“The Practice of Get it Done Leadership”
Property Management is an industry that we all need to rise and be accountable for our work and actions. There’s not a day that goes by where we are not put into a situation where we must make some hard choices and lead.
Every day we must walk into the office expecting the unexpected. To be prepared to handle whatever comes up and be willing to do yourself what you ask of others. In the world of Property Management, Get It Done Leadership is yet another one of these things that is REQUIRED to succeed.
The foundation of Get It Done Leadership is through Action and Accountability, doing what needs to be done and taking responsibility for our actions. Every man and woman is a leader.
My business partner has been by my side for over 10 years now. We complement each other extremely well. I’m an entrepreneur and he is the textbook technician. I knew from day one that I needed someone opposite of myself as I needed grounding and someone who could keep things running smoothly.
Over the years, we’ve built a management company from zero to close to 2000 units across three provinces. We’ve gone through just about every scenario a Property Manager can go through. The one thing that I can say about both myself and my partner is that we are both willing to go out and do just about anything we ask our staff to do.
It’s not uncommon for either of us to show apartments. It’s not uncommon for us to prepare move in or out inspections, deal with tenant issues, pick up a paintbrush or help clean a unit.
Nothing is off-limits if a job needs to get done.
This has served us very well. Our Get It Done Leadership style has allowed us to gather an amazing team that exhibits these same behaviours. It’s ingrained in our DNA. Get It Done Leadership starts at the top, but the actual magic happens when everyone in the organization lives by this CODE.
As Property Managers, we are conduits between so many points. Property Management is a Hospitality, Relationship-based, Empathy driven, Service-Oriented type of business.
When you lead by example and do what it takes to get a job done, you create an atmosphere of care and respect. This care and respect are felt by all. From my administration staff to property managers, maintenance staff, leasing agents, and business partners, we must all practice the art of Get It Done Leadership. Every day!
Because of our crazy schedules and non-stop duties to perform, we must all come to the table with solutions. There is no bigger waste of time than coming to a meeting with a list of problems for which you’re struggling with and no potential solutions.
I learned this very early in my career that I was always required to present my issues with some potential solutions. There is a process that one can go through in order to start thinking this way. It can be as simple as taking five minutes to actually write out the problem at hand. Go into as much detail as possible. Once this is fleshed out, simply ask yourself what are some potential solutions to this problem? The important part here is not to think about the quality of the solutions, but just to brainstorm ideas.
The act of writing these problems down will help you craft better and better solutions over time and will give you insights that you probably never saw before. Putting pen to paper is one of the most powerful strategies I know.
Accountability
By accountability, I mean an obligation to accept responsibility for one’s actions. Accountability is a scary word, especially in the world of Property Management! Let’s be honest; this world is full of people who hide behind anything they can to avoid ANY kind of accountability.
There are many things that can go wrong in our business. Problems can arise at every corner and at any time of the day or night. Taking full responsibility for something can be intimidating for most and I get it.
Accountability is not for everyone and neither is Property Management! The accountability factor is so important to our business that we cannot afford to play or work with people who don’t want to be held accountable for their actions.
Having no accountability is like being seduced into mediocrity!
It produces nothing but C level players! If you truly want to be great in this industry, you need to play at world-class. You need to think world-class thoughts! You need to surround yourself with world-class people, A-players. A-players hold themselves at an entirely different level than C players.
My inspiration for the concept of accountability comes from an amazing book called The Leader Without A Title by Robin Sharma. It’s an amazing book that instills the idea that anyone, regardless of their titles, can be a leader.
Robin shares this amazing story of a gentleman who cleans the bathrooms in Johannesburg Airport. He greets everyone who comes into his bathroom by saying, “Welcome to my office.” His “office” (bathroom) is spotless and he takes great pride in his work. He is the CEO of what he does, not because he is told to do so but because he leads without a title. He is running his own race.
This is the type of attitude that you want in your office. These are the types of people that your owners, tenants, and vendors want to deal with. These are the types of colleagues that you’re A-players want to work with! Never settle for anything less. “My level of personal accountability determines my level of personal power.”
Deep thought!
How do you think this janitor in Johannesburg feels when he gets home at night? He’s given his all to his craft. He’s played at world-class. His level of personal power, confidence and self-respect is at a whole new level. What he is doing is having an impact on thousands of people every day and that impact feeds him with a level of personal power that nobody can take away.
This personal power is the magic that separates the average from the great. Hold yourself to a new level of accountability and take full ownership in what you do. Sit back and watch what happens around you and take the time to feel what happens inside of you.
Action + Accountability = Get it Done Leadership