apartment leadership
Influence: That resident in 205 is such a….
Over the course of the last two weeks I have picked up coffee at two different Starbucks locations in Saint Louis, Missouri. On one occasion I sipped my freshly poured coffee and listened to a Barista belittle management over a time clock issue. It quickly struck me that there was a total ill regard for those who were in ear shot of the conversation. It was as if the customers in the room were deaf to her words, somehow shielded by an invisible sound deadening shroud.
No less than three days later I sipped coffee and listened as three Barista’s took turns making fun of various customers that had made their way in over the course of the day. As each story ended and the next began, the Baristas seemed to take on an almost perversive sense of pride in their topping of one another. It ended only when a customer entered the door and made their way to the counter to make an order. It really took me aback and in the same respect, it gave me recall to times when I sat on-site and poked fun at residents. Many times with frustration over events that just transpired.
The worst instance happened while working in San Francisco back in the early 2000’s. It was right around the time that the dot.com bubble burst. The fall out drove two bedroom apartment rents from $4100 a month to $1750 nearly overnight. It was mayhem. My days consisted of back to back one to two hour meetings with existing lease holders who were locked in to twelve month leases paying top market rate. All looking to negotiate a rate reflective of the street. Or, in many cases looking to get out altogether. Somewhere in month three I encountered a resident who not only tested my every nerve with personal jabs and barbs but managed to get me over the edge. I stood my ground, prevailed and puffed my chest as she stormed out of the office in defeat. I turned to make my way back to my office and piped up with “that resident in 205 is a real…,” – the about the time I was going to drop the adjective of all adjectives, I hear [in a voice so familiar it make the hair on the back of my neck stand to attention] – “careful.”
It was the resident. She made her way back into the office to, of all things, apologize for her behavior. I will say, if not by her grace or the one who governs the universe, I would have been toast that day. And, these were the days prior to Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin…
Takeaway: Influence has a new name: Always On! Be Mindful of your surroundings as you are always influencing [Starbucks Barista’s – if I didn’t like the coffee so much, I would move to Panera] – if you would not want it repeated as front page news – it’s likely best left unsaid.
Quote for Property Managers
I love quotes – every now and then I like to share the ones that really move me and I think that will move you too –
Business has been crazy as of late and the blog has been left to suffer. Not good for a number of reasons and in the same respect I appreciate the time to focus. That being said, thank you for the various emails some of you have sent questioning the next post. In some ways – it’s a good precursor to the quote I want to share.
“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” -M. Scott Peck
Could I take that one step further in the way of being a leader in the Property Management Space?
Until you value your time you won’t value the time of others either.
Being on time is huge in the eyes of others – if you make the commitment – be there.
What are you doing with your time as it relates to others?
Property Management Company: Cause
It seems to me that Property Management Companies are in essence Professional Service Firms. The chief objectives are to maximize the physical and fiscal performance of a real estate asset for institutional and or private owners. But are they really called to be and do more?
Property Management Company: Cause
I received an email not long ago asking a question along the lines of finding a cause for a firm – in an email exchange I penned the following:
I see a cause as being something bigger than self or team. To me – it’s audacious in nature. And, it has nothing to do with selling more stuff but everything to do with building individual and organizational character as a way of changing the world. I don’t use – changing the world – in jest. It is the only premise with which to build an organization. In my head organizations are built to serve the people that serve it – period. That is first and foremost. If built right all else will fall into place. An organization that focuses on building character will see that character exercised in the way of success on every level with every metric.
I think Emerson said it best when he penned the following:
“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children…to leave the world a better place…to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
Capture that in the way of a cause that lays over your companies mission, vision, strategy and goals that help to execute as much and you have something people can believe in. You will have found something that people can get out of bed in the morning for – you can change the lives of hundreds if not thousands and as a default – you will create wealth beyond your imagination and more important – the imaginations of those that are served by the organization. They will have lived what Emerson had in mind – all because you made a decision to offer up a worthy cause.
Do you have a cause? What is it? Why do you think it is important?
Apartment Marketing: Mills Social Media Principles
Mills Properties is making a thoughtful integration of social media principles into their Get Social with Mills Initiative. And, in doing so we decided to craft a document of social media principles for our apartment management company as a whole using thoughts, ideas and original works from in and outside of the industry.
Social Media Principles for Apartments
The four companies we have elected to draw from are:
There are hundreds of examples out there to choose from if you are thinking of writing your own. I can’t tell you that we used some magic formula to pick the companies we did. That is with the exception of JC Hart – we know Mark Juleen and admire the efforts he and his team have put together in executing a great strategy. With that, we also look forward to feedback along the way as we believe that there is no perfect science to the process.
If you have a set of Social Media Principles for your organization and wish to share – link it up down in the comments. We would love to read them.
Have a great weekend –
Apartment Talent: The Price of Waiting
Hey there! Nice to meet YOU! This post is for those of you that serve on the stages of our industry. That is to suggest the leasing, assistant managers and property managers out there. I like what Seth had to say on his blog a couple of days ago about waiting for validation – here is an excerpt:
If you’re waiting for a boss or an editor or a college to tell you that you do good work, you’re handing over too much power to someone who doesn’t care nearly as much as you do.
Keep Cool Keep Control
Some time back, I attended a group counseling session that described it this way, when you lose control, it’s like you have a string attached to your heart and you give the prompter the string and you allow him or her to pull that string at will. In other words you give up the very control that was given to you on the day you loudly pronounced your place on earth. It’s frankly a travesty of monumental proportions. It’s not unlike that in business – be it sales, marketing, finance, transaction, operations or the such. You cede control under the guise of waiting for validation and you cede control of your future.
Relating it back to Seth’s post and also to caring about what you do in the apartment space – beat your own best self everyday of the week. Remind yourself daily that no one will challenge you more than you will challenge yourself. No one person or thing has control over you unless you cede it to them. There are so many opportunities to build Your Personal Brand today – so many ways to take control of Your Future –
Using Social Media to Market Apartments – Ripe with Opportunities
For all intents and purposes – new media in it’s concerns with marketing apartment homes is in its infancy. It’s the perfect space to join in the conversation. Blogs not unlike this one are the perfect place to; come and observe – start to participate – use for a catalyst to start your own blog and reference back to now and again once you are up and running. Rest on this notion – not even the best of the best in this space know where the platforms and mechanisms will be two to four years from now. It’s any one’s best guess at this point. In spite of that they keep innovating – they keep plugging away – steady trying, refining and trying again. You can too. It’s the way Brand You is made. The alternative – the price of waiting? – Your Future.
What are you going to do today?
