apartment leadership
Multifamily Monday: Empathy – Care
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” – Origin not 100% known.
Empathy – Care
Empathy can be defined as having the ability to relate. For example, if you are speaking to someone who lives in your apartment community about their son’s soccer game over the weekend and you have a son that plays soccer – you can empathize. And, empathy is the perfect foundation for caring.
If you can empathize – you can care. And, when you care people will respond.
Take the time today to reach out and initiate some conversation. Be it with people you work with and for or with the people who you serve and that serve you in return.
Don’t accept the canned answers and don’t ask canned questions. Let the weather take care of itself. That is the easy stuff.
Ask deeper questions and if your weekend sucked – say so. Don’t be surprised if your audience can relate.
Your – caring to empathize – multifamily maniac,
M
My Boss is Killing Me
Make note of everything you hate about the ledership style of your current boss and commit to never doing any of it when you have the chance to seize your opportunity to lead. – Tom Peters Paraphrase
It doesn’t necessarily mean that they are bad people but every property management professional has come home professing; “My bosss is killling me!” We have all been on the downside of that kind of environment/culture. And, there is more truth in that statment than you might realize. Their is a literal mountain of research on the subject of negativity and it’s effect on workplace productivity. Chief reasons being: ill health, lack of moral, tardiness/absenteeism, motivation, wherewithal or outright spite. It’s just a fact; working for a bad leader [Read: Bully] just sucks. Pardon the slang.
There is Hope Out There
I recall many an instance in my journey through the leadership ranks where I preceived my supervisor/boss [I really have a distaste for both of those words as I see leadership/work as a collaborative concept not an up down or up down concept] to be an absolute debbie downer. And, under alternative circumstances I might have caved to the pressure and walked or worse yet undermined his authority in a spiteful way.
Tom Peters Rocks The Apartment World
Enter Tom Peters – I am a raging fan of TP and all of his exclamation point advice. Chief among it the advice that lead this post. Twelve years ago I vowed never to lead people the way I was being lead at that time in my career. That is not to suggest that I have not taken my lumps over the years but rather to say that it has worked in large part. The premise being creating a postive work environment that people cherish and rave about. Knowing that people want to be a part of something bigger than self and working to align that with their personal motives. Understanding that the chief reason for the existence of business organizations is to support the poeple that support it.
Interrupting our Regularly Scheduled Program
I’ve been through a tough season as of late; just crushed by the weight of budget season, one of our RM’s leaving, the search for a replacement and trying to run a business. I am coming out of it now brusied, scathed and inspired. Inspired by a greeat boss/supervisor – [Read: one who gets it].
As such I am reaching back to the roots of my inspirations – books, speeches, inspiring videos, letters, cards and gifts from those who have moved me and those I have moved. And, I am pumped.
All that to say that I am going to do my best to create a Monday Morning Minute that rocks your socks. Or, more realistically put, something that gives you pause for thought and inspiration to give some feedback in the comment seciton below.
Let’s smash 2012 and create some stuff that puts a dent in the multifamily universe.
Thanks for reading and have a compelling week! [That exclamation point is my paying hommage to TP].
Your getting back to inspiring multifamily maniac,
M
Multifamily #Trust30: A Call to Arms
Day 24 of the #trust30 challenge – it’s a big one!
The secret of fortune is joy in our hands. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
What if today, right now, no jokes at all, you were actually in charge, the boss, the Head Honcho. Write the “call to arms” note you’re sending to everyone (staff, customers, suppliers, Board) charting the path ahead for the next 12 months and the next 5 years. Now take this manifesto, print it out somewhere you can see, preferably in big letters you can read from your chair…
(Author: Sasha Dichter)
I kind of feel like Jerry McGuire right about now.
I can’t help but to call upon the great Tom Peters for this exercise. Back in 2006 I drew from Tom’s: The PSF is Everything! Manifesto to re-imagine the way we did business in Portland. I had just inherited the Regional Manager role where I was responsible for managing fourteen properties consisting of over 5000 units spread over five sub-markets. It was a daunting task and I had no illusions that I could run the deal by myself. I knew it would take the collective efforts of our 100+ people as lead by eleven site managers. It was a bonus that they were the best in business.
If given the charge today to chart the course for the next 12 months and beyond; I would break it down just like we did back in 2006.
- Enhance Work & The Legacy
- Enhance Firm & The Brand
- Enhance Employee Commitments
- Enhance Resident Commitments
I would assign our top talent to each of these four over-riding areas. The task? To Develop the next generation of Mills Properties. It would be on each team [with as little guidance as possible] to come up with amazing over the top and executable strategies to create excellence.
Enhance Work & The Legacy
People want to be a part of something bigger than self. And, it all starts inside with the innate need to move character. It starts with a
company that is convinced that organizations are put in place to serve the people that serve it. It stars with mission, vision, strategy and values. As such we would take action on the following:
- Get a crystal clear point of view
- Create a dramatic difference
- Create a culture where ‘Stretch is Routine’
- Create a culture of ‘Game-Changer’ – WOW Projects
- Work only with ‘Playful Clients’ – Life and Business is Too Short to work with Jerks
- We would get obsessed with LEGACY
- We would part ways with anyone who says ‘apartments are commodities’
- We would never shy away from ‘Radical’
Enhance Firm & The Brand
- We would define what it means to make our business ‘cool’
- We would recruit the absolute best talent
- Integrity would rule the day
- Execution would rule the seconds, minutes and hours
- We would create a ‘Swarm Team’ as a way to support
- R&D would get front and center attention
- We will own the relevant Saint Louis digital frontier
- We will aim to be no less than a ‘LOVEMARK’
- Passion would be the guiding principle
Enhance Employee Commitments
- Our talent would breed talent – FANATICS
- We would hire peculiar
- We would manufacture Early Opportunities for new Talent
- They will rise up or be out
- We will make way for YOUTH
- We will get committed to Renewing our CURRENT base of Talent
- We will get obsessed with MENTORING
- Everyone is a leader
- Bring in the Best in Breed
- INTEGRITY with everyone
Enhance Resident Commitments
- We will invite our residents in as partners
- We will draw in only the best vendors to Serve our residents
- Have residents claim that working with US is THE BEST EVER
- Implement Implement Implement
- Our Chief AIM? Resident’s assist in creating CULTURE
- The measure? Did we make a Dramatic, Game-Changing Difference? Will they tell a friend, family member or co-worker about us?
That’s it! That would be my framework for the next twelve months. After that year we would go on an EXECUTION and IMPLEMENTATION QUEST! It would be a No Holds Barred Journey into Compelling, Over the Top, Amazing and downright Stunning Achievement!
Your always striving contributor,
M
Pics tip to Blogging Pro
Multifamily Leadership: Reward the Doers
Execution and results are the name of the game in any and all business. Be it for profit or not for profit, getting things done that most positively effect the outcome is the chief aim. And, there are several ways to make sure your multifamily business is achieving results. There is the almighty stick and the ever enticing carrot. Threats and rewards. For the sake of this post and the continuation of this leadership series let us focus on reward.
Multifamily Doers
What is a doer? I heard a saying one time that went something like this; I would rather catch a tiger by the tail than have to light a fire under an
elephant’s ass. It speaks loudly in the way of defining a doer. Doer’s get things done. They move mountains. They find ways that others never even dream about much less think about. They never let a day go by without making meaningful progress toward their goals and aspirations. And, doers get rewarded.
Three Suggestions
1. Measure what you expect and reward what you measure
2. Reward the doers far in excess of the status quo – exaggerated and excessively reward the doers
3. Promote those that get things done – quickly
Multifamily #Trust30: Right Now
Day 7 of the #Trust30 challenge – and, today is a challenge! Whoa!
What is burning deep inside of you? If you could spread your personal message RIGHT NOW to 1 million people, what would you say? (Author: Eric Handler)
It’s All About Choice
The message is something to this effect – the difference between that which you are and that which you want to be is the sliver of a space between stimulus and response – you are what you ‘choose’ to be and you can be what you want to be by choosing differently.
How would you answer the question above?
Your lovin’ the #trust30 challenge contributor,
M
