Leading senior living companies opened the c-suite door to women long ago. Now, those with the most skill and savvy hold some powerful reins – despite ongoing challenges. Six leading women in the business weigh in on their experiences and strategies for success …
By many measures, the senior housing and care business is a
“women’s business.” More than 75 percent of
the residents are women. The primary person supporting the resident on
the family side usually is a woman. At the community level, most
caregivers and nurses who care for the residents are women. A large
proportion of supervisors and executive directors are women. Yet
curiously, the higher you go on the decision-making ladder, the fewer
women you’ll find.
Granted, the assisted living sector got its start with the
help of such pioneers as Keren Brown Wilson, who started
Assisted Living Concepts, based in
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, and Terri Klaassen, co-founder of McLean,
Virginia-based Sunrise Senior
Living. And a few women, such as Kayda
Johnson, COO for Senior Resource Group,
based in Solana Beach, California, have enjoyed a long
and distinguished tenure in the c-suite at some of the industry’s
largest companies. But historically speaking, despite the important
roles that women have played throughout the sector, relatively few women
have attained the position of company president, CEO, or COO.
However, all of that seems to be changing. Slowly and steadily,
the prevalence of women in the top positions has been on the rise. This
year marks a new milestone, with women leading the boards at all three
major trade associations, including the Assisted Living Federation of
America (ALFA), National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing
& Care Industry (NIC), and American Seniors Housing Association
(ASHA).
“It’s the first time in our field we’ve had three women chairs
at the same time,” says Tiffany Tomasso,
former COO of Sunrise Senior Living and chair of ALFA’s board of directors.
Currently, four of the largest 10 providers have women in the position
of president/CEO or COO.
So what has changed to bring about such results? And what does
this mean for the sector, for individual companies, and for women? Is
having a woman in charge of a senior living company simply a
“nice-to-have,” or is there in fact a tangible business benefit?
Six top executives at leading senior living companies talked
with Assisted Living Executive to share their
insights, their advice for other ambitious women coming up through the
pipeline, and tips for the companies who seek to foster their success.
Blazing Trails
The lack of women in the c-suite is hardly particular to senior
living. According to statistics cited last year in Harvard
Business Review, more than 40 percent of managers in the
United States today are women, but only about 6 percent of top
executives at Fortune 500 firms are women. The reasons are complex.
Where once the going assumption was a blanket “glass ceiling” over all
women, the current thinking is that the challenges are more
multifaceted, with obstacles all along the way that create, for many
women, a more circuitous career path than for their male counterparts.
Some women find themselves navigating the vestiges of prejudices, such
as preconceptions about women as leaders, as they rise through the
ranks. Other limitations are self-imposed, such as slowing down career
advancement for family reasons.
“Even in culturally feminine settings such as nursing,
librarianship, elementary education, and social work … men ascend to
supervisory and administrative positions more quickly than women,” wrote
Alice H. Eagly and Linda L. Carli in “Women in the Labyrinth of
Leadership,” published by Harvard Business Review
last fall.
Currently there are no formal statistics showing how the
prevalence of women executives in senior living compares to the general
business world. But generally speaking, it’s no worse and may even be
better. The women leaders interviewed by Assisted Living
Executive, for example, hold out a great deal of
optimism.
“The difference is that our industry will beat the average over
time because we’re such a female industry,” says Vicki
Clark, president of Newport Beach, California-based
Vintage Senior Living. When talented young
professional women see leaders such as Tomasso influencing the direction
of the whole sector, Clark says, “More women are realizing, ‘Hey, I can
do that, too.’”
According to Tomasso, one of the game-changers that has led to
more women assuming top leadership positions is that more women are
educating themselves on the transactional side of the business, i.e.,
the deal-making, financial, and legal realms, as opposed to the “softer”
side of operations, such as the clinical piece or human relations.
“That has changed,” Tomasso says.
Tomasso also notes seeing more women in leadership positions at
the annual conferences sponsored by NIC, which brings providers and
financial partners together. Robert Kramer,
president of the Annapolis, Maryland-based organization,
concurs.
“In the 1990s, women were much more the exception than they are
today. That has changed in the last 10 years on the provider side, and
in the last five years on the capital side,” Kramer says.
Leaving their comfort zones to broaden their understanding of
the whole business is critical to anyone who wishes to lead, says
Brenda Bacon, president/CEO of
Brandywine Senior Living, based in Mount
Laurel, New Jersey.
“Being the only woman in the room and being comfortable with
both the content and atmosphere of the meeting are crucial to
leadership,” Bacon says.
What’s more, the senior living business is complex and requires
a range of experience, adds Johnson of Senior Resource Group.
“I took advantage of every opportunity to learn the business
from all angles,” she says. “I worked with the best and had the
experience of taking a company public, then taking it private. I have
grown portfolios and then made them operationally sound.”
Also driving change, Tomasso says, is the overall growth of the
sector, which has attracted new talent, such as Deborah
McAneny, former COO of Wellesley, Massachusetts- based
Benchmark Assisted Living, who hails from
the investment management industry.
Deciding Not to Fail
Women in high-ranking leadership rles attribute their success
to any number of personal experiences and personality traits. Most
commonly, they attribute their success to a passion for the mission of
senior living, strong mentorship, and what Linda Martin,
president/COO of Irving, Texas-based
Signature Senior Living, calls “an
unwavering attitude not to fail.”
“The obstacles placed in front of me made me all the more
ambitious to overcome them,” Martin says. “If anyone told me I couldn’t
do something, I’d take that as a double-dog dare.”
Most of the women interviewed by Assisted Living
Executive variously described their leadership style as
results-oriented, direct, outspoken, and decisive—traits that are
commonly accepted in male leaders, but are not always appreciated in
women, according to research by experts such as Deborah
Tannen.
“Professionally, I come across much more as what people would
anticipate a man would be like,” explains Martin. “I was fortunate to
end up in organizations where the people I [worked] with—in all cases,
males—saw that as a strength.”
Even the most directive female leaders, however, also describe
themselves as being collaborative and consensus-building, skills that
have held them in good stead.
“While I hold people to high individual standards, the highest
standards I set are for the team,” Bacon says.
Some of the women described having to overcome gender-related
challenges earlier in their career. Each explained how she turned the
problem into an advantage—or, at least, a learning experience. For
example, Martin recalls a time when she was subjected to sex
discrimination, including overt advances from a superior.
“Some people would deal with that in different ways. It
challenged me to be better and above that with better integrity. It
actually made me a stronger person.” As painful as it was, Martin says,
the experience also helped her identify similar problems at other
organizations later on.
In another example, Martin took up golf to avoid missing out on
informal networking opportunities at executive conferences.
“I found myself—not intentionally and not unfairly—being
excluded from high-level business discussions because I didn’t golf,”
she explains.
The gender bias, in this case, tended to cut both ways. Martin
says her husband felt similarly excluded at such conferences; the
organized activities for spouses usually centered on shopping or other
activities that held little interest for him. Now that she does play
golf, Martin adds, she conducts a lot of business on the golf course for
her company.
The gender-related challenge that was most common among these
women was striking a so-called balance between work and family. While
finding balance is hardly a priority exclusive to women, the fact
remains that women are more likely to downgrade their own careers for
reasons having to do with their children or a spouse’s career.
“I do think that a lot of times, family commitments, children,
or a husband’s career could become a barrier,” Tomasso says.
Women interviewed for this article have taken a variety of
approaches to this conundrum. Some opted not to have children, while
others unapologetically have made clear that their children must come
first. Women executives with families point to the importance of having a
support structure at home, relying on their husband to be the primary
parent, or a stable and flexible child care situation.
“I don’t really keep a balance as much as integrate the two,”
Tomasso says. “One of the things that helped me was I decided to have
kids later…I really dedicated ages 23 to 33 to my career.”
But in the interest of full disclosure, not everyone
interviewed by Assisted Living Executive felt
particularly hindered by gender.
“In talking to women over the years, I haven’t experienced some
of the barriers other women have,” says Clark, whose own talent was
spotted early on, when in 1982 she vaulted to vice president at
Atlanta-based Calmark Realty Management at the age of 27.
“For me, a desire to learn and a passion for the elderly was
just the right formula.”
Capitalizing on Diversity
Speaking from experience, how important is it to have women in
top jobs? Some women leaders are naturally communicative, collaborative
leaders—traits associated with a “female” style of leadership—while
others have had to acquire those skills. But all agree that there is a
benefit to having women at the table, particularly in the senior living
business. Many see themselves in the adult daughter caregivers they help
serve.
“In a single word, it’s compassion,” says Clark. “There are so
many emotional, psychological things that go on in a senior living
community. There’s loss, families in denial. Women bring compassion.
That absolutely is a plus.”
Bacon agrees: “We understand on a different level what that
woman is going through.”
The advantages also extend to balancing the mission with the
margin.
“It’s not necessarily a man-woman issue but about diversity in
leadership,” says Benchmark’s McAneny. “Women tend to come from a
slightly different approach. To the extent that it complements who’s at
the table, it’s important.”
And perceptions matter, too.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, ‘It’s great to see
a woman own the company,’” Martin says. “I think our customers feel
more confident that the care is going to be there because there’s a
woman helping make decisions.”
Expert Advice: Tips for Companies &
Corporate Climbers
Senior living companies can take a number of strategic steps to
encourage the women in their ranks to set their sights on the c-suite—
and most of them have to do with creating the right work
environment.
- Ensure the management team is focused on results, not
process. “Women often don’t work 9 to 5. They work the hours that are
necessary to get the job done,” says Brenda Bacon,
president/ CEO of Mount Laurel, New Jersey-based
Brandywine Senior Living. “Even if that
means reviewing those financial statements at 10 at night—once they have
helped their child edit the paper due for school tomorrow.” - Take advantage of technology by considering alternative
work arrangements for both women and men. Telecommuting, job-sharing,
and flextime are all options many Fortune 500 companies are using
effectively for all of their employees. - Offer executive coaching sessions using outside
consultants. These sessions should be open to aspiring executives as
well as veterans. “Whatever your personal struggle is, you have to step
outside yourself to see it,” says Vicki Clark,
president of Newport Beach, California-based
Vintage Senior Living. - Make it culturally acceptable to strive for work-life
balance—or work-life integration, to borrow a phrase from
Tiffany Tomasso, COO of McLean,
Virginia-based Sunrise Senior Living. For
example, “do not require people to start trips on Sundays,” she says. - Ensure your company has succession strategies that are
savvy to gender issues. “My advice is to be looking for the best
candidates and be totally open-minded,” says Debbie
McAneny, COO of Wellesley, Massachusetts-based
Benchmark Assisted Living. “And by
definition, you’ll put women in.”
And for women in the senior living business who are sizing up
that corporate ladder, here are several tips from the trailblazers
themselves:
- Pursue positions outside your comfort zone to become
well-rounded in all facets of the business. “Anyone who makes it to the
top must be stellar in operational, financial, hospitality, and
healthcare skills,” says Kayda Johnson, COO
for Senior Resource Group, based in Solana
Beach, California. - Build a strong support structure for your family. This
extends to having an administrative assistant who understands that
helping you at work means helping you juggle family obligations. “I
truly believe a mother is only as happy as her least happy child. I
learned a long time ago that there’s no such thing as Superwoman,” says
McAneny. - Don’t apologize for putting your family first, but remain
accountable for results. “Women in leadership are high-performing people
by nature,” Bacon says. “Do not tolerate people suggesting you are
performing less well because you have to leave early or come in late so
you can be at your child’s game. Your contribution to the organization
should make this irrelevant to the value proposition.” - Manage yourself; don’t impose a barrier on your success by
needing to please everyone and always putting others’ feelings and
concerns first. Consensus doesn’t always come. “That’s what we kind of
do as mothers and women,” says Bacon. “At the end of the day, you have
to say this is a business and you have a job to do and it’s not my job
to make you happy. You have to agree to disagree without being
disagreeable.” - Choose positions that will put you close to the money.
“There’s a need for support roles, but you want to be what’s driving the
bottom line of the company, leading transactions. You will have more
choices and more options,” says Tomasso.
