Leadership should be a responsibility, not a reward

In the past, many top-performing commercial real estate agents were rewarded with leadership positions.

This occurred even if they didn't want the responsibility.

It was sometimes bestowed on them regardless of whether they were suited for the role (spoiler alert: deal doers are often more inclined to do deals than lead people).

In the future, individual contributors with no interest in or capacity for leadership won't be offered these roles - and that's a good thing for them, because they'll make more money by staying in income-producing roles.

It's also good for the business, because it allows others with leadership aspirations to make a positive contribution and create an environment where everyone else is more likely to succeed.

I’m not saying deal doers can’t be good leaders - if they take the responsibility seriously, have some self-awareness and don't just want the rego-boost of a bigger title and a profit share to top up their commissions, then they are likely to be great leaders.

If you don’t have access to leaders who help you to be the best you can be, take a listen to episode 82 of CRE Success: The Podcast. 

Episode transcript:

Can leadership be the difference between mediocre performance and elite levels of performance?

If the Carlton Football Club is any guide, then the answer to that question is a resounding "yes".

Let me explain on episode 82 of the show. My name is Darren Krakowiak.

And if you work in commercial real estate, I want to help you save time earn more and be a top performer in your market.

So, this is not an AFL and Australian rules football, Ozzy rules, podcast.

But I do want to talk a little bit about the accountant Football Club and the amazing start to 2022 that they're having.

They've already beaten two of the sides, which are genuine contenders this season. We've also played Hawthorne, that's a dig at Hawthorne dance.

But things are looking good. And I think, after many, many years in the wilderness of suffering for the supporters that were quite excited about this year, and with good reason.

And the reason for us to be more confident about the future is in my opinion, (and I think most people would agree) "leadership".

Because there has been some significant changes in leadership in the club, with a new CEO coming in at the end of last year, a new senior coach and all new coaching panel, but more or less the same players on the field.

Yes, there were a couple of new recruits and trades. But ultimately, it's the same players.

And we can see the same players who previously had been okay performers become really strong performers in 2022.

And they're really thriving in this new environment that the new leadership has created.

And the players talk about things like selflessness, they talk about the importance of putting the group before the individual.

The fact that they know that they can rely on each other, that they're not just relying on one individual to get the job done, that it's a team thing, and there's better communication.

It's a thing of beauty to see if you are Carlton supporter, not so great if you go for example, the Western Bulldogs, but certainly it shows that getting the leadership right can lead to good things.

Now, we'll see how the rest of the year pans out for Carlton. But that provides me with the segue to talk about leadership in commercial real estate.

Now, commercial real estate does have a lot of individual elements.

And in some ways, it is an individual game, because a lot of us are compensated based on our individual performance.

But I think approaching it just as an individual sport, if you like, is perhaps a little bit old school.

I think that in the past, it was much more about just get on with it and do it yourself. Whereas nowadays, there is much more focus on teams and on people and on creating the right culture within the business and the right environment for people to succeed.

And actually, that makes me think of an episode last year that we did with Paul Roos, who is a former AFL coach and captain and now a leadership consultant expert.

And that was episode 19, in season 2, came out around August.

And Paul Roos spoke about how leadership is much more of a focus in AFL because the industry is much more professional. And it requires a higher standard of performance.

And he also mentioned that culture is something that football clubs and sporting organizations spend a lot more time on then corporate organizations and the commercial sector, the business world.

And I think he said it was like 10 times more of a focus in a sporting organization than in a commercial business.

Which makes me think that in commercial real estate, perhaps we are a fraction of a fraction because I just don't think that we're spending as much time on these things.

Which means that it's a great opportunity, if you're in a commercial real estate business, or you're running a commercial real estate business to make sure that the business that you're running or that you're in has a great environment, because the culture can have a real impact on your individual performance and also the performance of the team.

And certainly, that is one reason why I started this business.

When I came back to Australia after nearly 12 years living and working overseas, I noticed that there was a lack of focus on leadership within a lot of commercial real estate organizations.

I think historically, people had been promoted into leadership positions because they've been there the longest or as a way to reward people for strong individual performance.

Without perhaps much time or consideration being given to if they want to be a leader, or if they are committed to providing the business, the leadership that is required to help everyone in that team succeed.

So if you've got leaders in place who are there for the wrong reasons, because they want the title, because they want a bit of extra money, or because it just seems like the next logical thing to do, as opposed to people who are committed to doing a bit of work on themselves to be the best leaders that they can be, then that is going to mean that you're not always going to be able to retain all of the best people because they can be frustrated by that leadership.

And even your average performers are not going to become above average performers, if they're not within an environment where success is more likely.

And I saw a lack of mentors, I saw a lack of a focus on leadership.

And what I want to share with you in today's episode is, if you're not getting the leadership support that you think you need, then it's up to you to seek it out.

Now, if you work in a big company, and perhaps your direct manager is not the leader that you think is going to help you be the best that you can be, then the good news is that within a large organization, even if you find that there are some people who are promoted into leadership positions, and there always are some people who are promoted into leadership positions who aren't great.

Or if you're in an organization where you think that Leadership isn’t really seen as important, there will still be good leaders within the organization.

And often those strong leaders, good leaders, effective leaders, can be people who you can look to model your own cell phone and to get support from through some informal mentoring relationship.

Now, if you work in a smaller business, it can be a little bit more tricky, because if there is one person who is the leader, and that person's poor leadership skills can reverberate throughout the organization.

So if you can't get the leadership that you're looking for inside your organization, and you have trouble finding it outside of your organization, or if the support that you're getting outside of your team, or outside the organization is not enough of what you need, in order to create the environment where you can perform at the best level, you can, then you should really consider moving to a business moving to a team where you are in that environment.

Because we work in a business where our compensation is based upon our individual performance.

And if your individual performance is being impinged by the environment that you're in, then you're effectively robbing yourself by not making a move, to either create that environment through getting some additional support and to insulate yourself from what might be a negative environment.

Or by not just moving into a team, a business, an organization, which has already the culture that can help you perform at the best possible level.

So, if you look at a team, and you can see that it's not performing the way that it potentially can, if you're going to look at the individuals and see their potential, but you don't see the overall business performing at that level. I think the first place that you should be looking is the leadership.

And is the leadership strong? Is the leadership effective? Is it able to harness the potential of the people in the business?

If you see a culture where there is mistrust, where there is selfishness, where there's a toxic workplace culture, then that is often a symptom in my opinion of poor leadership.

And what I would expect that the leaders should be doing is firstly, modeling the best behaviors, to show others what is expected and what is required to create the environment where people can succeed.

But also, not only modeling those behaviors, but communicating them and making sure people understand what is required, because part of creating the right culture is communicating your values.

Now work from home means that, yes, you possibly can hide from a poor workplace culture.

But you could be shortchanging yourself by not being in an environment where what you're looking for exists.

At the same time, if you are responsible for an environment where the culture isn't great, and you notice a lot of people might be working from home, that could be an indicator that the culture isn't as good as it could be.

So, you know, I think that leaders really have a huge say in the overall performance of an organization.

And if you're a leader who is kind of hands off, you're not spending much time on leadership, and your team's already doing well, you might be thinking, "Well, hang on leadership doesn't really matter, because I'm not spending that much time on it and everything is going fine."

A couple of things I would say to you. One is, imagine what could be possible if you spent a little bit more time on this.

Because if everything is going well, without you really putting much time on it, you're still shortchanging the business and yourself because there is harness potential that exists.

Another thing that you might be thinking is well, hands-off leadership style.

Is a leadership style that is legitimate to put in place in a business like commercial real estate, because what we want to do is get out of the way, and allow people's entrepreneurial spirit to thrive.

And I, I get that argument. And I think that's a fair argument.

But it's only a fair argument, if that has been stated as the leadership strategy and the culture that we're creating.

So, if that is the result, because we're just not paying attention to things, then I think we're going to end up having people inside the organization who aren't getting what they need from the business.

If we say to every single person who's in the team, and people who were recruiting, we have a very hands-off leadership style, and you have a lot of free reins to go about your day and to, you know, you shouldn't be expecting to get a lot of support from the business.

And that is our culture, then that is a legitimate strategy, but just not providing the leadership support. And just letting that culture become that way.

Because we're not providing anything, it's kind of like a hollow vacuum that's just come that because we didn't do anything else.

I don't know if that's necessarily going to create the outcomes that are going to allow the business to be the best that it can be.

Now, if you are not a natural leader, but you are interested in being the best leader that you can be, then a couple of things that you can do is to just make the decision to be the best leader that you can be.

And I think you'll be doing a lot more than a lot of people who aren't necessarily good natural leaders, but who find themselves in leadership positions.

Take the responsibility of leadership seriously. And really think about the type of culture that you think is required to help people perform at the highest possible level.

The importance of leadership is why I created this business CRE Success.

And it's also why I'm doing more work at the business level with generally, independent and franchised businesses have between sort of 10 and 30 people, but also with people who are leading teams around that size within larger organizations through a service which is called Agency Solutions.

And what I'm doing is really helping commercial real estate leaders develop their people and grow their business through a couple of modalities.

It's working directly with the leader and also providing some ongoing training and people development resources for people inside the business.

If you'd like to have a chat about how that looks in terms of developing the culture, communicating the vision and also putting in place the right systems and structures to ensure that the business is operating at an efficient and at a professional level, then send an email to [email protected]

And we will arrange for a quick chat to just get an understanding of what it is that you're looking for, and if CRE Success: Agency Solutions is the right type of leadership support for your business.

That's our episode for today. Thank you so much for listening, and I will speak to you soon.