The Future Leaders Awards program is brought to you in partnership with PointClickCare. The program is designed to recognize up-and-coming industry members who are shaping the next decade of senior housing, skilled nursing, home health, and hospice care. To see this year’s Future Leaders, visit https://futureleaders.agingmedia.com/.
Michael Berg, director of operations management at Life Care Services, has been named a 2022 Future Leader by Senior Housing News.
To become a Future Leader, an individual is nominated by their peers. The candidate must be a high-performing employee who is 40-years-old or younger, a passionate worker who knows how to put vision into action, and an advocate for seniors, and the committed professionals who ensure their well-being.
Berg was interviewed by Senior Housing News to talk about his career trajectory and the ways he sees the industry evolving, including the need for more in-depth partnerships within senior living communities with schools and academic institutions for caregiving, life enrichment and other key facets of daily operations to improve services within communities and promote positive care outcomes for residents.
What drew you to this industry?
I have a love for people. I enjoy working in a business that is highly relational; one where I am given the opportunity to develop healthy relationships with others and, often, help people in their moments of need – employees, residents, and families. There are few jobs where you are given the opportunity to have a meaningful impact on the lives of others as frequently as we do in senior living.
What’s your biggest lesson learned since starting to work in this industry?
That the best use of my time is investing in the people around me, helping them to be better leaders. In Leadership 101, John Maxwell calls in the Law of the Lid. You can only do so much on your own. If you want to increase your capacity, help those around you to be better leaders and together we will accomplish more.
If you could change one thing with an eye toward the future of senior living what would it be?
That we would find methods for effectively and consistently partnering with local schools to draw more individuals into senior living, not just in caregiving, but in life enrichment, culinary, maintenance, business office, social work, and sales. We have a tremendous opportunity to offer purposeful work to a generation that values making a meaningful social impact.
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What do you foresee as being different about the senior living industry looking ahead to 2023?
2022 has taught us about the fragility of our senior living labor market and the need to ensure our team members feel valued for their contribution to our communities. In 2023 I foresee a need to continue improving our employee experiences through impactful team-driven culture committees.
In a word, how would you describe the future of the senior living industry?
Impactful.
What quality must all Future Leaders possess?
The ability to create clarity amongst the chaos, and that’s taken from Andy Stanley.
If you could give advice to yourself looking back to your first day in the industry, what would it be and why?
Always ask one more question before you assume you know the solution.
