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Good morning.Let’s talk about leadership empathy. Not the poster-on-the-wall kind, but the kind that’s earned when you’ve actually spent eight hours answering call lights, scraping trays, or trying to track down a Hoyer lift with working brakes. There’s a program I heard about this week that captures that spirit perfectly—and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.
Elevate Your Leadership
It’s called Walk a Day in My Shoes. Here’s how it works: at the monthly employee town hall, two hats are passed around. One is filled with the names of department leaders. The other? Every frontline role in the building. Think CNAs, dietary aides, housekeepers, laundry, maintenance—the real engine of the operation. A leader pulls one name from each hat. That’s their assignment for the month. No clipboard, no tour—just boots on the ground for a full shift. They work side by side with the team, doing the actual job. The whole thing is captured in a short-form video clip (on an iPhone, no fancy tech needed), edited and shared at the next town hall. The result? Culture, built in real time. We talk a lot about breaking down silos. We preach open-door policies, visibility, approachability. But the truth is, you don’t really know what a team member goes through until you’ve helped them inventory a supply room with no air conditioning or clean up a dining room spill ten minutes before meal service ends. Programs like Walk a Day in My Shoes go beyond engagement—they build relationships through shared experience. When a leader shows up to genuinely participate in someone else’s work, a few things happen:
And yes, it’s also fun. The video clips at town hall don’t just capture a leader fumbling through a med cart or learning how to make 20 coffee orders at once—they capture laughter, connection, and mutual appreciation. This kind of vulnerability is powerful. It says, “Your job matters enough for me to experience it.” And that’s not a message anyone forgets. If you're serious about culture, give this a try. Print the job list. Add your name to the hat. Wear the scrubs, wash the dishes, roll the beds. Then show the team the clip—not just to entertain, but to honor the work and the people doing it. Because empathy isn’t a memo. It’s a shift. A dirty, beautiful, unforgettable shift. Take the survey: What do you think of the Walk a Day in My Shoes program? Let us know! Don’t see it the same way? That’s fair. This is just one perspective—and we’d love to hear yours. Reply back with your take, and we might feature it in an upcoming issue.
Partners We Love Together with TapestryHealth We partner with a lot of companies, but the ones we like to partner with the most are those that come to us with proven results. Sound familiar? I mean, who wouldn’t like that. I think that’s why so many readers of this newsletter love one of our favorite partners, TapestryHealth. Tapestry has facts and figures from SNFs all across the country to back up their claims—and even better, they have SNF executives who are willing to put their own names on the line and vouch for Tapestry. If you have a minute—actually, it’s only 52 seconds—listen to this Chief Nursing Officer tell you a true story about how one of her local hospitals called her to say they were expecting a very difficult weekend and really couldn’t be taking in nursing home residents, even though her facility was known for its high-acuity patient population. Everything worked out fine—for the SNF, the hospital, and the patients—thanks to Tapestry. Click here. It’s worth a listen. While you’re there, you might want to hear a few other colleagues tell you how you can benefit from a partnership with Tapestry. Want to move faster? Then call, text, or WhatsApp 845.694.7288.
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Thanks for reading. Have a wonderful day. Kevin Goedeke, Publisher and Founder
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