Monte Pedersen returns to the Level Up podcast to help me revisit and look back on how I have evolved as a top leader for my business ventures in the areas of strategy, execution, and organizational performance. 

It has been 3.5 years since our original episode (aired April 13, 2021) - https://www.buzzsprout.com/1748256/episodes/8325557.

I discuss the potential conflicts between the actual strategy of many senior living companies (i.e. a housing and real estate strategy) and the glossy narrative of strategy that they convey internally and in their marketing.

Monte and I delve into how organizational culture accelerates strategy execution.  The foundational elements of any organization are its mission, its core values and behaviors, and its vision.  Aligning the WHY to the HOW happens at this level.

"There is no one umbrella concept over a business that sets the plan in place for everything." - Monte Pedersen.  This is why organizations need leaders, to make sure that the things you do daily align to the foundational parts of a company.  "You can't manage people from a job description."

[Content Disclaimer: this episode explores themes of loss, including death by suicide.]

Loe Hornbuckle is the owner and operator of Sage Oak, a network of boutique care homes for seniors. I had the opportunity to visit him and the team at Sage Oak Denton and saw their warm and caring team in action.

Loe has a bit of an "outlaw" streak, which he credits his late father for imparting on him.  I can relate.

In this episode, we learn about Loe's story and how his love and passion for senior care came to be. He shares his thoughts about how other people can become a successful entrepreneur in the senior living industry (or whether they should). 

"It's definitely daunting, and it should be," he said about becoming entrepreneurial in this space. He advised how someone who is considering this path should treat each job as a learning opportunity, respect the business, and go into the path of business ownership in senior living with clear eyes.

We also spoke about personal loss, grief and how to move forward in life and leadership. Loe and I would like to dedicate this episode to his friend and business partner, Austin Good.  If you would like to and have the means, please consider donating to the same organization Loe supports in memory of Austin.

https://naminorthtexas.networkforgood.com/projects/91738-main-giving-page

Tracey Scheffler is the daughter of one of our residents at Bella Groves, a dementia care community near San Antonio, Texas. She initially reached out when we first opened, but it wasn’t until almost a year later when our mutual connection, Joanna LaFleur recommended us that Tracey came back into the fold.

Senior living organizations often feel like the “sale” is the point at which the problem converts to a solution.

Actually, *news flash* the decision to have her mom move into a care community - even one as great as ours - ISN’T the end of the story. Not by a long shot.

Our customers continue to have a need, because senior living is not THE solution. We are a partner in ongoing solving. [Their need isn’t “placement.”]

As an entrepreneur and business leader, Tracey has channeled her expertise, circumstances, and resources to sharing her caregiving story.  You can learn more about her work at https://parentingourparents.info/

We had the opportunity to chat and delve into her unique experiences as well as the universal human themes found in caring for a loved one.

If I could only use one word to describe Angie Gray it would be PASSIONATE.  She is passionate about the senior living industry. She is passionate about nurses. She is passionate about authenticity, and showing up with love, and also speaking truth to power.  She is passionate about pretty much anything she chooses to pour herself into.

The founder of High Performance Nursing (https://www.highperformancenursing.com/), Angie blends her own story with the lived experiences of other nurse leaders to help them to thrive - not just professionally but also personally.

A fervent and outspoken leader herself, she encourages others to speak up about toxic workplaces and cultures and to take control of their environments.  She to "rediscover your purpose, enhance your well-being, and forge authentic connections."

In this episode, Angie and I discussed many of the factors contributing to managing (and supporting) the workforce in senior living.

We talked about "Head and Heart" leadership, our experiences at the Think Tank event (www.thinktankleadership.com), how/why she created her business, the importance of the leader's mindset, and SO much more.

Connect with Angie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angie-gray-high-performance-nursing/

Kim Kaupe is a self-described "accidental entrepreneur" who has built a crystal clear personal brand as someone who helps other leaders to thrive.  Her opening statement on her website boldly reads, "I help leaders become public-facing powerhouses.*"  The asterisk states "I've done it & I want you to join me." 

Kim is also an educator, a podcaster, speaker, LinkedIn instructor and formidable business leader.  I had the great privilege of working with Kim at the 2024 Think Tank event we hosted in San Antonio, where she delivered an impactful session on storytelling through LinkedIn.

In our episode, Kim and I talked about all things related to building and growing your personal brand.  A few of the topics in our episode: 

• What is a brand and why invest in your personal brand?
• Leaving breadcrumbs and being explicit about "What's Next?"
• Her K.N.O.W. framework for telling your story 
• Using bread-crumb trails in introductions
• The value of creating content on LinkedIn

Kim also walked me through some tips and advice for how to start with baby steps, copy people’s homework, and find someone to hold your hand toward new goals. For me, the next frontier in personal brand is my nervous trepidation of getting started with LinkedIn Live.  Kim offers great advice and encouragement on how to get started.

You can connect with Kim in several ways, and I’ve linked a few of them below. 

 Live on LinkedIn every Wednesday at 1:00 pm est:  getcoffeewithkim.com [calendar invitation]

  Her website:  kimkaupe.com

  All social media channels: @kimkaupe
  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimkaupe/

Elaina Davis is the Chief Community Officer in her new role (at the time of this recording) at a senior living consulting firm, primarily serving the Richmond, VA market.

In this special episode of Level Up Leadership Podcast, I had the opportunity to get into the coach's seat with Elaina in the learner's seat. 

We reflected on Elaina's learning journey of where and how she learned the skills to equip her to lead others today.  More simply, how we do acquire the skills to make the transition from an individual performer into a leader of others who perform?

Few organizations have formal or informal coaching structures to teach, mentor, and grow people beyond a "supervisory" or "task completion" de facto management relationship.

In this episode, Elaina and I dug into areas such as: 

• Evaluating one's own strengths
• Having the right environment that is conducive to your learning and development
• An insight that our weaknesses are actually our strengths overdone
• The concept of aligning strengths to job responsibilities and outsourcing or delegating those responsibilities we're not well suited to execute
• The value of focusing on strengths more than we focus on our weaknesses

We delved into many universal themes of self-growth and strengths and weaknesses, and we hope that you take your own nuggets of wisdom away from our conversation together. 

"No founder has it all." Christie Stukenholtz, the co-founder and CEO Senior Care Finder, is mindful of how critical it is for any organization - but especially an entrepreneurial endeavor - to assemble an All Star caliber team.

From her extensive experiences in a professional HR Consulting company to talent management, market research and now the co-founder of a growing business in aging services, Christie has had a lot of different looks at forming high-performing teams.

Christie shared so many insightful perspectives, approaches, and mindset in how she works to put together great teams.  From "hiring the empty seat" to "creating an environment where people will stick around when times get hard" and "finding a team where you find belonging" we covered a lot together.

Connect with Christie in any way you'd like to engage with her or Senior Care Finder.

Website: www.SeniorCareFinder.com

Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/FindTheBestSeniorCare

LinkedIn (business):  https://www.linkedin.com/company/senior-care-finder/ 

LinkedIn (personal):  https://www.linkedin.com/in/cstukenholtz/

Instagram: @seniorcarefinder

Twitter: @SrCareFinder

Michael Emery's career spans a wide range of healthcare roles starting from ICU nursing, to advanced nurse practice, senior operations roles, and now serves as the Executive Vice President of Senior Living for Curana Health.  He is also one of my most memorable classmates from the University of Texas' Executive MBA program at the McCombs School of Business.

On our episode, we spoke about what it is like to learn and lead in healthcare organizations. The conversation delved into what organizations like Curana Health actually do (concierge healthcare), the interrelated work of healthcare and senior living, the GUIDE Model by CMS, what Value Based Care means, why we chose to continue our education at McCombs (an MBA vs. MHA), the role of mentorship in growing leaders, and so much more.

Michael Emery's LinkedIn:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-emery/
Curana Health: https://curanahealth.com/

James Lee's LinkedIn:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/seniorlivingguy/
Bella Groves: https://www.bellagroves.com/

Join the Think Tank: https://www.bearwiseconsulting.com/thinktank

What are the building blocks of consistency?  How disciplined are you at...discipline?

Leaders have the double-duty of being disciplined and creating discipline in their organizations.  I looked to Chris Heinz from Westport One in this conversation to discuss consistency and discipline in some key areas of leadership. 

Some key discussion points gave us opportunities to discuss: 

• The building blocks of discipline
• Where does passion really come from?
• Tying discipline to your motivations not your outcomes
• Creating processes and automation that help with consistency
• Not letting "great" stand in the way of "good enough" (FOMO)

I believe that in a lot of cases "lack of discipline" is actually a misalignment between a person's true motivations and their work.  It is nearly impossible to have discipline in the long run about things that don't deeply connect to your WHY.

Thanks for listening!

Erin Thompson shares her leadership experiences, anecdotes and lessons learned about psychological safety in the work place.  Erin and I share a lot of similar experiences, and we dug into some examples of environments where safety was not the top priority.  We examined potential causes or reasons this is so prevalent in an industry that touts care, warmth and empathy - at least toward its customers.

We also explored practical tips and approaches to create psychological safety and trust within teams.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Level Up Leadership Podcast with James Lee and guest Erin Thompson.  Please also check out Erin's podcast "Aspire for More with Erin".