Thank You, Brookdale.

My journey with Brookdale is coming to a close in the next few weeks, and I wanted to express my thanks as a I recall my story thus far. 11 years ago, I took a job at a Brookdale Senior Living community in Austin, Texas for two reasons: I needed a part-time, not-so-serious weekend job while I applied to law schools, and this place was across the street from where I was living at the time. That's it. No earth-shattering call for service; no specific passion driving me to the industry. Convenience. Then, I had a life-changing epiphany. I realized that I was looking forward to the weekends so that I could be at work - a place that sought to make life better for seniors. With a college degree in hand, professional experience already earned, and some acceptances to law schools already coming in, I made a pivotal decision to eschew the "path" and choose the $10/hour job simply because I genuinely enjoyed it. I wondered what enjoyment, not just pragmatism, could do for a career. The convenience that motivated the job at its start quickly morphed to a calling.

Before too long, the newfound enjoyment in one role led seemlessly to the next. The first big jump was to a management role in resident programming. Then, an E.D. and Sales and Marekting Director took a chance with me as a sales counselor. After helping the community to increase its occupancy to the mid-90's, I had an opportunity to apply for the big role - Sales and Marketing Director. I think I brought in a powerpoint presentation - seriously. In the role, I took the community to 100% with a small but growing waitlist. When it came time for me to leave the community, I got up to speak to the residents at a happy hour event and I unexpectedly started to cry. Where did that come from?! And a resident from the audience (Elsie) exclaimed with love "pull it together kid!" A laughter across the crowd calmed me, and I got through the rest.

Many opportunities and awesome experiences later, I finally had a chance to be the Executive Director of my own community. Every leadership experience I had learned, every book I had read, and all that I had learned in prior roles culminated in this role. Two years ago, I started my first E.D. role with one goal in mind - to prove that emotional intelligence can be a winning business and leadership strategy; that being a teacher could mean being a good leader. I was frustrated by seeing the same thing over and over in the industry - that training initiatives and well-intended goals that espoused a focus on developing and building employees never really took hold at a cultural level. Regional directors talked about supporting their teams through coaching but managed them through numbers. Trainings about relationship building became nice talking points, but managers didn't build relationships - they authoritatively drove results. In its greatest irony, the pursuit of an end-result (performance) actually strated driving performance down. The spots of great leadership I saw in regional roles were unique and not the norm. And many of them started to leave their positions out of frustration from their own experiences. I thought, instead of telling others "this can work" from a Learning and Development role, I would show others and myself that "this does work" as an Exeuctive Director. I chose a Regional Director that I felt would support my mission (and I did - thanks, Cyndi Keefe!), and I chose a team that I thought could benefit from some love and education.

In two years, the culture of our team is transformed. There are far too many wins to mention here, but the major ones are sourced from:

• Managers are consistently educated on the senior living business. We hold quarterly business analysis reviews where managers prepare their own departmental analysis. And they are GOOD and insightful. In our last quarterly review, 4 departments outside of sales included "revenue" as a strategic goal. When people are given direction, you get compliance. When people are given education, you get their mission.
• Associates aren't punished for under-performance. They are coached. Only after many rounds of personalized coaching are associates supported in finding another role that could be a better fit. But those are always conversations and not managerial decisions. Though not an official policy, associates on our team know that you don't lose your job for performance. You lose them for issues of integrity, not showing up for your team, and other non-negotiables. Performance isn't punishable.
• Cross-functional teams are the norm. Nurses and resident programs associates share an office together. Associates are encouraged and rewarded for cross-training and learning more than one role. We have care associates make sales calls. We have dining associates interning in the business office. We encourage learning and make it happen wherever possible.
• We publicly celebrate when associates move up, even if it is not with us. When associates see that their growth is not a nuisance to managers (in having to fill the position again) they see that our support is genuine. That our mission for education is sincere. We have all had the experience of giving our notice and then suddenly and inexplicably being treated differently. This simply doesn't happen on our team. You are supported and celebrated right through the last day.
• We make it a very big deal for new managers to join this team. The interview process is intense. The learning process begins in the first interview. I almost always give some kind of "homework" for candidates. Our team has a big say-so in who joins. And when someone is selected, we go out of our way to welcome them BEFORE their first day of work. Our Dining Director cooked breakfast for everyone at my house. We invited our Maintenance Director to a team happy hour and strategy meeting before his first day. Our Sales Counselor had a congratulatory dinner with me and her Sales Director and then we had a team breakfast with her two days later. People have a name tag, business cards, and a clean office on their first day. Then, they spend their entire first week getting to know their team members and residents. All managers have a rotation in shadowing caregivers during their second week of orientation. We don't tell newcomers what is important - we show them.

The business results have been amazing. Our associate turnover is less than half of what it was when I started. NOI was 7% when I arrived. It is over 14% today and by end of year, we are projected +20%. At the end of May, we will have had six months of continuous ADC growth in a very, very tough market. Resident falls have dropped by more than 50% YOY. Our care revenues (due to accurate assessments and good family relationships) have increased by nearly 35%. The care revenues are also far less volatile - more predictable (which, to me, means that we are providing consistent care). When asked how we were able to do these things, I will go back to my personal mission statement from day one - care about your employees enough to make learning your highest priority as a leader.

I'm saddened to share that I will be leaving Brookdale on June 4th as my last day. I'm sad most of all to leave my work family at Brookdale San Antonio and the residents we love so dearly. I have loved being a part of the Brookdale story. In tough times and in great ones, I am grateful for the many, many people who have taught me, supported me, taken a chance on me, and cared enough to care. I am the leader I am today because of you. Through this organization, I was able to change my life and the purpose of my work. I have had the pleasure of getting to know some of our top leadership over the years, and I am hopeful that the experiences we had at Brookdale San Antonio will grow to become the typical experience across our organization and industry. I am and will always be a fan and supporter of Brookdale. In a few weeks I will be joining a smaller organization based in Texas, my home state. I will have the opportunity to be an E.D. Specialist and hope to contribute what I have learned across an organization and not just at a single community. I'm excited, and there will be time for me to talk more about that very soon. But for now, my feelings are of gratitude to the many individuals at Brookdale that made my current life and career possible. For as long as I live, I will never forget our shared mission statement "enriching the lives of those we serve with compassion, respect, excellence and integrity." I hope that I have served this organization and our mission well.

With love and gratitude,

James Lee

Concierge, Caregiver, Life Enrichment Director, Sales Counselor, Sales and Marketing Director, Community Liaison, Sales Specialist, Sales Training, Executive Director and proud Alumnus.