We have been talking for some time about changing resident demographics and expectations across retirement living and land lease. The next generation of residents will expect more from the communities they choose, from lifestyle and amenities through to communication, service and the overall experience of living there. What receives less attention is what those changes mean for the people operators need to lead their communities. As expectations rise, Village Managers, Community Managers and senior executives are being asked to do more than run efficient operations; they also need to create trust, lead people well and understand how the resident experience connects to the wider performance of the business.
At the same time, operators themselves are becoming larger and more sophisticated. Portfolios are growing, organisations are scaling and leaders are managing more people, more complexity and greater accountability. The skills needed to lead a small portfolio are not always the same as those required to lead a much larger one. Senior executives increasingly need to build strong leaders beneath them, create consistency across multiple communities and make sure growth does not come at the expense of the local resident experience.
In a difficult housing market, the community experience matters more
Prospective residents are also making the decision to move in a challenging housing market. Selling the family home can take longer, financial considerations are significant and the move itself can be difficult to make. Operators cannot control many of those external factors, so the things they can influence become even more important.
A prospective resident might initially be attracted by the home, the location, the clubhouse or the facilities, but ultimately they are making a decision about where they want to live. They are looking at the people, the atmosphere and how the community feels. They want to know whether they will be welcomed, whether someone will listen when they have a concern and whether they can genuinely picture themselves becoming part of the community.
This is where the Village or Community Manager can have a very real impact. A strong manager can build confidence, create trust and demonstrate the culture of the community in a way that a brochure or display home cannot. They may not carry a traditional sales title, but the experience they create can influence reputation, referrals, occupancy and ultimately commercial performance.
The strongest leaders connect people, operations and performance
This does not mean Village Managers need to become salespeople, or that commercial capability should replace operational experience. It means the role is broader than it once was. The strongest community leaders understand budgets, occupancy and operational requirements, but they also understand how resident satisfaction, employee engagement, reputation and referrals are connected.
They are comfortable with people and can manage difficult conversations well. They are visible in the community, communicate clearly and understand that trust is built over time. Technical knowledge and systems can be learned, but judgement, empathy and the ability to connect with residents and teams are often much harder to teach.
The same applies at executive level. As businesses become more complex, senior leaders need to be able to balance growth with culture, commercial performance with resident outcomes and operational discipline with genuine human connection. They need to think strategically while still understanding what is happening at community level, because residents do not experience an organisation chart or corporate strategy; they experience the people around them every day.
If the role has changed, the recruitment brief needs to change too
When a senior executive, Village Manager or Community Manager leaves, it is easy to return to the old position description and look for someone with a similar background. But if the business has grown, resident expectations have changed and the role has become more commercially important, then simply replacing like for like may no longer be the right approach.
Before going to market, operators should be asking what they will need from this person over the next three to five years. Do they need someone who can lead through other managers? Do they need stronger commercial awareness? Does resident experience need to carry more weight? Can the person build trust with residents while also delivering against the organisation’s broader goals?
In some cases, the answer will be a more experienced version of the person who held the role previously. In others, it may be a different type of leader altogether. What matters is recognising that retirement living and land lease are evolving, and the leadership requirements are evolving with them.
The best recruitment decisions will be made by operators who are not simply hiring for the role as it existed yesterday, but for the business, the residents and the communities they are building next
Finding the right leader for what comes next
If you are starting to think about your next senior appointment, it may be worth having the conversation before you go to market. The brief is changing, and in many cases the role you need to fill today is not quite the same as the one you recruited for a few years ago.
James Teodoro specialises in executive recruitment across retirement living and land lease and works closely with operators to understand not just the position, but the business behind it. That means looking at where the organisation is heading, what residents will expect, how the leadership team needs to evolve and what type of person will genuinely fit the culture and deliver over the long term.
Sometimes that conversation simply helps sharpen the brief. In other cases, it can open up a very different view of the market and the type of leader the organisation should be considering.
If you are reviewing your leadership structure, replacing a key executive or thinking ahead to the next stage of growth, James is always happy to have a conversation and share what he is seeing across the retirement living and land lease market.
