to not just the pandemic but to other emergencies, like last year’s Hurricane Ian. “The response that we have as an industry to pro- tect those in our care. People are amazing. Well, especially getting past the pandemic, you’re probably like, I can do anything.” This empowerment gained by facing tough times head on
creates strong leaders. “Because when things are easy, leadership doesn’t matter as much. When leadership truly matters is when it’s diffi cult. My husband is a big wine drinker, and what he would say is, ‘the grapes who have to struggle are the ones who produce the best wine.’” Baier thinks this is true for leaders, too. “You have to have a little struggle to truly be an amazing leader.”
Caregiving Matters Most The circle has been made complete for Baier when one considers that the start of her life made her a caregiver out of necessity, and her professional life has been built on wanting to be that person answering the call to serve the needs of others. “For me to lead Brookdale, it comes from my sense of being a
caregiver, wanting to truly help older adults with the challenges of aging. But I think to be an eff ective leader, you've got to be able to listen intently,” she said. “You’ve got to be able to create a clear and compelling vision.
You’ve got to be able to align people around a mission and prior- ities, and you’ve got to get people excited about what’s possible. And I think if you can do those things, I think you can be a good leader”.
One thing learned from the pandemic is that sometimes you
don’t know what you don’t know. “I like to say that one of the things that I’m really proud of about Brookdale during the pan- demic is that we demonstrated that we were an agile learning organization,” Baier said. “And I think about our emergency response center. We basically
needed to learn clinical things that no one had ever seen before. Because COVID was a novel virus, it had never been seen be- fore…We had to fi gure out how to protect our residents, and then we had to create processes and procedures to sort of cascade that throughout the organization.”
To access the recording for the Zoom call featuring Cindy Baier, visit
https://www.argentum.org/research-and-initiatives/women-in- leadership/. Planning has also begun for additional 2023 Women in Leadership Zoom calls. Watch the webpage for updated information as soon as it becomes available.
“Youʼve got to be able to create a clear and compelling vision. Youʼve got to be able to align people around a mission and prior ities, and youʼve got to get people excited about whatʼs possible. And I think if you can do those things, I think you can be a good leader.”
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