Lead with Curiosity: Coaching Practices to Unlock Potential in Clinical and Employee Outcomes

LeadingAge Missouri/MC5 Roadshow

Lead with Curiosity: Coaching Practices to Unlock Potential in Clinical and Employee Outcomes

The challenges facing the long-term care workforce demand more than management, they call for leadership that inspires, supports, and centers care on the people we serve.

This interactive MC5 Roadshow session equips leaders and managers with the coaching skillset, mindset, and strategies needed to foster a collaborative coaching culture that enhances engagement, strengthens retention, and builds resilience across care teams.

Participants will explore practical coaching techniques such as active listening, paraphrasing, and open-ended questioning, while applying a coaching mindset to real-world supervisory challenges that directly impact resident outcomes. Through experiential exercises, guided reflection, and hands-on practice, attendees will gain the confidence to integrate coaching into daily leadership — unlocking potential, improving relationships, and creating stronger, more responsive care environments where both staff and residents thrive.

Objectives:

• Demonstrate key coaching communication techniques including active listening, paraphrasing, and open-ended questioning to enhance staff engagement and strengthen team relationships in long-term care settings to better know and provide individualized care and services.
• Apply a coaching mindset to real-world supervisory challenges by identifying opportunities for collaborative problem-solving and empowerment across diverse roles and departments to meet resident needs in a timely and effective manner.
• Develop an individualized action plan to integrate coaching strategies into daily leadership practice resulting in more effective and enhanced communication and teamwork as staff work to meet residents needs improving resident and staff satisfaction, retention, and resilience.

About the Presenters:

Joan Devine, a registered nurse and former activity professional, has over 40 years of experience in healthcare, having served in leadership positions in long-term and acute care settings since 1990. Before retiring, she served as Director of Education with Pioneer Network where she led the development and implementation of educational programs. She continues to advocate for changing the culture of aging through work as an Eden Educator and Mentor as well as private consultation. Joan currently serves on the Board of the Ontario Association of Resident Councils, The National Association of Long-Term Care Volunteers and Missouri Coalition for Care Continuum Change.   Joan is a Certified Eden Educator and Mentor and CDP. As an advocate for the LTC culture change movement, Joan has presented for state, national and international organizations including Pioneer Network, American Association of Medical Directors, LeadingAge, AHCA, and The Eden Alternative.  She has been published in a variety of long-term care trade magazines, including Caring for the Ages and McKnight’s Long-Term Care and she was named a 2022 Woman of Distinction by McKnight’s Long-Term Care.  Joan holds a B.A. in Music Education/Music Therapy, a B.S. in Nursing and an MBA in Management.

Mary Hopfner-Thomas brings more than two decades of professional experience in education, leadership development, and communications to her role as Education Coach with AgingIN ℠, supporting The Green House Project ™, Pioneer Network, and EmpowerED. Since 2013, she has been instrumental in delivering Collaborative Coaching Cultures and other coaching-based programs that have equipped hundreds of leaders and team members nationwide with the skills to build stronger teams, foster resilience, and sustain meaningful culture change. Mary works with Green House Educators across the country and supports the AGingIN ℠ peer network, helping organizations embed person-directed practices that improve quality of life for both staff and elders.

Before joining AgingIN ℠, Mary spent eight years with the Erickson Retirement Communities and more than 15 years in video production, marketing, and television news—experience that informs her dynamic and engaging facilitation style. She holds a Master of Arts in Management of Aging Services from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and a Bachelor of Arts in Radio and Television from St. Cloud State University.

CEU’s being offered to Administrators (Approved for 6 PC hours TA-015-44-26), Social Workers, Activities, and CDP’s