10:34):
business was a relationshipbusiness.
Two people out of 55 chose thatit was a relationship business.
Real estate business and Ibelieve one or two people chose
that it was regulations, butthey didn't understand the
industry They were justparticipating in the poll, which
I appreciate and I think that'sa powerful testament because I'm
(10:56):
not sure the higher we get up inthose REITs or CEOs that we lose
the ability to understand thatif you want to have success And
increase those numbers quicklyand dramatically.
It starts with relationships inevery aspect, but mastery at
(11:19):
senior living leadership comesfrom understanding that success
is the art of balancing all 3perspectives.
and we're going to dive intothose perspectives.
So when we talk about realestate, which I like to think
the real estate perspective isthrough the corporate lens,
although there are many seniorliving leaders inside the
(11:43):
community that probablyunderstand that it's a real
estate business and look at itfrom an apartment selling
perspective or even a houseselling perspective.
if you're one of those superhappy for you, If you are like
me And you didn't quite get thememo.
Here's the memo.
Let's talk about it.
(12:04):
You know, when we talk aboutoccupancy rates and property
values and financial reviews andrevenue and all these other type
of conversations, we realizethat's a real estate lens.
That we're talking through whenwe have to give our projection
numbers, how many in how manyout they want to know, are we
going to grow?
(12:26):
Are we going to stay flat?
Or are we going to slidebackwards because they have to
send these projections up tothis group of investors that are
looking at this from a realestate perspective.
Occupancy rates matter, right?
The property value of yourcommunity matters to them
because this is all part oftheir investment.
(12:47):
You see the people in thecommunity, they see the numbers
on a spreadsheet and now that's2 different perspectives.
Isn't it?
But what you have to remember isthat real estate success is
built on relationships.
I'm going to say that several,several times.
So you can have that in yourmind.
And so you can use that if youneed to in different times
(13:08):
inside of your community.
If occupancy is low.
It's not about the building perse.
It could be about therelationships inside and the
perceptions of people on theoutside.
Because the truth is, happyresidence equals stronger
reputation, which equals ahigher occupancy.
(13:32):
So, Relationships matter, right?
If your current residents don'ttrust you, don't trust the
leadership, don't feelcomfortable in the care that
they're receiving, don't feelcomfortable in referring people
to this community, or can findzero connection to leadership,
your occupancy is going to below.
(13:52):
And on the flip side, if a bunchof people are moving out, then
there's a reason.
And you've got to figure thatout so you can then stop the
bleed and start working on howto build that connection in
those relationships becausehappy residence equals stronger
reputation equals higheroccupancy.
(14:13):
At the community level, youcan't treat the community like
an apartment complex.
You have to treat the communitylike it's a relationship
business.
Selling service, solvingproblems, using your resident's
story to inspire other familieswho are going through the same
thing, right?
(14:34):
If you're a community leaderfeeling disconnected from the
corporate perspective, I wantyou to remember this.
Your ability to createrelationships directly impacts
the real estate numbers thatcorporate tracks.
So, you need to build a bridgebetween the relationships and
the real estate by focusing onretention, engagement, and
(14:58):
satisfaction.
That makes real estaterelationship driven.
Right?
When we focus on retention,engagement, and satisfaction,
that's people centered, purposedriven, you're going to see your
occupancy increase.
(15:20):
You cannot expect more people tocome in when the current people
you are serving are not happy.
They don't trust you.
Right?
You got to take care of what youhave first so you can grow
because when you move people inand your current residents
Aren't happy they're not gonnastay or they're gonna see it on
a tour, right?
(15:41):
so Just like you would not wantto have an open house with a
house that isn't clean ororganized You know, you're not
going to Attract the rightbuyers for that house.
You want to make sure you putthe best face forward.
So you can attract the rightpeople to your community.
(16:02):
And when you understand thestory behind your community, you
can start attracting people thatwould benefit from the services
that you offer.
But the people who are managingyou from a corporate standpoint,
pretty much looking at thatstuff so they can drive the
numbers up on a spreadsheet.
Although some of them care, Mhm.
Right.
Some of them do care about theresidents, but the higher up you
(16:24):
get, the more it is spreadsheetdriven, dividend driven.
And when am I going to see thereturn on my investment?
So I recently was at aconference, Georgia, senior
living conference, and thiswhole concept of real estate.
Awareness really hit home for mewhen there was a CEO on stage.
(16:50):
His name is bear and he said,you're only going to grow within
this profession, the seniorliving profession, when you
understand that the real estateside of the business.
And let me tell you, I wasstanding there and I was like,
it's so true.
It's so true.
And how many of us take the factthat it's a real estate business
(17:14):
and don't even do anything withit?
Don't understand it.
Don't try to dive into itbecause of a purpose driven,
people centered, relationshipperspective, but they're
interconnected.
And I, I firmly believe that itwas hard to be a successful real
estate agent without makingrelationships.
(17:36):
First in your priority list, andthat's what we can do as purpose
driven people centered leaders,right?
makes engagement and retentionand Satisfaction a priority so
we can drive the numbers upbecause happy residents equals
stronger reputation Which equalshigher occupancy which makes all
(18:00):
the real estate folks very veryhappy So, let's talk about
relationships, which is myexpertise inside senior living.
I believe relationships are theheart of senior living.
And to me, the core idea is thebest senior living communities
are not defined by amenities,but by the relationships inside
(18:20):
them, period.
What are the relationships thatwe have to focus on as senior
living communities?
You have five key stakeholders,five of them.
I like to call them our fivebosses, but we know that the
only real boss we have is withthe, corporate office, corporate
leadership, but there are lotsof other influences and those
(18:42):
are our residents, our families,our associates.
Our corporate leadership and theregulatory agencies.
Now, I believe there's a 6thone.
And if you want my honestopinion, vendors can influence,
your leadership, the residentsexperience and your marketing.
(19:04):
if you're not careful in a.
In a positive or negative way,if you're not careful, it's
really important that yourvendors see the consistency and
your happy residents and yourleadership and the vision of
your community, just like yourresidents and your frontline
team do.
So, when you're aware that thekey relationships that you need
(19:28):
to focus on are residents,families, associates, corporate
leadership, and regulatoryagencies, and don't forget about
the vendors, you can understandwhere your focus needs to go and
who needs what from you, right?
So, residents.
Residents are at the heart ofeverything that we do, right?
(19:50):
Their satisfaction and well,being are your top priorities
because let's just face it.
Everything else, every other keystakeholder, the residents.
Are the string that ties everykey stakeholder together.
So they're the heart of yourcommunity.
They're the beat.
(20:10):
They're the everything that wedo.
The reason why we are inexistence is to serve those
residents, right?
The families trust you are thereto care for their loved ones.
Their confidence in you directlyimpacts your community's
reputation.
Do they trust you?
Can they trust you?
Will they trust you?
(20:32):
And, Do they refer, right?
Your associates are how youserve your residents.
Your associates are yourgreatest asset.
And often your biggestchallenge, right?
A motivated, well supportedteam, will drive quick success
(20:52):
inside of your community.
I think the future of seniorliving and what will set apart
this senior living from the onedown the street will be the
relationships that are insidethe community.
It's not about the amenities.
You know, there's a lot ofpeople who hate elevators.
So, a community, two communitiesthat I worked at had an
elevator.
I wasn't for everybody, right?
(21:14):
I could have had the biggestchandeliers, the most home like
feeling, the most modernpicturesque community, but
because a resident didn't likethe elevators, they wouldn't
move in.
I once worked at a communitythat had three floors.
You know how many times somebodytold me they weren't gonna live
on the third floor?
(21:34):
Now, I know that some of you arelistening and you're in these
big Big cities and you've got 10floors.
Well, here where I'm from, wedon't have that and so a third
floor apartment scared a lot ofpeople and therefore did not
move in because we couldn'tovercome the fact that, they
(21:56):
were scared of living on thethird floor, So, the
relationships and the storiesthat you tell that attract the
right people to your communityis really, really important.
Because that is how you get theones that benefit from your
community into your community.
And the associates, therelationship the associates have
with the residents, therelationships the associates
(22:19):
have with the management team,the management team's
relationships with the, with theleadership, with the executive
director and with the families.
All of that is very, veryimportant.
Your relationship with thecorporate leadership is
important because you understandtheir perspective, they
understand yours, and you'refiguring out how to balance,
real estate relationships andregulatory with them.
(22:42):
And that's important.
If you know that's what you haveto do, then you actually get to
do it.
And then you have the regulatoryagencies, which honestly play a
huge role in reputation andsuccess of a community.
And your understanding of whatis required of you, your
boundaries, your limitations,the residents that we can serve
(23:05):
and that we cannot serve, andhelping create a plan for those
you can't, is really, reallyimportant.
a good relationship with theregulations, will help
leadership sustainability beless stressful and anxious.
Because, why fight regulationswhen you're never going to win?
As a leader inside thecommunity, instead you should
(23:27):
just communicate what yourboundaries are, and why they're
there.
And everybody understandslimitations, and everybody
understands what next steps canbe.
The safety, the relationship ofthe residents.
And the boundaries of theregulations is really, really
important.
Some reflecting questions that Ihave had recently is, are we
(23:49):
equipping leaders to build andnurture relationships?
Or are we just telling them,these are our policies and
procedures, this is our currentoccupancy, this is where we need
you to be in six months.
Are we actively strengtheningthe trust with our stakeholders?
If we're not makingrelationships and teaching
people how to buildrelationships and what types of
(24:12):
relationships each stakeholderneeds, then how can we build
trust?
We're not giving new leadersroadmaps into understanding that
we need to work on trust becausetrust is the common thread with
every stakeholder.
They want us, they want to beable to trust us to care for the
residents.
Regulatory needs us to care forthe residents within the
(24:34):
boundaries that they havecreated.
Corporate leadership needs us tocare for all the residents.
Associates need to have a goodrelationship with their role in
caring for the residents, andthe leadership's role in caring
for the residents.
And families and residents wantyou to care for them.
They want to trust you.
They want to have peace whenthey move in and they walk
around and leave.
(24:55):
These are the perspectives thatwe need to be giving our team
members inside the community andour leaders on how we can grow
occupancy quickly becauserelationships is the area to
focus on for a quick occupancygrowth spurt because we have to
(25:15):
care for what we have so we cancare for the, for the many
residents they're going tofollow.
I have always said this, thatsales is service, and leadership
is sales.
Because we have to sell thevision.
We have to convince people thatwe see you, we see your
(25:37):
problems, and we're thesolution.
And here's why we're thesolution, and here's how we do
it, and here are the resultsthat we have.
Leaders have to sell the visionof why people want to work
outside their comfort zone, worksmarter, not harder, to work
according to the policies andprocedures because people want
to do what they want to do.
(25:58):
It's not necessarily peoplecoming into work and choosing or
even understanding all the rulesand choosing to do them because
we're all affected by one thingor another.
It's about inspiring andinfluencing them.
And helping them understand thepower and contribution that they
have to change people's lives.
(26:19):
leadership is sales sales isservice.
We're helping people solve aproblem and when relationships
are good, real estate andregulations are good as well.
So, 1 of my top professionaltips.
In making relationships andtrust grow inside your
(26:41):
community.
Is to invest in your presencebeing seen, heard and felt
inside the community, to attendmeetings, be intentional with
your time and what you'retalking about and to make trust
building, which is listening andacting on feedback a priority
(27:02):
and to create a culture ofaccountability and transparency
and vulnerability inside of yourcommunity.
Yes, we're in an occupancy of 50percent and it's hard and we're
building this back up because Isee the potential in you because
I see this community fullyoccupied with a bunch of
(27:25):
residents that are thrivinginside of this community because
of you and the work that you'recapable of.
That's what I see and we have tostart today with learning how
you contribute and why you areso important.
Because we're the best, and inorder to be the best, we have to
start today, Your presencematters inside of a community.
(27:47):
When you want to buildrelationships and a culture and
trust building, people have tosee you.
They have to see you doing theright things.
All the time, and look at thecore values inside of your
community and see what thoselook like for you, write those
down.
What do those core values looklike for you and your company
(28:10):
and how can you be a walkingbillboard for them?
And do they align with yourvalues as well?
Operationalizing your valuesthrough your presence, that's
how you build culture and it'sreally, really important that
you understand that.
Let's talk about regulations.
Now, folks, the often the oftenoverlooked connection.
(28:35):
Right now, I have worked inAlabama, 1 of the most regulated
states with large companies.
Nonprofit companies, companiesthat were smaller that grew into
bigger companies, and there is acommon thread in my career,
which is these companies did nottake Alabama's regs very
(28:56):
seriously.
and, again, at the beginning ofmy executive director career, I
didn't either, but then I.
I started to work inside of amemory care community, a 64
apartment memory care communitythat was in complete devastation
because of a awful survey andwas taken over by a management
(29:19):
company, the occupancy wasalmost at 50%, and the plan of
correction, I swear to you, wasclose to a thousand pages.
I don't know, it was probablymore like a hundred, but it felt
like a thousand.
And I learned very quickly howimportant Alabama regulations
were.
I was, thrown into a boot campof regulatory compliance, which
(29:43):
was the hardest six months of mylife, and I am so thankful for
that time, although in themoment I was not very thankful.
So many times I heard thecomplaints because Alabama's
regs are very, very strict whenit comes to memory care.
And assisted living when itcomes to cognition in general.
You know, that we don't allowresidents to age in place, blah,
(30:05):
blah, blah, blah, blah.
And that's true.
Alabama makes it very difficultfor memory care residents to
stay in memory care for a longtime.
But being aware of yourlimitations and communicating
them early on and throughout aprogressive decline, which
happens with people who arediagnosed with dementia, or with
(30:28):
people who are living withdementia, is important.
It's a, it's a conversation.
It's, it's constantly withrelationships are our goal.
Then being able to talk openlyabout the boundaries of what we
can and cannot do allows peopleto trust you.
It allows people to understandwhat you can and cannot do, and
(30:52):
that's really big.
A lot of my experience withpeople from corporate
perspectives or reeling from badsurveys is that regulations feel
like an obstacle, that they'retoo restrictive, that they're
cold, that they're impersonal.
And to some degree, I agree withthat, because in Alabama our
(31:14):
memory care residents have to beable to walk or self propel in a
wheelchair, and I struggle withthat.
Because our residents in memorycare, you know, if they can't
walk or self propel in awheelchair and they still
benefit from our programming andour engagement and our
community, it's sad to see themgo.
(31:36):
But when you see communitiesthat just have a complete
disregard for regulations andkeep residents that they can't
take care of, you understandthat regulations are boundaries.
And it's unfortunate that oneapple, you know, one rotten
(31:58):
apple will spoil the entirebushel of apples, gallon of
apples, whatever it is, right?
Carton of apples.
Like, I, that is a truth that isa hard truth in life, but It's
important that if we are peoplecentered, purpose driven, that
(32:20):
we have a positive relationshipwith our boundaries.
With our regulations.
It's, it's just that importantand the more that we communicate
what we can and cannot do on thefront end of occupancy and
throughout the different careplan meetings that we have, the
better that it is, but it'salways best with a relationship
(32:43):
centered perspective to say, wewant your family member here as
long as possible.
We want to care for them and wewant to do what we can.
Do within our own power to keepthem here as long as possible.
And so here is why We're goingto be doing these things this
way because ignoring regulationserodes trust and honestly, it
(33:06):
creates so much stress for youas a leader that it's almost
impossible to Stay the bestversion of yourself for your
team if we ignore regulationsIt's going to come back to get
us every time Every time.
So embrace the regulations,learn them, understand what's
(33:28):
expected from you, and then gainsome clarity on that.
Ask questions, find a mentor,because the more you know, the
more clear you are, the moreprepared you are, the more
confident you are.
You build and confidence is hugein regards to building
relationships, trust, andinfluence within your community.
(33:50):
So the biggest mindset shiftthat I had from being a new
executive director and notcaring about the regs at all to
then being put in a position ofa community that was going
through a huge plan ofcorrection was regulations are
guidelines.
Not Roblox.
(34:11):
And to some people they areroadblocks, and that's a
different perspective than Ihave.
And honestly, I spent a lot ofmy career defending my position
on regulations, and myreputation inside the state, and
the vision that I had for, formy leadership in, in, in my
(34:31):
career.
Because I saw it as a guideline,as a boundary and not a
roadblock, because I was able tohave tough conversations with
families and say, this is whatwe can and cannot do.
And in a big memory care, maybea smaller memory care can
handle, what is currently goingon with your loved one.
Right?
I mean, it's not just, we can'tdo this, that's it, now you have
(34:54):
to find something else.
It is, here's why we can't dothis and let's talk about
solving some of these problemsfor you.
It's how you use therelationship of boundaries
that's really, really important.
So instead of how do I getaround this, which is certainly
something I've thought about,Ask yourself, how can I use
(35:15):
this?
To improve my operations, myrelationships, my communication,
my training style.
How can I use the boundariesthat I have to help me be better
rather than to prevent me frommy success?
It's really stop blaming andstart using what you've got, No
(35:37):
more blame, only solutionsoriented.
Radical accountability, So,reframe regulations as just part
of the mission.
Not just compliance.
It's really, really important.
You can incorporate yourregulations and your policies
and procedures.
(35:57):
You know, every tour you havein, in the residency agreement
signing and at every care planmeeting.
Just reminding people that wehave rules that we have to
follow.
And my, my job is to followthose rules.
Right?
The biggest leadership lessonsthat I want you to take away
from this podcast episode fromthis episode is if we don't
(36:22):
balance real estaterelationships and regulations,
we're not going to be able toserve the people that we want to
serve.
We're not going to be able toimpact the lives of people who
need us, right?
Who need us to help them, tocare for their loved ones, to
change their perspective in lifeand to give them joy when they
(36:43):
thought they may not have anysocialization engagement
security These are the thingsthat we give our Residents that
we serve and so it's importantfor us to realize we have to
balance it.
We have to balance relationshipsreal estate and regulations so
embrace Relationships as thefoundation because that is the
(37:05):
core Relationships are the coreto a successful senior living
community.
Relationships with yourresidents, their families,
associates, corporateleadership, and regulatory,
representatives when they comein, and also your vendors.
Embrace those relationships.
Make your presence known andfelt inside the community.
(37:28):
Acknowledge that real estate isthe business model, right?
I mean, It just is.
And that's okay.
Relationships make real estatesuccessful, And respect
regulations as the structurethat protects trust and
reputation, Everyone wants tomove into a community that they
(37:49):
can trust and that has greatscores.
So make that regulation piece areputation building, trust
building piece.
boundary component of yourleadership and of your senior
living journey.
We as leaders must align ourrelationship with real estate
(38:11):
relationships and regulatorycompliance to create long term
sustainable success inside ofour community.
Want to ask you which R do youfeel like that you need to
strengthen most in yourleadership?
Which are, are you really,really good at?
awareness is always the firststep to growth.
(38:32):
And if you want to grow andbecome better, focus on what
your strength is and what yourweakness is, and maybe some
areas that you can focus inthose on those weaknesses to, to
get better.
Maybe it's your relationshipwith the regs.
I know that it was for me,right?
And real estate, for all thatmatters.
(38:53):
I hope this episode helps youput maybe some struggles that
you're having in perspectivethat you understand, oh, that's
why they're coming down on me sohard, or I just didn't
understand the regs in a waythat I understand them now due
to this plan of correction, Imean, growth happens when we
(39:18):
open our mind to the differentperspectives and we lean in with
curiosity and say, okay, I willtell you the greatest learning
lesson ever was that communitythat had that horrific survey
that, that earned them a 57.
And The aftermath, the completeand utter overhaul that
(39:39):
community had was the biggestlearning lesson of my life.
No, I was not the leader whenthey had that survey, but I was
the leader having to implementthe entire plan of correction of
that community.
And my relationship with theregulations.
(40:02):
Became healthy, fearful, andconnected after that.
So failure can be your greatestgrowth tool, but don't let the
shame and the guilt keep youstuck.
Release it and allow the graceand the mercy of growing and the
(40:26):
discomfort of growing be yourmotivating factor of continuing
the growth.
Because the goal is to grow andto master your skill and to grow
occupancy through, regulation,compliance and relationship,
people centered, purpose drivenleadership.
(40:49):
So, I hope this helps.
I, I know that I would haveneeded this as a new leader and
maybe as a perspective ofsomebody who's currently
struggling and needs help.
Different scenarios inside of acommunity.
And if this helps and you knowsomebody who wants to be a
leader, or who is struggling,give them this episode.
And if you have a few minutes,leave me a review, or reach out
(41:12):
to me on LinkedIn, because Iwould love to hear your feedback
about this.
It's important.
You are why I do this.
So I appreciate it very much.
And as always, aspire for morefor you.
Senior living a relationship business
or real estate business.
Ask most community leaders andthey'll say relationships.
Ask a good number of corporaterepresentatives and they'll tell
you the higher that you climb,the more the conversation is
about real estate.
And let's not forget regulationsbecause without compliance, none
(00:21):
of this works.
So, what's the truth?
The best leaders understand howto balance all 3 and in this
episode, we're going to diveinto the 3 hours of senior
living relationships, realestate and regulations, what
they mean, why they matter andhow your ability to navigate
them will define your success asa leader.
(00:43):
Let's get into it.
I I hate to admit to you thatthe majority of my career, I
never thought of senior livingas a real estate thing.
Company, profession, and when Isay majority, I mean, the, like,
all of it.
(01:04):
I, I, I mean, I think my headwas in the sand, I was naive, I
cannot explain to you why Ididn't connect the dots to that.
I think I just was so purposedriven and people centered and
loved to gamify things and wingames.
(01:25):
That going into a community thatwas underperforming, which was
all 4 of my opportunities as amanager inside senior living and
increasing occupancy to thepoint where we were making
money, you know, turning areputation around turning
customer service percentages.
Around all of these were justsuch big goals for me that I
(01:50):
didn't understand another groupof people were looking at it
from a real estate perspective.
100 percent to me, 100 percentoccupied community was more
about.
Perfection, a Super Bowlexperience, winning the Super
Bowl kind of thing, likeclimbing the mountain, it was
(02:12):
never about anything other thanfilling a community with people
to serve.
I just didn't get the, I did notget the memo, and no one
explicitly that I can remembersaid to me, Erin, assisted
living is more of a real estatebusiness more than anything
else.
(02:33):
Because everything to me isrelationship.
It's purpose driven, peoplecentered, and they have a huge
problem to solve, and that ishow to take care of their loved
one, and I have a solution forthem.
That's really what it was forme.
That's it.
Changing people's lives, addingvalue, problem solving, getting
(02:55):
my dopamine hits for the day.
That was it.
So As I walked into thispodcasting journey and on to
LinkedIn, I realized somethingvery quickly.
I didn't understand whateverybody was talking about from
a thought leadership perspectivefrom a CEO level from, you know,
(03:17):
what a REIT was an R.
E.
I.
T.
I didn't know what that was.
And if you don't know what thatis, it is a real estate
investment trust.
So, it's a company that buys andmanages income generating
properties are similar to mutualfunds and allowing people to
invest in real estate withouthaving to buy.
(03:38):
Or manage properties.
So these real estate investmenttrusts buy and manage properties
like office buildings,apartments, Senior living,
shopping centers, and hotels.
They generate income from rent,capital gains, and mortgage
interest.
REITs distribute at least 90percent of their income to
(04:02):
investors as dividends.
And that you can buy REITsthrough a brokerage account or
similar stocks.
These are the people that arefunding REITs.
These are the groups that arefunding the majority of senior
living and when I say majority,it's probably not majority.
I don't know all the numbers.
(04:22):
I know that there's individualowners.
I know that there's big.
You know, for there's bigcompanies that are publicly
traded, I'm not going to getinto all those details because
that's not my expertise.
But what I'm saying is a hugechunk of the people who.
(04:43):
have the power and the money insenior living come from REITs,
real estate investment trusts.
So they are the ones that arecoming in, investing in
apartments like senior living,and pulling the financial
strings.
This is where the pressure iscoming from, okay?
(05:05):
The real estate, the corporatelens of their investors wanting
Dividends wanting the return oninvestment very quickly at each
community.
Man, that's a shock.
I didn't realize it.
I am a relationship trutherinside Senior Living.
(05:27):
The heart of a community is theleadership.
It's the people that run it.
It's the, the, the, thefoundation which is your front
line.
Right?
Like, to me, that is what seniorliving is, and the added bonus
is that we get to be paid forit, people get to make money,
and that residents get to beserved and cared for
(05:48):
appropriately.
But really, the overarchingtheme of senior living is that
it's a real estate business.
And if it's a real estatebusiness, and it is, Then the
conversations that are had atcommunity level and at a higher
level have different themesrunning through them, especially
(06:11):
if you're purpose driven peoplecentered talking to people who
are number driven spreadsheetdriven, you know, percentage of
profit driven.
Relationships and the touchyfeely stuff get in the way, but
the wise leaders in thecorporate offices understand
that relationships are whatdrives success in real estate.
(06:36):
Let's face it.
Do you want to use a real estateagent that cannot connect with
you and you do not have arelationship that you do not
trust?
No, I want a real estate agentwho's going to listen to what I
want, who's going to try to findit, and who's not going to give
up until they find it.
Period.
And they're going to fight forme to get the best deal.
(06:57):
That's what I want in my realestate agent.
Not someone who all they careabout are the numbers.
And what I want doesn't matterand they're going to show me a
bunch of houses that I don'twant.
So there's a difference.
Relationships matter.
Any real estate agent will tellyou that networking,
relationship, being in the rightplace at the right time, and
actually finding the perfecthouse for their customers, for
(07:22):
their clients, is what gets themreferrals and keeps them
consistent in their houseselling month over month.
So, that was a huge, huge eyeopening experience for me, kind
of stepping out from a communitycentered perspective.
Now, I always knew thatregulations were a huge part of
(07:44):
my job.
Well, always is a strong word,because when I first became an
executive director at a verylarge corporation, whom I love
dearly, I will always haveloyalty to this particular
company.
But As a new executive director,regulations in the state of
Alabama was not discussed.
I went and got my license, but Icame back and it was all about
(08:06):
what this corporation needed meto do based on their policies
and procedures.
And let me tell you something, Idrank the Kool Aid, I was all
in, and I did what I was told todo.
I didn't realize that Alabama'sregulations were different than
the policies and procedures ofthe company.
Thank you.
In fact, when the state calledand wanted to talk to me about
state reportables andinvestigations, I never really
(08:28):
even called them back, because Iwas never told that they were
important.
Which is really, really sad.
And not something I'm very proudof.
And I probably set thatcommunity up for a really bad
survey after I left.
But it wasn't my fault, becauseI was 28 years old, I was so
happy to be an executivedirector, and I just didn't did
(08:50):
what the company told me to do.
I was drinking the Kool Aid andI don't know if they knew how
different the state regs wereversus what the company's
policies were.
I don't know.
But you don't know until, youknow, and all you can do is do
better when, you know, right?
And I'm telling you that the 3R's inside senior living, the
(09:11):
big picture that defines yourleadership inside of a community
is relationships, real estateand regulations.
And one of the best things as aleader that you can know if
you're new, seasoned, in yourfirst three years is
understanding that You have fivestakeholders, which one
(09:31):
prioritizes relationships, realestate, and regulations.
Some of them prioritize bothequally and this is the key that
you need to be a successfulSustainable senior living leader
inside of a community and growwithin Your corporation if
that's what you want to do.
(09:52):
I recently did a LinkedIn pollAnd I asked my followers Which R
is most important relationshipreal estate or regulations and a
high number of industry leadersthat participated in the poll
and they, and they range fromvendors that support senior
living communities throughoutthe country, CEOs and vice
(10:14):
presidents, lots of communitylevel leaders.
So there was a big range ofpeople who.
You know, actually answer thequestion.
And it was almost unanimous.
It was about 95 percent ofpeople understood that this
(10:34):
business was a relationshipbusiness.
Two people out of 55 chose thatit was a relationship business.
Real estate business and Ibelieve one or two people chose
that it was regulations, butthey didn't understand the
industry They were justparticipating in the poll, which
I appreciate and I think that'sa powerful testament because I'm
(10:56):
not sure the higher we get up inthose REITs or CEOs that we lose
the ability to understand thatif you want to have success And
increase those numbers quicklyand dramatically.
It starts with relationships inevery aspect, but mastery at
(11:19):
senior living leadership comesfrom understanding that success
is the art of balancing all 3perspectives.
and we're going to dive intothose perspectives.
So when we talk about realestate, which I like to think
the real estate perspective isthrough the corporate lens,
although there are many seniorliving leaders inside the
(11:43):
community that probablyunderstand that it's a real
estate business and look at itfrom an apartment selling
perspective or even a houseselling perspective.
if you're one of those superhappy for you, If you are like
me And you didn't quite get thememo.
Here's the memo.
Let's talk about it.
(12:04):
You know, when we talk aboutoccupancy rates and property
values and financial reviews andrevenue and all these other type
of conversations, we realizethat's a real estate lens.
That we're talking through whenwe have to give our projection
numbers, how many in how manyout they want to know, are we
going to grow?
(12:26):
Are we going to stay flat?
Or are we going to slidebackwards because they have to
send these projections up tothis group of investors that are
looking at this from a realestate perspective.
Occupancy rates matter, right?
The property value of yourcommunity matters to them
because this is all part oftheir investment.
(12:47):
You see the people in thecommunity, they see the numbers
on a spreadsheet and now that's2 different perspectives.
Isn't it?
But what you have to remember isthat real estate success is
built on relationships.
I'm going to say that several,several times.
So you can have that in yourmind.
And so you can use that if youneed to in different times
(13:08):
inside of your community.
If occupancy is low.
It's not about the building perse.
It could be about therelationships inside and the
perceptions of people on theoutside.
Because the truth is, happyresidence equals stronger
reputation, which equals ahigher occupancy.
(13:32):
So, Relationships matter, right?
If your current residents don'ttrust you, don't trust the
leadership, don't feelcomfortable in the care that
they're receiving, don't feelcomfortable in referring people
to this community, or can findzero connection to leadership,
your occupancy is going to below.
(13:52):
And on the flip side, if a bunchof people are moving out, then
there's a reason.
And you've got to figure thatout so you can then stop the
bleed and start working on howto build that connection in
those relationships becausehappy residence equals stronger
reputation equals higheroccupancy.
(14:13):
At the community level, youcan't treat the community like
an apartment complex.
You have to treat the communitylike it's a relationship
business.
Selling service, solvingproblems, using your resident's
story to inspire other familieswho are going through the same
thing, right?
(14:34):
If you're a community leaderfeeling disconnected from the
corporate perspective, I wantyou to remember this.
Your ability to createrelationships directly impacts
the real estate numbers thatcorporate tracks.
So, you need to build a bridgebetween the relationships and
the real estate by focusing onretention, engagement, and
(14:58):
satisfaction.
That makes real estaterelationship driven.
Right?
When we focus on retention,engagement, and satisfaction,
that's people centered, purposedriven, you're going to see your
occupancy increase.
(15:20):
You cannot expect more people tocome in when the current people
you are serving are not happy.
They don't trust you.
Right?
You got to take care of what youhave first so you can grow
because when you move people inand your current residents
Aren't happy they're not gonnastay or they're gonna see it on
a tour, right?
(15:41):
so Just like you would not wantto have an open house with a
house that isn't clean ororganized You know, you're not
going to Attract the rightbuyers for that house.
You want to make sure you putthe best face forward.
So you can attract the rightpeople to your community.
(16:02):
And when you understand thestory behind your community, you
can start attracting people thatwould benefit from the services
that you offer.
But the people who are managingyou from a corporate standpoint,
pretty much looking at thatstuff so they can drive the
numbers up on a spreadsheet.
Although some of them care, Mhm.
Right.
Some of them do care about theresidents, but the higher up you
(16:24):
get, the more it is spreadsheetdriven, dividend driven.
And when am I going to see thereturn on my investment?
So I recently was at aconference, Georgia, senior
living conference, and thiswhole concept of real estate.
Awareness really hit home for mewhen there was a CEO on stage.
(16:50):
His name is bear and he said,you're only going to grow within
this profession, the seniorliving profession, when you
understand that the real estateside of the business.
And let me tell you, I wasstanding there and I was like,
it's so true.
It's so true.
And how many of us take the factthat it's a real estate business
(17:14):
and don't even do anything withit?
Don't understand it.
Don't try to dive into itbecause of a purpose driven,
people centered, relationshipperspective, but they're
interconnected.
And I, I firmly believe that itwas hard to be a successful real
estate agent without makingrelationships.
(17:36):
First in your priority list, andthat's what we can do as purpose
driven people centered leaders,right?
makes engagement and retentionand Satisfaction a priority so
we can drive the numbers upbecause happy residents equals
stronger reputation Which equalshigher occupancy which makes all
(18:00):
the real estate folks very veryhappy So, let's talk about
relationships, which is myexpertise inside senior living.
I believe relationships are theheart of senior living.
And to me, the core idea is thebest senior living communities
are not defined by amenities,but by the relationships inside
(18:20):
them, period.
What are the relationships thatwe have to focus on as senior
living communities?
You have five key stakeholders,five of them.
I like to call them our fivebosses, but we know that the
only real boss we have is withthe, corporate office, corporate
leadership, but there are lotsof other influences and those
(18:42):
are our residents, our families,our associates.
Our corporate leadership and theregulatory agencies.
Now, I believe there's a 6thone.
And if you want my honestopinion, vendors can influence,
your leadership, the residentsexperience and your marketing.
(19:04):
if you're not careful in a.
In a positive or negative way,if you're not careful, it's
really important that yourvendors see the consistency and
your happy residents and yourleadership and the vision of
your community, just like yourresidents and your frontline
team do.
So, when you're aware that thekey relationships that you need
(19:28):
to focus on are residents,families, associates, corporate
leadership, and regulatoryagencies, and don't forget about
the vendors, you can understandwhere your focus needs to go and
who needs what from you, right?
So, residents.
Residents are at the heart ofeverything that we do, right?
(19:50):
Their satisfaction and well,being are your top priorities
because let's just face it.
Everything else, every other keystakeholder, the residents.
Are the string that ties everykey stakeholder together.
So they're the heart of yourcommunity.
They're the beat.
(20:10):
They're the everything that wedo.
The reason why we are inexistence is to serve those
residents, right?
The families trust you are thereto care for their loved ones.
Their confidence in you directlyimpacts your community's
reputation.
Do they trust you?
Can they trust you?
Will they trust you?
(20:32):
And, Do they refer, right?
Your associates are how youserve your residents.
Your associates are yourgreatest asset.
And often your biggestchallenge, right?
A motivated, well supportedteam, will drive quick success
(20:52):
inside of your community.
I think the future of seniorliving and what will set apart
this senior living from the onedown the street will be the
relationships that are insidethe community.
It's not about the amenities.
You know, there's a lot ofpeople who hate elevators.
So, a community, two communitiesthat I worked at had an
elevator.
I wasn't for everybody, right?
(21:14):
I could have had the biggestchandeliers, the most home like
feeling, the most modernpicturesque community, but
because a resident didn't likethe elevators, they wouldn't
move in.
I once worked at a communitythat had three floors.
You know how many times somebodytold me they weren't gonna live
on the third floor?
(21:34):
Now, I know that some of you arelistening and you're in these
big Big cities and you've got 10floors.
Well, here where I'm from, wedon't have that and so a third
floor apartment scared a lot ofpeople and therefore did not
move in because we couldn'tovercome the fact that, they
(21:56):
were scared of living on thethird floor, So, the
relationships and the storiesthat you tell that attract the
right people to your communityis really, really important.
Because that is how you get theones that benefit from your
community into your community.
And the associates, therelationship the associates have
with the residents, therelationships the associates
(22:19):
have with the management team,the management team's
relationships with the, with theleadership, with the executive
director and with the families.
All of that is very, veryimportant.
Your relationship with thecorporate leadership is
important because you understandtheir perspective, they
understand yours, and you'refiguring out how to balance,
real estate relationships andregulatory with them.
(22:42):
And that's important.
If you know that's what you haveto do, then you actually get to
do it.
And then you have the regulatoryagencies, which honestly play a
huge role in reputation andsuccess of a community.
And your understanding of whatis required of you, your
boundaries, your limitations,the residents that we can serve
(23:05):
and that we cannot serve, andhelping create a plan for those
you can't, is really, reallyimportant.
a good relationship with theregulations, will help
leadership sustainability beless stressful and anxious.
Because, why fight regulationswhen you're never going to win?
As a leader inside thecommunity, instead you should
(23:27):
just communicate what yourboundaries are, and why they're
there.
And everybody understandslimitations, and everybody
understands what next steps canbe.
The safety, the relationship ofthe residents.
And the boundaries of theregulations is really, really
important.
Some reflecting questions that Ihave had recently is, are we
(23:49):
equipping leaders to build andnurture relationships?
Or are we just telling them,these are our policies and
procedures, this is our currentoccupancy, this is where we need
you to be in six months.
Are we actively strengtheningthe trust with our stakeholders?
If we're not makingrelationships and teaching
people how to buildrelationships and what types of
(24:12):
relationships each stakeholderneeds, then how can we build
trust?
We're not giving new leadersroadmaps into understanding that
we need to work on trust becausetrust is the common thread with
every stakeholder.
They want us, they want to beable to trust us to care for the
residents.
Regulatory needs us to care forthe residents within the
(24:34):
boundaries that they havecreated.
Corporate leadership needs us tocare for all the residents.
Associates need to have a goodrelationship with their role in
caring for the residents, andthe leadership's role in caring
for the residents.
And families and residents wantyou to care for them.
They want to trust you.
They want to have peace whenthey move in and they walk
around and leave.
(24:55):
These are the perspectives thatwe need to be giving our team
members inside the community andour leaders on how we can grow
occupancy quickly becauserelationships is the area to
focus on for a quick occupancygrowth spurt because we have to
(25:15):
care for what we have so we cancare for the, for the many
residents they're going tofollow.
I have always said this, thatsales is service, and leadership
is sales.
Because we have to sell thevision.
We have to convince people thatwe see you, we see your
(25:37):
problems, and we're thesolution.
And here's why we're thesolution, and here's how we do
it, and here are the resultsthat we have.
Leaders have to sell the visionof why people want to work
outside their comfort zone, worksmarter, not harder, to work
according to the policies andprocedures because people want
to do what they want to do.
(25:58):
It's not necessarily peoplecoming into work and choosing or
even understanding all the rulesand choosing to do them because
we're all affected by one thingor another.
It's about inspiring andinfluencing them.
And helping them understand thepower and contribution that they
have to change people's lives.
(26:19):
leadership is sales sales isservice.
We're helping people solve aproblem and when relationships
are good, real estate andregulations are good as well.
So, 1 of my top professionaltips.
In making relationships andtrust grow inside your
(26:41):
community.
Is to invest in your presencebeing seen, heard and felt
inside the community, to attendmeetings, be intentional with
your time and what you'retalking about and to make trust
building, which is listening andacting on feedback a priority
(27:02):
and to create a culture ofaccountability and transparency
and vulnerability inside of yourcommunity.
Yes, we're in an occupancy of 50percent and it's hard and we're
building this back up because Isee the potential in you because
I see this community fullyoccupied with a bunch of
(27:25):
residents that are thrivinginside of this community because
of you and the work that you'recapable of.
That's what I see and we have tostart today with learning how
you contribute and why you areso important.
Because we're the best, and inorder to be the best, we have to
start today, Your presencematters inside of a community.
(27:47):
When you want to buildrelationships and a culture and
trust building, people have tosee you.
They have to see you doing theright things.
All the time, and look at thecore values inside of your
community and see what thoselook like for you, write those
down.
What do those core values looklike for you and your company
(28:10):
and how can you be a walkingbillboard for them?
And do they align with yourvalues as well?
Operationalizing your valuesthrough your presence, that's
how you build culture and it'sreally, really important that
you understand that.
Let's talk about regulations.
Now, folks, the often the oftenoverlooked connection.
(28:35):
Right now, I have worked inAlabama, 1 of the most regulated
states with large companies.
Nonprofit companies, companiesthat were smaller that grew into
bigger companies, and there is acommon thread in my career,
which is these companies did nottake Alabama's regs very
(28:56):
seriously.
and, again, at the beginning ofmy executive director career, I
didn't either, but then I.
I started to work inside of amemory care community, a 64
apartment memory care communitythat was in complete devastation
because of a awful survey andwas taken over by a management
(29:19):
company, the occupancy wasalmost at 50%, and the plan of
correction, I swear to you, wasclose to a thousand pages.
I don't know, it was probablymore like a hundred, but it felt
like a thousand.
And I learned very quickly howimportant Alabama regulations
were.
I was, thrown into a boot campof regulatory compliance, which
(29:43):
was the hardest six months of mylife, and I am so thankful for
that time, although in themoment I was not very thankful.
So many times I heard thecomplaints because Alabama's
regs are very, very strict whenit comes to memory care.
And assisted living when itcomes to cognition in general.
You know, that we don't allowresidents to age in place, blah,
(30:05):
blah, blah, blah, blah.
And that's true.
Alabama makes it very difficultfor memory care residents to
stay in memory care for a longtime.
But being aware of yourlimitations and communicating
them early on and throughout aprogressive decline, which
happens with people who arediagnosed with dementia, or with
(30:28):
people who are living withdementia, is important.
It's a, it's a conversation.
It's, it's constantly withrelationships are our goal.
Then being able to talk openlyabout the boundaries of what we
can and cannot do allows peopleto trust you.
It allows people to understandwhat you can and cannot do, and
(30:52):
that's really big.
A lot of my experience withpeople from corporate
perspectives or reeling from badsurveys is that regulations feel
like an obstacle, that they'retoo restrictive, that they're
cold, that they're impersonal.
And to some degree, I agree withthat, because in Alabama our
(31:14):
memory care residents have to beable to walk or self propel in a
wheelchair, and I struggle withthat.
Because our residents in memorycare, you know, if they can't
walk or self propel in awheelchair and they still
benefit from our programming andour engagement and our
community, it's sad to see themgo.
(31:36):
But when you see communitiesthat just have a complete
disregard for regulations andkeep residents that they can't
take care of, you understandthat regulations are boundaries.
And it's unfortunate that oneapple, you know, one rotten
(31:58):
apple will spoil the entirebushel of apples, gallon of
apples, whatever it is, right?
Carton of apples.
Like, I, that is a truth that isa hard truth in life, but It's
important that if we are peoplecentered, purpose driven, that
(32:20):
we have a positive relationshipwith our boundaries.
With our regulations.
It's, it's just that importantand the more that we communicate
what we can and cannot do on thefront end of occupancy and
throughout the different careplan meetings that we have, the
better that it is, but it'salways best with a relationship
(32:43):
centered perspective to say, wewant your family member here as
long as possible.
We want to care for them and wewant to do what we can.
Do within our own power to keepthem here as long as possible.
And so here is why We're goingto be doing these things this
way because ignoring regulationserodes trust and honestly, it
(33:06):
creates so much stress for youas a leader that it's almost
impossible to Stay the bestversion of yourself for your
team if we ignore regulationsIt's going to come back to get
us every time Every time.
So embrace the regulations,learn them, understand what's
(33:28):
expected from you, and then gainsome clarity on that.
Ask questions, find a mentor,because the more you know, the
more clear you are, the moreprepared you are, the more
confident you are.
You build and confidence is hugein regards to building
relationships, trust, andinfluence within your community.
(33:50):
So the biggest mindset shiftthat I had from being a new
executive director and notcaring about the regs at all to
then being put in a position ofa community that was going
through a huge plan ofcorrection was regulations are
guidelines.
Not Roblox.
(34:11):
And to some people they areroadblocks, and that's a
different perspective than Ihave.
And honestly, I spent a lot ofmy career defending my position
on regulations, and myreputation inside the state, and
the vision that I had for, formy leadership in, in, in my
(34:31):
career.
Because I saw it as a guideline,as a boundary and not a
roadblock, because I was able tohave tough conversations with
families and say, this is whatwe can and cannot do.
And in a big memory care, maybea smaller memory care can
handle, what is currently goingon with your loved one.
Right?
I mean, it's not just, we can'tdo this, that's it, now you have
(34:54):
to find something else.
It is, here's why we can't dothis and let's talk about
solving some of these problemsfor you.
It's how you use therelationship of boundaries
that's really, really important.
So instead of how do I getaround this, which is certainly
something I've thought about,Ask yourself, how can I use
(35:15):
this?
To improve my operations, myrelationships, my communication,
my training style.
How can I use the boundariesthat I have to help me be better
rather than to prevent me frommy success?
It's really stop blaming andstart using what you've got, No
(35:37):
more blame, only solutionsoriented.
Radical accountability, So,reframe regulations as just part
of the mission.
Not just compliance.
It's really, really important.
You can incorporate yourregulations and your policies
and procedures.
(35:57):
You know, every tour you havein, in the residency agreement
signing and at every care planmeeting.
Just reminding people that wehave rules that we have to
follow.
And my, my job is to followthose rules.
Right?
The biggest leadership lessonsthat I want you to take away
from this podcast episode fromthis episode is if we don't
(36:22):
balance real estaterelationships and regulations,
we're not going to be able toserve the people that we want to
serve.
We're not going to be able toimpact the lives of people who
need us, right?
Who need us to help them, tocare for their loved ones, to
change their perspective in lifeand to give them joy when they
(36:43):
thought they may not have anysocialization engagement
security These are the thingsthat we give our Residents that
we serve and so it's importantfor us to realize we have to
balance it.
We have to balance relationshipsreal estate and regulations so
embrace Relationships as thefoundation because that is the
(37:05):
core Relationships are the coreto a successful senior living
community.
Relationships with yourresidents, their families,
associates, corporateleadership, and regulatory,
representatives when they comein, and also your vendors.
Embrace those relationships.
Make your presence known andfelt inside the community.
(37:28):
Acknowledge that real estate isthe business model, right?
I mean, It just is.
And that's okay.
Relationships make real estatesuccessful, And respect
regulations as the structurethat protects trust and
reputation, Everyone wants tomove into a community that they
(37:49):
can trust and that has greatscores.
So make that regulation piece areputation building, trust
building piece.
boundary component of yourleadership and of your senior
living journey.
We as leaders must align ourrelationship with real estate
(38:11):
relationships and regulatorycompliance to create long term
sustainable success inside ofour community.
Want to ask you which R do youfeel like that you need to
strengthen most in yourleadership?
Which are, are you really,really good at?
awareness is always the firststep to growth.
(38:32):
And if you want to grow andbecome better, focus on what
your strength is and what yourweakness is, and maybe some
areas that you can focus inthose on those weaknesses to, to
get better.
Maybe it's your relationshipwith the regs.
I know that it was for me,right?
And real estate, for all thatmatters.
(38:53):
I hope this episode helps youput maybe some struggles that
you're having in perspectivethat you understand, oh, that's
why they're coming down on me sohard, or I just didn't
understand the regs in a waythat I understand them now due
to this plan of correction, Imean, growth happens when we
(39:18):
open our mind to the differentperspectives and we lean in with
curiosity and say, okay, I willtell you the greatest learning
lesson ever was that communitythat had that horrific survey
that, that earned them a 57.
And The aftermath, the completeand utter overhaul that
(39:39):
community had was the biggestlearning lesson of my life.
No, I was not the leader whenthey had that survey, but I was
the leader having to implementthe entire plan of correction of
that community.
And my relationship with theregulations.
(40:02):
Became healthy, fearful, andconnected after that.
So failure can be your greatestgrowth tool, but don't let the
shame and the guilt keep youstuck.
Release it and allow the graceand the mercy of growing and the
(40:26):
discomfort of growing be yourmotivating factor of continuing
the growth.
Because the goal is to grow andto master your skill and to grow
occupancy through, regulation,compliance and relationship,
people centered, purpose drivenleadership.
(40:49):
So, I hope this helps.
I, I know that I would haveneeded this as a new leader and
maybe as a perspective ofsomebody who's currently
struggling and needs help.
Different scenarios inside of acommunity.
And if this helps and you knowsomebody who wants to be a
leader, or who is struggling,give them this episode.
And if you have a few minutes,leave me a review, or reach out
(41:12):
to me on LinkedIn, because Iwould love to hear your feedback
about this.
It's important.
You are why I do this.
So I appreciate it very much.
And as always, aspire for morefor you.
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