B5: The Best Mistakes We Ever Made: Lessons from the Trenches
Tuesday, June 16 | 1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
Target Audience: Assisted Living/Personal Care; Finance; Governance & Leadership; Home Care + HCBS; Operations
Senior living communities operate on a delicate balance of regulatory compliance, compassionate care, and complex daily logistics. Senior living leaders navigate an environment where even the most routine operational decisions carry significant consequences. In this candid and insightful session, experienced executives and administrators share real-world war stories of seemingly ordinary actions that unexpectedly spiraled into regulatory challenges, family concerns, resident impacts, or staff disruption. These are not tales of failure, they are lessons in resilience, transparency, and continuous improvement.These are the moments that test an organization’s culture, resilience, and processes. Through a mix of humor, humility, and practical analysis, panelists dissect what happened, why it happened, and how each situation ultimately led to stronger systems and better practices. Attendees will learn about everyday pitfalls that can lead to outsized issues, effective communication strategies when addressing families or agencies, and proven approaches for transforming organizational missteps into catalysts for operational excellence.This session offers an honest look behind the scenes of senior living operations and equips participants with actionable insights to strengthen processes, reduce risk, and foster a culture where learning from mistakes is encouraged and celebrated. The panelists are seasoned executives, administrators, and clinicians, sharing real-world war stories of when ordinary tasks went unexpectedly sideways. From seemingly simple communication lapses that escalated into survey complications to misinterpreted directives that triggered agency involvement, each story highlights a scenario that many professionals in the field will instantly recognize. The panelists will walk attendees through what happened, why it happened, how it was resolved, and the structural or cultural changes that ultimately improved their communities moving forward.
NAB/NCERS
Speaker Information
Principal, Spiezle Architectural Group, Inc
Steve is a senior level, award-winning design professional with over forty years of experience in the field of architecture. He has extensive background in senior living/healthcare environments and sustainable design. His passion and depth of experience has brought steady repertoire of special projects and speaking engagements at conferences including LeadingAge NJ, PA and National. Steve is a highly creative designer, manager, and communicator. Steve is a founding member and Director of LEAPp, Life Enrichment Aging-in-Place professionals, a think tank of high level industry experts focused on the development of centers for social enrichment for seniors. Steve is also a member of the NJ Alliance for Culture Change and the current board member of the New Jersey Advocates for Aging Well (NJAAW formerly NJ Foundation for Aging).
Executive Director, The Actors Fund Home
Jordan Strohl has served as Administrator of the Actors Fund Home since 2006. Under his leadership, the facility has consistently earned top recognition, including perfect surveys from the New Jersey State Department of Health and a Five-Star rating from the Federal Government’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Jordan Strohl has served as Administrator of the Actors Fund Home since 2006. Under his leadership, the facility has consistently earned top recognition, including perfect surveys from the New Jersey State Department of Health and a Five-Star rating from the Federal Government’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The Home is also regularly recognized by U.S. News & World Report and Newsweek as one of the top facilities in the country. Jordan takes great pride in the Home’s tradition of excellence in health care and supportive services, which include short-term rehabilitation, long-term residential care, assisted living and memory care.
President & CEO, United Methodist Communities
Mark Lenhard was appointed President & CEO of United Methodist Communities (UMC), a faith-based nonprofit senior living provider serving NJ seniors and their families, in 2022. Prior to joining the UMC team, Mark served as President & CEO of The Wesleyan in Georgetown, Texas. Mark has held various volunteer leadership roles with local chambers of commerce, advisory boards, and industry groups such as Leading Age Texas. Additionally, he has been a panelist and presenter for LeadingAge New Jersey & Delaware and LeadingAge National conferences. Mark has been a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator (LNHA) since 1996 and holds a Master of Science in Gerontology with a concentration in Management of Organizational Behavior and Public Policy from Baylor University.
Executive Director, Applewood Village
Keith Grady, LNHA, is an innovative and dedicated professional in the field of aging and long-term care with over 35 years of management, operational, and development experience in continuing care communities. Responsible for the administration of the day-to-day operations and the development of Applewood’s future strategy, Keith is a visionary with a focus on quality care, effective leadership, and cultivating environments of trust and mutual respect.
