apartment leadership
Pick Me Pick Me
I have one for you – always pick yourself when it comes time to make something happen.
I think it is human nature for us to wait for someone to pick us. We wait around thinking that all that hard work we are doing will pay off in the way of more responsibility and more money. Dare I say, it borders on entitlement. We think that someone is taking special time out of their day to check out all the blood sweat and tears that we are giving to the organization.
Hear me on this – Not So.
Pick Yourself
There is an art about advancing yourself in the business world. That art does not include the pick me syndrome. It’s two parts hard work, three parts maneuvering, one part politicking and four parts pure unadulterated art. Art in the way of taking educated but unauthorized risks. Not the bet the farm type – although don’t rule those out. No – I am talking about the self-initiated projects that everyone knows needs to get done but no one else is willing to step up and do. Such as:
Setting up a blog
Setting up a Facebook page
Setting up a Twitter account
Challenging out-of-place legacy policy and procedures
Organizing a North County Leasing Consultant Summit
Learning everything about your local utility subsidies and applying it to your property
Starting a leadership book club for your fellow property managers
Pick Yourself Today
What are you going to start?
Your always looking for a good story to tell multifamily maniac,
M
Busy Work
Stop the busy work and start the work that matters.
I have unsubscribed from roughly 25 newsletters and blogs over the last 6 days. All in the name of streamlining and simplifying. How did I do it? I don’t give myself the time to second guess any of the unsubscribes. I ask one question – when is the last time I read one of these. Not just the headline. I mean really took the time to click on a link a read the post from start to finish. If the answer is more than a month or so – unsubscribe.
On the other side of that – I have become relentless on new subscriptions. Relentless such that I have decided not to subscribe to anything in 2013. And, if the next hot platform is not beating me over the head with some serious social pressure from my oft relied upon G+ apartment maniac circle – then I won’t sign up.
What will I be doing instead?
Working on my Apartment Business
Your relentlessly working on the business multifamily maniac,
M
A Little Bit of Play Keeps The Madness Away
Sure, most of the time it’s about the residents and the hopefully-soon-to-be residents, but sometimes it needs to be about us (you know, us…the ones who work hard daily to keep the residents happy and the property running smoothly).
Sometimes it’s important to focus on the team. Whether it be personal bonding, a special event, or special recognition, taking a little time out for play during a tough month, week or even day, is a necessity. Over the past couple of months, I’ve heard stories or witnessed events or pictures of events that describe what I’m referring to:
- Recently, one of our properties accomplished a great task, and instead of just a pat on the back, congratulatory e-mail or extra bonus, they got a unique gift: Dunk the Owners Day. The owners and President of Mills Properties designated a day, came out dressed in goofy swimwear and each took their turn being dunked by the team members . It was a unique, special, once-in-a-lifetime day for the whole team, and just what they needed after months of hard work.
- Another story I heard doesn’t have to do with taking the time out to recognize an accomplishment, rather, just taking the time out. One of our office teams designated the newly popular song Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen as dance party time. Every time the song comes on in the office, they stop what they are doing and have a quick dance party. A quick couple of minutes to let loose, smile and re-energize. Great for bonding and taking some time out to focus on the team.
Still another example is a property who extravagantly celebrates their teams’ birthdays (extravagant for what you would typically see in a business office at least). There are balloons, confetti, flowers, gifts, and pictures. Pictures that go up on the property’s Facebook page that then give the associate extra recognition from other property’s team members and residents. And we all love getting a little acknowledgement on our birthday so it becomes an extra special birthday for them. It almost makes you want to come to work on your birthday.
I love their ideas and creativity and I think these types of events and celebrations are a necessity in every business. I was recently given the task of assisting with budgets. My responsibility is the Marketing/Advertising section. You know – the Outreach Marketing, Newspaper & Internet Advertising, Resident Events/Promotions lines. I haven’t examined the entire budget line by line, but I haven’t noticed a line item for Employee Events/Recognition anywhere yet. Maybe it’s because it’s called something else. Or maybe because it’s not there…but I think it should be.
Not all of the events cost something (like the sporadic dance parties), but sometimes they do, and I don’t think it should be the responsibility of the team members to provide special employee recognition/”play time” every now and then. I think if there were a budget for it, we would see more of it, and in my opinion, it would lead to more team bonding, more motivation, more employee satisfaction, less turnover and a more smoothly run property.
Do you agree?
Obvious Belief in your Apartment Community
This is a shout out to all of you hard-working, trust gathering, relationship building conversationalist apartment leasing people. It seems obvious that you are the people who put the heads on beds in apartments all over the country every single day of the week. You come in early, stay late and do whatever it takes to get the job done. You are the difference that makes a difference when it comes to leasing and selling an apartment. And, what is that thing? What is ‘that thing’ that makes the difference? It’s an obvious belief in three things.
Obvious Belief in your Apartment Community
Nothing novel here. You have to believe in the apartment you are selling. Now you might ask, what if I am selling a C class apartment in a C location; that is different, right? No. It’s no different and my suggestion is that if you can’t believe in it – move on. As I see it, you are cheating three people out what they deserve if you stick around. You are cheating yourself as you will never be happy. You are cheating the company as you will never give them 100% of what you are capable of. And, worst of all, you are cheating the people who are really interested in leasing an apartment from you. Key: Get an Obvious belief in your apartment community.
Obvious Belief in your Neighborhood
Tell them how much you are moved by the neighborhood. People want to know what there is to do around where they live. They not only want to know which pub serves the coldest cold one; they also want to know the name of best bar tender. They not only want to know the best restaurant; they want to know the name of the best server and the chef. They want to know the name of the cleaner that gives top-notch service. They want to know the name of the intake specialist at the local elementary school. Do you want to differentiate yourself? Key: Get out and learn anything and everything you can about the people who give personality to your neighborhood.
Obvious Belief in Yourself
It’s people who make all the difference in this world. It’s YOU. It’s ME. It’s our friends, family, neighbors and those we would do business with. Key: You have to be comfortable in your own skin. Confident in your convictions. Convinced by your actions. And, Courageous in your opportunities. It is possible to fake it over a near term but over time even the best placed guards crumble. Be real and be real good. It is then that selling your apartment community, the neighborhood that surrounds it and you come across as an authentic need to serve the needs of others. And, that my friends sells all day long…
Your – believing in you – multifamily manic,
M
Multifamily Monday: Empathetic Listening
I love Monday – one of my favorite days of he week.
Today, we are doing a down and dirty lesson on empathetic listening or a fancy way of saying – pay attention. Empathetic listen is active listening or seeking first to understand and then to be understood. The goal being two-fold – listen on an emotional level as well as a cognitive level. In other words you aim to get a sense of how they feel and what they are thinking. And, remember empathy is not sympathy. Empathy speaks from experience; sympathy is there in support of.
Two Questions – Going Deep
When communicating with any one of your apartment residents over any issue, good or bad, use the following two questions to go deeper. If they are in your office complaining about a leaky faucet for the third time this week [and, presupposing you have experienced a persistent leaking faucet in your lifetime], stop and listen. Once they are done talking ask, “how does that make you feel. Or, suggest, “I can imagine that makes feel very frustrated or angry.
It seems obvious but many times, in our haste to get the cranky people out of our office, we don’t take time to validate their feelings. Guess what, that makes a person even more frustrated or angry. All that most people are after is an outlet to vent their anger, frustration or the such and they want the problem fixed. That is where the second question comes in. It is more cognitive in nature.
At the end of understanding their emotion; repeat the reason for the anger or frustration; “I see Mr. Ineedamyfaucetfixed; this is the third time this week you have been in to report your leaky faucet. Our service person has been over two times and still you have a leaky faucet. It bugs you because you are a light sleeper and the persistent drip against the aluminum sink keeps you up. And, you don’t think you should have to put a cup or a rag under the drip to soften the sound. You just want it fixed.”
Your – seeking first to understand – multifamily maniac,
M
