A property manager whose day is entirely determined by whoever calls first.
Reactive leadership feels like responsiveness; it’s actually the absence of strategy.
The leader who spends the entire day responding to what arrives is not managing the operation. The operation is managing them, and every team member and resident with access to their attention knows it.
Reactive leadership in multifamily produces properties that are always behind, always catching up, and always slightly worse than they could be because no one in the building ever thinks three weeks ahead.
The shift from reactive to proactive leadership is not a time management problem. It is a priority clarity problem, and it begins with the leader deciding what the day is for before the day decides for them.
Whoever called first determined her day. By noon, the most important work was untouched. By the end of the day, she was exhausted and behind. By the end of the quarter, the property reflected every day that looked exactly like that one.
The reactive leader is always busy and never ahead. Those are not the same thing. — Mike Brewer
What percentage of your workday last week was determined by your priorities versus someone else’s urgency, and is that ratio acceptable for the role you are trying to play?