Together and Separately — This Group of Leaders is Changing the Face of Senior Living

On August 30, 2018, these thought-provoking leaders gathered in Chicago for the first-ever Talent Innovation Summit!

By Steve Moran

It was a really scary thing and I found myself trapped . . . not the right word exactly, maybe caught in this vortex of happenings where it felt like I had no business being and it was all Denise Boudreau-Scott’s fault. I am pretty sure she would have told you the same thing, except she would have blamed it all on me.

On August 30, 2018, the below list of forward-thinking leaders gathered in Chicago for the first-ever Talent Innovation Summit that included sponsorship by Eldermark and OnShift. We gathered for a day of deep, impactful, fun and inspiring conversation on how to make each attendee’s senior living organization the best place to work. And not the best just within the senior living ecosystem, but in the whole ecosystem of all possible jobs!

Most importantly, we talked about how all of us together could improve the image of working in senior living. Our mantra for the day was, “We all rise together!”

The Format

It was a format like you have never seen before. There were no presentations, no panels, and no PowerPoints. Instead, we randomly asked participants to sit at tables of five leaders each, and then each table shared insights with the larger group.  

Senior Living Inferiority Complex

Don’t get me wrong, I believe we can learn from those outside the senior living industry, but I am baffled by how we have come to believe we don’t have most of the answers to our staffing issues because we do! The problem is that we have not traditionally had the chance to share the answers with each other in a meaningful and productive way. As one attendee shared, “I wish every organization had this opportunity. The Summit offered continued ideas/insights from companies that truly are changing culture vs. just complaining or talking about it.”

Work Product

As a senior living professional there are hundreds of conference options each year. So many in fact that it would be physically impossible to attend them all, even if you did nothing else. Every one of them has valuable content and even more valuable networking opportunities. But I am less than 100% convinced they are providing the right kind of deep dive actionable learning that will transform our field and individual communities and organizations.  

What came out of this one day of intense hard work were real actionable ideas that each of these leaders can, and will, put into practice immediately.   

Future Events

Denise and I are actively working on creating additional opportunities for great professionals to gather. These opportunities include at least 3, one-day events in 2019 and, if you are looking to go “all in” on culture in 2019, we are just getting ready to open up enrollment for the Class of 2019, Culture 2100! We would love to tell you more about it. Just shoot an email to [email protected] with the subject of: Tell Me More.

Two things you need to know…

1. It is a big investment

2. It will be worth it 10 or a 100 times over.