Are you your teams quarterback? (As a leader)

Great leadership is admired by many, especially those that are being led!  As a leader you are in some aspects their quarterback.  From a team standpoint most football teams would admit the quarterback is the person they look to in taking them to a championship and a winning environment.  While it takes a combination of talents at all the positions to win a Superbowl, you will never win if you don't score.  Another important part is having the right players in the right positions, and this is no different for a property management leader.  Your assistant manager is like the front linemen.  Protecting the quarterback, being observant, and holding the line.  Your leasing specialists are the wide receivers and runners.  They carry the ball in for the score or the lease.  Your service technicians are the defense, making sure things are going well and the position on the field is well maintained.  Your marketing specialists is the coach in the booth looking down on the team, helping them call the next play and seeing what the other team is doing. Then you have the regional manager or coach, the person who helps develop each persons skills and encourages the team in reaching the next level.  We also need to remember success is not usually found in just one play, one quarter, or one inning.  Success does not come in an event, but in the process over time whether it be four quarters or four weeks.

As a leader in property management you call the plays, read the opposition, change the play if necessary, set the cadence, make sure the hand-off''s are clean, and the passes are accurate.  They are also there to encourage, excite, empower, and educate the other team members from a motivational standpoint.  A great quarterback knows how to do these things, just as you as a leader must be proficient at these skills as well.  Do you occasionally "huddle" with your team to help them see the plays or goals?  Let's look at the how you as your teams quarterback can use the four "E's" to run a successful team.

ENCOURAGE -  The first of the four E's!  Leaders encourage their teams to exceed and excel, and sometimes to see qualities in them they don't necessarily see.  We encourage our team to make the first downs, to reach for the end zone (understanding when they do they need to try to do it again and maybe even better the next time), to keep their chin up when occupancy is down, encourage never being complacent with where they are, and there is always room for improvement.  Encouragement can mean helping them see how outreach marketing can be effective, and how it is not just an event but a process.

EXCITE - First let me say this is different than encouragement.  While we encourage our teams as explained above, getting them excited about what they do and how they do it leads to a winning team.  No successful team in any sport ever went to a championship without having excitement as part of overall feeling within the organization.  This was from the water boy all the way up to the owner of the team.   What do you to excite your team?  Part of this is knowing your team and the individuals involved.  What do they like to do for recreation? What are their goals?  What motivates them?  What can you do to help them be their very best?  What environment do your create that makes the task and the team exciting?

EMPOWER - I absolutely love this one.  No leader or team was ever successful if they did not empower others.  If the quarterback does not have the power to call an audible from the line after seeing the defense or the market in our case, all you have are robots.  As a regional manager I always told them I would rather them make a decision and it be the wrong one than no decision at all.  As I have written in both of my books, you can learn from your mistakes and you cannot learn from inaction as there is nothing to learn from.  This being said the coach and ownership must also understand there are times a leader must make a call on their own (not withstanding violating Fair Housing or other laws).  If it is only our way or the highway as the old saying goes, the road they take may be with another organization, and it certainly will not create a motivational environment.

EDUCATE -  Everyone that has ever worked with me knows I am a believer that a leader is also a teacher.  Read my previous blogs or if you desire read my books and you will see my passion for education.  As an example as a teams leader we can drill Fair Housing into our players, however, if we do not make it memorable or understandable as to how important it is they will never remember.  If they do not remember, they will not perform.  As your team members to give you the seven protected classes as an exercise.  I bet 8 out of 10 cannot list all of them.  Education also means confirmation at times.  A manager that used to call me with questions I knew she had the answer to needed all three of the above "E's" to be educated.  I would ask, "What are your options?  What do you believe are the right options?  And what do you believe is the best option."  After a period of time asking this and helping provide confirmation she knew the answer, she quit calling and made the decisions.  She also understood how I empowered her by complimenting her on decisions she made or in helping her understand ones that could have been made differently.

So the next time you have your team together or are coaching a team member, remember what leadership truly means and the difference between management and leadership.  Management is helping them climb the wall of success!  Leadership is making sure they are on the right wall and the ladder is supported!  Now go lead.

Motivational Leadership Goals

When I look at motivational leadership goals I remember  distinct times in my life that had an impact on me.

A friend of mine ask me if I ever did any running. I said yes, in High School I ran some track.  He said, how would you like to run a marathon?  Now I ran the 100 yard dash!  When I asked him how far a marathon was and he told me 26.2 miles, my response was, “I don’t even like driving 26 miles let alone run it.”  He said it builds “character.”  I said, “It would build to a heart attack.”  He said it would be inspirational for my employees that worked for me as a team leader.  I said, "yes, they can say nice things about me at my funeral".  Now I did not run the marathon so you won’t see me with some picture up on the screen crossing the finish line in front of some guy from Kenya.  Now in this I realized I needed to find other ways to motivate and create effective leadership with my co-workers.

We are all motivated for different reasons as each of us have different values and goals.  When I was young life was different and over time everything changes just as what motivates us may transcend.  I have friends that must go out and buy the latest I Phone, just because they want to be the first to have one.  Having the latest technology motivates them and makes them happy...that is until six months later they are motivated to spend another $300 on the newest device.   Having grown up in a time when we did not have cell phones, my values do not see the need to have a device that can tell me within twenty feet where I am at.  I look around and remember where I have been, which in turn tells me where I am.  Do I need an app to determine what motivates those I work with?  The answer of course is no!  I observe, ask questions, and most importantly listen to understand my subordinates so I can truly lead.  Remember leadership is not taking individuals where they want to go, but where they ought to be. 

What goals do you have for your employee's, and even a greater question might be do your employees have goals.  One of the first parts of motivational leadership as stated above is understanding what goals your employees have for themselves.  No matter what goals you have for them, if they do not see where they want to go as a goal you will not be successful.  Another key is that goals they have just as we have should be specific.  Saying, "I want to be a manager some day.", is a broad goal.  Saying I want to be an regional property manager or the manager of a four diamond resort helps me understand what path to take with that person as well as if the goal is realistic based on their potential.  Second part is creating the motivational environment which makes people believe and want to strive for a higher level. 

The message leaders send has a lot to do with the environment they create.



7 ways for leaders to send out a powerful and positive message: Themselves!

1. Leaders manage the process, but lead people
2. Leaders inspire people, they don’t just drive them
3. Leaders are easy to respect and look up to
4. Leaders are easy to like and get along with
5. Leaders help people to like themselves
6. Leaders help people to believe that what they’re doing is important
7. Leaders are responsive to people

If you are truly a leader, you will help others to not just see themselves as they are, but also what they can become.  Now go lead!

New way of thinking

I never have understood why we keep focusing on leasing when one area is so much more important and productive to both occupancy and cash flow....keeping our residents.  My opinion is we have conditioned some of our people to believe leasing is the primary job they should be doing, and some of that is in the titles we use.  As an example, we have leasing specialists, leasing associates, leasing consultants, leasing agents, etc.  Maybe there is a new way we should be looking at this position.

I propose we change the title to Resident Care Specialist and here is why.  First, as the name implies, the first and most important part of our people is in taking care of our residents.  Providing care to them, providing services to them, and making it so they know how important they are to us is critical and being missed.  Now don't get me wrong, one of the tasks of an RCS is leasing...when necessary.  If we change the mind-set of our people that leasing is secondary and taking care of our residents if first by reflecting this in their title, maybe they will adopt the principles we need for them to in providing service and care.  Maybe if we teach them and condition them to take responsibility and accountability for our residents through increased training and education, maybe we will see changes in the retention of our residents.  I know many of you are right now saying, "We do this."  My response is, "But do they really get it and is it truly working?" 

Second, prospects want more than a lease...they want to know they are going to be taken care of after the move-in.  The title of leasing "whatever," implies that is their primary job...closing a lease and then moving on to the next person.  We condition our prospects/guests with the words what the experience of deciding to live with us is (a leasing event), and through this condition our employees believe this is the most important part of what we do.   I believe our prospects will see the title of Resident Care Specialist as not something as an event or a one time experience, but as a process that is more permanent and portrays the potential relationship they are really seeking.   I also have an issue with paying leasing personnel a bonus but not paying service personnel for what they have to do...but that's for another blog.

Our industry has experienced many changes, however, the true meaning and value of resident retention has been skimmed over for those not in management roles and remains the same.    Interview a leasing person today and get to discussion of salary and one of the questions more frequently asked by them is, "How much is the leasing bonus."  I propose a dramatic change within our industry and that is to "stop" paying leasing fees or bonuses and only pay "renewal" fees or bonuses.    Some companies have looked at this and talking with regional managers and owners at conferences and workshops they tell me, "It is the only way we can keep good leasing people," and "This is what they expect."  My response to this is, "No, this is how we have conditioned them."  When asked what other challenges they are facing 9 times out of 10 say either resident retention and/or higher turnover costs as factors most impacting NOI and cash flow.  After hearing this I want to say, "Daaah!"

Let's look at it from a financial standpoint for both the team member and the bottom line, and for ease I will use an example of a 300 apartment community.  The staff totals an Community Manager, Assistant Manager, one RCS, as well as three in the service department.  Let's say we use an easy number of $50 for a lease, and turnover on an annual basis is 40% or 120 apartments.   This equates to $6,000 in bonus or leasing potential.  On the flip side of this your average turnover costs including vacancy loss, specials, and capital is $3,000 (below the average in many markets, however, an easy number to use).  This means your expenses and lost income associated with turnover is $360,000 (yes I said $360,000...you do the math).

Now lets say you offer the bonus not on leasing but on retention only and help them understand and condition them to relate to the primary job of resident retention.  A minimal improvement of 5% in retention would mean only an improvement of 15 renewals than before, however, $45,000 in lower expenses and improved income.  If I were to say to a team, this is how things have been and the financial aspects of what it means.  The current bonus for the team is $6,000 for leasing.  How would you like to increase that by $4,000 in the coming year?  Here is how we do it.  First, resident care is first and foremost and we will start by changing titles from leasing to RCS.  Second, take personal accountability for those you move in and build a case based process around them.  This means minimal in person communication with your resident every two months, and I don't mean by leaving a voice mail.  Truly build the relationship so renewals are not an event...they are a process.  Third, increase the retention by just 5% in the next twelve months and tell them what that means....about one additional renewal per month, or JUST 15 renewals over the year.  This presents a manageable and totally understandable and reachable goal.  Remove the leasing incentive and take the $10,000 ($6,000 original and $4,000 new money).  If you are doing the math this equates to $51.28 for each and EVERY renewal the team does at the new renewal rate of 195 apartments.  What this also does is make everyone's job easier, marketing costs lower, and expenses reduce or income improves by a net of $41,000 ($45,000 in lower expenses plus the $6,000 you were paying before in leasing fees, less the $10,000 new program).  This also increases the property value in just one year at a 5% cap rate by $820,000.  (Now I have the owners and upper managers attention).

We have changed with technology and how we market our communities and automated leasing and responses.  We have been provided with software that does not require for us to think about rental rates.  We have gone to texting versus talking and dependent on the internet for where people find us.  What we have forgotten about is the "people" part of this and what that can mean to the bottom line.  Maybe going back to the basics of service, resident care, and personal communication can still have meaning and value.  I believe it does, however, it is going to take a new way of thinking...or is that an old one? 

Making your mark!

As I was writing earlier today about my niece, it reminded me of something I had written some time back.  We were asked to write something about her as she prepares to graduate from the University of North Carolina Asheville.  Her sorority does a ceremony for graduating seniors where family members write things they remember most as she was growing up.  As I pondered what to write, I remembered the following poem and pulled it out of my archives.  I did not write this for her or for her sorority, however, my writing today triggered the basis for originally writing this...what do you want to be remembered for?  So here goes:

Making Your Mark!

Leaders are asked where do you stand

What mark have you made on this great land

What influence you’ve made to measure success

On what others would label you as one of the best

Is it wealth that says your mark has been hit?

Or is it the laughter created and amount of your wit

Do positions matter in measuring your place?

Or the title you receive and the corner office space

Why is it we look at the mark as something material?

When true rewards from your mark are often intangible

Where pride and satisfaction come from the feeling within

And true happiness is something you cannot even spend

For making your mark must start from inside

And be lead by emotion and feelings and pride

And no one can tell you what your mark should be

As it is built from the base like the roots of a tree

Success is not the miles traveled or places you see

But what you shared with others while adding humility

It’s not that you climbed a mountain because it was there

But why you did it and in the end what you shared

For in the end it is not from the place that you start

But where you have landed and what comes from the heart

So the next time someone asks you what mark have you made

Tell them it’s the hearts touched and the groundwork laid

For long after I am gone and the ashes are released

I want to be remembered for truly resting in peace

And not for what I was or for being courageous and bold

But for who I was and the values in life that I hold

Larry

So you want to be a property manager?

I first want to thank those that have recently contacted me to let me know how much they enjoy my page.  Those that know me can attest I have two passions, being leadership and property management.  OK, maybe I have a few others like diving with sharks and family.   I have had some amazing experiences in my property management and now Disney career as a leader.  What an amazing ride it has been so far.

So you want to be a property manager?  How does one get into this business?  I have asked that question of hundreds of property management professionals, and more times than not it was not something they were seeking rather something that found them.  Most people do not get into this industry through a college degree.  There are only a handful of universities that have property management programs, while we have hundreds of thousands of employees in this business.  Maybe they were familiar with the job because they applied for an apartment previously and had great customer service skills coupled with an outgoing personality.  Maybe a friend or family member in property management recommended they look at industry opportunities.  I have actually had several respondents who said they needed a job and lived in an apartment community that was hiring.  

So what does this industry provide that others may not?  First, no two days are exactly the same and something new will always be on the horizon.  If you want diversity, this industry provides it.  From the service side that may have ten service requests one day and because rent is due now you have fifty.   Or the office staff who is outreach marketing one day, answering the phones another and leasing apartments another, and yet another planning or putting together a resident activity.  We forget about the service tech that is called out at two in the morning because someones toilet is flooding the apartment downstairs.  Or how about the property manager who must wear one of the following or many of the following hats at any given time and be prepared to adjust to the moment:  Risk manager, financial consultant, marketing director, human resources consultant, project manager, emergency preparedness administrator, advertising expert, sales adviser, trainer, psychologist, asset manager, budget and reporting expert, inspector, and occasional babysitter when a lost child wonders into your office.  You may have to deal with some really "heart tough" issues including collecting rents, dealing with the death of a resident, or raising rents that challenge both your residents and staff.  You may be faced with fires, floods, hurricanes and severe storms, car accidents, equipment failures, budget cuts, market changes, and not to mention dealing with personal issues related to your team.

For those of you in the business, you're probably feel you need a raise after thinking about all the responsibility you are given and the hats you must wear.  If you are not in the industry you may be thinking, "Waiting tables at Olive Garden doesn't seem so bad."  One thing is for sure, if you find yourself in property management for any period of time it gets in your blood and into your soul.  This is especially true within multifamily and the apartment industry, because of the diversity of jobs and the diversity within those jobs.  All of the above for some of us is why we love the challenges and opportunities provided in property management.  You may also find when you ask that waiter who made a customer service impression on you, "So, you want to be a property manager?," this was exactly how you discovered the profession you have chosen.