As the top executive of a lively senior business, you gain more than visionary leadership skills, financial knowledge, strategic operational know-how and a gift for organizational management; This is passion. And, more often than not, it is a passion that has existed for a very long time.
“Very few people just enter this position,” says Joe Mikalayunas, president of Greensboro, based in North Carolina, Bell Senior Living. Most senior managers live “in one place — in the community, serving the elderly, and then working their way up the corporate ladder.” But “kicker”, Mikaladzhunas adds: “We all have a passion for serving the elderly.
Passion is just one of many characteristics that Mikalajunas has with eight other industry leaders — each of which has participated in exclusive interviews with the Assisted Living Executive, which were named Trendsetters in the Senior Living for 2009.
Thilo best
Chairman and CEO
Community
Tampa, FL
Industry Debate: Although Best Technology entered the industry in 1987, his first experience (at Prudential Insurance Company of America and Holiday Retirement Corp.) focused on the financial side of the business. However, the operating side has never seemed so far away. “I’m getting more and more drawn in this direction,” says Best, who eventually decided to plunge into 2001 to manage communities after the resignation of Horizon Bay.
Higher professional achievement: “I am very proud of the culture that we built in Horizon Bay,” says Best. "It is a caring culture, but it is also a pragmatic culture." It’s important to keep the balance between them, he adds, because "you cannot be so bureaucratic that you forget your daily mission of caring for your people, but you also cannot be so focused on customer service that you ignore your profits."
The biggest problem of the industry is on the horizon: “I think our biggest problem will be caused by new norms,” says Best. “At both the state and federal levels, we seem to be in an era when some people believe that regulation is better than less, and I think they can try to fix what they think requires more control due to additional regulation. industry. "
Outside the c-suite suite: Although “Better” likes to play tennis, travel and read when he is not in the office, he says that his favorite round-the-clock activity is “spending time with my two daughters,” it keeps me humble, and it helps me to work on my main weakness: patience. ”
Vicky Clark
the president
Vintage senior life
Newport Beach, California
Industry Debut: Clark has worked in senior residential areas for three decades. In the early 1990s, she left the apartment in the sector to join the ARV Assisted Living. A few years later, she joined her two previous collections at ARV, Eric Davidson and Brian Florn, who founded Vintage Senior Living in 1998. "I feel that I was always in the right place at the right time," Clark says about all the transitions.
Favorite part of the job: since all the Vintage objects are in close proximity to each other, “we can unite all our executive directors every month for training and education,” says Clark. “The ability to see each of their faces and hear each of their success stories every month is especially great.” These meetings are structured around a cultural environment in which employees learn best when they share their experiences, peers. Their goal is to “help our ED work through their problems and fight, talking with their peers,” she says.
Higher professional achievement: in 2006, Clark was named the 50-year Annual Council, America's construction industry program. “I will never forget to stand at this stage, looking at about 200 of my peers in the audience,” she says. “I do what I do, because I like it, but it’s also a pleasure to read.” Clark says she remembers the experience when she felt depressed. “I look at this award, take a deep breath and say to myself:“ You know what? We will go through it! "
The biggest problem in the workplace is “Hiring and keeping the right teams,” says Clark. The right assessment tool can help her — and her industry cohorts — be more successful in both tasks, she adds, “but now it looks like we all use separate tools.” In the coming years, Clark says that she “would like everyone to come together to find the right [tool] for our industry, which will point us to the best executive directors, because finding the right people for these positions is crucial not only for the success of the community, but also for our entire industry. "
Outside the c-suite: Like many older executives, Clark loves to explore the world when she has time. “I'm trying to expand my horizons figuratively and literally,” she says. As for the first, Clark says that she often takes time to "see what looks like senior housing in any country I visit."
Granger cobb
President and co-CEO
Honorary Senior Resident
Seattle, WA
Debut in the industry. After spending four years early in his career as a home care executive in southern California, Cobb convinced his wife that they had to sell their home and buy an independent living community a few hours north in the San Francisco Bay Area. Thirteen other communities eventually joined a company called Cobbco Inc., which merged with Summerville Senior Living in 1998 (and, in turn, merged with Emeritus Senior Living in 2007). “I like to say that I have been with the same company for 20 years, but at that time she had three different names,” says Cobb.
The main professional achievement: Cobb says that he is most proud of the fact that he "encourages open and joint communication in all disciplines." He is also pleased that he was able to provide information and systems to employees who “allow them to make the right decisions.” Both were "the cornerstones of every company I am associated with," says Cobb. "I focus on them, wherever I am."
The biggest problem in the workplace: “Managing time and reassessing my priorities,” Cobb says. "The list of things that I have to do on any given day goes on and on, so it can be a daunting task to give priority to everything, and then find time to check as many things as possible on this list." He copes with the technology: "my laptop and my iPhone are synchronized with everything that is in my office, so I am connected no matter where I am."
Outside the c-suite: Cobb shows golf and skiing among activities that he likes when he is not working. “Unfortunately, I have not been able to spend a lot of time on any activity over the past few years,” he says. "I have two girls who are now in college, but when they grew up, we all played golf and together with my wife and my wife spent the week with my dog."
Rosemary Esposito
COO
Five Stars
Newton, Massachusetts
The industry debut: “By providing care to older people for many years, you could almost say that I started working in old age while I was still working in emergency medical care,” says Esposito, who started his career as a medical a surgical nurse, before moving on to the hospital administration. These impressions are far from those she was used to since she joined the life-helping industry a decade ago. “Today’s older people have a larger set of alternatives in health and lifestyle,” she says. "The emergence of assistance to residents contributed to this to a large extent."
Higher professional achievement: when the Five-Star Old Life was formed in 2000, the purpose of its founders was to transform the communities that had just come from bankruptcy. “We were a newly formed team, but we had a single goal and strategy,” recalls Esposito. "We not only successfully worked on these operations, but we became an independent, publicly traded company by the end of our first year."
The greatest problem of the industry is on the horizon: because of the uncertainty in the current economy, many companies will have to make difficult decisions about cost-cutting measures in the coming months and years, says Esposito. “During this time it will be more important than ever to focus on the needs of our customers,” thinking strategically and not acting impulsively. Until the market recovers, we must be able to cope with external pressure, making the most of our costs and controlling costs without sacrificing quality or services. "
Outside the c-suite: “I like to do everything related to the sun and the beach: swimming, walking on long walks, reading a book, photographing a glorious sunset, or just collecting seashells,” says Esposito. "For me, even work would be a relaxing activity if I could set up my office on a sunny beach."
Mr. Michael Leader
President and CEO
Retirement Community Country Meadows
Hershey PA
Industry Debates: Needless to say, Leader grew up in the senior life industry, given that his parents founded a nursing company in 1962. “It’s like growing on a farm: everyone has a role, even if it’s just to listen to discussions at the dinner table.” Although Leader helped the boy, he did not enter the family business full-time until 1973. Ten years ago, the Leader replaced his retired father as CEO, and today he works with his brother David and his brother-in-law Ted Yanetsky.
Higher professional achievement: “One of the biggest I am proud of that for three years in a row we were named one of the top 100 places to work in Pennsylvania,” says Leader. “This is hard work, so we are happy to know that our employees — what we call our employees — enjoy working here.”
The greatest challenge in the workplace: the leader is not alone when he says that he believes that his current economic situation is his biggest problem. “We want to continue to provide quality and value to our customers, of course, but quality comes at a price, and we need to make sure that we value our services so that they are affordable for the market we serve,” he explains. "It is especially important to remember that when people are practically and psychologically limited by the economy."
The greatest problem of the industry is on the horizon: It is no secret that in the coming years customers will be flooded into the living industry, but the Leader wonders if there will be enough employees to take care of all of them. “We have to find the right people to care for all these customers,” he says, “but these people have not been available in abundance in recent years.”
Deborah McAnen
COO
Benchmark helps to live
Wellesley, Massachusetts
Industry Debut: Before enticing Chairman and CEO Tom Wiip to join the Benchmark Assisted Living two years ago, McAnanie made a living in the investment management industry, making it one of the few executives who are new to the elderly . However, she did not sweat, moving from one sector to another. “I firmly believe that leadership is consistent across all asset classes,” says McAnanie. “No matter what industry you are in, all this is connected with attracting and retaining great talent, courage as a manager and creating a common vision.”
Favorite part of the job: “I like the complexity and complexity of working and doing business in this way,” says McAnani: “Many components must move in one direction so that they can work and work well.” However, former auditor Arthur Andersen does not spend all his time thinking about the current state and future of the company from his corner office. “If possible, I will visit the communities to see the amazing culture that we have created here in action,” she adds.
The industry’s greatest problem is on the horizon: “I think that there is no differentiated experience in working with clients in our industry,” says McAnen, adding: “I’m not sure that our average customer can tell one help person from another - or can say which makes one provider better than another. "Of course, she says, this can be a problem and an opportunity."
Outside the c-suite: Along with spending time with my family, MacNenny says: "I love to ski, I love to ride a bike, and I love to travel, the world on a bike path or in the summer in the ocean."
Joe Mikalayunas
the president
Bell senior living
Greensboro, North Carolina
The industry debut: “I have always had a passion to help people,” says Mikalayunas. After retiring as a mental health professional, he moved into an older life when he joined the Executive Associate Program at Sunrise Senior Living in 1996. Later, while working at Harbor Retirement Associates, Mikalayunas met with Stephen White about opening at Bell Senior Living. “I did not look, I was happy where I was,” recalls Mikalayunas. He ever agreed to an interview, “not expecting anything but adding new friends to his Rolodex.
Favorite part of the work: “I like to look at someone's face when they do something that, in their opinion, they cannot make such an unexpected surprise when they understand:“ Wow, I really did it! # 39; "He says. Mikalajunas complains that he cannot get into the community anymore these days, but he likes to build teams that do. "I am not going to spend as much time with the residents as I used to when I was in the community, building teams that go out there and change people's lives."
The greatest challenge in the workplace: “Do not allow complacency to enter,” says Mikalayunas. "I think that getting people to worry about doing the same thing today, what they did yesterday, and at a higher level of perfection, is the most difficult thing you need to do in this position." How he does it? “I make them look at the task in order to look at a more general picture, which should take care of people and make a difference in their lives,” says Mikalayunas.
Outside the c-suite: “I got more ridicule for it than anything else in my career, but I’ll still go into it: I'm an avid online gamer,” Mikalajunas says. He started playing games like World of Warcraft a few years ago as a way to connect with his children when he was on the road to work. “I could sit in a hotel room 1000 miles from home and still spend time with them,” says Mikalayunas. Today it holds because “it helps me to clear my mind. I can go to the game and not perform any duties.
Mark Ordan
Executive Director
Sunrise senior living
McLean, VA
Industry Debut: A Sunrise Senior Living Community Tour in McLean, Va., All you need to convince Mark Ordan to say goodbye to his 25-year retail career. “It was the first time I ever was in a community with support, and I was amazed by what I saw,” says the former founder and CEO of Fresh Fields Markets Inc., a chain of organic food stores that was historically sold to Whole Foods . "I saw a level of care and dedication that I had never seen in business before."
Favorite part of the job: “This is the first time in my career that I was able to lead a company that is essentially serving others.” “I guess a lot of people who have long been used to this in this industry by now, but I’m all I still feel myself pinching myself. ”
The biggest problem in the workplace: “My biggest problem is to find a way to manage this company in a very difficult economic environment, and also to find a way to attract us to an even greater level of service and maintenance.” He cannot suffer at the expense of the first, he adds, because "the reason why the sunrise is to serve the elderly, we cannot forget that even when we are going through difficult times, as it is now."
Outside the c-suite: When it is down, Ordan sells his ground legs for his sea legs. “I like boating,” he says. "Perhaps you could say that being on the water takes me." He does not feel the wind in his hair as often as he likes these days, but this is normal. “I'm so grateful for being here,” Ordan says. “After 25 years of working with a wide range of businesses, it's nice to find yourself with such an amazing core of purpose.”
Bill Sheriff
Executive Director
Brookdale Senior Living
Brentwood, TN
Industry debut: although founders Thomas Frist Sr and Jack Massey convinced him to join American Retirement Corp. (который слился с Brookdale Senior Living в 2006 году) еще в 1984 году: «Я точно не знаю, почему они думали [the senior living industry] было бы хорошо для меня », - говорит Шериф, ранее работавший в Ryder System Inc.« Я был рад, что они это сделали. Я проработал последние 25 лет ».
Любимая часть работы: «Я обожаю народный аспект старшей жизни», - говорит Шериф. «Это то, что привлекло меня к ней в первую очередь, и о том, с чем я до сих пор наслаждался этим». Еще один положительный результат: «В этом бизнесе вам не трудно чувствовать, что вы каждый день меняете жизнь людей, потому что это то, что вы делаете Это невероятно полезно ».
Величайшая проблема промышленности на горизонте: шериф считает сложной задачей, которая уже давно является проблемой для старшего бизнеса и будет оставаться хорошей задачей в будущем. «Мы должны продолжать обновлять наш продукт, - говорит он. «Мы должны продолжать использовать более старый актив и согласуться с меняющимися ожиданиями наших клиентов, - и мы должны это сделать, а также продолжать внедрять инновации на наш рынок».
Величайший вызов на рабочем месте: «Мы сталкиваемся с неподготовленными временами и условиями», - говорит Шериф об экономических проблемах мира. «Сейчас и будет оставаться чрезвычайно сложным для людей в этой и любой другой отрасли, чтобы справиться с тем, что происходит, но я думаю, что если мы сможем сосредоточиться на нашей миссии, как сейчас, мы будем преуспевать в долгосрочной перспективе возможности, которые выходят с другой стороны, будут значительными ».
