Executive Director and Administrator Archives - Brookdale Senior Living Healthcare Jobs

Becoming an Executive Director: How to Take the Next Step in Your Career

An Executive Director at an assisted living community oversees the day-to-day management and operations of the property, but the job is so much more than that.

Key responsibilities of an ED — on paper — may include handling the facility’s budget, overseeing marketing activities, implementing plans to maintain occupancy while achieving financial goals, managing staff and maintaining a community that is conducive to the wellbeing of all residents. But what the job actually looks like on any given day will vary greatly depending on the community and the current needs of staff and residents.

The main areas of focus for an ED are business, associates and residents — and no one area is any more or less important than the others. They invest their time between business processes and interpersonal relationships with staff and residents, and they’re constantly working to improve the day-to-day experience of everyone at their community.

Executive directors do more than fill out paperwork. They will often handle any task that needs completing, no matter how small. This could be cleaning an area of the building, helping to set tables for meals, mentoring associates, meeting with residents, and helping families understand what their loved ones are going through. It’s a job that requires incredible interpersonal skills and an unparalleled level of compassion. An executive director is never “too good” for any task.

If ensuring assisted living residents receive the highest quality of care possible sounds like an ideal career path, we have helpful information and advice and for all aspiring executive directors.

Key Skills for an Executive Director

There are a handful of both hard and soft skills a person should be able to demonstrate when seeking an ED role.

Emotional Intelligence: Self-awareness, social awareness and relationship management are very important skills for an ED to have because so much of the job requires interacting with both employees and residents in a variety of situations.

Organization: Beyond having a clean office, this type of organization results in the ability to strategize and execute elements of a plan while continuously measuring progress.

Priority Management: Because an ED will touch so many aspects of running a community, being able to set priorities and manage tasks efficiently is a must.

Coaching and Development: Another huge part of being an ED is mentoring associates. Knowledge of adult learning, one-on-one coaching and group learning is helpful.

Compassion: Perhaps the most important skill for an ED to have, compassion is absolutely necessary for creating a better life for residents of a senior living community.

Helpful Degrees and Certifications

To be a competitive candidate, these types of certifications and experience would be useful for a hopeful executive director:

Certifications or experience in coaching, learning and development

A degree in a related field, such as business, finance, nursing or psychology

Experience with management, planning, budgeting, marketing and/or quality improvement

Most states will also require you to obtain an administrator’s license from that state

A Typical Career Path

There is no single, correct path to becoming an executive director; any “foot in the door” within a senior living discipline could be the catalyst for an ED position. However, there are a few important milestones to hit in order to be prepared for the responsibilities of an executive-level position.

Seeking an elevated level of responsibilities in prior roles is important no matter the discipline, though having strong experience in sales or clinical roles can be particularly helpful. Demonstrating leadership skills and showing a progression of roles are also important aspects of a strong ED application. But the areas and titles held before seeking an ED role are less important than the experience obtained. EDs can have backgrounds in everything from marketing or sales to clinical or dining.

After obtaining an ED role, many choose to stay within their role for many years and find it rewarding to focus on excelling in their career and mentoring others in the field. However, there are opportunities for EDs to grow their careers further by entering into regional operational roles and beyond.

Advice from an Executive Director

If becoming an ED feels like the right move, we have some advice for you from someone who knows the job best. James Lee, executive director at Brookdale San Antonio, encourages everyone to do a little soul searching before hitting the “apply” button:

“Before you apply, evaluate — very sincerely and honestly — what it is about the role that is enticing you to pursue it,” Lee says. “If your first response is the title, pay or career track, there are many other roles in other professions that could offer you that. While there’s nothing wrong with extrinsic motivation, if it’s the first thing you think of then being an executive director will wear you down.

“If your first responses are intrinsic in nature, and you’re looking for a sense of reward, an opportunity to coach others and a chance to show love, then the innate challenges of this job will motivate you and bring with it the pay and the title. Having the requisite experience doesn’t mean you’ll be a great ED. You have to have the requisite motivation, which is a call to serve others.”

Being an executive director isn’t about the pay or the nice title. It’s about serving residents to the best of your ability, no matter what the job requires. It isn’t always glamorous, but it is rewarding in a way that will lift you up as you lift up and serve those around you.

Join the Team

Working with Brookdale isn’t just a job — it’s a passion. If you’re interested in enriching the lives of seniors nationwide through a career with Brookdale, you can browse current openings here.

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Employee Spotlight: James Lee, Brookdale San Antonio Executive Director

By Brookdale Senior Living

Our associates are the heart of everything we do. Their passion for creating joy-filled, safe environments at our senior living communities shines through the work they do every day, and we’re proud to call them part of our family.

We spoke with James Lee, Executive Director at Brookdale San Antonio, to learn more about his role and the meaning he finds in his work.

Q: Tell us about your role as an Executive Director. What are some of your responsibilities?

James: I lead our team in ensuring that our mission statement is, in fact, our day-to-day operational practice. I have tried to synthesize my responsibilities into three major categories: serving our residents, empowering our associates and growing our business. They are all equal and connected goals.

Q: How do you typically spend your days at Brookdale San Antonio?

James: Not to split hairs over wording, but I don’t think of it as spending my days, but rather investing my days. This distinction helps me to be productive and not just busy.

I start each day with a review of the upcoming day’s priorities and take care of any email communication. Then I divide my time into one of two things: investing in relationships (i.e. listening to an associate, coaching a manager, calling a family, engaging with a resident, etc.) or investing in business processes (i.e. collaborative care review, sales and marketing analysis, financial review, etc.).

The day ends with a final round of email communication and rounds with associates in each department. When I’m seated, my focus is on strategy. When I’m walking, it’s on building relationships.

Q: Did you always know this role was an option for you, and is it something you had in mind for your career?

James: I absolutely saw this role as an option. The moment I fell in love with senior living as a caregiver, I knew that being an Executive Director would one day be a critical step in my career. My goal has always been to positively impact the way our world regards aging, and I have learned that the quality of an Executive Director is the linchpin that holds that promise together.

Q: What do you feel is the most rewarding part of your job?

James: Each day, I, along with my team, am rewarded with a tangible sense of achievement and service in equal measure. Of course, it feels great to know that I’ve helped a resident or a family member, but truthfully, I feel the most reward when I see that an associate has been inspired to do more than they thought they were capable of in serving others. An ED has the capacity to either make each role feel like a job or, alternatively, a calling.

Q: What have you enjoyed the most about working for Brookdale?

James: I have really been appreciative of the opportunity to travel the country with my work for Brookdale. When I was in a training and development role, I flew all over the United States visiting communities, working with leadership at all different levels and meeting associates from all corners of the world. This invaluable experience helped me to deeply appreciate how connected we all are in this profession. Hearts for service tend to beat at the same tempo.

Q: What advice would you give to others considering an Executive Director role with Brookdale?

James: Hone your skills in emotional intelligence. People tend to get hung up on practical matters like getting certifications, gaining business experience, learning about clinical regulations, etc. While these are certainly important, they pale in comparison to your relationship management skills.

As an ED, you have dozens of people who can help you with financial reports, systems, licenses and more. But no one can help you build trust with an associate, deescalate family tension during a visit, inspire managers to work toward a common cause, and other matters of interpersonal dynamics that truly make the difference at a community.

Along these lines, assess — then build — your set of leadership skills through each role leading up to your application for an ED role. Don’t just build a resume of responsibilities; build a record of achievements and the skills utilized to earn them.

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Housekeeper Job Leads to Executive Director Position

By Brookdale Senior Living

Four years after joining Brookdale as a housekeeper Ashley Woodcox was offered the position of executive director, the top job at an assisted living community in Marion, IN. Her career advancement story is just one example of the opportunities associates find at Brookdale, a company that supports employee growth, rewards hard work and looks to promote from within. Ashley’s transition from cleaning rooms to calling the shots at a Brookdale community illustrates how a good first impression, strong relationships and dedication can lead to the fulfillment of career goals.

While studying healthcare administration at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ashley developed an interest in senior living. Veering away from the hospital industry was a career move that separated her from many classmates.

Ashley Woodcox

“I felt like if I went into the hospital field I’d be in a cubicle pushing papers for years and years and years,” she said.

Ashley started taking classes to become a certified nursing assistant in the summer of 2010, and decided to seek a position at a local nursing home. She applied at all of the Bloomington area’s senior living centers and visited several in person to see if they had any openings. The last place she checked out was Brookdale Bloomington.

“I rang the bell and a nurse came to the door,” Ashley said. “She looked at me and said, ‘Oh hey, it’s you.’ I felt like she knew me, but we’d never met. I told her I was looking for a job and she went on and on about how the residents are awesome and she had actually taken a pay-cut to work here because she loved the place so much. From then on I was set on working at Brookdale. It was the only place I wanted to work.”

Ashley took a job as a housekeeper and, after getting her license, she began working as a CNA. Brookdale offered her a flexible schedule, allowing her to pursue a degree while picking up shifts on weekends or days when she didn’t have classes. She eventually worked up the courage to ask Cheryl Sarver, the executive director at the time, if she could do an internship.

“I knew at that point that I wanted to do what she did,” Ashley said. “I walked up to the front area five or six times then finally went over to her and asked her how people become an administrator and told her I really wanted to do an internship there. She didn’t hesitate. She said, ‘Yes, I’m a preceptor.’”

That internship helped Ashley develop an understanding of what it would take to become an executive director and allowed her to build a relationship with Cheryl Sarver, who eventually became a guiding force along her career path. After graduating, Ashley became a sales manager, then a marketing director at another company before being given the chance to become an executive director with Brookdale.

Cheryl, who is currently a district director of operations, says she and other Brookdale leaders are always looking for associates with drive, ambition and determination. Five out of the 12 executive directors that Cheryl oversees were promoted to their positions. Cheryl said she knew Ashely had leadership potential from the moment she was hired.

“I knew that she was an individual with the passion and the drive to succeed in this business,” Cheryl said. “She had her future pretty much thought out and that impressed me. She was using her initial job as a ladder to take her career where she wanted it to go.”

While she relishes her job as executive director, especially the relationships she has with residents and their families, Ashley said she’s open to further advancement. Brookdale is a company where Ashley, and anyone with the drive to succeed, can reach new career heights.

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Boss vs Leader

By Brookdale Senior Living

We don’t typically circulate internal documents, but this one is too good to keep inside Brookdale’s walls. It illustrates an ongoing cultural shift towards a leadership model that empowers, supports and encourages employees. It was handed out during a recent meeting with top executives, who are focused on developing our associates and opening doors of opportunity within the company. Entitled “Don’t be a Boss, Be a Leader,” this document outlines the actions our supervisors are asked to take and the standard which they are judged against.

If you’ve spent any significant time in the workforce you’ve likely run into a boss. You know, someone who seems highly talented at barking out orders, making sure everyone knows he or she is in charge and demands work comes before family. It’s a common experience across all industries, and one that has become outdated. This style of leadership is well suited in the military, but in a company built on compassion and improving lives it just doesn’t work.

“If you dont’ have a heart and aren’t giving more than your taking you aren’t a servant leader,” said Bill Gargiulo, VP of Talent Development at Brookdale. “That really is at the center of who we are as a company.”

We find it refreshing that Brookdale took the time to create this document and that our leadership team is encouraging supervisors to become servant leaders. We invite you to take a look at how Brookdale managers are encouraged to lead by example, listen to the associates they supervise and ensure they have the tools they need to succeed. Whether you’re thinking about joining our team or not, consider what kind of person you want to work for, and if you want to be a boss or a leader.

(Click on the image below to open the full pdf.)

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