Think Tank

Our new and dedicated website is LIVE! ThinkTankLeadership.com We are also very excited to share with you our carefully chosen theme for Think Tank 2024: Light The Way Home. We'll have two exceptional leaders/instructors join James Lee and Nicole Will to co-facilitate the leadership development track, which is framed each year as "Head + Heart" skills. Last year we were thrilled to have a group of 30 leaders and influencers from around aging services join us in San Antonio. This year, we have expanded the group size to 45 to accommodate the level of interest while maintaining the hallmark intimacy that has made this a special and unique event. We have 10-15 remaining seats for Austin, and we'd LOVE to chat with you if you're interested in joining us. Or perhaps, you'd like to nominate a leader in your organization to join us - grow - be inspired... and then bring that fire back to your team for 2025. The small groups are already shaping up to be FULL of inspiring hearts and bright minds! [Look for their shout-outs on LinkedIn this month as we get closer to finalizing our group.] Ready to take your leadership to the next level? Launch your next big idea? Find inspiration? Make amazing connections with people you'll cherish? We are looking at some wonderful venues to host our one-of-a-kind experience. One past attendee said it "felt like the best kind of summer camp for senior living leaders." If the Think Tank has been calling you and pulling at your heart strings to invest in yourself (or encourage your company to invest in you), reach out to us! We'd love to help you make this happen. See YOU in Austin this December!

A small group of us gather at the Think Tank to fail forward together. Join us. What's that opportunity worth to you? If you'd like to "go far together" then James Lee and Nicole Will would love to chat with you. Sign up below to learn more and join our next group meet and greet / Q&A.

We are developing some really great ideas about how to elevate a gathering that is deserving of people’s love, enthusiasm, hard work, and contribution. Learn more about Think Tank from previous attendees. 💜 Interested in joining us in Austin? Join a introduction call with James and Nicole. Message us for more info!

The next senior living Think Tank event is Dec 8-11 in Austin, Texas! It’s not a conference. It’s a jam session. If you want to expand and share your knowledge with our profession (not just talk about change), level up your own leadership skills (not just hear about them), and really have the opportunity to deepen relationships (not collect business cards), then this is a unique experience that deserves your presence. Join us! Link to the full episode with Nicole Will and Erin Thompson below. 🌟💜 #seniorliving #assistedliving #leadershipdevelopment #thinktank

The 6th of 6 resources created at the Think Tank 2023 event! A common thought in the senior living industry persists regarding the length of various sales cycles: the greater the need, the shorter the sales timeline. Talk to most sales and marketing professionals in the industry, and you will see that memory care buyers are regarded in terms of their "urgency to make a decision." This thinking and mindset belies a difficult truth for these "buyers." Their journey started a long time ago, and they likely did not have a great experience finding or navigating resources in the early years. The small group team of Kim Rosengren, Katie Holt, Nathalie Lieber, and Millie Moad-Hageman explored and researched these essential questions: what is the true picture of the customer journey for dementia care, and what can the senior living industry do to update our approach? As the team references in their final deliverable, attached, the number of buying interactions has increased from an average of 17 to 27. Customers are spending nearly 50% more time and effort online to interact with a brand before making a buying decision. **They CONTINUE to interact with the brand online after making a buying decision.** The Think Tank small group here submits that one of the best ways to improve your sales and marketing reach for memory care customers is to level up your content strategy, and they have provided some key insights and methods to do just that. If you have an interest in joining a future Think Tank event, please follow this page and submit the form found in the comments below. Our next event is May 5-8 in Chicago, IL! We hope to see you there and contributing toward great projects like this. #seniorliving #memorycare #salesandmarketing #contentmarketing #assistedliving #thinktank #dementiacare

The 5th of 6 resources created at the Think Tank 2023 event! Senior Living is so deeply rooted as a "People Business". How, then, do we create the leadership pool in our industry that can influence? Aspire? INSPIRE? Daniel Lawson, Michael Morris, Kris Chana, Jeff Bell, and Loe Hornbuckle took on the topic of "Inspirational Leadership" to help aid in this endeavor. The group ultimately landed on a paired offering of: 1. Inspirational Leader Intake - a worksheet style tool to help both the aspiring leader and their coach to work through a deep-dive of their own purpose, motivators, and goals. 2. Coaching/Support Modules - 8 separate modules to help coach the growing leader in important domains of inspirational leadership, such as emotional intelligence, integrity, adaptability, courageousness and more. They hope that these tools can help mentors/mentees to provide some framework and structure to their learning journey. [Note: LinkedIn permits only 1 PDF upload per post, so we chose to attach the Intake worksheet. If you would like the 8 coaching modules, please send a DM to this page with your email, and we would be happy to send it to you directly. You may also reach out to any of the tagged members of this small group.] What are your own thoughts on Inspirational Leadership? Is this important in senior living? Do you consider yourself inspiring? The Think Tank 2023 cohort is proud to share the fifth of six deliverables. The final small group project and deliverable will be shared on Thursday, 1/25. Please follow this page for updates and alerts. If you have an interest in joining a future Think Tank event, please follow this page and submit the form found in the comments below. #seniorliving #agingservices #thinktank #agingtech #technology #assistedliving #memorycare

The 4th of 6 resources created at the Think Tank 2023 event! The team of Katie Rhone, SPHR, Deionte Meredith-Davis, Emma M., and Anna Hall all have professional experiences in supporting senior living and aging services through work in their respective tech-based companies. The group began with an insightful visualization (pyramid) of the progression of technological innovation (needs) in senior living. - What are foundational technology that senior living companies need? - What are moderate technology required to differentiate yourself? - What are higher categories of tech needed to exceed status quo? - What are truly INNOVATIVE technologies that can transform daily life? Their final deliverable (project) was created to help operators (senior living companies) "level set and ensure the community is evolving with tech at a pace that sustains market viability." Their downloadable PDF includes several references and resources to begin tackling these important conversations regarding technology and aging services. It includes a poll that the team conducted with peers in the industry to learn what our industry believes are areas we need to innovate most. The Think Tank 2023 cohort is proud to share the fourth of six deliverables. New small group projects and deliverables are scheduled for distribution every Thursday for the next two weeks. Please follow this page for updates and alerts. If you have an interest in joining a future Think Tank event, please follow this page and submit the form found in the comments below. #seniorliving #agingservices #thinktank #agingtech #technology #assistedliving #memorycare KARE, Accushield®, The Purpose Equation®

The 3rd of 6 resources created at the Think Tank 2023 event! The team of Adria Thompson MA, CCC-SLP, Natalie Kunkel, Dr. Rose Joudi, and Dina Trew tackled an important and yet surprisingly nuanced question. "How can we best support those who are caring for a person living with dementia?" With a wealth of knowledge and experience between them, these four professionals discussed, reviewed, and assessed the array of information and resources currently available to people when they begin their dementia support/care journey. Their research and discussions led the team to a clear insight. Guidance needs to be simple, relatable and approachable. They further researched actual family caregivers to discover what common questions they had/have, and the four questions below rose to the top. - Does it always have to be this way? - Why are they so different? - Am I doing it right? - What can I do today? Watch their video responses to each of the questions along with links to important resources related to each topic. The Think Tank 2023 cohort is proud to share the third of six deliverables. New small group projects and deliverables are scheduled for distribution every Thursday for the next three weeks. Please follow this page for updates and alerts. If you have an interest in joining a future Think Tank event, please follow this page and submit the form found in the comments below. #seniorliving #agingservices #thinktank #dementia #dementiacare #alzheimers #assistedliving #memorycare #dementiacaregiver

The 2nd of 6 resources created at the Think Tank 2023 event! Angie Gray, Erin Thompson, Jean Hartnett, Joanna LaFleur, and Laura Munoz, M. Ed selected the topic "Trauma Informed Care" as the focus for their small group. Together, they delved into important discussions about the prevalence of and impact that trauma, especially adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), plays in our workplaces. The group chose to channel their efforts toward helping frontline leaders in understanding the framework of Trauma Informed Care so that they may better create environments for all people affected by trauma to flourish. The group developed a course titled, "Modernizing Management Practices Through a Trauma Awareness Lens." They are currently in the process of accrediting the course as a CEU and aim to make this available by early February 2024. [Screenshots from the course below.] The Think Tank 2023 cohort is proud to share the second of six deliverables. New small group projects and deliverables are scheduled for distribution every Thursday for the next four weeks. Please follow this page for updates and alerts. If you have an interest in joining a future Think Tank event, please follow this page and submit the form found in the comments below. #seniorliving #agingservices #thinktank #traumainformedcare #traumainformed #assistedliving #memorycare

1st of 6 resources created at the Think Tank 2023 event! James Lee, Nicole Will, Jonathan Bryant, and Dominique Kim, MPH selected the topic “CMS GUIDE Model” as the focus for their small group. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced in the fall of 2023 descriptions for the GUIDE model. This program aims to support a person living with dementia by providing direct assistance to either a caregiving partner (I.e. an unpaid family caregiver) or to the person directly. The financial benefit/assistance goes toward dementia care training for the care partner, resources like a 24-hour hotline and respite benefits among other proposed services. Even now, many people working IN aging services are unfamiliar with this program. It made sense to this team, then, that family caregivers would have even less of a chance of hearing about the program. Therefore, the team ultimately decided on an “explainer video” aimed at family caregivers to help them understand the purpose of the program in simple to understand terms. They also recorded a podcast as a “behind the scenes” discussion of what it was like working on this project, insights into their own personal experiences of dementia, and hopes for the program. The Think Tank 2023 cohort is proud to share the first of six deliverables. New small group projects and deliverables are scheduled for distribution every Thursday for the next five weeks. Please follow this page for updates and alerts. If you have an interest in joining a future Think Tank event, please follow this page and submit the form found in the comments below.