Mediocrity Will Destroy Your Team

Good morning.

Before we get into today's topic, you would be doing me a huge favor if you’d take our survey below and give us feedback on the information and tools you want us to build for this community of operators.

You’ve got someone on your leadership team who’s been missing the mark.

Not disasters, just steady slips:

• The scheduler who keeps posting late, half-finished schedules
• The dietary manager who lets complaints stack up and dodges accountability
• The ADON who shows up late “just this once”… again

You’ve noticed. Your team has noticed. Residents and families feel it too.

And you tell yourself: “I’ll deal with it after survey.”

Or, “I’ll wait until census stabilizes.”

But you don’t.

Elevate your Leadership

Most senior living leaders keep underperformers far longer than they should. Not because they want mediocrity, but because they freeze on the next step:

“If I let them go, who will cover?”

“What if I can’t find a replacement?”

“What if the state shows up tomorrow?”

That fear keeps you stuck. Every day you delay, your best people hear the same message: “Excellence doesn’t matter here.”

Vacancy is not your biggest risk. Tolerating mediocrity is.

That’s why I built the Leadership Reset Formula—a way to raise standards in senior care while staying clear, respectful, and fair.

Step 1: The Yellow Light Conversation

Think of a yellow light on the road. It’s the signal to slow down and correct, not race through.

Structure the talk like this.

• Opener: Acknowledge their effort
• Specific Behavior: Name the missed standard
• Impact: Show how it affects residents, staff, or families
• Open Question: Invite their input

Example:

“Lisa, I appreciate how hard you’ve been working to cover call-offs. But the last three schedules were posted late, and it created stress for the floor staff. What’s going on?”

Yellow lights are the time to correct. Wait too long, and you’re dealing with red lights—complaints, tags, turnover.

Step 2: The 14-Day Standard Reset

If the problem repeats, raise the bar.

• Define success in measurable terms: “All schedules posted by 3 p.m. Friday for the next two weeks.”
• Check in daily or every other day. Not to micromanage, but to keep progress visible.
• Document everything. It protects both sides.

This is not punishment. It’s alignment.

Step 3: The Clear-Cut Exit

If standards aren’t met after feedback and a defined reset, it’s time to move forward.

Keep the conversation brief and respectful. Thank them for their effort, support their transition, and close the chapter.

Every exit creates space for excellence:

• A seat opens for someone stronger
• Your team sees that standards matter
• Accountability resets across the building

The Takeaway

Fear says: “What if I can’t replace them?”

The truth is: You won’t attract top talent while you protect low performance.

The Leadership Reset Formula shortens the timeline. You catch yellow lights early, set clear standards, and make exits without dragging the process out for months.

That’s how you stop bleeding cash, rebuild trust with your team, and raise the bar for care.

Leadership Challenge for This Week

1. Write down one yellow light you’ve been ignoring
2. Schedule a feedback conversation within 48 hours
3. Decide: Will this person reset, or will you reset your team?

Excellence is not optional. Not for your team. Not for your residents. And not for you.

News from the Industry

Top benefits nursing homes seek from dining and environmental services technology

• A survey of 115 nursing home leaders found that 66 % ranked boosting resident satisfaction as their top goal for adopting dining and environmental services technology, ahead of compliance and cost savings

• More than half of respondents said improved compliance was a primary motivation; 37 % sought tools to relieve staff workloads and another 37 % aimed to cut expenses

• Only 22 % were exploring digital meal ordering systems and just 20 % were looking at food temperature tracking, while about half of organizations reported no plans for major changes in the next 12 to 24 months

CMS report shows hospital complaints jump 79 %

• CMS data show hospital complaints jumped 79 % since 2019, with more than 14,500 reported in fiscal 2024, while nursing homes logged over 107,000 complaints and overall cases requiring investigation rose 31.3 %

• Common issues included poor communication, long waits, professionalism concerns and cleanliness; investigators cited oversight delays, staffing shortages, higher patient expectations and eroding trust as key drivers

• Nurses can curb complaints by improving communication, acting quickly on concerns, documenting issues and supporting state survey agencies to help address systemic problems

CEOs prioritize AI skills over emotional intelligence

• A Korn Ferry survey of 250 CEOs and board directors found 69 % prioritize AI and technology proficiency as the most important skill for the next three years, while only 38 % rank emotional intelligence and 20 % highlight engagement skills

• Experts warn that organizations focusing on technical hires risk neglecting people who collaborate and manage change; qualities like resilience, empathy and adaptability were critical during the pandemic and remain essential

• In manufacturing and industrial sectors, 44 % of leaders value emotional intelligence almost as much as AI skills because most roles involve face‑to‑face interactions; they highlight the need to balance soft‑skill development with technical expertise

A Word from our Community

We're looking to build our next tool and solutions for NHAs and Senior Living Leaders.  Tell us what to build that will help you be a better leader and operator.

👉Take the quick survey here.

The NHA Stand-Up Playlist

🎧 Two Tracks for the Week Submitted by You

This job doesn’t come with a soundtrack… so we made one.
Every week, I’ll drop in two more songs for the playlist — for the moments when you’re holding the line, resetting your mindset, or just need a reminder:
you’re not alone in this.

This week’s additions:

🎵 “Remember the Name” – Fort Minor

Why it belongs: Because no one outside the building sees what you do — but your team does. And your residents do. This one’s for the NHAs who never ask for recognition but damn sure earn it.

🎵 “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)” – Fall Out Boy

Why it belongs: Because sometimes you don’t need peace — you need a reset button and a speaker-blowing anthem to walk out of that office and start fresh. This one brings the fire.

🧠 Whether you’re walking into a staffing meeting or out of a state survey, let this play in the background. It’s fuel made for us.

Got a song you think belongs on here?
Reply to this email and send it in — I’ll add your name next to it when it goes live on the playlist.

🎧 Listen to the full NHA Stand-Up Playlist here

Whenever you're ready, I can help you in a few ways.

1. Use our free AI-powered Chatbot trained on all 900 pages of CMS Nursing Home Regulations, proprietary processes, and information from decades of skilled nursing leadership experience.  Click here.
2. Sign up for Assisto and keep track of the regulatory environment in your state.  Know what deficiencies surveyors cite in real-time and ensure you're not at risk for the same tag.  Sign up here.
3. Take our Salary Lens survey and gain access to the largest database of senior living and SNF leadership salaries in the industry.  Check it out here.

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Thanks for reading.  Have a wonderful day.

Kevin Goedeke, Publisher and Founder