Multifamily Leadership
Unlocking Leadership Success: How Body Language Influences Cognitive Outcomes in Multifamily
Photo by Jonas Kakaroto on Unsplash
The ancient maxim “Mind over matter” is well-known, but a compelling counterpart in leadership may be “Matter influences the mind.” While optimizing PropTech to create human-centric spaces, don’t forget to consider how something as simple as body language impacts your leadership style and the cognitive outcomes in your organization. It’s an extreme juxtaposition of ideas, but humans are not yet exiting the stage. Being present with your body language and that of others is important.
The Science of Body Language
The body’s posture speaks volumes. Amy Cuddy, a renowned social psychologist, has asserted that body language can influence other people’s perceptions and change our hormones and behavior. In her studies, she discusses the idea of “power poses,” wherein adopting open, expansive postures can increase testosterone levels and decrease cortisol, thus making you feel more confident and less stressed. In contrast, closed-off, contracted postures can have the opposite effects1.
The Multifamily Leadership Implications
Understanding this relationship is important, where decisions have an immediate and lasting impact on your team, customer, vendor partner, and property’s performance. Suppose you are perpetually in a “closed” posture, crossing your arms during discussions on important topics like PropTech innovations or human-centric strategies. In that case, you may inadvertently constrain your thinking, leading to less optimal solutions.
Open Body, Open Mind
On the other hand, adopting an “open” posture with arms at your sides or on the table in front of you promotes a more expansive mindset. This could be especially beneficial in the creative aspects of your work, such as devising new marketing strategies or rethinking the design of your multifamily spaces. It might even spur disruptive innovation by enabling you to think more freely and absorb diverse perspectives: an open posture leads to an open mind, thoughts, and ideas.
Tech-Enhanced Training
Interestingly, an emerging trend exists in utilizing Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies for body language training within leadership development. These tools can simulate real-life scenarios, allowing you to practice open postures in a risk-free environment and receive immediate feedback2.
Quick Adaptation: The Proactive Strategy
Adjusting your body language could be your new secret weapon for adjusting to market changes and unexpected situations. Depending on the situation’s context and cognitive demands, you can consciously alternate between “open” and “closed” postures.
For example, adopting a more closed posture during risk assessment phases can help focus your thinking, while shifting to an open posture during brainstorming sessions can promote innovation and collaboration. This dual approach equips you with broader cognitive tools to address diverse challenges ahead of us in the multifamily space and life in general.
Embracing the power of body language adds another layer to your leadership tool kit. Beyond your human-centric management techniques, your body can lead your brain to new ideas if you let it.
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Footnotes
- Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk on power poses can be found here. ↩
- A study discussing AR and VR technologies for body language training is available here. ↩
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Turning Weaknesses into Strengths: Leadership in the Multifamily Industry
Photo by Dulcey Lima on Unsplash
Leaders are under immense pressure today. As someone highly versed in the multifamily business, you’ve likely experienced the push to present an invincible façade. However, what if acknowledging shortcomings could build trust and yield substantial gains?
The Power of Vulnerability
Brene Brown, a well-known researcher, has established that vulnerability in leadership fosters trust and innovation. Trust is a critical asset in property management. When you are willing to identify and accept weaknesses, it encourages your team to be equally transparent. This, in turn, allows for quicker identification of issues that need resolution, and potential blind spots can be rectified before they escalate into costly mistakes.
From Weaknesses to Strengths
The counterintuitive approach of transforming weaknesses into strengths entails a two-step process. First, you acknowledge the flaw. Then, you redirect the energy and resources toward using that flaw as a unique opportunity for growth. Take, for example, an overly complex or complicated reporting system. Instead of sweeping it under the rug, acknowledge its shortcomings. Then, consider implementing AI-based analytical tools designed for the multifamily industry, such as REBA (full disclosure: RADCO Residential is a client of REBA), to simplify processes while yielding real-time, actionable insights. The key lies in utilizing technology to turn a problematic area into an asset that supports effective decision-making.
Leading through Innovation
Acknowledging weaknesses also opens the door for innovative solutions. Perhaps you’ve received feedback that resident engagement is lackluster. Instead of sidestepping the issue, consider adopting platforms like “Kingsley” (Also a client of Kingsley) that facilitate real-time communication between property managers and residents. Address the issue head-on by adopting technology that resolves the concern and positions your property as a leader in resident communication.
Elevate Your Team and Portfolio
Most importantly, acknowledging weaknesses sets the stage for a transformative leadership style called “adaptive leadership.” Adaptive leaders identify gaps and engage their teams in collaborative problem-solving, amplifying individual strengths and propelling the portfolio toward new heights. Consider platforms like “Teams” (RADCO Residential is a user of Microsoft Teams) that enhance team communication, fostering an environment where problems are collectively solved efficiently.
The real strength lies in acknowledging weaknesses and strategically redirecting focus to create unprecedented gains in the multifamily industry. It may not be the conventional approach, but it can unlock new dimensions of success for your portfolio, your team, and ultimately, yourself.
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Aligning Dominant Thoughts with High-Impact Actions for Multifamily Leadership
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The philosopher Napoleon Hill once observed, “A person’s actions are always in harmony with the dominating thoughts of his mind.” This principle isn’t just philosophy; it’s an actionable guideline that multifamily leaders and business professionals can implement to streamline decision-making and amplify productivity. Understanding the direct correlation between mental models and action is pivotal to tease out the human potential in your professional service firm.
Leveraging Cognitive Frameworks
It’s easy to view thoughts as abstract and inconsequential. However, when you apply Systems Thinking to your mental models, you quickly realize that your dominant thoughts dictate your reality. This alignment between cognition and behavior is critical in a high-stakes environment that demands human-centric leadership. I consider the present-day business climate high-stakes. Consider, for instance, PropTech investments. A forward-thinking approach focused on innovation shapes decisions in choosing emerging technologies. And, this might make all the difference between keeping or losing an assignment.
The Mind-Action Dichotomy in Decision Making
High-level decision-making combines data analytics, intuition, and a deep market understanding. When your mind is calibrated towards a particular goal—leveraging RentTech to optimize revenue streams—your decisions naturally follow that directive. It’s essential to ensure your team shares a similar mental calibration. This will instigate a cascading effect, aligning individual actions to collective goals.
Contrarian Ideas as Cognitive Catalysts
Being a thought leader in the multifamily space means occasionally embracing contrarian viewpoints. Here’s a provocative idea: What if traditional multifamily management metrics, such as occupancy rates, are less effective in a digitized, customer-centric market? Allowing this contrarian idea to dominate your thoughts opens the door for disruptive strategies, like AI-driven predictive analytics or decentralized finance options.
Cultivating Leadership Resilience
The multifamily industry’s constant flux of changes, from market trends to global disruptions (Read: Pandemic), can breed anxiety. Leadership resilience begins in the mind. By fostering a resilient mindset rooted in empirical evidence and logical arguments, you build a buffer against external disruption. This resilience manifests as agile strategies and proactive solutions, something an analytical yet visionary mind can conceive.
Actualizing Thought into Reality
The synergy of dominant thoughts and actions is not a one-time event but an ongoing process. It might entail regular mental audits facilitated by tools like the OODA Loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act), or sophisticated AI-based sentiment analysis to gauge collective attitudes within your firm.
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Navigating Chaos: How Multifamily Leaders Maintain Progress Amidst Daily Whirlwind
Photo by Angel Luciano on Unsplash
Multifamily is a complex business that doesn’t afford leaders the luxury of one-dimensional focus. As someone who’s an expert in the field, you know that juggling team member engagement, resident satisfaction, property management, financial objectives, and owner’s expectations can seem like an unending whirlwind of urgent but not necessarily important activities. This whirlwind is the chief obstacle to sustaining progress toward long-term, value-driven goals in the business.
The Whirlwind: A Double-edged Sword
Chaos isn’t intrinsically bad; it’s essential for the daily functioning of the business. Resident issues, service/maintenance, and any immediate needs are unavoidable tasks. However, this chaos becomes a hurdle when it devours the time and resources necessary for strategic goals. The solution isn’t to eliminate the whirlwind but to navigate it skillfully.
Prioritization Matrix: Eisenhower’s Legacy to Leadership
The Eisenhower Matrix can be a potent tool for such navigation. This matrix separates tasks into four quadrants based on urgency and importance. By categorizing tasks, you can visually separate what needs immediate attention from what requires deliberate focus but isn’t pressing. One could leverage automation tools or delegate tasks under “urgent but not important,” liberating more time and mental space for goal-centric activities. Innovative tools like Asana or Trello tailored for real estate can be a game-changer. Item of note for any app: using the app is a job in and of itself. The key is discipline.
The Hoshin Kanri Approach: A Japanese Marvel
Another method to consider is the Hoshin Kanri planning, which originated in Japan and is used to cascade the company vision down to every employee’s tasks. It allows for macro and micro adjustments, ensuring everyone is aligned with the long-term goals while still meeting short-term objectives. Software like WorkBoard or Perdoo can help you implement Hoshin Kanri efficiently.
Tactical Sprints: Borrowing from Agile Methodologies
For businesses committed to frequent recalibration, introducing tactical sprints could be invaluable. Borrowed from Agile methodologies, these are short, intense periods focused on one or two strategic objectives. The purpose is to generate quick, measurable progress, followed by a brief period for review and adjustment. This approach is particularly beneficial when dealing with new market variables or unexpected fluctuations in tenant behavior. Despite being better suited for software development, I have seen this successfully applied in the multifamily space.
Decision-making: Using Bayesian Reasoning
For those deeply vested in data-driven approaches, Bayesian reasoning can offer unique insights. This method considers prior data and evidence to adjust the probability of a hypothesis as more information becomes available. Such adaptive decision-making can be extremely beneficial when setting or adjusting goals amidst the whirlwind.
In summary, chaos may be unavoidable in the ever-changing world of multifamily, but it doesn’t have to result in derailment from your long-term strategic goals. Consider the tools above to skillfully navigate chaos while remaining focused on what you truly value.
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Visionary Leadership: Transforming Multifamily Through Imagination
Photo by J. Balla Photography on Unsplash
Leaders in the multifamily industry must look beyond spreadsheets and ROI metrics to shape a prosperous future. The next frontier of leadership isn’t just about bottom lines; it’s about using imagination as a catalyst for groundbreaking ideas and solutions. This transformative approach to management can usher your organization into an era of innovation, giving you a competitive edge.
The Power of Imagination
You may wonder, “How can imagination benefit a spreadsheet industry?” Imagination liberates us from the confines of existing models and formulas. It allows for ‘blue ocean‘ strategies that bypass competition and create new markets. For example, envision an entirely new living experience instead of merely upgrading amenities. Could modular architecture or smart home ecosystems be your next differentiator?
Technology: A Double-Edged Sword
While technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) present unprecedented opportunities, they also introduce challenges. Fostering a culture of continuous learning ensures your team remains agile and adaptable. But consider going further—what if you were to create a proprietary technology? Companies like Sidewalk Labs are venturing into smart city projects; why can’t your enterprise explore a similar trajectory?
Risk and Reward: Embrace the Unorthodox
Traditional risk management might dissuade the exploration of untested waters. However, imagine the possibilities if risk was viewed not as a hurdle but as a necessity for innovation. Companies such as Tesla initially faced skepticism but have reshaped entire industries. While caution is prudent, embracing calculated risks can pave the way for unparalleled success. Dabble in real estate tokenization or crowdfunded investments as unconventional yet potentially rewarding avenues. *Not investment advice as I’m not a licensed investment advisor, nor do I play one on the internet!”
Culture of Imagination
Establishing a culture that values imagination is crucial. Creative brainstorming sessions, inter-departmental collaborations, and partnerships with academic institutions can be excellent strategies. Offering ‘innovation sabbaticals,’ where employees dedicate time to dreams and schemes, may produce revolutionary ideas.
ROI of Imagination
It’s vital to quantify the impact of your imaginative strategies. Beyond the standard KPIs, consider adding new metrics like “Innovation Rate” or “Adoption Velocity” to your dashboards. These can highlight the tangible benefits of your creative endeavors, securing stakeholder buy-in for future projects.
Harnessing the transformative power of imagination isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity. As a leader in the multifamily industry, it’s time to break free from the conventional and sail into the uncharted territories of your imagination.
Notes:
- Blue Ocean Strategy is a business model focusing on creating new markets rather than competing in existing ones. This can be particularly useful for forward-thinking leaders.
- Real estate tokenization refers to converting property into digital assets via blockchain. It’s an emerging trend that can democratize investments and create liquidity.
- Sidewalk Labs, a Google-affiliated company, has been pioneering smart city projects. Although it may seem unrelated to the multifamily industry, the underlying technologies and visions have relevant implications.
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