I understand that when attorneys go into court they have a cardinal rule that says that an attorney should never ask a witness a question where they don’t know exactly what that witness will say. It appears that this week I have committed that cardinal sin.

By Steve Moran

I understand that when attorneys go into court they have a cardinal rule that says that an attorney should never ask a witness a question where they don’t know exactly what that witness will say. It appears that this week I have — from a journalistic perspective — committed that cardinal sin.

What Logo Do You Like?

We are moving forward with the launch of Senior Living Leadership Hub, a subscription-based website that will help senior living leaders grow their skill set and share ideas and challenges. We are almost ready except for bit of custom technology I need to have built and I still don’t have a logo.   

The logo journey has been frustrating. I asked two design companies to come up with some ideas and they provided me some really good, just not as memorable as the Senior Housing Forum coffee cup idea. I finally decided to run a hatchwise contest to see if I could get something I was thrilled with . . .

It ran and I received more than 50 entries, most were terrible, some were okay and a few I liked a lot. I took the ones I liked, plus a couple others, and created a poll to see what you, the readers of Senior Housing Forum thought.

I painfully learned you and I have very different tastes. The one I like the best you have creamed.

I Am Slow But I Get It

This is version 2.0 of this story. Version 1.0 was a story about a pair of shoes (which you can still read at the bottom of this article). 

I am slow, but I really did get the message. Many of you . . . no wait . . . most of you hate the shoes. However, I was still stuck with the need for a new logo for Senior Housing Leadership Hub and finally this Friday afternoon I got an email from a reader that said this:

“I agree with many of the comments . . . no sneakers. The coffee cup was inviting and engaging. Why would you change? Maybe add steam or such but not the sneaks.”

So, it was this email that finally got through to me.  

  • First, the coffee cup is not and was not going away . . . suggesting I did not communicate very well.
  • Second, the coffee cup is one of the smartest choices I ever made, and somehow until I got that email, it never occurred to me that the right logo was right there in front of me. I don’t know what exactly it will look like, but Senior Living Leadership Hub will also have a coffee cup logo. No doubt, a different cup and likely different colors and, of course, a new name and and a new tagline.  

What I Learned

Here is what I learned:

  • Asking for feedback always makes things better

  • The crowd knows

  • When people give you feedback it is because they like you and want to help you (mostly)

  • Sometimes feedback makes you realize you are not communicating as effectively as you thought you were

Optional Reading: Version 1.0 — Why the Shoes?

If you have heard me speak you know I always wear a pair of Chuck Taylor black and white low top tennis shoes. They are one of the oldest pieces of clothing I own. The reason I wear them is as a personal reminder that one very ordinary person can have a profound impact on other people’s lives.

For 15 or 16 years I ran a church high school/junior high school youth group. Each Friday evening 20-40 teens would show up at my house for snacks and spiritual conversation. One night, a group of them showed up with what was obviously a shoe box wrapped in the brown paper from a shopping bag and tied with string.   

They had saved for several weeks to make this gift possible. I tore the package open and to my delight I found inside a brand new pair of Chuck Taylor shoes, the same ones I wear when speaking. They gave me this gift because they wanted me to be cool like them; they saw me as part of their tribe. They gave me those shoes because I was making a real difference in their lives.

The gift brought tears to my eyes because it was such a personal thing they had done. Since that day, I have had many “Chuck Taylor” moments seeing lives changed. While I love making a living in the senior living industry, the bigger reward is the lives that are changed by what I do.