We recently connected with Ke’o Velasquez and have shared our conversation below.
Ke’o, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.
I was about about three months into my first job in senior living as the Executive Chef at an independent living community. I was managing a particularly difficult Sous Chef. The rumor was they had applied for the Executive Chef position and were expected to be a shoo-in. When this did not happen I was told there was strong feelings of bitterness and resentment.
Having spent a number of years working in the restaurant industry where the Gordan Ramsey-esque style of management and leadership was rampant, I had adopted a very direct and unfiltered approach to difficult staff. After a particularly challenging week, I took the Sous Chef aside and dressed him down in typical restaurant fashion. He promptly went to HR and I was called in where it was explained to me I needed to address performance deficiencies in a more professional manner among other things. I remember leaving the meeting extremely frustrated that despite this individual’s numerous performance issues, I was the one being reprimanded. After some refection I came to the realization that if I was going to succeed as a leader in a formal and structured setting I needed to evolve and grow.
It was a very distinct turning point for me in my evolution as leader and mentor. The recognition that I needed to do a substantial amount of maturing as well as growing was very humbling. It was an important lesson and realization. I try to impart on managers that I mentor that if you find that you are really struggling your team as a whole try to set you ego aside and take a very unbiased look inward and ask how am I showing up?
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Growing up on the Big Island of Hawaii I had a very non-traditional upbringing. My father was a construction worker and my mother raised horses. As a very energetic and rambunctious home-schooled child I was often sent to work with my father where I learned a wide variety of home building and problem-solving skills. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, this foundation would follow me through my career and allow me to analyze challenges from a very process-oriented viewpoint. Additionally, the rich cultural diversity of the Big Island left me with a lifelong appreciation for people and their traditions from around the world.
I like to say my career has been a series of fortuitous events and hard work. I adopted the mantra of being able to out work my peers in my teens. While this mantra has its advantages, burnout was a very real challenge at times. However, it often allowed me to advance when opportunities opened. The key, as is with many things if life, was to find balance and synergy.
I begin my college career with the intention of earning an associate degree at the local University of Hawaii satellite campus and then moving on to electrical engineering and technology. In the process of signing up for some elective classes in the culinary department to fill credits, I was talked into joining the program which would “allow me to always have a job”. I can honestly say that this statement, told to me almost 30 years ago, still hold true to this day. This decision led to a complete shift in my direction but resulted in a successful and amazing 20 year career as a chef.
In 2009 I was on the hunt for a new challenge and applied to what I thought was a small Hyatt hotel. It turned out to be the senior living company that licensed the Hyatt name. This was my first introduction into a new area of the hospitality industry. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Hyatt which would be sold to Five Star Senior Living during my tenure. Just past my 4th year there I was recruited away to an actual hotel, Four Seasons Hotel and Resort at Las Colinas. It was an incredible experience and after four years I was recruited back into the senior living industry where I opened a flagship property as the Director of Hospitality overseeing a variety of departments. A year and a half into my position I was promoted to the Executive Director where I was challenged to navigate the multitude of new responsibilities and the pandemic simultaneously. Once again, at about my four year mark, I was recruited away to where I now preside as the Corporate Director of Operations at Forefront Living.
Forefront Living is the not-for-profit parent company of Presbyterian Village North, The Outlook at Windhaven, Faith Presbyterian Hospice, and The T. Boone Pickens Hospice and Palliative Care Center. These different entities provide a variety of services for the aging population from continuing care retirement communities to hospice services and beyond. The Forefront Foundation provides grief services and community support for the greater Dallas area. Forefront Living has a rich history dating back to the early 1960s. Its mission is “to make each moment matter for those we serve”. The stewardship and commitment to the community Forefront Living has was a big draw for me.
When asked what I do, I get to tell people “it’s a little bit of everything”. It’s an incredibly engaging and diverse position where I have the opportunity to apply the lessons learned throughout my career and the wisdom imparted on me by many of the incredible mentors that have touched my life. From designing and opening new communities to doing a departmental dep dive while helping individuals grow their career. Add in a constant list of projects that are ever changing and I rarely have a dull day.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
A few resources I highly recommend include:
The One Minute Manager Meets Monkey.
This book helps you understand the power of proper delegation and mentoring. It shows you the impact you can have by growing your staff effectively while taking your ego out of the equation.
The Little Book of Leadership.
This book his incredibly helpful for people to understand the nuances of leadership and how to navigate the difference between manager, mentor and motivator.
Stephen Covey’s 7 habits of highly effective people.
I took this as a course and it had an huge impact on prioritizing and organizing myself before looking outward to find solutions to challenges.
One additional item that was highly impactful early in my career was a course I took on Leading Across the Generations. I recommend that everyone find time to take a course or read about this topic. With an evolving workforce where people are staying employed longer, the age gap between employees is only broadening. Understanding what motivates individuals from different generations and how to manage them is vitally important.
One of the lessons that has been important for me to remember is an impactful book should not be read only once. As Stephen Covey states it’s important to sharpen the saw. You will find yourself forgetting what you read. You will also find that you connect with different sections of the content during your evolution as a leader. Go back and re-read impactful books. Ask yourself what do I still put in practice? What has fallen off? How do I keep my saw sharp?
Any advice for managing a team?
In my experience the keys to maintaining high team morale include:
Providing clear opportunities to a career growth path with clear expectations on how to get there.
Consistency with constant gentle pressure and outlets for creativity.
Positive but direct feedback with a good dose of humor.
Firm but fair leadership that is applied equally for all staff.
Putting individuals in situations that challenge them by placing them just outside their comfort zone with a strong safety net and confidence to fail.
An environment that allows individuals to provide honest feedback.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.forefrontliving.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forefrontliving/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forefrontliving
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/forefront-living/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKSyGJqAlNajFr6rJsxRFsg
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdrUBMEooiv5DJFLQiYwK_vzLkGhoExBd
Image Credits
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