19/06/2025

Portrait of a leader: discover the inspiring story of Nataly Savoie

« In the media » Summer 2025 : L’Adresse RQRA (Regroupement québécois des résidences pour aînés)

How do you define the success of a good leader?

A good leader is someone who knows how to surround himself or herself with people who share the company’s values, and who is genuinely motivated.

A good leader must also have a broad vision, and ensure that his or her industry progresses as a whole. Someone who will sometimes forget himself, so that the whole group can stand out, and who continues to do good. A good leader’s success must always be bigger than himself. He doesn’t just reach the objectives, he surpasses them, and his goals have a positive impact on people, life, and society. A good leader doesn’t just pass through; his or her success is also defined by established perennity and dedication.

What’s the most difficult decision you’ve made in your career?

Building a team and welcoming people into the family, into the team, is an incredible joy, but the flip side is the most difficult thing for a manager. Having to cut ties (for various reasons) with people who have chosen us and whom we have chosen is always difficult and sad.

The other element is not a decision, but a difficulty specific to our industry that we don’t talk about enough : having to get used to the fact that we regularly lose people who are part of our family, residents who have been part of our big family, part of our daily life for years and who, unfortunately, fade away…. It’s a natural thing, but a very difficult thing to come to terms with, and we have to keep our heads high, strong for the people around us, while positively mobilizing our teams so that we can function well.

What are the main qualities you look for in your team members and the people around you?

The most important quality we look for in any position is the love of the elderly. In our company, this has been a requirement for almost 40 years, and you’ll find it in all our job offers. Why is that? Because if the people we select love seniors, they will be attentive to our residents : patient, good listeners, kind and respectful. The point is, that way, our employees won’t tolerate for the residents what they wouldn’t accept for their own relatives.

Of course, there’s also their skills in the various fields of activity for which they are recruited. And finally, another essential requirement is honesty (I’d add : the courage to say when something isn’t working, to maximize the team’s work force and energy). In a service industry like ours, no matter how human and compassionate they might be, you need good people, good-hearted people. As we all know, it really is a vocation.

What importance do you give to the mission, the values, or to the business vision?

Beyond the mission and the vision, to us there has always been the purpose (why we exist and what our contribution to society is). But on a daily basis, it’s the family values we stand for that guide every day and every decision, shaping the lives of thousands of people. We like to keep things simple and concrete.

As an entrepreneur and a family, it’s also instinctive to regularly remind ourselves: how we got here, why we’re here, and how we’re going to continue on this path, sharing our values so that our residents can always benefit from what we do. With three generations of our family already involved, and the next generation assured, perenniality is our pillar of trust, hope, pride, and success.

We’ve always preached by example, and we hope to continue inspiring other family businesses, the young generations, and other Quebecers to build and maintain the wealth we create here.

When you work with and for so many people, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to be perfect. We don’t just deal with the customer on a daily basis : we live and work with all our residents, as well as all their families and loved ones, our employees, and their families. That’s a lot of people!

What motivates you to continue and improve as a leader?

What motivates me to keep improving, somewhat selfishly, is the conviction that everything we do, all the good we accomplish today with our teams, it’s also for our loved ones : those dear to us who live and work in our residences; and even for ourselves, when our time comes. In doing so, we are shaping the present of those we cherish, our own future, and that of our successors and children.

It’s also a source of pride and a constant effort to ensure that seniors living with a minimum income can live in the extraordinary places we’re building, which are fully secure, complete, dynamic, and evolutionary. I say extraordinary because it’s no longer like it was a few decades ago, it’s no longer a punishment to go into a residence, the younger generations can’t wait to get there.

Continuing to improve people’s lives is very motivating. When I walk through our Residences, the abundance of people thanking us, the moments full of recognition and gratitude, it’s the most motivating energy there is.

Of course, there are challenges in our industry; all the regulations, the ever-increasing costs, these are obstacles to overcome in order to continue to offer quality, affordable services to our senior citizens. And for the industry, we’ve always said that smaller residences are necessary; it’s sad to see, for instance, so many closures. The diversity of residence models and small local and regional environments must be preserved to meet the needs of the entire population.

What have been the hardest knocks in your career that have helped you grow?

I have been blessed enough to come from a business family, one that is inclusive, innovative, and courageous. So we manage and live quite well with the risks and their potential repercussions. We’re also naturally positive people, so it’s a great combination of fundamental elements that explains why we don’t see anything as a hard blow, but always as an opportunity to learn and improve. We trust each other, we always give ourselves the chance to try, to adjust, and we support and endorse each other. Within our family and philosophy, you’ll often hear these two phrases: “You don’t make mistakes if you don’t try anything” and “Just because nobody’s ever done it, doesn’t mean it can’t be done”!

Being a family in business is a big advantage, when you’re able to keep things in perspective. It allows us to invest a lot more. On a day-to-day basis, we have the chance to rub shoulders with each other : we have an invaluable closeness, we understand each other, complement each other and challenge each other, while maintaining a balance. The fact, also, that our spouses work in other sectors has probably helped to maintain a certain balance.

We’re all passionate workers, and we surround ourselves with competent people, which gives us a broader, more enlightened vision.

In addition to all the management experiences within Les Résidences Soleil that have enabled me to grow, our many companies under the Groupe Savoie and the Savoie Family umbrella are also constant sources of experiences, learnings, and evolutions.

If you had one piece of advice to give to a young future leader, what would it be?

My first piece of advice to a young future leader would be to know your own values, and make sure you have ethical human values, if not to re-examine yourself.

Then, I’d tell him that succeeding professionally isn’t just a financial matter, so you really have to take the time to find out where you’re good at. You can feel it, because generally speaking, you become convinced that you’re in a place where you can, and want, to invest yourself passionately, where you have no desire to count the hours, where you want to be generous, and where you have self-confidence.

Finally, I’d advise him to make sure he has true self-confidence, if not to work on it as a priority, because you can’t ask people to trust you if you don’t trust yourself. And of course, to be an excellent leader you have to be passionate, persevering, a good person, able to take the necessary steps to make a difference in the company, for people and for society, be useful, do good and have a perennial vision.

And remember that being a good leader means knowing how to surround yourself with the right people!